Whipple in Aussie Burb

[Howard Quick]

Hi All,

I'm in the process of installing my Whipple in my 98 Burb.

Any and all comments and advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have a couple of questions that I hope someone can help me with.

Firstly I'll explain my situation.

I live in Melbourne, Australia. My truck is a 98 Suburban K1500 LT 5.7L.

THe truck is factory right hand drive and as such the brake booster and A/C are on the opposite sides of the firewall to you guys trucks.

I mounted the Whipple unit but the inlet manifold won't fit on the back of the compressor due to the A/C.

I have manufactured a new intake manifold from 3" stainless and it's pretty good(just needs to be TIG welded and polished).

My question is, does it matter where the throttle body is mounted on the air intake to the blower?

I had to make the intake manifold quite a bit longer than the factory cast unit?

As it turns out, this way I don't have to replace the throttle cable or cruise control cable which I would have had to do if I'd used the standard Whipple intake manifold.

Please see pic's. Please advise me on any probs you think I may have?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/hqui...owerintake2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/hqui...owerintake1.jpg

Thanks

Howard

[Rolandd]

If I understand the sitation correctly you are adding a supercharger between the TB and the intake. With TBI you also have the option of adding the supercharger before the TB if the supercharger output pressure is not too high.

 

I don't think for what you are doing the length of the intake will make a difference (within reason). However, the intake sensors will need to be placed correctly so that the engine control unit (ECU) will correctly meter the injection timing and pulse length as well as the fuel pump pressure. If the sensors get fooled you could end up with drivability issues and burning up the catalytic converter by delivering too much fuel to the intake charge.

 

Tuning the intake manifold length can make a difference in performance. With the correct length manifold arms, when the intake valve closes it will create a pulse of energy that will "echo" off the throttle plate and return to the intake valve just as it opens, providing additional trust to the intake charge. With a supercharger you have no need for this pulse as you are compressing the intake charge mechanically.

 

Good luck with the project!

 

--Roland

[Howard Quick]

Hi Roland,

thanks very much for the reply.

Yes I am adding the SC between the TB and the intake. This is standard for the Whipple kit which is designed for the 96-98 5.7L Suburban. So, the air goes: Air filter->TB->my new pipework->SC ->intake manifold(motor).

All I'm actually doing is moving the throttle body towards the air filter by about 6" from where it would be if I used the stock, supplied, cast alluminium Whipple inlet.

The Whipple unit actually has a couple of mouldings in it to allow for going around the brake booster (for LHD models) which actually impede air flow slightly. The new manifold I made is a smooth, free flowing unit which has no such impedences.

I was just concerned that maybe the throttle body had to be right next to the compressor. I didn't think it would make much difference as it is still the same length of pipe which the TB is mounted on, just a little further away.

As far as I know, there are no other Whipple Blown Burbs (if any blown) in Australia. This means I have no references to go by!?

Who knows, maybe I'll start a trend!

 

Thanks again, greatly appreciated.

Best wishes

Howard

[dewfpo]

The throttle body does not need to be right next to the SC, in fact, a little further away is better to smooth out the airflow pulses.

 

Very nice job on the intake tube......well done.

 

DEWFPO

[Howard Quick]

FANTASTIC!!!

Thanks for the reply. That's great news.

I hope to have it all finished and running this weekend.

[Rolandd]

I'm curious how the intake manifold pressure sensor is managed. In normal operation this sensor helps the ECU determine shift points for the tranny and also can impact spark timing and fuel pump pressure. With the supercharger I would imagine that there would be some vacuum generated but the vacuum level would be different than in normally asperated engines based on engine speed and load. Does your kit include a new chip to compensate in its programming?

[Howard Quick]

I'm not entirely sure how it all works.

The kit comes with a 'piggy-back' chip or something. It plugs in in-line with the stock computer.

There is a sensor which mounts in the neck of the SC outlet where it goes directly into the inlet manifold (I believe that's the stock inlet air sensor, relocated. The MAF stays where it is.

I'll read the manual when I get home and post some answers.

Maybe someone else here who already has one of these units can shed some light?

Thanks for the replies guys, any more Q's or comments, please post them....it's a learning experience for me!