Here's my summary of the user posts. Credit for all of these ideas goes to the forum members from various threads, but most came from Mark-HD. If I missed anything, please let me know.
Supercharger installation tips:
- Take your time and enjoy the process
- Read through the manual carefully. As you begin you will find several things that you can do out of order to help.
- The harmonic balancer bolt appears to be a common issue:
- If your car is an automatic, you are going to need a Kent-Moore # J-42386-A tool to hold the flywheel in place when reinstalling the balancer bolt. Some may even find this tool necessary on a manual transmission car if they do not have an assistant to keep pressure on the brakes when torquing the bolt into place. The starter must be removed to install this tool into place. DO NOT USE AN IMPACT WRENCH TO INSTALL THIS BOLT!!!
- The drilling of the harmonic balancer went easier than anticipated with the purchase of a right angle drill from Sears.
- Do not use a 12 point socket to remove balancer bolt, use a 6 point 24mm socket.
- Make sure you replace the balancer bolt with a new one. It is not designed to be used twice (replacement bolt is provided with the Magnuson kit).
- One trick to freeing the balancer bolt is to get a long breaker bar and hold the bar itself against the chassis. Then have an assistant turn the key to "start" for a second and let go (make sure spark is disabled so it doesn't start). This should break the bolt free.
- Impact wrench did not break the nut loose - had to use heat and a long cheater pipe. Fence post works well.
- To replace the bolt, use 37 ft/lbs and then 140 degrees with the angle meter.
- Water hoses have been described as the most challenging part of the install:
- The radiator has to come out to gain access for the drill and makes it easier to work on the pulley.
- As far as antifreeze catch goes, I would recommend going to Home Depot and purchasing a concrete mixing tub. They carry two different sizes but the smaller one measures about 18"x24"x6".
- I found some hose fastener removals to be the most difficult (the heater hoses especially, grab & twist with pliers is the trick). A 7 piece set of hose clamp removal tools saved the day.
- Attach the hoses to the back of the supercharger before installing it. It is much easier to install on these hoses on the bench than trying to access the rear of the supercharger after it is installed.
Relative to the instructions from the install manual, the routing of some hoses can be improved.
- Miscellaneous:
- I'd also recommend putting the front wheels on ramps if you are 6' tall or taller. This will allow you to place the catch basin under the car with ease and will stop you from having to bend over as much during the installation. If you are not comfortable installing the supercharger as we did above, you may roll the car back off of the ramps which will make it a little easier to set the supercharger on top. With that being said, once you get the car off of the ramps you're not going to be able to just crank it up and put it back on them since everything is torn apart.
Many of the above tips came from various contributors from the following thread, especially from member Mark-HD:
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http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55433
Operation tips:
- Change the spark plugs to 1 heat cycle cooler. Most everyone runs the NGK TR6, gapped at about .034. They are part number 4177. You should NOT run factory plugs - too hot of a plug for boost.
- Use the highest octane gas available.