Cooling/Plumbing Mods and Questions

[Waz_Wolf]

Black Friday… ordered the track attack hx with fans and 12-AN, cwa150 hx pump, dpms 2 gal hx tank w/ 12-AN, dpms 12-AN monifold adapter, 20’ of Earls 12-AN nylon, and ww relocation tank.

Once I pull the nose off and mount the hx I’ll order the necessary fittings, unless someone already knows which ones are necessary. I appreciate the help so far and will keep reading and asking. I believe I can install all of these parts before a tune is necessary, correct. More preventative/preparatory.

[SIM GhostrdrZ]

Originally Posted by Waz_Wolf

Not necessarily. I’m upgrading all the fittings and lines to 12AN, which is .69”. One of the reasons for going track attack hx, you can order with several fitting configurations.

Thus far my bottleneck appears to be the brick itself. I will have it welded. I haven’t read of a true upgrade for that thus far.

Your brick fix

[tartagliazl1]

Originally Posted by Waz_Wolf

Not necessarily. I’m upgrading all the fittings and lines to 12AN, which is .69”. One of the reasons for going track attack hx, you can order with several fitting configurations.

Thus far my bottleneck appears to be the brick itself. I will have it welded. I haven’t read of a true upgrade for that thus far.

You are right the brick will be the bottleneck. .69” is still smaller than .75” here are some pictures of what I’m talking about. In the picture you can see i have 12an nylon hose vs 3/4” insulated Interchiller hose. You can see the ID is smaller.
Now the fittings as you can see the an hose fitting on the left, the ID is smaller.

[tartagliazl1]

Check out pnptechworks.com for there hose and fittings. Good prices and fast shipping.

[Waz_Wolf]

Originally Posted by SIM GhostrdrZ

Your brick fix

I’ve seen the C&r brick. Is it really different in design/performance versus oem with welded plates? 🤔

I’m new to GM and LS platforms. At the price, I didn’t see anything that justified it.

[SIM GhostrdrZ]

Originally Posted by Waz_Wolf

I’ve seen the C&r brick. Is it really different in design/performance versus oem with welded plates? 🤔

I’m new to GM and LS platforms. At the price, I didn’t see anything that justified it.

You said the brick is the bottleneck. I’d said with the C&R brick that your bottleneck would not be the brick. But it comes at a cost.

[Waz_Wolf]

Originally Posted by SIM GhostrdrZ

You said the brick is the bottleneck. I’d said with the C&R brick that your bottleneck would not be the brick. But it comes at a cost.

That's the best marketing I've seen for the C&R brick, and definitely helps me out. Thanks!

[Triple5even813]

Reinforced brick is a must if you intend to turn the boost up. Mine was collapsed at 11# boost. I went with Dedicated Motorsports for mine. You can send your brick to them if you don't want to pay for a new core.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but a catch can or spring loaded relief valve/breather in the oil fill cap is a must. When my car was lightly modded, I had the Elite Engineering catch can and it worked pretty well. Once I turned the boost up past 15#, rear main seal oil leakage became an issue at the track and I upgraded to the Prospeed (Formerly D3 Performance Eng. design) full atmospheric vent set up with a -10 to each valve cover and -6 to the valley.

-12 is plenty of flow for 700ish whp. If you're looking at heat exchangers, Lightning Force Performance used to make one that was exactly like the AFCO unit w/o fans. This is what I went with. I'd highly recommend a small trunk mount tank (2 gallons or so) if you're not going full race car and would still like the tank to fit under the trunk floor. Mine is a 5 gallon and the trunk is basically unusable for anything large.

I'm also located in Tampa and know a good tuner in the area if you're interested.

Edit: just seen you already ordered a bunch of stuff... Good parts selection and good luck!

[Whisper1]

Hey Triple5Even, don't mean to thread hijack but those are some big numbers on a stock bottom end and big numbers regardless. Have you been successful getting this power to the ground for some decent times? I have contemplated some mods on my ZL1 to perk it up but with a Hellcat Redeye I'm not sure about the bang for the buck. I have seen some monster builds on this forum but they don't seem to translate the HP to good ET's or even trap speed. I really don't understand it - the weight is much less than a HC and the A6 and stock rear end seem good. The stock HCRE's (797 crank hp) will trap around 131 if they don't have the the catalytic over temp issue that kills all power (some do and some don't). That's on a 20" drag radial. Thanks and nice build.

[Triple5even813]

Originally Posted by Whisper1

Hey Triple5Even, don't mean to thread hijack but those are some big numbers on a stock bottom end and big numbers regardless. Have you been successful getting this power to the ground for some decent times? I have contemplated some mods on my ZL1 to perk it up but with a Hellcat Redeye I'm not sure about the bang for the buck. I have seen some monster builds on this forum but they don't seem to translate the HP to good ET's or even trap speed. I really don't understand it - the weight is much less than a HC and the A6 and stock rear end seem good. The stock HCRE's (797 crank hp) will trap around 131 if they don't have the the catalytic over temp issue that kills all power (some do and some don't). That's on a 20" drag radial. Thanks and nice build.

Thank you, I sent you a PM. Hellcat Redeyes are no joke with a couple basic mods!!!

[Marvin_Rall]

It sounds like you have a solid plan for modifying your 2013 ZL1 Convertible A6. Upgrading the plumbing to 12-AN and adding a spacer to the supercharger may be beneficial, but it ultimately depends on your specific goals and how you plan to use the car. Similarly, adding cooling modifications such as the Weapon X HX with fans, BMR supercharger tank, and Pierburg CWA400 pump, 160 degree stat, with a welded brick, is a good idea for the heat in Florida and the extra power from the other modifications.

Regarding the CAI, it's best to do the cooling mods first and then get a full tune when you pull the blower and do the rest of the modifications. You're correct that you'll need a full tune, but Tampa is relatively close so that's a good option.

Regarding the injectors, if you're looking to maximize power, the ID1050X injectors should be a good choice, as they can support around 800WHP on E85. However, it's worth noting that you will be maxed out running a little lower content, so you may want to run a lower E85 content to be safe.

Overall, it seems like you have a solid plan for your ZL1 and it should be able to make some impressive power gains with these modifications.