The Semi-Unofficial Pistol-Forum Car geek, gearhead, hot rodder, and vehicle thread

[JRB]

So this happened...

Attachment 66425

I installed a lot of ProCharger kits, many of them in C6's.
The Gates industrial green drive belts are by far and away the best available, so if you have issues with belt slip/jump/failure etc I'd try the Gates green belt in that size before dropping the money on an 8-rib setup. It doesn't color match as nicely but most anyone with a big supercharger setup understands the green belts are the way to go.

On any Procharger setup, if you hear weird squeaking/whining pulley noises, take it seriously and after IDing the offending pulley (a *very* small well-placed squirt of WD40 can quiet a bad pulley bearing) reverse lookup the bearings used and make sure it's not some sealed bearing rated for a paltry 6000rpm or something like that when those pullies see 3x engine RPM due to the pulley ratios.
Had a LOT of problems with several ProCharger installs due to ProCharger not being able to do belt-speed based math and select correct bearings for the pullies and tensioners in their kits. Honestly ProChargers aren't my favorite centrifugal blowers.
If anyone else is ever in the market for a supercharger on a Corvette, and if my $0.02 matters - i really prefer the A&A 'flip kit' Vortech V1/YSi based kits and the East Coast Supercharging (ECS) Novi 1500 based kits.

The Edelbrock kits are very well engineered and tends to be one of the most trouble-free setups in Corvettes by virtue of an absolutely ingenious heat exchanger design that clears the stock hood, along with a very thin and easily installed Air-to-Water heat exchanger in the nose of the car instead of the bulky air-to-air intercooler required by most centrifugal setups like a ProCharger or Vortech.

The big advantage of the Procharger over the Edelbrock setup is being able to expand things later on. With pulley changes and a bigger fuel system you can run more boost and turn up the power on even those smaller P1SC head units and get to mid 650-700whp or so with all the supporting mods. The Edelbrocks tend to be in the 500-575whp range and are great as a 'set it and forget it' sort of build, but don't offer much in the way of future expandability when that starts feeling slow.

Overall your setup and Prochargers in general make good power and I do really love the power delivery of a big centrifugal blower. IMHO it's better for a street car because power is consistently and gradually rising toward redline with a good flat torque curve so it's easier to find traction on most city streets with sensible tire choices, vs 'all if it RIGHT NOW' sorts of power from a big twin screw blower like a Kenne Bell or Whipple. Turbos of course bring their own variables into play and because of packaging and cooling issues I generally don't like turbos on Vettes.

Regardless of all that, nice car and you owe us more pictures Did you get it dyno tuned? What did it make and what else have you done to it?

I've had very little interest in an LS-swapped BMW up to this point. Today, the idea of doing an E46 wagon popped into my stupid monkey brain and I find it quite compelling.

Stupid monkey brain.

Monkey brain me found a wrecked 2011 Camaro SS auto, and I did all the brain sweat on installing that with an LSA blower into my Z32 300ZX, which is obviously a good idea and totally justified because my wife likes V8 noises and prefers autos.

[Bucky]

I installed a lot of ProCharger kits, many of them in C6's.
The Gates industrial green drive belts are by far and away the best available, so if you have issues with belt slip/jump/failure etc I'd try the Gates green belt in that size before dropping the money on an 8-rib setup. It doesn't color match as nicely but most anyone with a big supercharger setup understands the green belts are the way to go.

On any Procharger setup, if you hear weird squeaking/whining pulley noises, take it seriously and after IDing the offending pulley (a *very* small well-placed squirt of WD40 can quiet a bad pulley bearing) reverse lookup the bearings used and make sure it's not some sealed bearing rated for a paltry 6000rpm or something like that when those pullies see 3x engine RPM due to the pulley ratios.
Had a LOT of problems with several ProCharger installs due to ProCharger not being able to do belt-speed based math and select correct bearings for the pullies and tensioners in their kits. Honestly ProChargers aren't my favorite centrifugal blowers.
If anyone else is ever in the market for a supercharger on a Corvette, and if my $0.02 matters - i really prefer the A&A 'flip kit' Vortech V1/YSi based kits and the East Coast Supercharging (ECS) Novi 1500 based kits.

The Edelbrock kits are very well engineered and tends to be one of the most trouble-free setups in Corvettes by virtue of an absolutely ingenious heat exchanger design that clears the stock hood, along with a very thin and easily installed Air-to-Water heat exchanger in the nose of the car instead of the bulky air-to-air intercooler required by most centrifugal setups like a ProCharger or Vortech.

