*TOUCH*

iTrader: (29)

WARNING: EPIC LONG POST AHEAD

hello all, as the title says, i'm currently in the process of supercharging my 86 gxl. i just figured since there isn't much info out there on this maybe i could make a thread. so for those of you who care: i started off by [I]searching my *** off[I] and finally got lucky and bought a complete kit in good codition from one of the members on this forum. it is one of the old Nelson/paxton kits that are centrifigul blowers rather than the roots type like current producer camden. by the way, supposedly a company called paradise wheels has bought the rights to this s/c and plans to produce/ offer support for it in the future, not sure how accurate that is tho.

moving on, i recieved the kit promptly and have had it in my dining room for about a month now and just got 3 days straight off from work and decided to go ahead with it. (warning, my digital camera was destroyed a while ago so this thread will contain no pictures! sorry! )

DAY 1:the first thing i did was to check compression. with having 140,xxx miles on the motor, i wanted to be sure that i wouldnt kill it a week after installing. i just used a regular piston engine tester but held the release valve to observe equal bounces. thankfully, due to the previous owners diligent maintenence the engine has solid compression on all 6 rotor faces ! the manual also notes that ignition timing should be at factory specs, as well as the sparkplugs should be new and STOCK. also, verbatim the manual, you should have; sockets-8,10,12,13,14,22mm) wrenches- 10,12,14,14,17,and 32mm) allenwrenches- 6 and 4mm, hose cutter, flat head screwdriver, drain pan and prybar. of course, other basic tools are nice; phillips screwdriver, pliers, socket extensions, etc.

i then began the prep/ disassembly stage(SAVE EVRYTHING!)- needed to remove LOTS of things to make rooom for s/c and associated parts. this includes thupper radiator hose(drain coolant 1st), radiator fan, all belts, intake assembley (everything from the scoop thingy on top of radiator to the rubber elbow bolted to throttle body(leave the bolted part), the afm should come up with the intake, just remember to disconect wire. also, things will be so much easier if you remove the fan shroud, wish i did) . next, throttle air horn and hose, smog air pump, thrmostat housing, and the altenator and eccentric shaft pulleys. the nut on the altanator pulley is a 22mm and is a BITCH to get off if you don't have a good breaker bar. use at least a 15 inch long bar and some visegrips to hole the pulley still. after taking out the 4 e-shaft pulley nuts you must pry offthe pulley which is in 3 separate parts, you need to remove all three.

day 2: the install!this was seriously the worst part...made me regret my decision to get this s/c several times . so many parts of this are what some would call "ghetto fabbed", i call it custom fabbed.start by putting on that new altanator pulley using the same nut you just took off. make sure you put on the pulley with the big groove towars altanator. then you put on the belt (goes to waterpump)
heres where i hit my first bump. you are supposed to put the aluminum spacer over the thermostat and then put the housing supplied over top of this. NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRIED OR WHICH WAY I PUT IT< THIS WAS NOT GONNA HAPPEN. after about 1 hr of struggles i said f*** it and just put the housing in without the spacer, instead using a shorter screw negating the need for said spacer (just hope the house will reach).next you install the lower idler pulley supplied in kit in the area left by removing smog air pump. next is the new e-shaft pulley. use same bolts as those removed along with the original BIG washer. one hole will not line up, which the manual tells you, so if they knew i dont know why it wasnt fixed in development? anyway, torque the hell out of the 3 you do put in there. next you gotta mess with the smog air pump all day... this was the second big issue for me and the biggest pain...lots of cursing...
you are supposed to replace the inlet elbow on the pump with one supplied to you that has a different angle. since my fc is the legal age to drink, the friggin screws are pretty much welded in. after many attempts and methods i finally end up drilling the screw heads off and chisel/ hammer/ pry the elbow off. i then had to drill new holes and put custom modded screws(im not even going to disclose my methods....its embarrassing ) to hold the new elbow in.then had to attach the supplied belt tensioner to the supplied bracket (bracket holds smog pump and supercharger itself). before lowering this into the car, i had to rearrange wires and oil lines and the like so they weren't destoyed. once in i bolted( but not all the way) the bracket with belt tensioner and smog pump attached. then it was the moment of truth...for the day..
i slowly lowered the ACTUAL BLOWER UNIT and bolted it onto the bracket. the hard part was not completely destroying the brittle *** wiring harness that stood right between the s/c and it's new home. once this issue was solved i TIGHTLY secures the s/c to the bracket as well as the smog air pump and the entire bracket itself to the water pump housing (but not too tight as to harm the housing). then i put the new smog air pump pulley on and called it a day.
hopefully sunday i can finish and post the results

Acesanugal

iTrader: (5)

Try and get pics. Borrow someone's camera!

*TOUCH*

iTrader: (29)

haha, yea i guess that would be nice

NZConvertible

It's not a mistake, it's entirely deliberate. One hole in all four pulleys is offset the same amount so that the pulleys will only go together one way.

