Precious got a supercharger

[GMballistic]

Standard rad, open cooler thermostat. I'd be amazed if the standard rad was overpowered in my application (especially with the oil mods added). Reliability consumables alterations are a priority I think. Go on.. you know you want it..

Well I've got a Nismo low temp thermostat (basically the same as the Mishimoto one you have) to go on but you have got me thinking about the fans now.

 

Getting some prices from suppliers then we'll see.

 

Did you get the 3.12" pulley btw? ..or are you staying standard for starters in that respect?

[ChrisB]

GMB - yes, i bought the 3.12, but I currently like the idea of bedding in after its alterations with a 3.33, then in a years time, treat it to a 3.12 (just incase 350-370 HP gets old )

 

Anyway, on to today - berrliimeey... ups and downs today...

 

I took one of the dogs for a walk, and on the way back noticed drips of coolant under the car. Since there was next to no coolant in it (just residual in the block) - it was a bit of a mystery until....

 

 

oooppss... gasket-tastic! Never rush something at the end of the day....

 

Fiddly git, I'll have you this time.

 

 

So, having disaster averted, I slowly filled her up with coolant using my magic funnel, put the intake back on and did the normal coolant air purge procedures, and fortunately it all seems fine. Nice and cool, fan 2 comes on in response to A/C, fan 1 is strangely quiet though. I checked terminal resistance, all seems correct, so maybe fan 1 only activate in hot conditions now - which I hadn't really pushed idling on axle stands. Cooling seems good though, heater seems to work, so I assume it's efficient.

 

So, the day has drawn on a bit. Couldn't find my spare spark plugs, the tool fairies had rearranged and hidden a lot of my tools, and the garage was full of junk. Time for reset - clear garage and get rid of junk - check.

 

So, what next? Lets a look at PCV.

 

 

Isn't she lovely!

 

 

However, as suspected, its a bit of a pig trying to find a suitable place to install the expensive wonder of catch can - so binned that for today. Dispondent.

 

So, what next? Well the car is in bits, I can't find the plugs, might as well tinker with the charger a bit more.

 

Firstly I made the power steering fitment a bit better (no pics - sorry)... then started reading the Vortech instructions and dived in dismantling. I have many not very interesting memory pics of the brackets which came off - but all those brackets are in the junk pile.

 

Bouyed, I then started on the neoprene couplings. Holy moly, these things put up a fight. Two worst are MAF but that pales into insignificance with (Peter Griffin biblical voice) The Throttle Body... Very nasty, bad angles. I developed a bike tyre lever technique and finally got it on. Sweaty - no pics.

 

As for the intake pipery... blimey. Don't try to be subtle here, just get in there and start snipping cable ties and brackets as much as possible - every fecker is in the way

 

So, pare it back to this, bending fragile A/C pipes what feels like too much... (that brown stuff is not rust by the way - it's Dynax S50 that I squirted under the popcharger heat shield)

 

 

And then, as it seemed to fit, try getting on with the plate. On-off a lot of times. A lot of times. Curse that PCV breather, curse that coolant pipe.... Then play hunt the spacer - waste about 20 minutes on this game - then realise that the Vortech instruction diagram is misleading (arrows point to the wrong spot).....

 

However, it all came together eventually. Very close to moving parts some of those looms, so more cutting of clips and add a few cable ties with long tails to remind me of their presence, and we get.........

 

 

[GMballistic]

Great work Chris.

 

That was one of my concerns with the oil catch can about where it's location would be. I've got the Rutlands catch can so it's tiny in comparison and fits easily next to the P/S tank.

 

Keep it up.

[ChrisB]

I thought I had found the perfect spot down by the alternator under the coolant tank. Could be easy to service, nice and discrete.. However, it didn't work out that way today. Hope is not lost on it yet though

[GMballistic]

Do you think it will fit on the firewall/bulkhead like this guys?...

[ChrisB]

I did think spot might have possibilities, but the Aeromotive regulator and pipes is going to fit in that spot - so I thought I'd leave it till after FRS install before commiting it to PCV catch can. Maybe I could try further along though, but I've got to remember servicing and access, so a CC drain pipe would likely need to be added (not a hugey)

[GMballistic]

^^ Fair enough, probably the best idea to get the FRS sorted first, ...look forward to seeing more progress. Kudos.

[ChrisB]

For todays installationment I have had a lot of wrestling with neoprene encrusted pipes. But first, deburring..

 

I noticed this (both sides) on the plastic idler pulley (and some areas of roughness)

 

 

So I pulled it off and set to it with 1500 grit. Nice and smooth now (nothing to see)

 

So, next onto tidying up the power steering pipes. I tie wrapped the rubber bushing leftover from the discarded brackets back on. Much neater. (Tie wrap tail trimmed after)

 

 

Then, onto oddments such as making sure the oil drain doesn't whip into the belts.. I don't think there will be significant conduction of heat from the lower hose to affect anything, but this was the easiest spot at the time..

