LSA supercharger on a 2005 RST truck write-up
11-12-2015, 09:00 AM
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LSA supercharger on a 2005 RST truck write-up
The first thing ill do is apologize for not taking pictures throughout the project, but it is pretty straight forward. This is my only drive-able vehicle so the project had to be done in one weekend, because of that its pretty messy and it will be getting cleaned up over time. I didnt crunch the actual numbers but i have about $3k total invested.
Right now the market is flooded with takeoff LSA blowers that have been taken off and replaced under warranty at GM dealerships. Customers are complaining of a very loud rattling coming from inside, and instead of fixing them they replace the entire unit. Lucky for us, its a $50 fix via a solid coupler instead of the spring loaded factory one.
Here is my blower put together with a ZL1 intercooler lid. What you will typically get is the plain aluminum section and that's about it. Keep in mind there is an isolater/ gasket in between the intercooler lid to keep it sealed part#12612467. The ZL1 lid i found on jegs for $380 part#12622236. As you can see i had -12AN bungs welded onto the front coolant lines because they take a special fitting for, LSA CONVERSION STORE has these adapter fittings as well as a bunch of other helpful parts but this is the route i went.
As far as the pulley size on the blower, you need to keep in mind that our balancer is slightly smaller than the stock CTS-V balancer meaning the supercharger will actually be turning slower than it would on a stock LSA engine. i used this calculator and compared it to charts from weapon-x website and lingenfelter website to figure out the blower speed. I ended up at 18,809 rpm blower speed with a 2.75" supercharger pulley and ended up with about 10psi on my 4.8L engine. THis is the calculator i used : 928 Motorsports® Services - Supercharger and Pulley Frequently Asked Questions and the pulley chart i used for boost and blower speed. http://weaponxmotorsports.myshopify....ng-mods-needed
Crank Pulley Diameter:
7.72
Blower Pulley Diameter:
2.75
Internal Step Up Ratio:
1.0
Max Engine RPM:
6700
Click this button to calculate
Impeller RPM:
18809
The cylinder heads on my truck are cathedral port and the LSA blower is a rectangle port. I had a company in town engineer some adapters for me which is now on their site as well as a ton of other things. LS1 Cathedral Port Cylinder Head to LS3 LSA ZL1 Supercharger Adapters Rectangle LSX They come with gasket/ o-rings for the cylinder head side, and i used stock CTS-V gaskets for the blower side GM part#19180613. I ended up using the stock intake manifold bolts with beefy washers to hold the blower down. They are 70mm long bolts.
When setting the blower down it wouldn't sit flush, i found that it was hitting the steam tube, since this thing weighs a ton i didn't want to pull it back out. I just tapped the angle down a little bit to clear. You can also see the head adapters in the picture.
The pulley system i got from LSSimple.net , when buying the kit they ask which water pump you are using., either a truck or f-body. I had no idea the water pump was different on the 07+ trucks have a different upper neck until today actually and their site made no mention of it. so in my effort to make the stock one work I tried grinding their bracket then tried turning the neck in a different direction. Neither worked and i had to have a friend weld a new neck on for me.
Also their directions say to press on the new power steering pulley all the way till it bottoms out, when i did that, it was too far back and would not spin. At that point, the tool i rented from the parts store would no longer go on because it was so far back on the shaft, i had to grind on the shaft to shorten it so the tool would go on so pay attention to this when doing yours
Fuel System: I forgot to take pictures of this but I bought a Toyota supra twin turbo pump from densofuelpump.com that puts out 300lph. I installed this into a stock 2005 returnless fuel bucket and had no problems with driving it before the blower was on. You have to cut off the neck where the pump sits because it chokes down for the smaller pump. I then just used a hose clamp to secure it around the return container beside it. I forgot to check depth before assembly and pushed it down as far as i could to the bottom of the bucket. I accidentally ran the tank down till the light came on and i still didn't have any fuel supply issues.
The fuel injectors i used were stock 56lb LSA injectors i got off of ebay. I wanted to use them specifically because of the odd angle they are installed into the blower. They are an EV6 injector plug and my truck used delphi connectors so wiring adapters were used.