All four should be reinstalled. If you can't fit one it's because you put the pulleys back on wrong. Remove the pulleys are rearrange them so the holes line up.

1RevvinFC3S

Damn! I must see pics!!!

phoenix7

make sure you get it to a dyno and figure out how much HP your work gained.

If you get some pics to go with the write up you can have this stickied.

iamsisyphus

When you get this all sorted out, be sure to let us know what your mileage is like.

Thanks

cezonetheillest

i have to see pics of this. im going to keep an eye on this one.

84stock

iTrader: (5)

I don't feel good about using a factory n/a tune.

*TOUCH*

iTrader: (29)

all posters, yea, im gonna try to get a camera to at least show off the final product.

nzconvertible, i tried putting that e-shaft pulley on all different ways but to no avail, i could only get 3 to go in? and i'm not sure that i follow what you are saying: you first said its deliberate that one hole should be off but then you said that all 4 should be re-installed? i must have missed something?

84stock, supposedly it will run fine on everything stock, in fact it says in the manual that everything should be stock to run right (without upgrading the fuel system). but i'm feeling the same as you about tuning. fortunately i still had my stock exhaust and intake so it should be ok, but coming soon i will be upgrading both of these and i just bought some 550cc secondaries and a walbro to compensate. after that i will be getting a piggy-back.

NZConvertible

Yes you have, because assuming the aftermarket pulley has been made right then they will go back together so that all four bolts can be installed. They were all there at the beginning weren't they? If one of the holes won't allow a bolt through then a pulley has been installed the wrong way around.

*TOUCH*

iTrader: (29)

nzconvertible, like i said, i tried it all kinds of ways and i couldnot get all 4 too line up. this is what it says in the manual: "Install excentric shaft pulley (P/N 10N002) (see HLP-HINTS) with 4 6mm bolts and big washer saved from original pulley. Note that one of the 4 holes is off. Be sure to locate the pulley accordingly in order to keeo the timing marks aligned. TIGHTEN SECURELY." i'm not really sure where this is supposed to lead me, there are several passages in the manual like this that are difficult to read/ understand. have you installed one of these before cuz i would like to pm you with some questions if you have. any and all help is welcome.

BASTARD

iTrader: (4)

is your pulley custom or does it mount on front of the OEM pulley???

jackhild59

iTrader: (7)

It is an offset pattern. All 4 bolts will go in, but the pulley must be rotated into the correct position. If only three fit, then remove those three and rotate the pulley by one hole. Try all 4 again. If they all still won't fit, then remove the 3 and rotate again by one hole in the same direction. If it doesn't fit with all 4 bolts do it again. If it doesn't fit now, start over because you missed the correct orientation.

if you do not get this right, you cannot time the car and I wouldn't trust that eshaft pulley to stay on either.

Good Luck, post a dyno!

NZConvertible

Like I said, all four bolts were in before you started, so all four will go back in if you line the pulleys up correctly.

I've never seen this kit, but I have had the pulleys off a couple of times so I know that you need to spend few minutes firing out which is the offset hole in each pulley and putting them back together with those holes lined up.

*TOUCH*

iTrader: (29)

bastard, it is a custom pulley that reaplces the oem one.

jackchild59, nzconvertible, i must have missed the correct way then, once i am able to get back under the hood this will be the first oreder of business.

thanks for the input.

Evil Aviator

Just to make sure, you do know that the original Paxton 3.25" pulley overspeeds the compressor at 5800rpm, causing it to fail at about 7,000rpm, right?

RX-7 Paxton overview with build-up links at the bottom of the page:
http://www.geocities.com/boatseason/rx7.html

introVert

Word- it took me several minutes of head scratching to get my main pulley on. Place- nope, turn 90deg.- nope- turn 90deg, nope- turn 90 deg- Got it!

The spacer for the t-stat you have has the holes for the s5 t stat neck. Since you have an S4, it ain't gonna work. Only one of the holes will line up, the other needs to be drilled out. I just lined up the spacer so that the slant of the "port" in the neck lines up with the flow, and re-drilled a hole where the other bolt needs to be (the countersunk one). First drilled a hole the size of the bolt shaft, then went halfway in with a larger bit the size of the capscrew head. It will look just like the other holes which don't line up. Then I JB welded the other holes, and ground them flat. I am at work now, but when I get home I will post pics of the marked spacer for drilling.

You need that spacer- it turns the neck out about 30 deg. so that the upper hose can make the turn without any sharp bends. I am surprised the s/c housing even went on without hitting the neck without the spacer in place.

Did you get the heat shield for the right aux port? The S/C sits right on top of this, and will cook it if not shielded. The one that came with the paxton kit is fairly simple, and one can be fabbed quite easily if you don't have one. I can provide pics if you need.

introVert

Oh, the alt pulley will need to be cranked down with an impact gun (per the above posted website). Mine was chewed out a bit when I got it, but since I am running an S6 alt, I drilled it out to 17mm. Problem fixed.

