LSA Supercharger Installation

Tech discussions on the L77 6.0L V8.
Silversled
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Silversled »

I just completed the LSA Supercharger installation on my 2014 PPV over the 2017 Christmas week and thought I’d do a writeup of how my installation came together based on some pictures I took while doing the installation. I’ll post updates in installments covering major segments of the build from parts to pulley, blower, intake, HX and base tuning considerations, etc.

While all the LSA blower installations I’ve seen have the same basic components, it seems like all of them are somewhat custom in the details. This is how mine came together and I will be changing it over time. I’m sure you guys will notice mistakes or have comments, or comments on my mistakes. Either way, all civilized inputs are welcome.

Let’s start rolling…

1) PARTS LIST

Quite the collection of miscellaneous parts on the table less blower, lid, and a few other parts.

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The parts list I generated is below. All parts are GM part numbers unless indicated in the Description. I bought most of the GM parts from CheapestGMparts.com and GMoutletparts.com. All the parts total about $3600 not including misc things like coolant, small bolts, hose clamps, etc. I also found that some parts like the fuel hose and PCV hose assemblies did not work as intended and required some custom modifications for my 2014. This is expected as these parts were not meant to go on this car. As you will see, all the parts that need modification interface directly with the car.

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Final comments on parts…Prices continue to go up on LSA engine unique parts like blowers, lids, and fuel rails. Small items like bolts, hoses and pulleys (mostly common to other cars) remain cost effective.
2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
Silversled
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Silversled »

2) TEARDOWN / WIRE HARNESS PREPARATION

The engine compartment is cleared of all items that are not used or that will be replaced by the supercharger installation. The exception is the accessory pulley and stock accessory belt. These are removed to facilitate installation.

NOTE 1: I didn’t take a lot of pictures of the teardown because it happened so fast. It took an hour to strip the engine compartment down.

NOTE 2: I did not have to deal with the LSA harmonic balancer since it was installed during the DOD Delete and LS9 cam installation.

These are the steps I took:

Disconnect negative (-) battery terminal.
1) Remove windshield wipers and cover panel. THIS WILL PROVIDE ALL THE FIREWALL ACCESS YOU NEED!!
2) Remove intake tube and airbox.
3) Unplug spark plug wires.
4) Disconnect the main coil plug (off white) and remove the ignition coil brackets
5) Unplug USCAR connectors from each fuel injector
6) Move wire harness with fuel injector connectors pigtails outboard so they are out of the way.
7) Disconnect EVAP hose from EVAP Solenoid and firewall (the smaller hardline coming off the driver’s side of the firewall)
8) Relieve fuel pressure from the fuel rail and disconnect the fuel adapter hose assembly from the fuel rail and firewall.
9) Disconnect the brake booster vacuum hose from the brake booster.
10) Disconnect the U-hose between the intake and valley cover breather.
11) Disconnect the EVAP, MAP sensor, and Throttle Body connectors.
12) Disconnect all of the PCV hoses from the valve covers, intake, etc.
13) Remove intake bolts and remove intake with throttle body.
14) Remove original accessory tensioner.
15) Remove EVAP Solenoid attachment bolt from front of passenger head and remove EVAP Solenoid.
16) Remove large bolt from front of passenger head holding two ground eyelets.

This is how it should look like at this point.

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17) Remove Bumper and crash bar.
18) Remove Windshield Washer bottle/pump combination.
NOTE: Fabrication of a new washer bottle will be the next project.


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19) The passenger side harness section contains some critical connectors and grounds. I needed to position the harness to get the connectors in their correct locations, the two ground rings pointed to pick up existing bolt locations, and get the bulky harness to clear the blower tensioner bracket which wants to occupy the same space.

There’s a convenient “valley” naturally created by the passenger head and back of the water pump which is the correct size to run the harness along. The following pictures shows what I did and what it looked like.

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2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
Gerome
Posts: 322
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 7:07 pm

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Gerome »

Really interested in how this goes . I would love to do a LSA in mine . I also like the fact you are using a LS9 cam , the stock like reliability is what I like the most about the setup you are using .
Silversled
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Silversled »

3) SUPERCHARGER TENSIONER, HARNESS EXTENSION, SUPERCHARGER


After the main passenger-side harness is secured in its location, the supercharger tensioner bracket is bolted into place.

Note the locations of the two grounds. Using these two locations meant I didn’t have to cut and extend the sound leads. They almost look OEM where they ended up.

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I installed the tensioner at this time.


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Make sure injector connectors and harnesses are pushed outboard to clear the blower body. Move MAP, EVAP and TB connectors out of the way as well.

I didn’t do a writeup on the blower isolator replacement, oil change, gasket replacement, inspection, or vacuum actuator valve setup. There are plenty of web sources for that. My blower is a cherry low mile ZL1 unit so it was extra clean.

I used the Kent Moore EN-48898 “Lifting Fixture, Supercharger” and used an engine lift to gently position it and lower it into place without breaking a sweat. Alternatively, you can convince your wife to stop watching “Houswife of….” for 10 minutes to help, aggravate your L3,L4 discs some more, or risk dropping it on your engine (worst case scenario. LOL).

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For a cleaner blower installation, I ran the harness extensions under the snout.