The big advantage of the Procharger over the Edelbrock setup is being able to expand things later on. With pulley changes and a bigger fuel system you can run more boost and turn up the power on even those smaller P1SC head units and get to mid 650-700whp or so with all the supporting mods. The Edelbrocks tend to be in the 500-575whp range and are great as a 'set it and forget it' sort of build, but don't offer much in the way of future expandability when that starts feeling slow.

Overall your setup and Prochargers in general make good power and I do really love the power delivery of a big centrifugal blower. IMHO it's better for a street car because power is consistently and gradually rising toward redline with a good flat torque curve so it's easier to find traction on most city streets with sensible tire choices, vs 'all if it RIGHT NOW' sorts of power from a big twin screw blower like a Kenne Bell or Whipple. Turbos of course bring their own variables into play and because of packaging and cooling issues I generally don't like turbos on Vettes.

Regardless of all that, nice car and you owe us more pictures Did you get it dyno tuned? What did it make and what else have you done to it?
.

Thank you for the tip on the green belts. I’ll keep that in mind should any issue arise.

The shop that did the install offered both the Pro Charger and Edlebrock. I was leaning Edlebrock for a variety of reasons, but I was on the fence. Everyone I spoke to was nudging me Pro Charger. I didn’t realize how much extra stuff was involved, including a lower front skirt.

This is my everyday car, so no hassle sounds very good to me. Also, I don’t think at this point the extra 50-75 HP difference matters when talking front engine rear wheel drive. Look at C8s out launching C7 Z06s despite a 150 HP deficit. I wish I had this info prior to my choice.

Still, I am quite happy with it, and now that I’m learning how to finesse it, it launches pretty good. Perhaps I’ll get something sticky like a Mickey Thompson’s for summer use and play.

[JRB]

Thank you for the tip on the green belts. I’ll keep that in mind should any issue arise.

The shop that did the install offered both the Pro Charger and Edlebrock. I was leaning Edlebrock for a variety of reasons, but I was on the fence. Everyone I spoke to was nudging me Pro Charger. I didn’t realize how much extra stuff was involved, including a lower front skirt.

This is my everyday car, so no hassle sounds very good to me. Also, I don’t think at this point the extra 50-75 HP difference matters when talking front engine rear wheel drive. Look at C8s out launching C7 Z06s despite a 150 HP deficit. I wish I had this info prior to my choice.

Still, I am quite happy with it, and now that I’m learning how to finesse it, it launches pretty good. Perhaps I’ll get something sticky like a Mickey Thompson’s for summer use and play.

Yes, a ProCharger install is much more involved. But it's done and running well and that's all that matters!

C8's out launch most other street cars due to weight distro and excellent transmission ratios. But the party ends once a C7 Z06 hits stride. And the Z06 is lights-out faster once modded and C8's are still a mess there.

For sticky traction I really like The Michelin Pilot 4S's if you need an all-around tire that still performs well with higher HP.
If it's 'more traction at all costs!' I prefer Toyo R888R's but they don't last long. M/T drag radials are even shorter lived but unless it's straight up prepped drag strip stuff I prefer the R888R's to any of the M&H, Hoosier, or MT offerings.
Don't even consider a bias ply E/T Street or similar unless you go to bias ply front runners as well. Radials on the front with bias ply drag tires in back is basically suicidal.

[RJ]

Longshot, but anybody got a User Manual for a 85077 Gearwrench 1/2" drive electronic Torque Wrench?

I went to do up my wheel bolts this weekend, and I had to go grab a couple AA batteries. I inserted the batteries, got a "beep" like usual, then the LCD went black. Hmmm. I tried another older set, same. Hmmmm. I went to Ace and bought a couple brand new, alkaline Energizer. Same.

Ok so at this point I'm stumped, and thinking maybe I'm doing something wrong? I don't have the User Manual, and in fact can't remember if I ever had one (the tool is not that hard to use). But I can't believe it's failed, sitting my garage, for 8 months in it's case. I bought it last May from Amazon. I've contacted Apex Tool Group to ask for help, and will follow up with warranty repair request if it is indeed croaked, but I thought I would ask the brain trust first if I am doing something that is teh dumb. (yes, the batteries are being inserted the same way as before.)

tks...

[OlongJohnson]

Look at C8s out launching C7 Z06s despite a 150 HP deficit. I wish I had this info prior to my choice.

Mid engine is kinda awesome that way. Way back in the day, someone turbocharged an MR2 Spyder. On 205-wide tires and still with an open diff, it went 0-30 as fast as the fastest 600+ whp Skyline the magazine making the comparison had ever tested at that point.

