For Project LS1 the time had come for drastic measures. Its time with owner Jay Heath was drawing to a close, our efforts to acquire a stronger 12-bolt rear to take punishing drag launches on slicks were thwarted, and the idea of gutting this pristine, low-mile Formula and turning it into a drag car in our quest for low 11s on motor would surely have been met with a string of Heath's polysyllabic insults.
Yep, if there was any hope in making our 3,700-pound streetcar dip into the 11s there could be no more playing around. It had always been destined for something greater than mere 12.30 time slips, and when the 5-foot box from Procharger arrived at the office, I knew the rapture was upon us. Judgment day had come, and in order to escape the fires of hell occupied by Mustangs, imports, and Rosie O'Donnell's black soul, measly bolt-on power was not going to cut it. It was time to get blown.
With plenty of visceral grunt, an aspect of civility, and practicality thrown in for good measure, centrifugal blowers are perhaps one of the best investments you can make when purchasing a power adder. And quite honestly, there are few sounds as pleasing to a gearhead than the whine of a supercharger.
For our Project '99 Trans Am, that whine would be supplied by an ATI Procharger P-1SC-1, which would be pumping about 7 psi of fresh air into a set of twin intercoolers before finding its way into the LS6 manifold. The P-1SC-1 head unit is capable of sustaining 825 hp for engines making 200 to 500 hp naturally aspirated, more than adequate for our purposes. Procharger prides itself on making some of the most powerful and reliable blowers on the market, and to ensure reliability, each head unit is made entirely from heat-treated T-6 aircraft aluminum utilizing billet impellers exclusively. Perhaps the biggest difference between this unit and its competitors is in the bearings, which have the benefit of specifically engineered gear oil since this system is self-contained and no oil lines need to be run from the oil pan.
The Procharger LS1 F-body kit leaves the engine bay looking rather innocent and neat from the top. However, while it is all business up top, the party is down below (sort of like a mullet) where the P-1SC-1 is tucked closely to the crank pulley and the twin intercoolers are kept in close proximity. This design enables the blower to be driven independently of the other accessories, which puts less strain on the main serpentine belt and keeps the car drivable if the blower throws a belt. In order to achieve this, Procharger has an extra six-rib crank pulley that bolts on the end of the stock unit, and there is also an eight-rib upgrade that requires an ATI Performance Products Harmonic Balancer. We chose the latter, which would lessen the chance of belt slippage given our intended use.
The only downside to Procharger's neat packaging is that the tight Fourth-Gen F-body engine bay requires some convincing before squeezing in the components. In fact, a few things will need to be relocated, including the air pump, the cruise control, and the horn. The factory dual electric fans will also need to be replaced by a large 16-inch single fan to make room for the blower. Have no fear though, as all of the necessary brackets, screws, and instructions are provided in the kit. In fact, very little-to-no modification to any of the components in the kit is required. However, the design does require quite a bit of familiarity for it to go smoothly, which is why we were happy that East Coast Supercharging agreed to do the install.
East Coast Supercharging is most widely known for its sponsorship of the Corvette Challenge series at Englishtown's Raceway Park, and is also one of the most reputable shops for C5 Corvettes along the Atlantic shoreline, with plenty of F-bodies under its belt as well. Since Procharger installs make up the largest portion of its business, familiarity would not be an issue. In fact, ECS is home to some of the fastest stock suspension C5 Corvettes in the country, all sporting ATI's finest.
Part I of the Procharger install chronicles the initial steps in removing and relocating the stock components and installing a new harmonic balancer and the Procharger crank pulley, along with the head unit and serpentine belts. The plumbing and intercooler installation will have to wait for next time; be sure not to miss GMHTP's exclusive pressure and ambient temperature testing of Procharger's new 4.5-inch intercoolers. Last but not least, dyno numbers and updated track times await as we send our Project Trans Am off in style.
Marc assembles the new fan bracket using the supplied 7/16-inch bolts, and then attaches the new 16-inch fan. Even though he has done a countless number of these installs, Marc still follows along with the manual to make sure he has not forgotten anything. He even has his own copy with annotations from previous installs including various tips and instructions. | 
Procharger Engineer Ryan Bosch flew out for the occasion and got started on disassembling the intake tract. First, the negative battery cable is disconnected then the MAF is unplugged, as is the air temperature sensor. The clamps on the Smooth Bellows are loosened, the airlid unclamped and removed, the filter removed, and then the remaining elements of the intake tract up to the throttle body... | 
...The 10mm bolts on the airbox and upper radiator support are the last to go, making way for the polished metal unit supplied in the kit that will soon replace it. |
Ryan also takes off the Spohn strut tower brace for easier access to the intake manifold. | 
Once up on the lift, the plastic radiator air dam is removed via the 10mm bolts on the front and 8mm bolts on the backside... | 
...The air dam then needs to be trimmed 1-inch from either side of the outmost holes to make room for the intercoolers. |
The driver and passenger-side vented splash panels can come off as well by removing the 10mm bolts that attach them. These screws will later be reused, so they are placed in a magnetic tray. | 
All of the wires are disconnected from the stock fans before it makes its departure. | 
Before taking off the crank pulley it is helpful to zip-tie the radiator lines to keep them out of the way, and then to remove the 15mm bolt from the A/C tensioner pulley so that the serpentine belts can come off. Finally, a balancer puller is used to remove the underdrive pulley and balancer assembly. Those of you with stock pullies and the six-rib option need only bolt the Procharger crank pulley on using the supplied hex bolt and washer with 40 lb-ft of torque. |
The new ATI balancer is put in place and the 24mm pinning bolt is tightened with the impact gun. Included in the Crank Pin Drill Kit from Thunder was a drill bit that Marc used to install the dowel pins on the end of the crankshaft. | 
Marc wasn't playing around when he whipped out his monster torque wrench. After placing some Red Loctite on the crank bolt he torqued it to a whopping 240 lb-ft while Ryan holds on for dear life trying to keep the converter from spinning. | 
The 10mm bolts from the horn (passenger-side fenderwell) and air pump (driver-side) are removed because both will need to be relocated using the supplied brackets... |
...However, since all of the emissions equipment was disconnected anyway, the air pump was removed to shed some weight. | 
The cable that leads to the cruise control module must be disconnected from the frame, the 10mm and 7mm bolts cast off, separating the module from the bracket, and both are removed from the car... | 
...The three 10mm bolts that attach the module to its housing can come off, as do any plugs, so that it can be placed on the relocation bracket. |