After reading John's post regarding his turbocharger kit, and watching and chatting with many folks who have super charged their cars, I thought is may be helpful to start a thread on lessons learned. This will help those who supercharge their cars in the future, and help John as he goes to production with his Turbocharger kit.

Many of the super charged cars, had issues with bracket rigidity, belt slippage, etc. Please post if you learn anything or would do anything differently.

 

Things that vibrate need to be assembled with the best possible clamping hardware, torqued to the proper specifications.

If someone has problems with belt slippage it is because the tensioner design is not robust enough, or they got oil on the belt. (I have zero problems with belt slippage).

Charging an engine will put additional load on the cooling system. If a pre-op patient has little excess cooling capacity, provision needs to be made to increase said capacity. There are multiple ways to accomplish this.

Stock clutch plates wear out faster when you increase BHP by 70%, especially if the driver is prone to exhibition.

Tires wear out faster when you increase BHP by 70%, especially if the driver is prone to exhibition.

Money goes missing from bank accounts when one contacts a severe case of HP envy.......

My 928 GT Supershark goes like "a bat out of hell with his *** on fire", (and scares the crap out of me, sometimes).

I don't miss the money.

My name is Gretch, and these are the things I have learned.........

 

"a bat out of hell with his *** on fire"

That is exactly how I feel about the 928 .... I can just imagine how scary one must be with that kind of torque. Nowhere near as scary as a Stang with those numbers though, American muscle is seat wetting stuff. The 928 is built for handling it.

 

I've been lucky enough to ride shotgun in some american muscle race cars over the year (lots of big block Vette's) some were full race cars.

Nothing comes close to the freight train like pull of Tim Murphy's 928 at full boost. It was the first time in my life I was actually scared inside an automobile.

Ok, make that the 2nd, but the 1st time included a very cute brunette and the car wasn't running.

 

I would like to clarify that there are *NO* issues with Tim Murphy's well designed bracket.

And obviously, that does not apply to Andy's setup.

Please specify which brackets have the issue, so as not to paint with such a broad brush!

 

I suspect he is referring to the Fast original bracket, as was somewhat improved by the delta P "upgrade".

It is surprising to me to hear about many SC projects (centrifugal) that are not Supershark kits.........There are apparently more than a few guys taking on the SC challenge in the quiet of their own shops. I would really like to hear more about those adventures................

 

It seems that there are a lot of needs in the market for supercharging still. We have seen all the kits and it still seems that there is no thought put into oil control and crankcase ventilation. It does seem, however that GoRideSnow is at least trying to address these in a rather scientific matter. That is something that could use to be addressed. It has been promised for months, but nobody has delivered.

I have also seem a couple of the kits out there and some have very nice parts to them, but others parts are rather poorly thought out. For example some of the pulleys are just made at machine shops instead of by a pulley manufacturer who truly analyzes the required design. This is a real issue with longevity of belts and high load gripping.

As with regard to American Muscle, Heinrich is probably right. Take a 2003 or 2004 Mustang Cobra and ad about $1000 to it and it will litterally make you $hit a brick for that type of money. At sea level you will see well in excess of 550 lbs/feet of torque and very nearly 500 hp at the rear wheels with just a little tuning.

Try to get those numbers out of a 928 for under $6000-$8000. Now I don't really like the way the car handles, but put it on a straight line, and bam you are off like a raped ape. We could talk all day, but this time Heinrich is right, Amercian muscle in a straight line is hard to beat. I doubt that there are any 10 second 928's out there unless they run Big Block engines. I have ridden in two 9 second cars and although they can't turn, they would blow the doors off every 928 I have sat in.

In closing, I would still prefer to own a 928 than these muscle machines because the are much more fun to drive. But be realistic when you talk about running in a 1/4 mile with American Muscle. Hell Toyota (Supra) turned up muscle for that. They car just isn't designed to do it.

Maybe a first that Heinrich and I agree.

 

Seemed to me awhile back there was some talk of getting some 1/4 mile times from the S/C guys back east but the snow hadn't cleared at that time. How's the weather out there now?
Glenn

 

I think the crankcase venting system in my Supershark kit works just fine. I don't burn oil, I don't smoke, I don't drip, and I don't loose any oil. I know there are some that do. One I know of is running higher boost (a lot higher), higher revs and tracking the car. I guess the right solution is to do whatever has been done to Yellow Bird......

Foe street use the Murphy design works just fine.........

 

This maybe a little off topic, I am rebuilding my 85 engine. IT was eating oil due to bad blowby (worn rings) Bore look great no ring wear at all.

I will be useing Total Seal rings, These area gapless ring set. (this will bring us back to topic) I know a few guys that have used these on ricer projects when useing bigger turbos. They still get no blowby even when pounding the air in through the turbos.

I have been talking to Total seal for a few days now making shure there rings will work in are blocks and so far they have been very helpfull and willing to answer all question.

I wont be Sc the 85 as my Wife drives this one but my 88 is a prime canidate for it.

I dont expect the rings to be a fix all but maybe a step in helping us control the blowby some are getting.

 

Cool thanks Thurston I'd be interested in any further info you get from these guys.

 

The real key to all of this is engine management, most specifically fuel management....and of course having your 3 spd auto up to snuff so it can handle the crazy torque you are asking it to handle.

I've been turning wrenches on my turbo 928 for over 14 years now...lots of secrets learned...most recent is crankcase breather oil scavenging....a must on these engines for sure.

 

Thurston,

I will be very interested to see your experience with the Total Seal. They make great rings, but they only MAKE a few of them. Most of their rings are sourced from other OE, but they do manufacture all of their gapless piston rings. I have done a few porsche engines over the years and have had great luck with the Federal Mogul Goetze rings that can in the vehicles from the factory. I really think that at about $140 the factory rings will be hard to beat for your needs. If you decide to go the Total Seal way, let us know of your results lets say in 10k miles. I have used several of thier ring packs in performance engines and had great luck on ductile sleeves, but not as much luck in the alusil bores.

Good luck

 

I used the total seal rings in my 928 and they damaged the cylinders. Stick with stock on your Alusil engine.

 

Ouch sorry to hear that and a Big Thanks for sharing!