The fuel rail i used was the stock ZR-1 corvette which was around $200 from gmpartsdirect.com part#12602070. I used this one because 1 person from somewhere in the depths of the internet said it would work on the LSA smaller blower so i took the gamble and the fuel inlet was on the same side as the stock truck rail unlike the CTS-V and ZL1. I was about 6" short on the hose so after inspecting, the lines had a ton of slack that i could stretch out. There is a bracket the bolts to the transmission bell housing that had to be removed to let it be stretched out, and there was also a cylinder head mounting tool i took off to let the fuel line wrap around the front of the blower, i had to pull on it really hard to get it to stretch out but it finally made it.
I needed just a little extra room so since the rail connector was at an angle i stuck a round tube over it and bent it slightly closer without getting too crazy.
Crank pinning: When installing a supercharger you are putting a lot more tension on the belt typically. The LS balancer is just press fit on, the extra tension has been known to spin the balancer on the crankshaft and ruin not just the balancer but the crankshaft also. For insurance i bought the crank pinning kit from A&A LSx Engine Crank Pinning Kit (OE LS1, LS2, LS6 Balancer) [AAPK-01] - $74.95 : A & A Corvette Performance, Your C5, C6 and Z06 Corvette Supercharger Specialists
Always make sure to use a new GM bolt as they are a 1 use bolt. The tightening sequence 37 ft lbs and then 140 degrees.
Electrical: My tuner did not like the 3bar MAP sensor it came with so he had me get a 2 bar from a Cobalt SS Part#12615136 that plugs into the factory wiring. It did not come with and sort of gasket, i reused the stock truck orange seal, and then added on the 3bar MAP o-ring it came with to seal up the hole and threw a bolt back in it.
Since the IAT is located in the MAF sensor it will no longer read the actual temperature going into the engine after the blower. The new lid came with a sensor, i just got a pigtail from ICTbillet.com and wired it in. The black and the Tan wires that are side-by-side on the MAF are the IAT signal, it does not matter which wire goes where on the new sensor.
Lastly i decided to try and use the EVAP solenoid, it screw in with no problems, just have to extend the wires and the tube.
The stock bypass valve setup uses an electronic solenoid to control it. I tried simply deleting the valve and hooking it back up normal and it would not make any boost, i had to reverse the tubes and it worked fine after that. My crude $45 boost gauge is tapped into there for now. There is adjustment in the mounting bracket! you need to adjust it so that it will be fully closed at rest so there will not be an air leak on the internal valve or you will not make boost!
Right now the market is flooded with takeoff LSA blowers that have been taken off and replaced under warranty at GM dealerships. Customers are complaining of a very loud rattling coming from inside, and instead of fixing them they replace the entire unit. Lucky for us, its a $50 fix via a solid coupler instead of the spring loaded factory one.
Here is my blower put together with a ZL1 intercooler lid. What you will typically get is the plain aluminum section and that's about it. Keep in mind there is an isolater/ gasket in between the intercooler lid to keep it sealed part#12612467. The ZL1 lid i found on jegs for $380 part#12622236. As you can see i had -12AN bungs welded onto the front coolant lines because they take a special fitting for, LSA CONVERSION STORE has these adapter fittings as well as a bunch of other helpful parts but this is the route i went.
As far as the pulley size on the blower, you need to keep in mind that our balancer is slightly smaller than the stock CTS-V balancer meaning the supercharger will actually be turning slower than it would on a stock LSA engine. i used this calculator and compared it to charts from weapon-x website and lingenfelter website to figure out the blower speed. I ended up at 18,809 rpm blower speed with a 2.75" supercharger pulley and ended up with about 10psi on my 4.8L engine. THis is the calculator i used : 928 Motorsports® Services - Supercharger and Pulley Frequently Asked Questions and the pulley chart i used for boost and blower speed. http://weaponxmotorsports.myshopify....ng-mods-needed
Crank Pulley Diameter:
7.72
Blower Pulley Diameter:
2.75
Internal Step Up Ratio:
1.0
Max Engine RPM:
6700
Click this button to calculate
Impeller RPM:
18809
The cylinder heads on my truck are cathedral port and the LSA blower is a rectangle port. I had a company in town engineer some adapters for me which is now on their site as well as a ton of other things. LS1 Cathedral Port Cylinder Head to LS3 LSA ZL1 Supercharger Adapters Rectangle LSX They come with gasket/ o-rings for the cylinder head side, and i used stock CTS-V gaskets for the blower side GM part#19180613. I ended up using the stock intake manifold bolts with beefy washers to hold the blower down. They are 70mm long bolts.
