Heads, Cam, and a Supercharger on a 3.8???

[TechCam97]

Hey everyone, my friend has a 99 3.8L Camaro and he's wondering about some stuff. He's thinking about buying two things;

1.) Heads/Cam kit from www.supersixmotorsports.com
2.) Supercharger from RKSport.com

What he's wondering is, can the engine take all that at once? Are there things he needs to replace/add so his engine won't be completely destroyed? What kind of HP do ya'll think it would make? Thanks in advance!

[Infernal]

That's the route I'm going right now. Blower goes on this month (if it ever arrives :mad: [img]smile.gif[/img] and the Super6 engine mods go in next Spring.

I think it's a good combo. As far as I know nobody has attempted it yet.

The major problem I see is that right now it's very difficult to impossible to get custom computer programming, so the setup will never-ever be as efficient as it could be.

Some issues are, the Powerdyne blower RK Sport sells is known to have belt slip issues with the 9lb pulley. I've talked to some people who have managed to get around this, though. Another problem is blowby at 9lbs. The head work from the Super6 setup along with a good set of headers and a good catback should (I'm crossing my fingers) allow 9lbs fine with belt slippage issues taken care of.

As for expected gains, it's a new configuration so the only way to guess would be to model the scenario with software. Maybe someone with more insight could help there -- I'd be curious to know too. People running the stock 6lb setup on the blower with bolton exhaust mods are seeing around 220rwhp on average, by what I've been reading. That's about a 50-60 rwhp gain over stock. With the head and cam work and upping the boost it's a whole different world.

I'm also considering the merits of going with a L67 pistons and rods setup, but I doubt I will because the Powerdyne will never be able to push enough to require a lower CR IMHO.

Hope this helps.

EDIT:

Just to add, you had some questions about engine damage. The blower is designed to run 6lbs on stock internals and there are people who have run 6lbs for quite some time with no problems at all. The 3800 can take 6lbs easily in my opinion. With the better breathing I think 9lbs would be alright -- the pistons are the weak point. We shall see.

[ September 24, 2002: Message edited by: Infernal ]</p>

[scottblack]

9lbs would be safe on stock internals. The L36 is a beast when it comes to reliability, it can take alot of abuse. Just ask Keith ahahahaha. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Doing the SSM/Powerdyne route will be very beneficial, try to get a blower specific cam from Tom to really maximize the results. He will help you pick it out specifically for the blower. That should put down some insane numbers.

Scott

[pgriffith]

Ask Ironman24 he has a Cam with stock heads and a 6PSI powerdyne blower. PLus lots of other mods.

[Ironman24]

The bottom end of the 3.8 is solid, it will take 6 or 9 PSI with no problems, of course as long as you don't run it lean or have excessive knock. The car should make around 300 at the wheels and over 300 with good tuning. Driveability of the car will go downhill, I can't use mine as a daily driver, just too rouch on cold starts, stalls out with the AC on, etc. Along with this setup make sure to get headers and a full exhaust, along with induction mods, cold air kit, etc.

[pgriffith]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Ironman24:
The bottom end of the 3.8 is solid, it will take 6 or 9 PSI with no problems, of course as long as you don't run it lean or have excessive knock. The car should make around 300 at the wheels and over 300 with good tuning. Driveability of the car will go downhill, I can't use mine as a daily driver, just too rouch on cold starts, stalls out with the AC on, etc. Along with this setup make sure to get headers and a full exhaust, along with induction mods, cold air kit, etc.<hr></blockquote>


Does your car still pass emissions with the blower/cam?

[Ironman24]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by pgriffith:



Does your car still pass emissions with the blower/cam?<hr></blockquote>

[img]graemlins/rofl.gif[/img] Uh that would be a big fat no. [img]smile.gif[/img] With a stock cam and no cat I blew 60 out of 220 on the sniffer test and passed. I haven't even attempted to get another sniffer since the cam install. On cold startup it just foggs out fuel, clouds of smoke. Idle is very rich, I hate to stop at lights with the windows down. lol

[pgriffith]

So is it still a street car or do you have to trailor it to the track?

[Ironman24]

Oh yeah it's still a street car for sure but I would never rely on it for daily transportation at this point. I don't ever want to be a trailor queen. I think most of the driveability issues could be solved with some custom tuning. On the highway it runs great, I'm getting around 26-28mpg. In town driving is not that great.

[pgriffith]

I think alot of us will need custom tuning after all these big cam swaps. Who is going to save us? I am very affraid how my car will run after my cam. I think I will try maft+ and see how good I can get it.