Boost question on my new supercharged lt1...
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From: The arm pit of Ohio
Boost question on my new supercharged lt1... I just finished putting a vortech v1 s-trim on my near stock 95 formula and took it for a test run! I had a couple questions.... I purchased the pulley that was supposed to come with the kit which was 3.33. I test drove the car and found I was only starting to make boost around 4000-4500rpm and then would top out at only about 4.5lbs of boost at around 6000rpm. Are these numbers sounding about right to any of you supercharged lt1 guys? I have a smaller pulley that is supposed to make 1-2lbs more boost and was thinking of trying it to see if there would be any change. Can any one comment on the appropriate and safe range I should shoot for... I don't want to put too much boost on my lt1 engine because I hear so many horror stories but at the same time the numbers I am looking at now kinda make it seem like the supercharger isn't really doing much in my favor... thanks for any opinions you guys have! -Matt
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TECH Apprentice
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From: The arm pit of Ohio
My engine is a stock lt1, supercharger is vortech v1 s-trim with NO intercooler which runs off its own belt from the supercharger pulley to the engine crank pulley, I will be using 93 "plus" octane gas. The pulley I have on the car right now is a 3.33 vortech pulley....
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TECH Apprentice
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From: The arm pit of Ohio
People may disagree with me but I am not paying upward of 500-600 dollars for someone to "tune" my car when it is basically stock with an upgraded ignition, fuel management system, and base model supercharger.... I am not even making enough boost to stress the engine basically at all right now in the game...
If you are not going to pay someone else for a tune, you need to buy a tuning package, such as TunerCat, a wideband O2 for your AFR reading and logging, and a scanner package, such as AutoTap.
Then learn to tune it yourself, using your laptop.
Sorry, but this has to be done or you will grenade your motor. Just the way it is.
Then learn to tune it yourself, using your laptop.
Sorry, but this has to be done or you will grenade your motor. Just the way it is.
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Wow... Thats a lovely way to look at things, especially since I used to work at Vortech. I'm not saying our tunes were off, but usually they run really rich to be on the safe side to get you started. You definately got into the wrong game with that attitude. I'd get a tune and spend 5-600 instead of a couple thousand for a new bottom end. But then again what do I know about your supercharger system. I've only installed a few... then watch buddies beat up on them after I told them to wait for a tune... KABOOM 
pistons yummy... Jeez I just noticed you skipped out and didn't get an intercooler too!!! For your car's own good please don't drive that bad boy hard, a couple of lbs may not seem like much but with out any kind of montoring or a real tune its stress can be deadly to your engine. But its not mine, have fun bud.
2003rex....
pistons yummy... Jeez I just noticed you skipped out and didn't get an intercooler too!!! For your car's own good please don't drive that bad boy hard, a couple of lbs may not seem like much but with out any kind of montoring or a real tune its stress can be deadly to your engine. But its not mine, have fun bud. 2003rex....
IMO, there are two avenues you can pick when deciding to go boosted, and they apply to both LT1's, and LS1's. You can go the "cheeper" route, and uprade the bare minimum, such as fuel pump, ignition, intercooler, methanol injection, dyno tune, and hope for the best with a stock bottom end. With this setup, and running anything more than 6#'s of boost, and you might make it for a while, but it is risking it non-the less without going with a forged bottom end. IMO, this is not really a good way to go, because you will be spending a bit on the upgrades, plus thousands in a supercharger, only to make marginal HP increases, and even then theres no garuntee you won't grenade the motor.
The 2nd option is much more expensive, but IMO the only way to go. Spend the money, get a fully forged bottom end, and all the bells and whistles to go with it, along with all the upgrades to take the power such as rear, clutch, tranny, on top of the fuel pumps, intercooler, methanol injection, dyno tune ect, and get yourself a supercharger that will make some decent boost, and then you will see some serious power that will be reliable. To do this, you can expect to spend in the $15,000-$19,000 price range all said and done, but thats really what it costs to have that kind of supercharged power, and be able to drive it 100,000 miles and are confident it won't grenade a piston after 5,000 miles.
You have chosen the first route. That is your choice, and I can certainly understand wanting to go boosted, and not wanting to spend the big money on doing it to the 2nd routes expense. But you have to realize that by doing that, and going extra cheep by not even getting a dyno tune is a serious gamble. Most guys I know who go boosted even under 8#'s of boost on a stock LS1 or LT1 with a really safe dyno tune only make it at most 25,000 miles before something goes in the motor. I have known others to not make it 2500 miles before they fried a piston. The dyno tune is the most crutial thing though. If you are running just a little to lean or have just a little too much timing, you are looking at a motor rebuild in your very near future whether you want to believe it or not.
Remember, both LT1's and LS1's are high CR non-forged factory motors, and are not meant to run boost from the factory. By putting boost on them as they are, you are already asking for detonation. Methanol injection, intercoolers, and a low boost setting along with a tune to make sure everything is safe, can help your odds, but even then, every time you hammer down, you are still rolling the dice.
The 2nd option is much more expensive, but IMO the only way to go. Spend the money, get a fully forged bottom end, and all the bells and whistles to go with it, along with all the upgrades to take the power such as rear, clutch, tranny, on top of the fuel pumps, intercooler, methanol injection, dyno tune ect, and get yourself a supercharger that will make some decent boost, and then you will see some serious power that will be reliable. To do this, you can expect to spend in the $15,000-$19,000 price range all said and done, but thats really what it costs to have that kind of supercharged power, and be able to drive it 100,000 miles and are confident it won't grenade a piston after 5,000 miles.