 

 

And put the main belt on - loads of room with a Mishi rad fan shroud

 

 

Then start fitting more neoprene.. This is a tight so and so as it touches the structure inbetween the A/C pipes. Note how close the pipe gets to the A/C compressor pully (there is a gap, honest)

 

 

I seemed to have a mystery spare M6 hexdrive roundhead screw in the kit - I can't find a reference to it anywhere in the printout, so I did this as the cam plate bolts are REALLY close to the belt at this point. The bottom one is swapped as the belt is wobbliest/longest at that point. I will acquire a similar screw for the top one too.

 

 

So, thats the front then..

 

 

It looks like this down the front. The positioning is a bit of a mare - twist a bit one way and it hits the stock oil cooler hard water pipe, twist the other, and well it doesn't fit right.. wiggle wiggle

 

 

The IC doesn't hit my oil cooler either This caused much relief because for a moment there, it looked like the IC wanted to be more forward.. phew. Word to the wise here: use the long couplers at this end and the pipe that connects to the tight up pipe. You are not shown which to use particularly well in the instructions.. I deduced by suck it and see..

 

 

All fixed up. Every clamp has a good and bad orientation for ease of access. It is part of the fun puzzle

 

 

And so, I have a NA car with a supercharger attached

 

 

Next up is to start cutting up all the bits of plastic to complete fitting. It will require uncoupling and recoupling some of the neoprenes, but I have got to know which are the more friendly ones.

 

Remaining then:

 

. Go back to work (boo). I will be running around with the gilmer belt off for a while (NA mode) to road test and check for leaks and wobbles to see if there are any weak spots.

. Fit the FRS Some of you will know that I have lost a little bit of love for it..

. Sort out the vacuum lines to various spots

. Upgrade the PCV (at minimum a check valve) then attempt to find a spot for my big can. I am leaving the breather side as Vortech designed with the big pipe to the intake.

. Probably put a check valve in the EVAP line - that is an ECU controlled vacuum tap

. Book a day for tuning

. Race to fit the remains - injectors, plugs, Wasso plenum spacer, put gilmer belt back on. All of these upset tuning, and some of them prevent the car driving safely on stock map, so a little bit of planning / holiday is required.

 

Looks good though

[GMballistic]

Great work again. Must of been a bit of a nightmare doing that all in today's heat.

 

Just fyi in case you didn't know where to get a decent check valve (non return valve) from this is where I got mine from; http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/nylon-non-return-valve-10mm

Should do the job although that site does have metal non return valves if that's more what you where after.

[ChrisB]

Yup, I like carbuilder, although you can see exactly what Morgan/Westfields are made of

 

For my sub-project I have been using efi-parts and hobbytronics - both good for electronics.

Oh yeah, my sub-project, I forgot to mention that

[GMballistic]

Yep I've used Car Buider Solutions for years ~ found them years ago and have used them for loads of different bits for my cars over the years.

 

Loving all the pictures of your build Chris btw.

[cmck13]

Better than the Jeremy Kyle show Chris, well done. Hope you don't mind me putting the reply from Frank Quintero at Vortech USA below so that we can see from the horses mouth what they say about the the 3.12 pulley and the correct belt that fits the pulley, actually it shows that we were going down the right road in the first place but I do like the American disclaimer at the end, LOL. This is not a hijack of this great thread but I thought most of the group would be following the pathfinders adventure with interest.

 

Hello,

Typically if you only drop one size down on the pulley you can reuse the same belt. The belt does not need to be really tight. A .25†deflection on the long side (side without tension) is tight enough. If the belt is to loose try a 79.25†or 79†long belt. We have not verified what belt works with that pulley in-house.

Thank you,

Sales

AirPower® Group

Engineered Air Management Solutions

Vortech / Paxton / Vortech Racing / Vortech Marine / Vortron

1650 Pacific Avenue

Channel Islands, CA 93033

Main: 805.247.0226 ext. 244

Fax: 805.247.0669

[ChrisB]

Well I worked out comparing circumferences, and the fact that belt / pulley contact is about 1/2 a pulley, that the difference from stock is around 0.25-0.33 inches in length, so not a lot. There is plenty of travel in the bottom tensioner idler adjuster - so the standard belt will probably be fine or at worst only a bit loose (potentially squeaky - not inoperative). 1/4" deflection is a good metric to know. I tensioned mine to about 5-6mm as this felt about right for a long belt.

 

I think the reason for the previous interest in belts in the group buy thread is more to do with making a perfect choice if purchasing upgraded strength belts. Personally, I am happy with Gates for the time being. The old accessory Gates belt I took off was a year old and about 15k miles on it and it looked brand new still.

 

Still, it's good to keep all the info from any sources flowing

 

Jeff, your email powers are strong Responses from Vortech and Mike M

Edited July 26, 2014 by ChrisB

[Keyser]

Nice work and looking good mate

[ChrisB]

Ugh. Bit of a slog with the interim tidy up and quality control today.

 

At least my helper was on site - he's a bit busy with important cat business usually..