When setting the blower down it wouldn't sit flush, i found that it was hitting the steam tube, since this thing weighs a ton i didn't want to pull it back out. I just tapped the angle down a little bit to clear. You can also see the head adapters in the picture.
The pulley system i got from LSSimple.net , when buying the kit they ask which water pump you are using., either a truck or f-body. I had no idea the water pump was different on the 07+ trucks have a different upper neck until today actually and their site made no mention of it. so in my effort to make the stock one work I tried grinding their bracket then tried turning the neck in a different direction. Neither worked and i had to have a friend weld a new neck on for me.
Also their directions say to press on the new power steering pulley all the way till it bottoms out, when i did that, it was too far back and would not spin. At that point, the tool i rented from the parts store would no longer go on because it was so far back on the shaft, i had to grind on the shaft to shorten it so the tool would go on so pay attention to this when doing yours
Fuel System: I forgot to take pictures of this but I bought a Toyota supra twin turbo pump from densofuelpump.com that puts out 300lph. I installed this into a stock 2005 returnless fuel bucket and had no problems with driving it before the blower was on. You have to cut off the neck where the pump sits because it chokes down for the smaller pump. I then just used a hose clamp to secure it around the return container beside it. I forgot to check depth before assembly and pushed it down as far as i could to the bottom of the bucket. I accidentally ran the tank down till the light came on and i still didn't have any fuel supply issues.
The fuel injectors i used were stock 56lb LSA injectors i got off of ebay. I wanted to use them specifically because of the odd angle they are installed into the blower. They are an EV6 injector plug and my truck used delphi connectors so wiring adapters were used.
The fuel rail i used was the stock ZR-1 corvette which was around $200 from gmpartsdirect.com part#12602070. I used this one because 1 person from somewhere in the depths of the internet said it would work on the LSA smaller blower so i took the gamble and the fuel inlet was on the same side as the stock truck rail unlike the CTS-V and ZL1. I was about 6" short on the hose so after inspecting, the lines had a ton of slack that i could stretch out. There is a bracket the bolts to the transmission bell housing that had to be removed to let it be stretched out, and there was also a cylinder head mounting tool i took off to let the fuel line wrap around the front of the blower, i had to pull on it really hard to get it to stretch out but it finally made it.
I needed just a little extra room so since the rail connector was at an angle i stuck a round tube over it and bent it slightly closer without getting too crazy.
Crank pinning: When installing a supercharger you are putting a lot more tension on the belt typically. The LS balancer is just press fit on, the extra tension has been known to spin the balancer on the crankshaft and ruin not just the balancer but the crankshaft also. For insurance i bought the crank pinning kit from A&A LSx Engine Crank Pinning Kit (OE LS1, LS2, LS6 Balancer) [AAPK-01] - $74.95 : A & A Corvette Performance, Your C5, C6 and Z06 Corvette Supercharger Specialists
Always make sure to use a new GM bolt as they are a 1 use bolt. The tightening sequence 37 ft lbs and then 140 degrees.
Electrical: My tuner did not like the 3bar MAP sensor it came with so he had me get a 2 bar from a Cobalt SS Part#12615136 that plugs into the factory wiring. It did not come with and sort of gasket, i reused the stock truck orange seal, and then added on the 3bar MAP o-ring it came with to seal up the hole and threw a bolt back in it.
