Bought an A&A from forum Vendor TPS Motorsports with the sale that was (is?) running. Paid a little extra for black satin finish on the blower. Got the package a few weeks ago but things have gotten in the way recently. Finally got her up on Quickjacks and began following the online instructions. The instructions are very simple and easy to follow. My only nit to pick would be it telling you to pull the rack & pinion out from the left. Which left? I found it easiest to pull out the passenger side. trying to get things under the ABS pump and the wiring harnesses that accompanied it were a tangled fight. Out the passenger side seemed pretty easy. Rotating the rack during removal helped. Working on my '15 has been a pleasure. Plenty of room, easy to get to things (haven't done plugs yet), no surprises. Found what I expected with a leaky belt tensioner.

The instrustions tell you to use a strong impact to get the crank pulley removed. My 1/2" Milwaukee rated at 1200 lbs zipped that bolt out without blinking. I also used it on the 18mm bolts holding the rack to the cradle along with a nice extension. My 3/8" impact wouldn't budge them.

More to follow but the online instructions have been spot on despite guessing which left (from above or below the car?).

I will be selling my Holley CAI and the center air dam. I added it to my Z51 after purchase, don't really know why now. GM decided the Z51 didn't need them, but I did. I will leave it off with the intercooler installation.

Stock engine bay (with Holley CAI) before starting.


Currently



Rack out. I used a grease pencil to mark alignment with the steering shaft and rack position. There are T15 screws holding plastic shields in place surrounding the spindle and sway bar. Took one screw out so I could get the required 18mm socked on the sway bar link. Ended up removing the entire shield, 4 screws I believe. It helped to tighten these little screws 1/8 turn before removal for easier removal.


White connector has a security lock that is not seen from above. Putting a mirror on it shows the tab from the front. Use a small screwdriver to depress and slide this lock back so the connector can be removed. This should be noted in instructions, otherwise its easy to get frustrated and ham fisted if you have never had to deal with these things.


The expected leaky tensioner. New one with belt on their way from Rock Auto. Cheaper than Amazon and Advanced Auto even with military discount.

 

Definitely a DIF job if you have all the tools and quick jack helps quite a bit.

 

Very nice! Post when you're done.

 

It's been a hot minute since my past post in this. Short update, There is a specific tool needed to remove the crank pulley. I ordered one from Amazon that says it works. $50 compared to the GM price of $200+. As soon as it arrives I'll go out and see if it even fits the balancer. If not, I will return it and order the proper GM tool, use it once then resell it. Suppose whatever loss I take will get considered a rental fee.

New tensioner and belt are here, but waiting to put those on after the new crank pulley is installed. Getting a bit antsy to get rolling again.

 

You should be able to rent from local parts store as well. That’s what I did when I pulled mine.

 

Went to Advanced Auto and they didn't even have one for rent. Followed my Amazon driver online as they drove to my house and was headed to the shop before they left the drive hoping Amazon held up their end. Back in the game, Won't make too much progress the next few days with things going on, but can't wait to dig back in.

Amazon for the win! Amazon.com: Orion Motor Tech Harmonic Balancer Puller for Engine Balancer Removal Replacement, LS Crank Pulley Puller Compatible with GM Chrysler Jeep Dodge, Harmonic Damper Puller with 24MM Socket : Automotive

 

Yea Amazon always comes in clutch. Innovators makes a puller for their lowers. If you ever need to remove that thing order that puller. Makes life easy.

 

Want to give a shot out to A&A. Went to install the new pulley. Instructions call for two different bolts used to pull on the pulley. A longer one to do the initial pull, then a shorter one for final install. Looked everywhere throughout my packages for an extra bolt as only one was included in the crank pulley box. Maybe the instructions weren't up to date? Maybe the process had changed? It was Friday 6:30 PM here and all I could think was it will be Monday before I could do anything or ask any questions. Then I remembered TPS was in California, 3 hours behind me. BINGO!

I called TPS who I bought the kit from and Ceaser (who was as helpful as he could be) couldn't explain why or what. Gave me the personal cell# of Josh, the owner of A&A, said that was a question for him. Josh answered on the second ring. He looked at my order and explained why the extra bolt wasn't included (simple mix up) and promised to get one in the mail before close pf business so it would be on it's way. No BS, no excuses, just fixed it and did what he could to get me going again.

In the mean time I'm going to take the front bumper off and begin intercooler install. The instructions don't call for bumper removal, but I am replacing the grill while I'm in there. Also need to figure out where I'm going to mount the Fuel Maxx fuel pump booster. A&A doesn't call for it, and said it really doesn't need it at this level. But, my tuner wants one on there. I trust them both, but figure it isn't going to hurt anything. Also have a Mighty Mouse catch can to put on.

 

Thank you for the nice writeup. Please continue, following. Going to do mine soon.

 

I just did this install i had one bolt and tq down to 135ft lb.

 

@helga203 I don't know how you could have used the final install bolt unless you used another method to push the pulley on? I had to use the longer bolt to draw it in enough just to get the short bolt to catch some threads??