 

 

There were quite a few undertray dramas.. Oil cooler doesn't like undertray bolts - whoops

 

 

Easy, make em shorter.. (a bit too short that one )

 

 

Metal stiffener is a bit intimate with the u-bend. No worries, metal stiffener bends OK

 

 

Much time was spent re-fettling the front bumper nibbles to make the cooler fit better. It looks the same but I know it fits better (didn't take a pic - too much to get on with)

 

Final resting place of oil cooler lines.. Something had to be done as the plastics and angles join in such a way to prevent routing without cutting

 

 

This was the biggest abortion. I refitted the down pipe and u-bend this morning and improved fit (metal to metal), but still it wont quite go. I tried to stretch the tray over the pipe but that seemed worse. This is an in-progress shot of chopping the tray supported by about 1 screw (it looks better in the end, but I forgot to take a pic ) I can almost imagine Zmanalex will pop up here and say "new and used undertrays in stock.. good to go same day or next" Not shown are 3D slices of plastic within the bumper assembly too. It might be better to throw the internal ones away - they don't appear to do much (sorry no pics). No I don't have a 2.5" hole saw - just drill bits and scissors/cutters

 

 

Stillen fits nicely though

 

 

So, on to the looms. Loomin heck in fact. There is a lot of spare wire in RHD cars compared to LHD it seems. I decided the best place for excess on the skinny loom was the other side of the engine

 

 

Not a good pic - I seemed to be pointing camera at the wrong spot (camera went where head couldn't) but loops of un tied loom hanging down near the exhaust would be a bad thing!

 

 

So tied loops are in order

 

 

Jack shaft clearance - tip of tie wrapping dipstick was gleaned from the Vortech reliability thread

 

 

Sprouted an engine cover - the cover's internal standoffs help push the looms away even more

 

 

See what I mean about tight clearance (down pipe and A/C belt) - I'm half tempted to bash the down pipe but I don't fancy bodging fairly un-replaceable parts (unlike pastics )

 

 

But at the end of the day, it's ended up like this. She's now driveable (all be it NA), and a good understanding of some of the potential failure points has been gained. My biggest fears are the downpipe to u-bend union, followed by the u-bend to IC. Bigger couplers would help here. Tolerances are scary, but the pipes are in there rock solid. I think I have the looms under control - so events such as jack shaft pulley eating the VVT solenoid leads or MAF loom (or dipstick), or fails due to exhaust setting fire to wire shouldn't happen..

 

 

I might just put the front wheels on tomorrow and give her a well earned bath, ready for work on Monday. It's a bit full on this car modding lark in the hot weather FRS etc can wait for another day

[GMballistic]

Looking good and fair play to you for doing all this in the heat of today ~ tbh I can't stand this weather, just a little bit too hot for me.

[cmck13]

Looking good Chris, well done.

[Keyser]

[ChrisB]

:scare: ...no way!!

 

(not in a good way either - but nothing inflicted by me )

 

All I will say now before tonights update

[GMballistic]

[ChrisB]

Ok... it's been different today..

 

I went to on a reccy to checkout the last PITA job before the more casual stuff remaining.... the return fuel pipe install...

 

Hot things be this way

 

 

But anyway, I dived in and start stripping (all of this has been apart many times before.. and the JBL has a humungous magnet - hence the offset)

 

 

Dismantled it and opened the hatch.... NO FRICKING WAY HOSE!!! A mouse nest on my fuel bucket!!

 

 

It had had quite a munch on the wires too..

 

 

After a bit of gentle movement it fell down to one good remaining strand!

 

 

Ok it was all a bit silly

 

 

All fixed though - soldering iron out on the neighbours extension lead

 

 

So threading up into the tank was a complete mare - I used a length of shrink wrap from the top to get a through path (worked well) then taped the end to the pipe and worked it through (many attempts were made to get the correct channel)

.. and voila..

 

 

Underneath, these clips are barstewards.. this one particularly (nose bent against the underbody this time)

 

 

As for the other end, there is a pipe holder in the engine bay. PITA to get to with your nose squashed agains the subframe..

 

 

But ..check it out!!..

 

 

And temporarily tied to the engine bay - plenty of pipe for the regulator to connect to.

 

 

All nicely routed (caveat a couple of under body clips which I cheated for later fettling by cable ties)

 

[GMballistic]

Can't believe there was a mouse nest in there!

 

That's pretty unusual I'd guess.

[ChrisB]

I live in the country - creatures are everywhere - randomly, yesterday infact whilst covered in car grime, I had to be called out to rescue a shrew from a hysterical neighbour (her cat had brought his first gift in )

[GMballistic]

^^ Could of been worse, ...at least the shrew was still alive then I take it?.

 

When I used to run a catering business with my mate we went home to his house one day after work and there was blood everywhere in his garden/patio area. His Cat a large ginger tom had caught & killed a grey squirrel. For some reason it had chewed the squirrels bl**dy head off!!

[ChrisB]

Haha. A couple of weeks ago I was in bed with the wife - at about 3am we heard cat chirping noises. Oh no, here we go I thought. The the cat jumped on the bed, dropped a mouse and it ran along my stomach up into my arm pit and into my pillow. The fun we have eh?

 

Yes the shrew (and mouse) were all repatriated intact.

 

I had a large ginger who tried (and failed) to get a big wood pigeon through the cat flap. He just ripped its chest out outside instead

 

 

...And then there was the occasion of the guinea pig. We don't talk about that though