FRC Joe's A&A Vortech Install

FRC Joe · 02-10-2010, 1:03pm

This thread is old. I have copied it this forums so we can start building up a database of tech info etc.

Day 1

Well I've finally run out of excuses for not installing my A&A Corvette Vortech kit. I've had this kit minus the head unit since April of last year. In the interveneing 11 mos, A&A redesigned the radiator mounting and charge air piping on this kit this install will be a bit of a hybrid, with some of the older kit elements being used with the updated parts. The head unit is a V-2 SQ T-Trim, and should be completely silent at idle. Here's a shot with the car in the air and the hood off. Removing the hood is well worth the minor effort required, in fact it's possible to do this single handedly.

Here's a shot of the kit parts laid out on the bench. I would like to be running meth even at the low power levels I'm starting out at, but budget did not permit it. It will be the next thing I add though.

Here's where the blower unit will mount. The kit fits nicely beneath the stock hood and utilizes the stock 6-rib belt system.

I'm shooting for 550 rwhp and 490-500 rwtq at 8-9 lbs on this 1st go around. This would have been easily attainable with the S-Trim I started out with. With the T-Trim I've increased pulley dia to a 3.800" Reichard Racing pulley. Hopefully this will slow things down enough to stay within my target range. I plan to tune with Creech ay CAM this monday (3/19).

First order of business was to modify the blower housing to fit the A&A bracket. The 3 bosses indicated in the pics had to be cut down flush with the gearbox. I thought about having this done on a mill, but a hacksaw and flat file ended up being the ticket. A&A does this to all the blowers bought with their kits, but I got the head unit used and for a price I couldnt pass up.

FRC Joe · 02-10-2010, 1:04pm

Here's a pic of the blower mounted to the forward bracket. With this bracket mounted to the aft bracket, it's possible to get about 270° of belt wrap on the blower pulley.

I removed the A.I.R. pump from it's location behind the bumper in front of the driver's side front wheel. A&A provides a relocation bracket for it but I sure am tempted to leave it out. The charge air piping runs directly through it's original location. Here's a pic of the sheet metal that boxes in the area in front of the radiator.

Two of the bolts provided with the kit had limited thread engagment with a threaded aluminum hole, so I decided to hunt down some 3/8-16 x 3.75" grade 8 bolts. These are 1/2" longer than the ones supplied and use all of the threads in the the hole vs. 3-4. I probably could have gone with 3-1/2" bolts, but the quantities avalable made it cheaper to buy 10 of the 3-34" vs. 25 of the 3-1/2". Here's a pic of the issue.

I've also had to spend a bit of time on the phone with Andy of A&A. He doesnt have instructions written up for the new kit elements yet, and some of it isnt exactly intuitive.

Here's the backing bracket. It attaches to two of the holes in the head, and the two holes on the waterpump were the tensioner used to go.

Blower in place.

View from the nose. The radiator, condenser, and front crash bar have been lowered via spacers. The new inlet vent that will go up and over the rad. and condesnser can be seen sitting on the cowl.

FRC Joe · 02-10-2010, 1:04pm

I had a minor freakout today when I thought the kit did not include the correct silicone couplers. Turns out that they'll stretch a little more than I had given them credit for. This pic shows the top of the radiator notched to clear the piping. I added some door edge guard to the bare aluminum edges because the top shroud will lay directly on the front edge, and also to try to tidy up the look a little.

The fan shroud was also relieved for the new plastic inlet elbow. This piece is the main new part to the A&A kit and is what allows the radiator to stay at the stock angle. The carboard visible in both shots is to protect the radiator fins while removing and installing the fans multiple times.

Here's a shot looking upwards into the blower outlet (forward is down). The charge air pipe will elbow to the left in this pic and run across the centerline of the vehicle. The finned item at the top of the pic is the power steering cooler. I'm anticipating having the bend some more fins around on that thing, and may eventually look at re-locating it. The oil return hose can be seen running up to the bottom of the blower. I installed the return line, oil feed, and pinned the crank during my cam install of a few months back, which has saved a bunch of time during this install.

FRC Joe · 02-10-2010, 1:05pm

Turns out the belt that was supplied with the kit was too short, so a trip to CarQuest and one $45, 92-7/8" belt later I was ready to fire her up to test belt alighment. I put the MAF on and mounted the filter directly to it and let her rip. I've heard that LS1s are sensitive to disruptions in the intake tract, so I'm hoping that's the reason the car ran like crap. It really hunted around at idle, and would intermittantly rev up to 2k or so. On the bright side, the belt stayed on, and there were no oil leaks. Here's a shot of it running.

Next up was test fitting the intercooler. As you can see from the pic there are two aluminum straps that must be bent to suit. The outboard strap lines up with the bolt for the stock airbox. For the strap on centerline, I'll have to come up with some sort of blind fastener solution. Somewhere around here I have a riv-nut gun that is the right tool for the job. Hopefully I can find it

Here's a pic of the shroud in place. **This just lays there, which bothers me. So I'll probably make some "L" brackets and screw the thing down. I also need to enlarge the center cutout as it was made for the newer intercooler with the 3.5" outlet vs the one I have with the 4" oval.

Enlarged the cutout and made the hold down brakets for the shroud. I found some appropriately sized brackets at Lowe's, pop riveted them to the frame rails, and installed a 1/4-20 riv-nut in the top. Added some nice stainless hardware to finish it off. This should keep the shroud from wanting to ride up at high speeds. **I'm a little surprised the kit doesnt come with something like this, as the area in front of the radiator should be seeing some high pressure at speed.

**Edit: The kit does include sheet metal screws to hold the top shroud down.

More pics to come as I finish things up tomorrow, and of course numbers and/or tales or stock motor destruction to come on monday.

FRC Joe · 02-10-2010, 1:06pm

I finished mounting the intercooler and routing the charge air piping today. Everything tucks up nicely. Here's a shot of the finished routing. The short piece of hose tie wrapped to the bottom of the blow-off valve is to keep the valve from resting on the close off panel on it's sintered metal filter.

Here's a shot of the finished product. With everything in place he car started and ran normally, much better than yesterday.

Friends help you move, real friends help you move Y-bodies

My bud RJ offered to trailer me down to CAM in his 28ft enclosed trailer. Here's a shot strapped down and ready to roll.

After we got her strapped down I realized I hadnt swapped out the plugs and installed the new wires. I guess that will give us something to do besides tune at CAM tomorrow. I'll post results when I get them.