Stuntheavy

iTrader: (4)

Hey guys. Posted on another forum but I guess I should post here for the most knowledge.

First time stepping into the centrifugal charger ring, and it seems like there are plenty of options for bracket kits. I'm a bit confused...

The build is a forged 370 engine. Based off a lq4 block, forged internals, WCCH 317 heads, studded, on E85.

The headunit is a Procharger F1R.

The car is a C5 Z06.

Now, with all of that in mind, What are the options available? I've heard yes/no on a flip drive, like that from cartek being needed.

The "Stage 4" kit from A&A seems pretty inclusive, but I can't seem to find info one way or another if their brackets offer a good enough wrap for something like a max-effort build.

Other companies I have heard of are ATI, Brutespeed, ECS, and Dallas Performance, but again to me, these are just names. I have no experience with any of the companies and would like some first-hand knowledge of what is good/bad.

Thank you all for the help, it is truly appreciated.

And just for fun.... the car going under the knife

Steve01SS

iTrader: (43)

A&A and ECS are the most popular. Have dealt with both of them before and they were both pretty helpful and seemed like nice guys overall. Both do sell brackets for Prochargers, but most of their kits are currently Vortech/Paxton units now.

Cartek and Dallas performance also build brackets, but have no experience with either. DP builds some high HP cars from what I have seen. Everyone in the Corvette world seems to stay away from the ATI brackets. The older stuff had a lot issues with slippage, not sure about the newer versions.

The 8-rib vs Flip drive is a debatable topic. Some run a combo of both. Some run just an 8-rib. You likely will not be able to run a max effort setup F1R with a plain 6-rib. Some people now claim charging issues with the flip drive.

I would speak with a few different companies and tell them what you want to build. See what is suggested.

edge04

iTrader: (9)

There is a AA bracket for a C5 for sale in the sake section. What's your power goals?

stevieturbo

ECS and A&A seem to be the ones to go for.

They only stopped using Procharger after Procharger refused to sell them head units only which they were using with their own bracket designs.

Procharger want them to buy complete kits...which was ironic after they allegedly copied their bracket designs after their original design was so poor.

ECS moved to Paxton, A&A to Vortech. Although both companies make bracket systems for pretty much most blowers available

All of the above was a few years ago. I'm sure all the kits available today, including that from Procharger themselves would be very good.

More info here I'm sure if you ask.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-f...rous-86/?id=86

Stuntheavy

iTrader: (4)

Thanks gentlemen.

It seems like the A&A 'stage 4' kit is fairly inclusive for the price (except for charger and crank pulleys). I was just curious if the ECS bracket offered THAT much more of a advantage. Perhaps not though by the sounds of things.

Does anyone know if ECS makes a similar kit (essentially brackets, pulleys, intercooler and piping)? I scoured their website but couldn't find much. Currently I'm overseas, so it's not as simple as giving them a buzz while I'm on lunch.

As for answering the question about power goals, I'm really looking to max out the F1R. I'm really looking for 900-1000whp. It's a tall task, I realize. Hopefully the advantage of E85 will help with that. I'm sure headgaskets wont be long for this world at those levels however.

stevieturbo

would be 99.99% sure ECS can supply you anything you need, from parts to a full kit

I think brackets may be similar, although I think ECS uses a sprung tensioner, which is to be preferred over a manual tensioner.

Steve01SS

iTrader: (43)

The A&A does have a spring tensioner in the middle, at least the latest version of the Vortech bracket does. You tighten the belt with a manual tensioner, but there is a spring loaded tensioner in there also. It gives you some spring in there.

My buddy had an older first or second gen A&A procharger bracket that also had a spring tensioner. I will say that the newer brackets are MUCH nicer than the older ones. He didn't have any slip issues with it.

ECS will probably sell you a kit without a headunit.

Stuntheavy

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm leaning toward the A&A brackets at this time.

Does anyone have any definitive results that the ECS is superior in any way, in terms of performance or reliability?

Stuntheavy

iTrader: (4)

Just got word from ECS that they have discontinued their C5/Procharger brackets. Looks like A&A is the way to go!

Bob@BruteSpeed

iTrader: (16)

The F-1R takes a lot of power to turn it, but the Flipdrive will give you zero percent belt slip with it. We were shocked the first time we used one. With the right combination you can be over 1000 rwhp with an F-1R. Bob

94 slow

Bob,
Did you run the flip drive with the pro-charger brackets?

Bob@BruteSpeed

iTrader: (16)

Yes we did. Bob

Stuntheavy

iTrader: (4)

Shocked in what way?

What flipdrive kit did you use? What is your opinion of the Procharger brand brackets vs A&A brackets? Do you think an 8 rib with flip drive is enough, or is 10 rib the way to go?

Thanks for the input!

-Chris

Bob@BruteSpeed

iTrader: (16)

We used the Cartec/Hormilla Flip Drive modified ProCharger bracket. We initially had the belt tight like we were use to, and on the first run on the dyno we saw zero belt slippage, and when we let off the gas the belt snapped in two. After that we ran with the belt a little looser, still had zero belt slippage and no further problems with belt slippage. Never used the A&A bracket so I can't give you any useful information. Thanks. Bob