2004 Pontiac GTO Vortech Superchager Install - Back in Black Part III

Vortech supplies two aluminum brackets and an aluminum heat shield that attach to the valve cover as shown. You will want to wait until the stock bracket is affixed to do the final tightening on the non-triangular coil relocation bracket, as there is no way to know exactly which direction it needs to point until the stock bracket is on there.

Finally, the stock coil bracket is bolted to the relocation brackets. You can see from this photo that a couple of inches of room are now afforded atop the coils for the charge cooler to sit. Be sure to reconnect the wiring harness plug before moving on.

After installing the Vortech coolant reservoir bracket, and placing a spacer behind a coolant reservoir stud mounted on the fenderwell, the coolant reservoir is almost ready to be reinstalled once a few inches of 1-inch lengthening hose are spliced in. Although one must wait until the V-2 is in to pop the coolant reservoir into place, when the time comes be sure that the rubber bumper on the Vortech coolant reservoir bracket is seated in the hole on the bottom of the coolant reservoir. Otherwise, the reservoir won't sit correctly.

The real fun begins when it's time to get under the car and install the oil feed line for the supercharger. Through some great stroke of good fortune, GM decided to install a small blockoff plate above the oil filter where it is very easy to get a pressurized oil source from. First, remove the skidplate and oil filter. Then, after removing the nuts securing the blockoff plate, their studs must be double-nutted in order to be removed. They are long, so be patient.

Vortech supplies an aluminum adapter, an additional factory gasket, longer bolts (in lieu of studs), and a 90-degree brass fitting that install to complete the oil feed system. The fitting must be coated with engine oil only before screwing it into the aluminum adapter; sealant could damage the blower. Be sure to do this before tightening the two bolts or you won't be able to turn the fitting. The braided oil-feed hose is then installed onto the other end of the fitting.

The worst part of the entire system installation is making an oil drain hole in the oil pan. Most other companies use separate lubrication for the supercharger; Vortech's use of engine oil adds significantly to the kit's complexity and installation time. Not only did we have to use a 90-degree drill to make the hole, but multiple persons were needed to hold the various lines and brackets out of the way to get access to the right spot on the pan. Patience is a virtue here.

After drilling the hole via Vortech's supplied rotabroach-a fancy kind of drill bit-the hole needs to be tapped with a 3/8-18 pipe (NPT) tap (not included). It needs to be greased heavily to catch any chips that could contaminate the oil, and it is important to work slowly and carefully here as you only get one shot at it. We found that we had to tap much further than we thought to get Vortech's brass fitting to go in (it is a tapered tap), so we suggest alternating tapping and trying to install the fitting until you get it to go in far enough. It is possible to tap too far-which would be very, very bad.

After cleaning the threads of the newly tapped hole, sealer is applied to the 90-degree brass fitting (OK here since this is the supercharger oil drain, not the supply) and it is carefully installed. Be sure not to cross-thread it on its way in-the oil pan is quite thin, so any mistake could spell disaster. After attaching the rubber oil drain line to the fitting, spacers will have to be used between the pan and the power steering line bracket to make space for the fitting to sit.

Moving back up top, the stock 26-lb fuel injectors need to be replaced, as they won't be up to the task of supplying the additional fuel needed for all that extra Vortech power. Four bolts need to be removed to lift the fuel rails from the intake manifold, and once the injector retaining clips are slipped off, the injectors can be popped out of the fuel rail with the gentle pry of a flatblade screwdriver.

Vortech supplies 42-lb injectors to install in place of the stockers. After slipping them in place and reinstalling the factory injector retaining clips, the fuel rail is tightened back down. As far as the injector wiring goes, Vortech said not to reuse the wiring retaining clips, but we ended up doing so anyway as they popped on just fine.

Fortunately, our pulley puller was also an installer, as Vortech supplies a hub to be pressed onto the power steering pump shaft. This hub will have Vortech's supercharger drive hub installed onto it momentarily. Incidentally, our tool broke at the instant Vortech's hub was pressed on just far enough, the ball bearing part of the tool disintegrating under pressure. Just be sure to buy a quality pulley installer/removal tool for this job (our K-B unit seemed not quite up to the task).

Before reinstalling the power steering reservoir bracket, it needs to have the engine lift hook portion of it cut away. This is easily accomplished with a hacksaw. Visions of removing the engine from a newly-turbocharged Camaro SS flash through the author's memory at this point, and he hopes this lift hook will not be missed.

