Help! vortech supercharger lt1

[meatz]

I just bought a vortech supercharger for my 95 vette which already has a eagle 383 rotating assembly with 11:1 comp. stock ported heads, gm hot cam and 30lbs. injectors. I was wanting to know if the eagle cast steel crank, I beam rods and forged inverted dome 9:1 pistons would handle the vortech supercharger? The charger is non intercooled and I have 6lb. and 8lb. pullies for the head unit. The crank pulley is the stock one that came with the vortech kit. Would this hold up with a good tune? ;help

 

[Hib Halverson]

9:1 CR is a good move. Make sure the ring package you select is appropriate for a supercharged engine.

The cast steel crank will probably be ok as long as you're not planning a lot of high rpm use on the street or racing.

I'd rethink the idea of doing the supercharger installation without a charge air cooler. If a cooler is available, I'd run one.

 

[boomdriver]

I just bought a vortech supercharger for my 95 vette which already has a eagle 383 rotating assembly with 11:1 comp. stock ported heads, gm hot cam and 30lbs. injectors. I was wanting to know if the eagle cast steel crank, I beam rods and forged inverted dome 9:1 pistons would handle the vortech supercharger? The charger is non intercooled and I have 6lb. and 8lb. pullies for the head unit. The crank pulley is the stock one that came with the vortech kit. Would this hold up with a good tune? ;help

I agree 100% with Hib...

The under-cut pistons with a low CR is the right move for a charged motor. By reducing the compression ratio to 8.5 or 9, you give more room for forced induction, if that makes sense.. and it'll help you avoid having to fill up with 108 av-gas. Hopefully.
Are you planning on pulling the current pistons/crank or rods and replacing with something else to get down to 9?

I'd also look for some kind of intercooler. Everyone that I know that added a charger, pro-charger, vortec or whatever could not get the best performance until they cooled the intake charge. Cooler charge, more advance, less detonation, more WOT kind of fun.
Its either that or adding a gaurenteed to be a hassle water injection, and trust me, that IS a hassle.I did it for a while and having to buy the car a bottle of water a couple times per tank of gas got to be a PITA...

Regardless of which way you go, its a fun project.

 

[meatz]

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking of going with meth injection but didnt know the issues. I have speed pro flat tops in the engine right now and plan on switching to probe forged inverted domes to get to 9:1. I plan on using the same I beam rods if they will hold up to the low boost. Wish I could find a good buy on an intercooler that would work with my setup.

I agree 100% with Hib...

The under-cut pistons with a low CR is the right move for a charged motor. By reducing the compression ratio to 8.5 or 9, you give more room for forced induction, if that makes sense.. and it'll help you avoid having to fill up with 108 av-gas. Hopefully.
Are you planning on pulling the current pistons/crank or rods and replacing with something else to get down to 9?

I'd also look for some kind of intercooler. Everyone that I know that added a charger, pro-charger, vortec or whatever could not get the best performance until they cooled the intake charge. Cooler charge, more advance, less detonation, more WOT kind of fun.
Its either that or adding a gaurenteed to be a hassle water injection, and trust me, that IS a hassle.I did it for a while and having to buy the car a bottle of water a couple times per tank of gas got to be a PITA...

Regardless of which way you go, its a fun project.

 

[boomdriver]

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking of going with meth injection but didnt know the issues. I have speed pro flat tops in the engine right now and plan on switching to probe forged inverted domes to get to 9:1. I plan on using the same I beam rods if they will hold up to the low boost. Wish I could find a good buy on an intercooler that would work with my setup.

You'll find one...do some searching on flea-bay...theres lots of kits there. I mixed alcohol & water and tried straight water...the alcohol blend seemed to help with a little flat feeling when the injection came on. I had mine on a limit switch set to spray as the throttle opened to a place where the power band jumped up and knock was most likely to happen. Simple but effective at keeping the combustion knock to a minimum so I did'nt have to retard all the fun out.

Kits for our cars are'nt etched in stone, usually a box of bends, angles and straight tubing with instructions that say "assemble as required".. After seeing a couple installations, I'd have to say that its more a custom set up than a bolt on for a C4.

The real fun part of the whole deal with the intercooler is the plumbing...with so little free space under the hood of a C4 it ends up snaking around all over the place. A good system will be hand made, welded tubing with about a hundred angle cuts all welded together to make the constant bends. beware the plastic ducts that some places sell...they tend to blow apart then you have to listen to a leaf blower all the way home..

 

[meatz]

Thanks again for the advice BOOMDRIVER. Hoper everything works out with this build for me. Where do you live at down there? I bought my engine from a builder in Houston, It is making around 430 at flywheel now. Hope to get 500fhp after supercharger install! Thanks again!

You'll find one...do some searching on flea-bay...theres lots of kits there. I mixed alcohol & water and tried straight water...the alcohol blend seemed to help with a little flat feeling when the injection came on. I had mine on a limit switch set to spray as the throttle opened to a place where the power band jumped up and knock was most likely to happen. Simple but effective at keeping the combustion knock to a minimum so I did'nt have to retard all the fun out.

Kits for our cars are'nt etched in stone, usually a box of bends, angles and straight tubing with instructions that say "assemble as required".. After seeing a couple installations, I'd have to say that its more a custom set up than a bolt on for a C4.

The real fun part of the whole deal with the intercooler is the plumbing...with so little free space under the hood of a C4 it ends up snaking around all over the place. A good system will be hand made, welded tubing with about a hundred angle cuts all welded together to make the constant bends. beware the plastic ducts that some places sell...they tend to blow apart then you have to listen to a leaf blower all the way home..

 

[boomdriver]

Thanks again for the advice BOOMDRIVER. Hoper everything works out with this build for me. Where do you live at down there? I bought my engine from a builder in Houston, It is making around 430 at flywheel now. Hope to get 500fhp after supercharger install! Thanks again!

I'm North of Hou near Spring. These days I'm more worried about polishing parts than going faster....Keeping my small business going keeps me from getting in trouble buying corvete parts!

No matter what you do or how you do this, its a challenging project that will get into every aspect of the engine, fuel, air, heat etc. and the day it all starts to work right together....pure satisfaction. I keep thinking about buying a short block to build into a beast just for that reason.