Ram From Hell
Full Access Member
Last one before lunch...
Supercharging
The intercooler that comes with the Paxton kit is woefully (nay, laughably) inadequate. Heat soak is a MAJOR issue, since the factory kit has neither the water volume nor the radiator area to dissipate heat fast enough. I opted for a couple of eX-Metal upgrades, which include a MUCH bigger radiator (something on the order of 6x the surface area) and an ice/water reservoir (pump was mounted to the box, but really needed to be mounted elsewhere for clearance). All of this is plumbed in -12 lines (I think I'm into the lines and fittings parts for about $300.00 on this alone), and circulated by a hefty Meziere pump. The coolant temperature is monitored in-cab. Both the radiator and water reservoir were polished and treated.
The Paxton charge piping has all been re-polished (including removing the stamp from the intercooler) and treated. The Paxton "dryer vent" air intake was replaced by the DC Performance air box and hard intake pipe (reportedly good for a solid 8-10hp). All of the pipe clamps were thrown aside, and T-bolt clamps (I hand polished and treated every stinking one of them...) were installed instead. New soft couplings in red were installed. The DC Perf gear and the plain-jane Paxton supercharger brackets were cleaned up and powder coated (which also match the JMB hard radiator pipes, thermostat housing, and line-lock bracket).
Lastly, an overdrive crank pulley has been installed. Before you guys ask where I got it, I'll tell you that Bone and I both bought one. They were cut wrong, and had to be drastically re-machined. Even though the purchase price was refunded, our out of pocket on these was still about $300.00 a piece. Be it enough said there isn't anyone currently making them, so we can't tell you where to find one.
With a bigger crank pulley there is a small amount of additional power lost driving the accessories, but the increased drive ratio on the Paxton will make a big difference in boost, so this is something of a non-issue. The alternative of course is to run a smaller drive pulley on the supercharger. The problem encountered doing this is major belt slippage (hell, it's a problem with the stocker sometimes
). Speaking of slippage, I also spent some quality time with a scotch-brite pad and the supercharger pulley, breaking the glaze off of the belt surface. Another member here hit his with a wire wheel, and still has no problems with slippage. Then there's the issue of finding the correct length for a drive belt. I found the 113" works great on my application, and they're readily available too.
Supercharging
The intercooler that comes with the Paxton kit is woefully (nay, laughably) inadequate. Heat soak is a MAJOR issue, since the factory kit has neither the water volume nor the radiator area to dissipate heat fast enough. I opted for a couple of eX-Metal upgrades, which include a MUCH bigger radiator (something on the order of 6x the surface area) and an ice/water reservoir (pump was mounted to the box, but really needed to be mounted elsewhere for clearance). All of this is plumbed in -12 lines (I think I'm into the lines and fittings parts for about $300.00 on this alone), and circulated by a hefty Meziere pump. The coolant temperature is monitored in-cab. Both the radiator and water reservoir were polished and treated.
The Paxton charge piping has all been re-polished (including removing the stamp from the intercooler) and treated. The Paxton "dryer vent" air intake was replaced by the DC Performance air box and hard intake pipe (reportedly good for a solid 8-10hp). All of the pipe clamps were thrown aside, and T-bolt clamps (I hand polished and treated every stinking one of them...) were installed instead. New soft couplings in red were installed. The DC Perf gear and the plain-jane Paxton supercharger brackets were cleaned up and powder coated (which also match the JMB hard radiator pipes, thermostat housing, and line-lock bracket).
Lastly, an overdrive crank pulley has been installed. Before you guys ask where I got it, I'll tell you that Bone and I both bought one. They were cut wrong, and had to be drastically re-machined. Even though the purchase price was refunded, our out of pocket on these was still about $300.00 a piece. Be it enough said there isn't anyone currently making them, so we can't tell you where to find one.
With a bigger crank pulley there is a small amount of additional power lost driving the accessories, but the increased drive ratio on the Paxton will make a big difference in boost, so this is something of a non-issue. The alternative of course is to run a smaller drive pulley on the supercharger. The problem encountered doing this is major belt slippage (hell, it's a problem with the stocker sometimes
). Speaking of slippage, I also spent some quality time with a scotch-brite pad and the supercharger pulley, breaking the glaze off of the belt surface. Another member here hit his with a wire wheel, and still has no problems with slippage. Then there's the issue of finding the correct length for a drive belt. I found the 113" works great on my application, and they're readily available too.