Vortech's meaty, 1/2-inch-thick supercharger mounting bracket installs over the front of the power steering pump and its new hub. We really were impressed with the way Vortech engineered this kit; the method for mounting and driving the supercharger requires no accessory relocation, and this bracket embodies that important engineering feat. On automatic cars like ours, a transmission line rubs the bottom of this bracket so be sure to zip-tie some rubber around it for protection.

Once the power steering reservoir bracket is reinstalled behind the supercharger mounting bracket-using a few aluminum spacers between it and the cylinder head-the power steering reservoir pops back on. Vortech includes a bit of 90-degree molded hose and a 3/8-inch hose mender so that the power steering line snakes around the supercharger mounting bracket just right.

The anodized supercharger drive pulley installs onto the drive pulley hub using six allen head bolts. Use of loctite and proper bolt torque (16 lb-ft) are crucial here. It helps a whole lot if you reinstall the factory serpentine belt before attempting to tighten them, as the belt keeps the pulley from rotating.

The V-2 supercharger nearly ready to bolt on, the supercharger air inlet duct must first be drilled with a very unusual 23/32-inch bit. This hole is necessary for the factory IAT sensor. Why Vortech didn't bother to pre-drill this hole eludes us, and we ended up drilling it in a place that was not optimal. As we'll soon see, the wiring harness just reached the sensor and it rubs the fenderwell, so we should have drilled a bit further clockwise than in the photo here.

In trial-fitting the V-2 onto its bracket, we encountered some interference with some of the hoses located just aft of the supercharger mounting bracket. We discovered that we needed to significantly shorten the coolant extension hose previously installed, as well as zip tie it to one of the power steering hoses. This got it out of the way and allowed the supercharger to slip onto its bracket. Without this change, the hose would get sandwiched between the blower and the power steering pump.

Vortech's V-2 SQ SC-trim supercharger can now be bolted onto its mounting bracket. This unit is capable of supporting up to 20 psi and 680 horsepower, though of course in this application the supplied pulley will only allow it to deliver 7-8psi of boost. This is quite a safe amount for the modest 10.1:1 compression ratio of the LS1, particularly since this system is aftercooled. Once the V-2 is in place, the clocking of the aluminum air inlet duct can be adjusted (don't forget to tighten it), and the coolant reservoir popped onto its mounts.

You're looking into a mirror angled at the underside of the supercharger and its rubber oil drain hose, as installed onto its fitting. Had Vortech notched the supercharger mounting bracket at this location, we wouldn't have had to use an open-ended wrench to tighten the tiny hose clamp in the nearly-inaccessible gap seen here. Alternatively, we probably could have installed the hose before putting the blower on its bracket, but the instructions didn't say this.

Vortech uses a cog-type belt to drive the supercharger off of the drive pulley. Though cog belts are not normally used in street applications, this kit's drive pulley is still driven by the stock serpentine belt, which can be counted on to slip just the right amount if it needs to (during shifting and other times when the engine speed changes abruptly). This negates any worries about overaccelerating the blower that would be present in systems where the cog belt drives directly off of the crank. An idler pulley is tightened in place to give the belt just enough tension such that it does not shake around much while the engine is running.

In order to make a hole in the fenderwell for the air intake to pass through, a 3.5-inch hole saw is used to drill through the steel body. Vortech included a diagram that told us where to make this hole, with exact measurements included. After this hole is made, an inlet flange drops in and is secured with self-tapping screws.

An assembly of flex ducting, the stock mass air flow sensor, and a 3.5-inch rubber connector attach onto the inlet flange that passes through the fenderwell. Visible here is the way in which the wiring harness is stretched to the limit to be able to reach the IAT sensor located in the underside of the aluminum inlet duct. Also visible is the braided oil feed line that has now been attached to the side of the supercharger.

We found that in order to get the flex ducting to slide onto the aluminum inlet duct, some trimming of its internal wire reinforcement is required. Just enough must be taken out so as to leave an inch or so of the ducting reinforcement-free. It is still a tight fit though, and some needle-nose pliers will need to be used to gently pull the edges of the flex ducting on.

To complete this phase of the supercharger installation, a K&N filter is mounted onto the inlet flange, just below the mass airflow sensor. We applaud Vortech for choosing to locate the air filter outside of the hot engine compartment, a design choice other manufacturers of GTO supercharging systems have not made. From here, the filter will be able to get a constant supply of cool outside air through factory openings in the bottom of the front fascia.