Been a few days since I posted. Came down with Covid. Wife got Covid, grand kids got Covid. It's been fun.

The aforementioned install and final assembly bolts. The washer on the left is about 1/4" thick, goes under the crank bolt.




New pulley, belt tensioner and belt. Tensioner and belt came from Rock Auto, both OEM parts and were the cheapest even with shipping. No discernable difference in the belt I replaced, still looked new. I bought the car with 32k miles so I'm assuming this was original. Install tip if you have an M7. To get the required 130 ft lbs on the bolt the engine was spinning over long before I could get to my spec. I put the serpentine belt on hoping that would make a difference, it didn't. Made sure the car was in gear, still spinning. Now I have my car up on quickjacks so the tires are off the ground. Had to apply the E brake to be able to hold things sufficiently still. So skip my first two experiments.




Also wanted to leave this tip on removing your sway bar end links. I removed the plastic shields around the sway bar to get to things more easily. I put a ratcheting wrench on the nut, then an 8mm socket on the stud. Worked like a charm.

 

Maybe its different on 6.l ls engine but i only had the left bolt in the package. I just put it on and tq to spec. I just went outside and looked at the bolt. There is a long one which is for pinning the crank if there is no keyway. I did not use that, since mine was keyed alrighty. But like i said i just used the shorter bolt.

 

You bring up a great point. C7 cranks are keyed and do not require drilling and pinning the crank like the C5/C6

 

The tool below will lock the Flywheel so you can tighten up the bolt properly.

 

Minor progress today. Still fighting the effects of Covid, but it gets real old sitting around.

Also a little better shot of the security tab on the steering rack plug. Hard to see when it's installed as it faces the radiator.

 

Most difficult step so far, getting the ABS pump mounted in its new bracket. I'd put a dab of lithium grease in the bottom mounting grommet to ease that back in. Make sure your harnesses are oriented correctly before you try and slide the pump into the bracket. Once you get the pump back in the bracket you won't be able to reroute/reorientate things afterwards. Next instructions say to loosen the brake lines to allow flexibility is moving (bending) the lines into their newly required altered routing and attach the bracket where the old one went. I'd estimate it moves the ABS pump outboard another 1.5". Doesn't seem like much much but with 4 brake lines it takes a bit of muscle and patient. Was going to powder coat my bracket but decided against it since half the pump in already a silver finish.




The next instructed step is to install the supercharger. To be honest, I boogered up the ABS pump bracket holes when I took the old one off. Totally my fault and got ham fisted/impatient struggling to release the pump. Going to rechase those holes before the bracket is reattached. Waiting on a ratcheting tap holder to show up. In the mean time I removed the front bumper. Instructions do not call for this. Replacing the color matched Z06 grill back to the carbon flash grill while I'm in there. Plus, this'll give me a bit more room to work cutting plastic to fit the intercooler.





Pro tip - vacuum out this cavity. I'd already gotten started and found this casualty. Lots of debris in here. Kit comes with templates for the side cutting. Pictures only of where to cut for the bottom portion.

 

PPssshshhhhhh. These last two steps were fraught with a few snags. Relocating the ABS pump on its new brackets. Instructions essentially tell you to tweak the lines. You need to muscle them around. Not just the top 4 lines, but the two larger lines feeding the back of the pump. We also rerouted a ground line underneath the newly bent feed lines for a bit more clearance. The holes that mount the new bracket to the engine cradle are slotted. You need every bit of those slots to get the pump moved over far enough to clear the supercharger. The brake lines require a firm hand. Its not pretty. Make sure you break the fitting free as instructed so the lines can flex and move around a bit.



Here you can see how little room there is between the ABS pump and the supercharger itself. I'm going to try and source a high heat blanket material to insulate the pump a bit. Superchargers don't exactly make ice and GM isn't known for high quality ABS pumps.



Prior to mounting the supercharger, not mentioned in the instructions, is to first loosen the mounting bracket from the supercharger to give you a bit of slack. Circled is the bottom hole, drivers side that screws into the head. prior to loosening the bracket from the S/C. You can see how far off it was. This was after the 3 other mounting bolts had a few threads started. The mounting bracket the supercharger comes mounted on need to be loosened giving you slack for the mounting bolts, get the 4 bolts mounting the S/C to the engine, then tighten the S/C to its mount. Doing this was easier and faster than taking the bracket to the drill press to hog the hole out. Also, prior to mounting the S/C, you need to pin and remove the tensioner. One of the mounting bolts is behind the tensioner. Set that off to the side.



