I'm a little worried about your top bracket going from the strut tower to the alternator bracket. First concern would be that the alternator bracket is aluminum and might break. Second concern is whether or not you have some rubber isolation between the engine and frame.
some serious pioneering that you are doing here. Someone always has to break ground on new swap types and who knows what possibilities this combo may bring. Best of luck Ryan
I'm a little worried about your top bracket going from the strut tower to the alternator bracket. First concern would be that the alternator bracket is aluminum and might break. Second concern is whether or not you have some rubber isolation between the engine and frame.
Yea, I plan to redo this soon.... It is the alternator that gets the punishment. I have messed up a couple.
Looks like a supercharger with the top loaded carb flange would work nicely. I already have a big scoop. Time and money I guess.
Arn
That's a nice setup. I like how compact it is and how much wrap there is on both the crank pulley and the waterpump. Personally, I'd have mad the alt mount fixed and used a spring tensioner instead of an idler on the top pulley. I need to figure out something like this for my Northstar.
I probably should invest in an air/fuel ratio gauge and wide band O2 sensor. ... to make sure that I don't run lean at WOT and burn holes in my pistons.
I've been researching ecm/prom tuning... with mixed conclusions. Its not easy getting an ecm tuned for boost.
I also read the archived PBJ turbo boosted 4.9 build. Even with expert help from rockcrawl... they burned dozens of chips with no avail Rockcrawl tried programming the 1227749 ecm (the ecm used on the boosted Syclones) with no avail They ended up using the 7730 ecm and using a MSD boost timing master to control spark timing during boost.
Holy crap that's loud. Haha. Wow, 1st gear is super short because of the Getrag.
I would totally do this except I would have to either change my computer to a 7730 or figure out a way to make it work with the stock Caddy ECM which is unlikely.
This morning I pulled the spark plugs and noticed the electrodes were all bright white... a sign of preignition. Replaced them with colder plugs...and did some more full throttle runs. Usually I can hear if the engine is pinging... which it used to ping a little if I didn't use super unleaded... But now I can't hear any pinking because the supercharger is so loud! LOL
.... anyway, I pulled out a couple of the new colder spark plugs, and they still turned white. I have the fuel pressure at 80 psi and the distributor timing retarded.... Like this, it sputters and runs poor at idle.... but runs real strong at WOT. My clutch can only take a couple of full throttle blasts...after that it gets hot and starts slipping badly. I'll be needing a stronger clutch pretty soon!
.... I think I have too much boost for a 9.5 to 1 compression engine. Tomorro, I think I will remove the 3 inch pulley and put the 3.8 inch pulley back on and do some more runs... I am guessing this will get me down to about 5 psi
And hopefulley the clutch will hold up a little longer.
I have an extra set of 4.9 heads laying around. .... I think I will port these and get the combustion chambers opened up to reduce the compression ratio.
I think this is the only way I will be able to use my 3 inch pulley and safely run some higher psi... and horsepower
.... anyway, I pulled out a couple of the new colder spark plugs, and they still turned white. I have the fuel pressure at 80 psi and the distributor timing retarded.... Like this, it sputters and runs poor at idle.... but runs real strong at WOT.
.... I think I have too much boost for a 9.5 to 1 compression engine. Tomorro, I think I will remove the 3 inch pulley and put the 3.8 inch pulley back on and do some more runs... I am guessing this will get me down to about 5 psi
You need actual tuning of your ECM. If you get a good setup, you'll be able to extract the most out of your engine. If not, you'll always be stuck in the limbo you're in now of not running well at WOT and not running well other times either.
I thought going straight to the 3" pulley was a bit aggressive. Doable with a tunable engine management, but tough otherwise.
A @$$ume that there are no MLS or other-than-stock head gaskets? A thinner head gasket could tighten up your piston to head clearance and help with detonation. GM likes to run PTH pretty wide due to manufacturing tolerances. It needs to be .035 to .040 for a performance engine.
[This message has been edited by Will (edited 04-19-2013).]
You need actual tuning of your ECM. If you get a good setup, you'll be able to extract the most out of your engine. If not, you'll always be stuck in the limbo you're in now of not running well at WOT and not running well other times either.
I thought going straight to the 3" pulley was a bit aggressive. Doable with a tunable engine management, but tough otherwise.
A @$$ume that there are no MLS or other-than-stock head gaskets? A thinner head gasket could tighten up your piston to head clearance and help with detonation. GM likes to run PTH pretty wide due to manufacturing tolerances. It needs to be .035 to .040 for a performance engine.
To get thinner head gaskets, you may have to make them out of dead soft copper sheets.... Some think this makes the best head gaskets ever!
[This message has been edited by Mark A. Klein (edited 04-19-2013).]
As a 4.9 owner, I have watched this with keen interest, but yeah... Please find a tuning solution before we have to read about blown head gaskets or ventilated pistons.
Heck... If you do a 7730, one of PBJ's turbo tunes might be a good baseline for you.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 04-19-2013).]
This morning, I removed the 3 inch pulley and installed the the larger 3.8 inch supercharger pulley. I had to remove the alternator first... just so I could get the supercharger pulley puller tool on to do this. ...also took me a couple of trips to the local auto parts store to get the right sized belt.
So finally I got it done... and did some more full throttle runs with my full ghetto tuning still in place... ...( fuel pressure jacked up to 80psi, and distributor turned less advanced (retarded LOL)
First thing I noticed was that the belt wouldn't chirp anymore when I reved it. Second... the supercharger whine was considerably less noisy. The best part... and most ironic, was that acceleration was better than ever... I assume because preigniton was reduced or eliminated. ...pulling the plugs afterward confirmed it....no more white electrodes.
The bad news... The clutch is really taking the heat now... it would slip worse as it would heat up. I couldn't floor it anymore after the fourth run... too much slip... and the smell of a burning clutch.
At this point I obviously can't proceed much further until I can change the clutch to a stonger unit. Would a Spec stage two be good enough?
... This also gives me the oportuninty to switch from full ghetto tuning.... to semi ghetto... Today I ordered a BEGi fmu and an MSD btm... ( today was payday! )
If the semi ghetto tuning stuff isn't good enough... then I will have to go high class ( rob a bank first )... and get the Dynamic EFI stuff and retune my 7730 ecm (cause thats what I am already running anyway)
Yea...Definately glad to have the 7730 for several reasons.... knock sensor, iac compatibility, more support on tuning, availability of ready to go wiring harnesses, etc.
nope...4.9 still running strong ...sorry to disappoint... you guys.
You took that the wrong way. I, in no way, want to see your car blown up. I am highly encouraging you to seek a reliable method to tune your car to PREVENT the dreaded "it done blowed up" post. Why the hell is everyone so damn sensitive these days?
That's a nice setup. I like how compact it is and how much wrap there is on both the crank pulley and the waterpump. Personally, I'd have mad the alt mount fixed and used a spring tensioner instead of an idler on the top pulley. I need to figure out something like this for my Northstar.
I thought about doing a spring loaded tensioner and decided that the turnbuckle would be superior. I can tighten the serpentine very precisely and the locking nut ensures it won't move. I don't need to torque the alternator hold down bolt very much either. The low mount alternator appears to be pretty good. It also frees up the top end. I can mount a sc any time, when my pocket book allows. As for and ECM? Don't need one. I just have to adjust my distributor.
