Help! 1996 Supercharged Greenwood Edition, LT4, Z51

[old school]

Hello,
I am buying a 1996 Corvette Greenwood Edition with 28,000 miles on it and it has a supercharger and 504 hp. Need to learn every thing I can find out about car. I hope it will survive being driven every day because it will be my only car. What do you think? Does anybody know how to get history of my soon to be corvette Greenwood Edition. I did get the build sheet from Comp Nine De Coder for $6.99, you can do 5 vin checks for that. That build sheet told me this car has the LT4 motor and Z51 handling package but nothing about the Greenwood package.
So if any one can lead me to get the facts about the Greenwood package that would be great! VIN# is 1G1YY2252T5117837. Also does anybody know about how much whine from the supercharger should be because this one has a very distinctive whine, could that be a belt or wear or normal? One other thing, is this supercharged vette a good or OK choice for a light footed daily driver?
Thanks,
Old School

 

[Wegone]

The Greenwood body kit is just that anyone could have added it. It was not something GM offered. post some pics love to see it. Good Luck. Hopefully you can find out who did it. sounds like a fun car. If you look under the rear compartment door it should have an RPO sticker with all the options the car was sold with.

 

[Hib Halverson]

For the 1996 model year there was no such thing as a "Greenwood Edition" offered by GM. Such a package was not even available on an upfitter basis. As "Wegone" suggests above, it was likely a package of aftermarket parts installed after the car was sold.

Most aftermarket, engine-driven superchargers emit some kind of noise which usually can be described as a "whine". Some blowers whine louder than others. Some whine only under certain conditions and not under others.

The whine you hear might just be normal blower noise or it could be indicative of a problem with the supercharger. If you feel the amount of supercharger whine is excessive, I'd take the car to a service facility which specializes in modified Corvettes and have them assess the condition of the supercharger system.

As for the last question about a 500-hp aftermarket-supercharged Corvette being a good choice for a "light-footed daily driver", based on what most people understand to be a "daily driver" and assuming you have another vehicle to drive daily...I'd say, "No."

 

[hcbph]

Superchargers

As has been noted, whine can be normal or abnormal, depending. Is this a centrifical supercharger like a Paxton or a Roots type like a Weland? Been a long time since I touched a Roots type but IIRC the ones I did has an oil reservour for the bearings, you don't want to run them low. Then you have things like the rotors whether they are straight or spiral along with things like the gears whether they are straight-cut or not. Even the belt whether it's a straight or cog can make a difference in noise. Another is the rotor to case seals and the condition they are in.

I'm guessing this is not oem as I don't remember reading GM putting superchargers on 96's. As far as who can look at it, I'd say (depending on brand and type) you'll have better luck talking to speed and performance shops that deal with extreme high performance cars (like as in drag racing) rather than a Vette shop that may not deal with superchargers. Remember also there is likely some extensive mods to the ECM to make the engine live with a supercharger, do you know what and where it was done?

Whether a supercharged Vette is a good choice overall for a daily driver is very iffy. I've known people that have done it on non Vettes but there are alot of variables that come into play. Admittedly most of my exposure was relating to Chevy's and Chryslers with Roots type superchargers and used carburetors. They could be very finicky, especially when it was cold out. Maintenance was very critical to maintain them. If the case got scored or backfired, you could be looking at an expecially exciting and expensive fix. I've known more than one person that had them for a while because they looked 'cool' and took them off because it was just too painful and expensive to deal with them on a regular basis.

You also have to remember that things like compression ratios, timing etc all need to be modified to live with a supercharger and if you're out in Nowhere USA and something breaks you're more than likely going to have to have it trailored to someone familar with them in order to fix them. It's not something many shadetree or general shop mechanics have seen let alone know how to work on. Forget about parts other than ordering from places like Summit or some speedshop. Most places won't have any on hand.

It's your call but it's not one I'd look at as anything other than maybe a drag car.

My 2 cents.

 

[WhalePirot]

Maybe Placerville has no SMOG checks; some less urban areas of CA don't. The seller is responsible for passing SMOG, but that's usually left to the buyer, IMO. Here, E.O. stickers are supposed to be affixed for most aftermarket, CARB-legal mods to the engine. Also, the pass/fail standard is higher now, than when the car was new.

My other big concern would be the driveline condition of the car. Folks don't usually put blowers on grocery getters, and all that extra torque, from SPIRITED driving would wear the tranny gears and parts aft at an accelerated (lol) rate. I'd have the car checked by a competent Corvette shop with the above in mind, perhaps including oil analysis for engine, trans and rear end.

I've heard some supercharged cars never get properly tuned, but I assume you are happy with that, from driving it.

So. Californika

 

[Hib Halverson]

All cars covered by the Smog Check have to test upon change of ownership, unless they are sold out of state.

In some rural counties there is no smog check required for registration renewals. Placerville might be one of those areas. Check on the California Smog Check web site.

In most air quality districts, all cars have to tested once every other year.

In most heavily polluted areas, Greater L.A., Greater SF, Greater SD and some places in the Central Valley cars have to undergo the enhanced Smog Check which puts most vehicles on a chassis dynamometer for testing.

 

[Tuna]

Glad I don't live in California!

 

[kpic]

There are a few types of supercharger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGdg2Fd2WQY Check out the video to identify which design you have.

My guess is it is what is called a centrifugal; easiest way to describe it would be a turbocharger's compressor cover and wheel driven by a gear box. The gear box will have straight cut gears which are noisy or helical gears which are a lot quieter.

Some centrifugal superchargers (EG Vortech V1 and V2) tap into the engine's oiling system; the V3 has a self contained oil reservoir. There is also a blow off valve which must be cleaned and lubed. The blow off valve allows the centrifugal to free wheel when it isn't engaged. Same as a turbo, being lazy changing air filters etc. is a very expensive date.

The advantage of the centrifugal and turbos are their drive-ability, emissions, fuel economy are better than a naturally aspirated engine of the same power. We will see more turbocharged and supercharged vehicles in the near future from Detroit. The reason is simple, Americans love power and with today's prices they want economy also.
Some supercharger head assemblies wear a emissions sticker; A&A's is C.A.R.B. # D-707. That means the supercharger, it does not include any other modifications to the engine.

I would not venture a guess on the prior owner drove it or whether or not the clutch, transmission are set up to handle 504 HP. Depending on the vehicle the installation adds high volume injectors, a high pressure fuel pump. It will use different heat range spark plugs so ignore what the auto parts man says.
If it has been tuned, the 504 is rear wheel horsepower not flywheel horsepower. Any idiot can flog a naturally aspirated engine and power train just as easily. A high horsepower NA or FI engine aren't a cheap date to fix.

Before he'd see my money, in addition to a visit to a qualified GM mechanic who knows Corvettes; I'd take the car to a shop where they install and tune them.

Although others do, personally, I wouldn't use it as a daily driver.