I still think about a silver one with rivet-on flares and a K24 swapped in. But not very often.

[JRB]

Longshot, but anybody got a User Manual for a 85077 Gearwrench 1/2" drive electronic Torque Wrench?

I went to do up my wheel bolts this weekend, and I had to go grab a couple AA batteries. I inserted the batteries, got a "beep" like usual, then the LCD went black. Hmmm. I tried another older set, same. Hmmmm. I went to Ace and bought a couple brand new, alkaline Energizer. Same.

Ok so at this point I'm stumped, and thinking maybe I'm doing something wrong? I don't have the User Manual, and in fact can't remember if I ever had one (the tool is not that hard to use). But I can't believe it's failed, sitting my garage, for 8 months in it's case. I bought it last May from Amazon. I've contacted Apex Tool Group to ask for help, and will follow up with warranty repair request if it is indeed croaked, but I thought I would ask the brain trust first if I am doing something that is teh dumb. (yes, the batteries are being inserted the same way as before.)

tks...

One of my techs years ago had an earlier version of the same digital gearwrench torque wrench and I don't recall that it ever had a manual with it. Weird. I hope that works out in your favor!

Mid engine is kinda awesome that way. Way back in the day, someone turbocharged an MR2 Spyder. On 205-wide tires and still with an open diff, it went 0-30 as fast as the fastest 600+ whp Skyline the magazine making the comparison had ever tested at that point.

I still think about a silver one with rivet-on flares and a K24 swapped in. But not very often.

A buddy of mine has a completely unstreetable Z30 MR2 Spyder with riveted flares and 275 Hoosiers, he runs it in various SCCA autox and other events - but it's got a built 3S-GTE swap that's been de-turbo'd and swapped over to a Whipple SC. It's pretty wild, I'll snag pics next time I see it. Another good friend in AZ just saved a somewhat abused 1994 MR2 turbo (rare!) and that'll be getting a built K24, likely with a bigass Garrett G42-1200C turbo and all the 'fixins' to make that work. Thanks to Hux Racing all of that stuff is pretty easy to swap into an MR2.

Plus I still have my rotting '91 MR2 turbo that needs some love, but even on the stock turbo I've stomped a few unsuspecting STi's and Golf R's and such out of the hole back when I was driving it regularly. Mid engine really is awesome like that.

[awp_101]

[Bucky]

Yes, a ProCharger install is much more involved. But it's done and running well and that's all that matters!

C8's out launch most other street cars due to weight distro and excellent transmission ratios. But the party ends once a C7 Z06 hits stride. And the Z06 is lights-out faster once modded and C8's are still a mess there.

For sticky traction I really like The Michelin Pilot 4S's if you need an all-around tire that still performs well with higher HP.
If it's 'more traction at all costs!' I prefer Toyo R888R's but they don't last long. M/T drag radials are even shorter lived but unless it's straight up prepped drag strip stuff I prefer the R888R's to any of the M&H, Hoosier, or MT offerings.
Don't even consider a bias ply E/T Street or similar unless you go to bias ply front runners as well. Radials on the front with bias ply drag tires in back is basically suicidal.

Now that I have a RaceBox, I'm thinking I'm not launching as good as I was. (Rolling starts are pretty good). Only one day out, and it was only 60 degrees, but so far can't get under 5 (was able to do 3.88 in a Z06 first try). Definitely need different tires for the summer. Why do you prefer the Toyo over the MTs?

TIA.

[JRB]

Now that I have a RaceBox, I'm thinking I'm not launching as good as I was. (Rolling starts are pretty good). Only one day out, and it was only 60 degrees, but so far can't get under 5 (was able to do 3.88 in a Z06 first try). Definitely need different tires for the summer. Why do you prefer the Toyo over the MTs?

TIA.

I prefer the R888R's because IME they're the best mix of straightline traction, lateral traction, handling characteristics, and overall stability for a high HP street car. While a few other tires can beat the R888R's in one or two of those categories, none of them do so without significantly sacrificing something else in another category. Like any tire of that caliber it is strictly a nice-dry-weather only tire. e.g. some drag radials are better for straightline traction, but at the expense of substantial lateral grip and high speed stability.

Some decent alternatives to R888R's are Nitto NT01's and Bridgestone RE71R's are also excellent but aren't available in as many large/wide sizes as R888R's.

For outright grip there are some non DOT road race slicks that easily exceed the R888R's but offer significantly less life and tend to be 'all or nothing' at the limit, which means once they lose traction it is very sudden and scary.

[Kram]

That’s awesome! Do you have a link for purchase?