I used the turnkey plug and play extensions instead of doing it “properly” and extending the harness and re-terminating with brand new connectors. I’m not going to be keeping the car forever so the option of being able to reverse the installation was appealing. Also I won’t have to convince the new owner that I actually know how to do it properly and that he’s not going to have future electrical issues!

Plug the throttle body and MAP extensions in and run them under the supercharger snout. This will require tilting the supercharger up by lifting slightly from the snout.


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In the pictures you can also see the snout-to-valley cover U-hose. This was reinstalled as I had it after the cam installation. I’ll be adding a catch can soon and will be tapping into these two access points. For now it’s the GM stock configuration.

NOTE: I ran the throttle body extension to the driver side because I’ll be installing my TB upside down. I didn’t like the way the harness ran so close to supercharger pulley without a 100% reliable way of tying it down. Also it made removing the belt with the stock pulley impossible without loosening all the bolts on the TB. I could have made it work but why bother with the effort?


Bolt down supercharger!!

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2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
User avatar
kevink
Posts: 480
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 12:55 pm

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by kevink »

Nice work so far! How did you get the blower so cheap? Did you buy it a long time ago? They are going for that much used now.
2011 9C3: 11.48 @118.
Silversled
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Silversled »

Gerome wrote:Really interested in how this goes . I would love to do a LSA in mine . I also like the fact you are using a LS9 cam , the stock like reliability is what I like the most about the setup you are using .
Gerome,
I agree. Everyday livability was key for me. I didn't want a very choppy idle and I'm not looking to build a youtube persona with the biggest HP. LOL. The LS9 does have a chop but it is very mild and can be tamed with the right mix of RPM and timing. Also it has mild lift so valve train life should be pretty good.

Go ahead and do it!
2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
Silversled
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Silversled »

kevink wrote:Nice work so far! How did you get the blower so cheap? Did you buy it a long time ago? They are going for that much used now.
Thanks kevink. I bought mine just in August 2017. I saw it on eBay being sold by ZZP for $699. It was as-is and had the OEM spring isolator. I went to their website and it was cheaper direct through them. After a couple of emails, I bought one. I was prepared to completely tear it down and replace all the bearings. When it showed up I was shocked at the condition. I changed the oil and replaced the isolator and was done. The bearings were smooth and coatings on the lobes were just starting to show signs of wear.

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2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
Silversled
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Silversled »

4) FINISH PULLEYS

Bolt up accessory belt tensioner that was previously removed back into the same location reusing the bolts that were taken off.

Reinstall the accessory drive belt.


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Install the supercharger idler bracket which is used to hold two idler pulleys. The bracket nestles neatly between the straight runs of the accessory drive belt (shown graphically in the picture below).

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Now install the two supercharger idler pulleys. The larger diameter one is on top.


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Install new supercharger drive belt as shown below.


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The drive belts and pulleys are done!
2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
Silversled
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Silversled »

5) EVAP & FUEL LINE (“HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM”)


After installing the injectors and fuel rail (not much to write home about), I clipped on the fuel connector hose on the end of the fuel rail. As seen in the picture, it is approximately 2-3 inches too short. If I bent the fuel hardline by a significant amount and pulled the fuel connector taught, I could get it attached. However, this would be the WRONG thing to do since the engine movement could eventually damage the connection.


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The solution is to replace the factory line with a 2ft length of E85 compatible -6AN premade and pressure tested fuel hose from JEGS. I also used a 90degree hi-flow swivel coupler and male union to make everything work.

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The final fuel line looks like this. I also wrapped it in a thermal sleeve to protect the fuel line from radiant heat.

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Similarly the EVAP hose came short.

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I just took one of the hose lines from the stock setup that I took off and repurposed it. A 3/8” fuel line repair barb union is all that is needed…..and a good heat gun.

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The finished product.

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2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
Silversled
Posts: 270
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:13 am
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: LSA Supercharger Installation

Post by Silversled »

6) ZL1 SUPERCHARGER LID


The brick and manifolds were removed and sent to my buddy Dimitar at Vadder Performance for reinforcement and addition of the -12AN fittings. He is only 2 hours away from me located in Orlando and his prices are fair. Since I’ve not done on of these before Dimitar is infinitely more qualified than I so I sent them to him. A few days later, they showed up like this.

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The test fit went well until I tried to close the hood! The third rib from the front of the lid fouls the hood structure HARD and it would not close without denting something. I put some red assembly lube on the ribs and closed the hood to transfer and verify the contact point.

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Off it came and I texted Dimitar again at Vadder. He spent the Wednesday night before Christmas machining the lid down and got it back to me by Friday. Awesome service taking care of me and excellent work. He’s a saint saving me from myself. I was seriously eyeing my Sawzall.

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The lid was bolted down. The LS9 valve covers came back from my powder coater just in time and I installed those and completed the wiring. The MAP sensor extension harness that was brought over to the drivers side via under the supercharger snout was also connected to the sensor.

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Yes and the hood closes now!!!


Looking forward from the windshield; plenty of clearance.

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2014 Chevrolet Caprice PPV
2014 Chevrolet Stingray Z51
2016 AMG C63
2015 BMW X5 iDrive 50i
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