96k3500 454 Whipple Supercharger build thread

[dale_gribble]

So my tuner confirmed that he only thinks I should run 1 heat range cooler and gap down to .030. So, I will run the PTR5B-15 gapped to .030. We'll see what happens.

I am going to have to pull the passenger side inner fender to get to the RH plugs; the charger is dead smack in the way now.

Here is kind of a cool picture of the truck in action at our beach campout last weekend.

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[ndians68]

Awesome picture, truck looks good, should be a beast when you get it all figured out!

 

[jdyates]

This truck....





'Nuff said.

 

[SixSpeedSS]

Really, really sharp looking truck!

 

[dale_gribble]

Ok, update.

I went with a range cooler of plug and got away from the platinums after doing a lot of research on supercharged setups. I guess the platinum plugs tend to foul easier which is made even worse when coupled with a cooler range plug. A lot of people seemed to prefer more conventional plugs in aftermarket boosted applications.

The stock replacement v-power plug for the Vortec 454 is a TR55 gapped to .060. That's probably the same for the Vortec 350s too.

After doing a bunch of research, I went with V-Power TR6s and gapped them to .030 per my tuners spec. Those are like THE plug for a lot of supercharged applications; I was surprised to find how widely they were used; from corvettes to imports and everything in between. Changing plugs was a bit of a pain with the supercharger in the way but I was VERY HANDSOMELY rewarded.

The truck is running AMAZING. AMAZING. Somehow my EGTs are lower and my IATs are even lower by a few degrees; I wasn't expecting that necessarily. The truck pulls so much harder now so that means that I was misfiring and/or predetonating ever since I have had the supercharger on. The stock AC Delco Platinums I pulled confirmed my suspicion that I was predetonating.

I can't even explain how hard the truck pulls now. It spins the tires up no problems from a stop (with no power braking) and I can hit 75-80MPH onto the freeway on a standard onramp without an issue. I am guessing that my 0-60 times are between 7-8 seconds. I will confirm that soon. I will have to get some new vids too.

 

[dale_gribble]

Really, really sharp looking truck!

Thanks so much! KILLER 454SS!

 

[dale_gribble]

Ran the truck around a little bit. My 0-60 times are somewhere around 8.25~8.5 seconds and I still think I have some minor tweaking to do. See that dip in my throttle position sensor between 80% and WOT? You can see how my RPMs and speed dipped a tiny bit and the AFR bumped up just a bit. That slowed me down. I need to figure that out. I definitely put the pedal to the medal on that one so the TPS should have linearly reported up to 100%. I can probably get under 8 seconds if I figure it out.

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That puts my truck, a 16 year old 110k mile 7,000# lifted truck on 37s as fast as modern diesels (2011s, 2012s) off the showroom floor that are still on stock wheels and tires.

The supercharger took nearly 2 seconds off of my 0-60 times.

 

[DRAGGIN95]

Very nice!

 

[dkh_524]

how well does that volant intake work? i have a k&n on mine but it is kinda trashed now. i also have the 454 vortec

 

[dale_gribble]

Volant is ok. Kind of pricey and there is factory lead times so they take a while to get. They are a true CAI and pull air from the fender like the factory box which is nice.

I am not sure if the performance is really there. I would get a tuned ECM before I did the CAI.