HOWEVER! What I learned after getting this far, trying to mount the belt, that wasn't straight forward either. The tensioner is slotted. Great. There still was not enough slack to get the belt on. Shy by about 3/8" to get over the smooth pulley. 3 hour time difference to the rescue, California is still working!. Hitting these snags, I gotta give props to A&A customer service, they instantly knew what was wrong and walked me through it. The smooth idler pulley below the S/C is also slotted and held in place with a carriage bolt and nut. You cannot see the carraige bolt once the S/C is on. This needed to be loose to create a bit more slack to get the belt on. Knowing what I know now, I would have loosened the idler pulley bolt prior to installing the S/C. Even loosened, it took some persuasion to get it to move in its slot. Anyway, loosen that idler pulley prior to mounting the S/C to the engine, get the belt on, and slide the smooth idler pully in as far as you can taking up as much slack as you can, then tighten the 19mm nut. Now, put the tensioner back on. It is also slotted for adjustment. Make that as tight as you can using the slots then tighten down the 14mm bolts holding it in place, remove the pin. Done.

Idler pulley



One more pic - because car ****.

 

Made some major progress this evening. The step I dreaded - cutting into the radiator shroud and trimming it. One shot - good luck. I spent around 2 hours just trimming the shroud. Ended up with a decent fit, but in some areas I took too much away by ~1" or so. I primarily used , a tool I've seen used on a few youtube channels and bought a few months ago. Works great on this, but in a few of the tight corners I resorted to a pneumatic body saw, which didn't work great (it's a cheap one). But, that Milwaukee cut off wheel is the bee's knee's for this job.

A bit embarrassed to admit this, but I thought about getting some black gorilla tape and closing the gaps between the intercooler and surrounding plastic. The idea of fixing the gaps with tape makes me cringe, but is it such a bad idea? Feedback appreciated.

Still had to trim after this shot was taken, but you can see how much needs to be removed.


I used tape to guide my long straight lines and a white grease pencil to trace along the supplied stencils for the sides.


I went back and referred to the online instructions many times and kept the intercooler on the floor with me with a tape measure to make adjustments. Once that first cut is made, the rest weren't so nerve racking.


Passenger side. I held the intercooler in place and used my grease pencil to mark where the drivers side bracket would sit and marked where to drill those two holes. Make sure the supplied bracket for the passenger side is attached and moved up against it's upright so the drivers side holes get drilled properly. Not paying attention to this and just drilling for the drivers side will not set its side to side location properly. Make sure that bracket is attached and pressed against the upright to locate side to side. Front to back is set by sitting the drivers side bracket flush with its crossbar.

I marked on the cross brace where the bracket would be and marked where I wanted my holes. Then set the intercooler in place and used an awl to mark one of those holes to the bracket. Drill that and bolted it in place. Then drilled the second hole and bolted that down. On the passenger side I marked where those holes needed to be. Then after removing the intercooler so I had room to get a drill in there, but it was still off by maybe 1/8". I enlarged the mounting holes on the bracket to 3/8" and that gave me the play I needed to bolt everything up.







Now its seems downhill getting the plumbing put in, a catch can, and the fuel pump booster.

 

Well, finished it up today, mostly. Got the hoses/plumbing ran. Went much easier than I expected.

Bought the MightyMouse can with the radiator mount. Didn't realize the blow off valve was going to be where I planned on mounting the catch can. Looks like it'll be a fender mount. We'll see how this works out. Not too many options. I'll finish the PCV system when I get the can mount figured, for now still have 2 hoses doing nothing.



Next problem disappointed me in the kit for the first time. Description says the heat extractor seal would clear the intake plumbing. The pipe is about 1/2"-3/4" from hitting the fan shroud. Going to try and tweak it more in the silicone sleeves, but don't see how it will clear, which I don't like at all. May give them a call Monday. I'd recommend reinstalling the radiator fan prior to putting the plumbing in place. Might've helped me mount the pipe a bit closer and clear the heat extractor better?



Part of the install has you cutting the original intake just inside of the MAF sensor. Looks like this. Used my Milwaukee cut off wheel again. Love that little tool. The Holley iNTECH I took off is for sale in the C7 section



New check valve gets installed where PCV breathes behind the throttle body and plugs into the blow off valve



.

Next up was installing the colder plugs provided with the kit. Took off the fuse panel from the passenger side and the 3 nuts used to hold the base down. That gave me some much needed room. Looked at attacking this from underneath and decided to go in from up top. A dedicated spark plug socket was golden. as well as these Gearwrench plug wire pliers I snagged over Amazons last black Friday sale. These things save me a ton of time. Drivers side was easy peasy.





Next up was putting in a new, black Z06 grill off Amazon. I'd bought one a year or two ago and painted it body color. Wife thought a black grill looked better. What the hell, they're cheap enough and fit like OEM off Amazon for $120.





Catch can, fuel pump booster, and a tune. Well, still need to actually attach the front bumper, just hanging there right now.

Tuner is still booked out 2-3 weeks. Asked him to call me if he gets a cancellation. Been to him twice, this retune will run me $400.

This is a well thought out kit. Simple hand tools will install it (minus removing the crank pulley bolt). Still need the tune to make final judgement, but aside from getting the heat extractor seal set back into place, I'm happy with the kit. Needs a few tweaks here and there, but I can see why these are popular.

 

Don't forget to order a 3-bar MAP sensor. The A&A kit does not come with one (at lease when I installed mine). Nice to see another Daytona Sunrise Stingray. I love mine!