You have chosen the first route. That is your choice, and I can certainly understand wanting to go boosted, and not wanting to spend the big money on doing it to the 2nd routes expense. But you have to realize that by doing that, and going extra cheep by not even getting a dyno tune is a serious gamble. Most guys I know who go boosted even under 8#'s of boost on a stock LS1 or LT1 with a really safe dyno tune only make it at most 25,000 miles before something goes in the motor. I have known others to not make it 2500 miles before they fried a piston. The dyno tune is the most crutial thing though. If you are running just a little to lean or have just a little too much timing, you are looking at a motor rebuild in your very near future whether you want to believe it or not.
Remember, both LT1's and LS1's are high CR non-forged factory motors, and are not meant to run boost from the factory. By putting boost on them as they are, you are already asking for detonation. Methanol injection, intercoolers, and a low boost setting along with a tune to make sure everything is safe, can help your odds, but even then, every time you hammer down, you are still rolling the dice.
IMO, there are two avenues you can pick when deciding to go boosted, and they apply to both LT1's, and LS1's. You can go the "cheeper" route, and uprade the bare minimum, such as fuel pump, ignition, intercooler, methanol injection, dyno tune, and hope for the best with a stock bottom end. With this setup, and running anything more than 6#'s of boost, and you might make it for a while, but it is risking it non-the less without going with a forged bottom end. IMO, this is not really a good way to go, because you will be spending a bit on the upgrades, plus thousands in a supercharger, only to make marginal HP increases, and even then theres no garuntee you won't grenade the motor.
The 2nd option is much more expensive, but IMO the only way to go. Spend the money, get a fully forged bottom end, and all the bells and whistles to go with it, along with all the upgrades to take the power such as rear, clutch, tranny, on top of the fuel pumps, intercooler, methanol injection, dyno tune ect, and get yourself a supercharger that will make some decent boost, and then you will see some serious power that will be reliable. To do this, you can expect to spend in the $15,000-$19,000 price range all said and done, but thats really what it costs to have that kind of supercharged power, and be able to drive it 100,000 miles and are confident it won't grenade a piston after 5,000 miles.
You have chosen the first route. That is your choice, and I can certainly understand wanting to go boosted, and not wanting to spend the big money on doing it to the 2nd routes expense. But you have to realize that by doing that, and going extra cheep by not even getting a dyno tune is a serious gamble. Most guys I know who go boosted even under 8#'s of boost on a stock LS1 or LT1 with a really safe dyno tune only make it at most 25,000 miles before something goes in the motor. I have known others to not make it 2500 miles before they fried a piston. The dyno tune is the most crutial thing though. If you are running just a little to lean or have just a little too much timing, you are looking at a motor rebuild in your very near future whether you want to believe it or not.
Remember, both LT1's and LS1's are high CR non-forged factory motors, and are not meant to run boost from the factory. By putting boost on them as they are, you are already asking for detonation. Methanol injection, intercoolers, and a low boost setting along with a tune to make sure everything is safe, can help your odds, but even then, every time you hammer down, you are still rolling the dice.
The 2nd option is much more expensive, but IMO the only way to go. Spend the money, get a fully forged bottom end, and all the bells and whistles to go with it, along with all the upgrades to take the power such as rear, clutch, tranny, on top of the fuel pumps, intercooler, methanol injection, dyno tune ect, and get yourself a supercharger that will make some decent boost, and then you will see some serious power that will be reliable. To do this, you can expect to spend in the $15,000-$19,000 price range all said and done, but thats really what it costs to have that kind of supercharged power, and be able to drive it 100,000 miles and are confident it won't grenade a piston after 5,000 miles.
You have chosen the first route. That is your choice, and I can certainly understand wanting to go boosted, and not wanting to spend the big money on doing it to the 2nd routes expense. But you have to realize that by doing that, and going extra cheep by not even getting a dyno tune is a serious gamble. Most guys I know who go boosted even under 8#'s of boost on a stock LS1 or LT1 with a really safe dyno tune only make it at most 25,000 miles before something goes in the motor. I have known others to not make it 2500 miles before they fried a piston. The dyno tune is the most crutial thing though. If you are running just a little to lean or have just a little too much timing, you are looking at a motor rebuild in your very near future whether you want to believe it or not.
Remember, both LT1's and LS1's are high CR non-forged factory motors, and are not meant to run boost from the factory. By putting boost on them as they are, you are already asking for detonation. Methanol injection, intercoolers, and a low boost setting along with a tune to make sure everything is safe, can help your odds, but even then, every time you hammer down, you are still rolling the dice.
Words of a wise man. Mine came apart... had 98k on it... turbo on it maybe 1000 of that.
Wow, I have heard of stubborn, but this guy has no idea how fragile a stock LT1 with even 6 psi of boost ( especially with no intercooler ). I think a month was a pretty good guess at how long that car is going to last. I think he is missing the whole point why it needs to be tuned for FI. 
People may disagree with me but I am not paying upward of 500-600 dollars for someone to "tune" my car when it is basically stock with an upgraded ignition, fuel management system, and base model supercharger.... I am not even making enough boost to stress the engine basically at all right now in the game...
Wow, I have heard of stubborn, but this guy has no idea how fragile a stock LT1 with even 6 psi of boost ( especially with no intercooler ). I think a month was a pretty good guess at how long that car is going to last. I think he is missing the whole point why it needs to be tuned for FI.