ravill

Hello good folks.

After just about three years of ownership I can think of one good thing to do to my GS once the warranty is up.

Supercharge baby, supercharge.

I'm seeing great deals and great reviews of SC experience and I'm going to take the plunge.

I've decided on the A and A SC and I'm going to install it myself and then tow my vette to the tuner.

I have a couple of questions.

1. Will the "Launch Mode" in competitive mode still work?

2. Anything strange about the install in a GS? The install manual is for a non GS/Z06.

I'll post my build as I go along.

Thanks for the replies!

**Update- 9-2013**

So after a couple of months of completion here are some observations that I wish I would have known before I started. And yes, the launch control still works! And yes, its been worth it. My vette is REALLY fast.

1. The front end will drop about 1". The car scraped on everything after the install.

Fix: Screw in lowering bolts. Its all good now.

2. The Ken Belle Boost A Pump comes with a 20 amp fuse to replace the stock 10 amp fuse. This is not written down anywhere.

Fix: Change out the fuse.

3. A/C will blow hot in hot weather. It happened to me in 105 degree california weather. And just driving around town. This is probably the most disturbing thing.

Fix :

a: Josh(The A and A rep), in the FI/boosted board, recommended buying the DeWitt dual fans. I haven't done this. I bought other fans before (see below) before I was given this info.

b: Others have said that there is too much freon in the corvette from the factory which can cause the A/C to over pressure and shut off to cool down. I let out some of the freon.

c: I bought an 8" inch fan that fits infront of the condenser. It was bought on etrailer.com. It needed a temperature and A/C over-ride fan controller. I sat in BRUTAL traffic the other day in 100 degree heat, and the a/c stayed cool.

d: Some have had the center plug in their fans melt. So check this and fix if it has happened to you. It hasn't to me.



4. Fuel mileage has descreased about 3-5 mpg city and highway. This is being "off" the throttle with normal driving.

5. Engine temps regularly go over 220-230

Fix: Likely related to intercooler being infront of the radiator. After adding the fan, the engine doesn't get as hot when sitting in traffic. But when I'm pushing it, it still will get in the 220's.

HOWSER

Tonylmiller

Don't forget about the Forced Induction forum. Lots of good info over there.

ravill

I found the F.I. forum to be kind of sparse. There are only like 10 or 11 pages total! Nevertheless, there is lots of great info to be had over there.

I though I'd share a solid build with y'alls in case some one else is thinking about it.

I've decided on the Autometer (all electronic) carbon fiber boost (15psi), fuel pressure(100 psi) and pyrometer.

It also seemed fun to measure the before and after intercooler temps here: http://prosportgauges.com/dual-inter...ure-gauge.aspx

ravill

I decided to install my gauges since they got here first. This should be nice, as these guages will give me a good idea of what a stock LS3 is doing.



The fuel pressure gauge sending unit needs a special adapter to go from schrader valve threads to NPT threads.



Once on, it was just a bit too close to the engine cover. So I dremeled a slot and it fit perfect.





The pyrometer sending unit, I attached to the number 1 cylinder on the drivers side. It was kinda scary drilling and tapping (again with NPT threads!) my cast exhaust manifold.

ravill

A big box from A and A arrived yesterday!! What a great job Andy and the crew do over there to prepare and ship everything.



Intercooler, right on top. Also in its very own secured packaging.







Still no vortech supercharger head unit, as vortech is still back ordered. And I'm still waiting on the new radiator. But I can still do some work, pin my crank, install injectors, plugs....

SnakeBT6

Following wth interest! Would love to see this as Im thinking about something similar when the warrenty goes.

C7 Mathis

I too have an A&A kit on my 07. Love it so far.

I like the guage pillar choice. Do you have any additional pictures of your gauge setup???

ravill

How many miles since your SC'd if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks for the replies!

I decided I'd use autometer gauge pods drilled directly into the stock A-pillar. The after market triple pods usurp so much room in the cockpit.

Here's another pic I took with my phone.

kevakasper

I put one in my buddys 06 ls2 last year. Worst part was keying the crank shaft, you either need to jack up the engine or remove the steering rack. I removed the rack. The second part that I was not real impressed with was grinding down the radiator for clearance and dropping the radiator cradle for clearance. It is a well engineered kit, watch the clearance at your water pump and it fits, but everything is tight, really tight! We replaced his stock radiator with a DeWitts last fall when I added a ZO6 trans and diff with all the coolers. The DeWitts is shorter which helped with the clearances. When my GS is out of warranty I will be adding an E Charger. I like the fit better than the A&A. The A&A setup kicks a$$ though. Good Luck!

wrh3

Makes me excited to be out of warranty but that is some years away Subscribed.

Thomasmoto

Good luck with your install. I used the Autometer boost gauge as well, I love it. Having the memory is a helpful benefit and the scale is easier for me to see.

FloydSummerOf68

Congrats

I love my A&A kit. Picked up right at ~180rwhp on 10psi (3.8 pulley).

If you're having someone else tune it I'd personally just let them install it as well. You'll only be paying an extra 600 bucks or so.

To all the others I suggest screwing the warranty and start modding. Enjoy it.

05c6redcoupe

I've been looking at getting a A&A blower also and from what I've read the grand sport just gets some diffrent brackets then the base kit

Tally Ho

I installed the A&A V2 kit on my 06 in 2009 after the warranty was up. I have about 12K miles on the set up with no issues. I also used AutoMeter fuel pressure and boost guages using the two guage A pillar pod. I'm still running the stock radiator and have had no cooling issues. I have an A6 trans and a conservative tune. My RWHP is 541.

As for pinning the crank, I have found that lowering the engine cradle works better than pulling the steering rack. We pulled the rack on my car and a couple of others we did. On the last couple, the cradle was dropped. Much easier.

One more thing you will notice after the install is that the nose of the car will sit lower. I raised mine up a little because the air dam was scraping on every dip in the road.

ravill

Thanks for your input! That's exactly what I was looking for! I'll keep an eye out for how tight everything is going to be. For the GrandSport, the new DeWitts radiator is part of the kit. It is dropped shipped directly to me, from DeWitts.

And I'm definitely going to drop the engine cradle, and jack up the engine to try to clear the HB bolt. I'm also going to replace the bolt with an ARP bolt. Way easier to re-torque and, less important but poignant, re-usable.

But part of the fun, if not most, IS the install! I love working on my own stuff!

If I end up having to remove the rack, which sounds like a particularly nasty job , I'm going to replace the stock, prone to failing Harmonic Balancer, since rack removal is the hardest part.

I'll keep an eye out for front ride height as we all know the nose loves to scrape on everything it can.

ravill

Oh well, in my search for the correct ARP bolt, I came across this harmonic balancer:

http://www.hinsonsupercars.com/p-146...7-13-c5c6.aspx

One stop shopping. Looks like the rack is coming off!

EDIT: This is the wrong harmonic balancer for the LS3 with a dry sump oil system. I had to go with the ATI part number:918620

FloydSummerOf68

True enough...I do enjoy working on my own car as well and do when I can. As for the blower I just wanted it up and running so I could rip on it asap

FWIW, my LS2 made 550rwhp through longtubes without meth. Meth is on the car but it was leaking so once it's fixed we'll see what she makes

I hope you have some GOOD tires. I'm running 345 Khumo XS (sub 200 tread rating) and still spin em like crazy under 40mph.

ravill

I'm running the Bridgestone Run Flats. WAY. BETTER. TIRE. than the good years.



I'm hoping the tires will be a nice "buffer" before I start breaking driveline components or smoke the clutch.

ebf2k

In for the DIY write up.