Since the IAT is located in the MAF sensor it will no longer read the actual temperature going into the engine after the blower. The new lid came with a sensor, i just got a pigtail from ICTbillet.com and wired it in. The black and the Tan wires that are side-by-side on the MAF are the IAT signal, it does not matter which wire goes where on the new sensor.
Lastly i decided to try and use the EVAP solenoid, it screw in with no problems, just have to extend the wires and the tube.
The stock bypass valve setup uses an electronic solenoid to control it. I tried simply deleting the valve and hooking it back up normal and it would not make any boost, i had to reverse the tubes and it worked fine after that. My crude $45 boost gauge is tapped into there for now. There is adjustment in the mounting bracket! you need to adjust it so that it will be fully closed at rest so there will not be an air leak on the internal valve or you will not make boost!
Last edited by 67goatman455; 11-12-2015 at 04:15 PM.
11-12-2015, 11:20 AM
#3
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Coolant system: I bought a stock ZL1 pump without realizing it had 5 wires going to it, it actually talks to the computer and reports any problems, and it still retains a heat sensor that shuts itself down if there is an air pocket or something after 3 minutes. Its a really cool brush-less 3 phase motor that sure looks like it flows plenty of fluid to me, but i ended up soldering some wires to it, it was just kind of a pain to work on. If i did it again i would use a bosch pump part#0392022002 like everyone else does. I found someone selling a Coolant reservoir from LSAconverionstore that came with a bracket, and a stock takeoff ZL1 intercooler that i made brackets for.
Lastly, My truck is an RST and came with an intake already, i thought about relocating the battery to the other side but this intake fits so perfectly i will just keep it like this. MY truck was a 3-bolt throttle body and the LSA is a 4-bolt. I got a new acdelco LS7 90mm TB off ebay for $150 and had to get an x-link from torquerush performance for $250 I thought about using an adapter to use the stock throttle body to save some money right out of the gate but the more air these blowers can suck in the more power they make.
I think that about wraps it up, I threw on a base mail order tune from Vengeance Racing that surprisingly fired up and drove decent enough to go to work a couple miles away. For being such a bastardized parts list i was really surprised. I still need to get the tune finished up so i can actually play with it but even as it is now my quick couple of second hits, it has sure waken the truck up a lot! Ill be guessing somewhere between 450-500 hp to the tires but i also have a cam, headers, and i have a manual transmission so maybe one day ill make it to the dyno.
Lastly, My truck is an RST and came with an intake already, i thought about relocating the battery to the other side but this intake fits so perfectly i will just keep it like this. MY truck was a 3-bolt throttle body and the LSA is a 4-bolt. I got a new acdelco LS7 90mm TB off ebay for $150 and had to get an x-link from torquerush performance for $250 I thought about using an adapter to use the stock throttle body to save some money right out of the gate but the more air these blowers can suck in the more power they make.
I think that about wraps it up, I threw on a base mail order tune from Vengeance Racing that surprisingly fired up and drove decent enough to go to work a couple miles away. For being such a bastardized parts list i was really surprised. I still need to get the tune finished up so i can actually play with it but even as it is now my quick couple of second hits, it has sure waken the truck up a lot! Ill be guessing somewhere between 450-500 hp to the tires but i also have a cam, headers, and i have a manual transmission so maybe one day ill make it to the dyno.
been thing about this for a lil while.....
11-12-2015, 11:24 AM
#5
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Yes it was, I included a link to the site i got mine, they mention something Being my only drive able vehicle there is no way i'm going to use a Walbro, My theory is that a stock toyota pump should last a hell of a lot longer
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11-12-2015, 02:32 PM
#9
Alright so after reviewing the play... a few things.
For starters you will see a heck of a lot more than 10PSI with this combo on a 4.8. Second how high do you plan to spin it up? 19600 would require a shift point of 7150.
And those adapter plates are cool! I'd like to see more pictures of them if you could!
For starters you will see a heck of a lot more than 10PSI with this combo on a 4.8. Second how high do you plan to spin it up? 19600 would require a shift point of 7150.
And those adapter plates are cool! I'd like to see more pictures of them if you could!