Also, TAKE YOUR TIME shimming stuff until your pulleys are in PERFECT plane- you will be cranking that v-belt pretty tight, and if you don't line them up it will eat the belt pretty quickly.

*TOUCH*

iTrader: (29)

evil aviator- yea, unfortunately its the shitty 3.25". i don't plan on keeping it, i just need the damn car to run asap. once it is im not gonna push it hard enough to harm it for a little. i was thinking that the only place i could get that would be to have a machina shop cutom fab it or something, unless anyone has another idea (WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED).

introvert- yea, the s/c went on fine, i was hoping that the hose would be able to make it without kinking...but guess not...i just got sick of screwing with that thing all day. yea, i put the heat shield on, i just forgot to write on that. however i'm not sure if its on correctly as i had to "modify that too. getting an s5 kit suckssss. anyways, pics would be great! also, the pipe that connects tje thermostat to the radiator has no hole for the coolant fill cap!!!!! any suggestions short of having this modified at a machinist?! did you have this problem? lastly, could you explain the step about rerouting the boost pressure? the part about the red yellow and white hoses? in the manual its #19. i dont even have these parts. and also any explanation of fpr would be awesome as well. OOO, and last for real this time, did you have a transmission fluid filter included with yours? i got the fluid cooler, pump and filter. thanks in advance.

amarthfea

sweet write up, it makes me think how long it has been since i've thought about supercharging systems..

hope to see some numbers up soon, once you get that pulley situation sorted out

*TOUCH*

iTrader: (29)

i was just thinking about the radiator prob and i think it would be best to just switch to an s5 or aftermarket radiator. however i need the car like yesterday so would it be feasible/possible to run the car without a cap untill i can afford more parts? just fill in through the house? i think i read about someone doing this in another post a while ago, just not sure how effective and safe this is. ideas?

introVert

Hmmm- did not need to mod the heat shield at all- just undid the bolt from the front pass. side corner just above the right hand aux port actuator (just behind the air pump) and put the shield in place, then replace bolt.

As for the coolant issue, you are correct- the s4 kit had a flange on the metal upper rad hose to accept the filler cap. It is not present on the s5 kit. I am running with the same setup as you (no upper filler) and still have the s4 rad. My solution was to top the rad off through the cap on top (with the bleeder screw open) then remove the upper hose from the t stat neck and fill both the neck and the hose with as much as you can (its gonna get a bit messy, but take your time)

Do this on a level surface, and obviously you can flex the hose a bit to make the opening that attaches to the filler neck the highest point. You will never be able to get ALL the air out this way, so I plan on adding a bung on top of the metal filler hose and installing a threaded plug with an allen head to allow me to fill from there.

The part about rerouting the boost pressure is confusing to me, but I think it has to do with routing lines to open the aux ports on the s5 motor, which you don't need to worry about, since your s4 ports are actuated by exhaust backpressure.

I do have a B&M cooler and pump with filter- but they did not originally come with the kit. They were added by Randy (previous owner) and have slick AN connections which look really pretty. What did you need to know about these?
I have the cooler mounted in front of the rad, and with my front lip installed it is ducted very nicely. Power to the pump, which is mounted on the front crossmember, was taken from the aux fan harness next to the relays there on the driver side- I think it was a yellow wire with black stripe (check with MM for switched 12v power) and is grounded on the relay mount. Just remeber to mount the pump on the return side of the rad so it sees cooler temps. The directions have you mount it on the hot side, but that will cause premature pump failure.

*TOUCH*

iTrader: (29)

introvert, thanks for all the info. so that whole part about the red and white and blue stuff is void for s4? the only thing that i could think it meant would be to plug the tube into the second noutlet on the elbow going from the s/c to the throttle body. if thats not it then what is it for? i know that one of them hooks to the BAC but what about that other one? this **** is driving me crazy. cant wait to get under that hood tomorrow and sort some stuff out.

introVert

Oh, and have you tried looking for that pulley at http://www.paradisewheelsinc.com/?whatnext=products I think they still supply parts for the SN89/90/2000/novi blowers. Mine measures at 3.75, FWIW, and the fact that it was on a running s5 (with a higher redline than my s4) and has been modified for boosting up to 10psi keeps me from worrying about overspinning it.

You may also search ebay for pulleys, I have actually seen them there, since the mustang/camaro guys love these blowers, and there are still a few support parts being made for them. I just typed in "paxton sn2000" (or sn89, if that's what you have) and saw ball drive kits, pulleys, etc. for them.

Until then, keep your foot out of it.

Def. look into some additional gauges, if you haven't already- I am running AFM, Boost/Vac and Temp gauges, with my sender for the tamp gauge tapped into the water pump housing, fully exposed to the flow of coolant. These are the absolute minimum you need to keep tabs on the motor- I might also look at getting an intake temp setup as well.