Tomorrow I am going to pick up a used Paxton SN2000 supercharger kit from a 93-97 LT1 F-body. It is missing the crank pulley and installation instructions but seems otherwise complete and the seller is practically giving it to me so I do not have a lot to lose. My dad has a 93 M6 Formula Firebird but he is not interested in forced induction. My daily driver is a 1996 Buick Roadmaster powered by a stock iron-headed LT1. The plan is to cut a new bracket to mount the blower higher up on the drivers side of then engine because the B-body has a steering box where the blower would go in an f-body.

I have a couple questions. First does anyone have the original installation manual for this setup that they could photocopy and mail to me or scan and email? I really need to find a manual to figure this thing out.

Second, do you think I would be safe running 4.5-5 pounds of boost into my stock LT1? This car is driven every day rain, shine, snow, or otherwise. I put close to 15k miles on it every year. As long as I don't let it go lean, and don't always drive like a tool it should be OK at this low boost level, right? Assuming everything is sorted out and well maintained will it be dead-reliable?

The Paxton setup provides boost enrichment via three extra injectors in a spacer behind the throttle body. Would it be better to ditch this and go with an inline fuel pump and rising-rate fuel pressure regulator? Does the Paxton setup have a boost-retard for the ignition or do I need to get an MSD 6-BTM? I would like to pull this off without having to pay for dyno-tuning. If fuel-enrichment is taken care of without the PCM knowing about it will a normal mail-order style (PCMforless or similar) tune work?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm new at this and want to be extremely cautious. I will be in school for the next two years and absolutely can not afford to put a hole in a piston on this motor. Eventually I would like to put together a forged 383 shortblock and play with some more boost but for now a gain of 75-100hp for little cash outlay is very attractive. Thanks for the help!

 

Do not install if you want reliable. Have a 94 impala with the same set up and four cracked pistons.

 

How much boost were you running? Was the motor detonating? Anyone else wreck their engine on less than 5 pounds of boost?

 

This is a toughie.... You might get away with it, but problem is you might not. You have to decide if the risk is worth it. The extra tq, even from 5#, would be great in that car.

Those are the iron heads? They would be even less forgiving.

I would probably not do it. Either buy a cheap old beater and then put this on the buick.... or pick up a cheap lt1 fbody and make a toy out of it. I did spray and cam and a ton of stuff to mine back when it was my daily ONLY driver. Spun 2 rod bearings and I was lucky enough to pick up a loaner truck from my dad for a few months, but even then it was a pain.

** After reading your thing again I would def not do it. Worry about school. I know you are/will be sick of hearing it but a busted *** lt1 is not a good excuse for missing class.

Now that I am a turbo (and soon to be spray again....) I have not had my car leave me stranded but I would not trust it as a daily driver if I had nothing else. Granted I do drive it to work and stuff on a regular basis.

 

What if I picked up a junkyard shortblock and did a rebuild with stock rods and (cheap) forged low compression pistons? At the very least it would be on-hand if I popped something. I could upgrade the heads, cam, etc later but I need to keep the budget down for now. My buddy has a machine shop so machine work is accessible and (somewhat) affordable.

 

Thats a good idea, itll give you some peace of mind and you wont be so scared to get on the gas knowing you have a spare ready to swap.
Get some speed pro forged low comp blower pistons, they have like a -21CC dish which would give you a 9.5:1 ratio or somthing close to that.
Stock rods with ARP bolts and main studs. Pretty much what Im planning on doing. Many others have done that as well and push over 10 PSI and holds very well.

 

OK thats the new plan then. This is not going to happen right away but I am basically stealing the blower from this guy so now at least I know its not a lost cause and I'll have something to play around with.

 

So can anyone help me out with a manual or some advice on the preferred methods of boost enrichment and retard?

 

i wouldnt put it on either. Only going to blow up.

 

I've been researching like nuts and have some new ideas. I think I will hold off on the blower until I can scrape together the cabbage for a forged shortblock. Talked to my buddy at the machine shop and it looks like about $1300 will get something good to 10-12lbs. For a big, heavy daily driver thats about all I want anyway. The SN2000 can do up to about 9lbs so in reality that is where I will probably stop. In the mean time I am going to do all the supporting mods such as ditching the mechanical fan, 255lph fuel pump, headers, gears, etc. I can also work on building the bracket and fitting the blower but I am going to do my best to resist the temptation to let the stock short block see any boost.

For tuning I think I will take the 42lb injectors + PCMforless route. Those injectors should be good to 9psi, right? Could I get away with smaller for better driveability? Is it safe to run a mail order tune without dyno time? What is the average cost for dyno tuning a car? What will I need ignition-wise? Will Herter be able to pull advance as boost increases like an MSD BTM would?

From my initial estimates I *think* I should be able to get 8lbs of boost with 525 or so rwhp reliably for somewhere in the neighborhood of $2200-2500. Of course that does not include headers, a cam, etc but that is all stuff that would have been done if the car had stayed NA anyways. Wheeeeee!

 

I was told 5lbs, after losing compression in two cylinders got a boost gauge to help in direction of rebuild it showed 9 lbs. So yes it was detonating since program was only for 5 lbs. Not programmers fault.. Looking at going forged bottom end and it has me thinking of selling s/c and going back stock. Voice of reason seems to be haunting me hard. What little it did run was very happy with set up. Great drivabilty smooth idle and power when rooted. Was pleased until engine failure. Tuning seems to have been the culprit.
Good Luck with what you decide.
As i'm learning one post said figure what you think it will cost then double to get an accurate cost.
I do have the installation manual for my kit if that is what you are looking for? Did not receicve an owners manual so maybe I can help you out with that. It is really straight forward and if you use larger injectors and tune it is even easier.

DaWayne Cotton

 

I got the kit. Everything looks to be in great shape and everything is there but the crank pulley but I think I can whip one up. It came with the paxtamap programmable fuel enrichment device, the same thing as the carroll superfueler. It looks like a pretty slick unit and I think I might try using it. Mainly I just want to save money and I can't afford the varsafueler and low impedance injectors. If I get a mail order tune for 36 or 42# injectors that does not compensate for boost and run some big injectors in the paxtamap would that get me by? Boost enrichment would be totally taken care of by the paxtamap. Could I do the same thing but with stock "main" injectors in the rails? I think this is an attractive option because then I can tune boost conditions in the car with just a wideband O2 (which I can borrow from a friend) and a screwdriver.

 

I can not talk about the roadmaster but I have the same charger on my lt 1 and I did 41s with a tune and it made a huge difference over the paxton supplied booster.

 

If you are looking for a bracket for this blower that mounts to right next to the driver side valve cover I have one with all the pulleys and bolts. I would be willing to trade it for the F-body bracket. This one is the corvette one which is reversible for either driver or passenger side (bought it cause it from someone that said it was for a fbody LT1 but was for Vette LT1) and would probably work for you but not me cause the abs conjuction on that side of my car.. If interested or want to see pics of the bracket let me know.

 

That has some interesting possibilities. Sent you a PM, formulalt4383.