Vortech Install

Installing a supercharger is among the easiest ways to quickly and efficiently make more horsepower, there are however a few things to consider before performing this upgrade. A supercharger works along a simple principle of adding more (compressed) air and fuel to an engine, the more fuel and air the engine receives the more horsepower it will make. This is somewhat akin to Einstein's theory of relativity it just works that way.

By now you have heard the expression what goes in must come out, this is a prime example of supercharging. No matter how much fuel and air you add it is of utmost importance that you have a way to exhaust it. The installation you see here is only dealing with the supercharger, after this we also installed a free flowing cat back system by Magna Flow which works in concert with the free breathing engine.

The installation of the Vortech unit took a little over 10 hours, that included stopping to snap photos and setup different shots so you can see just what it takes to install this unit. The nice thing about a website is that we are not confined to only a few interesting pictures. Everything that we encountered is below including but not limited to a burly man leaning into the engine bay, definitely not for the squeamish.

Click the photo to visit the Hyperspeed website and see what they can do for your car, truck, SUV or motorcycle.

The bible of power. Woo Hoo!

1000 hours Monday.

The first step is to disconnect the negative battery cable. Then remove the air filter and tube assembly, do not throw anything away yet. You need the air mass sensor from the stock unit.

A look from the side to get you better acquainted.

The power steering mount must be removed, lay the power steering reservoir off to the side where it won't be in your way, Vortech supplies a new mount which you will install a bit later.

You need to clear a space for the new Vortech brackets and mounts, everything goes on the driver side of the engine.

Vortech says you can get away with not removing the fan and shroud, it takes about ten minutes to pull the fan and shroud and makes life so much better.

A worms eye view of the oil filter and brass fitting that need to be installed for the oil supply lines.

Here is a close up of the fitting that needs to be installed. This is pretty straightforward, remove the oil sending unit and replace it with the supplied fittings, screw the sending unit back into the tail end of this contraption and plug the electrical sender back in. You can't come up for air yet, the return line still has to be installed.

Looking down at the crank pulley.

Direct center of the front of the pan under the crank pulley you have to punch a hole and then tap it. This type of fun is usually reserved for the faint of heart.

Another look down, this one at the return line.

While Jim was busy doing the easy stuff like installing the supercharger bracket...

...I was laying under the Expedition removing the fuel lines and installing the Vortech fuel pump. Jim thought this would be an opportune time to drop his cigarette under the truck and give me a bit more light. What a guy!

As you can see from the side shot, the new power steering pump is in place.

Another shot of the pump and the Vortech mount.

We set the supercharger into position and installed the oil lines, you can see the feed line here, the return is underneath the unit and feeds back into the front of the pan. Of significant importance when routing this line is to ensure the line is without any major bends or kinks, if the oil cannot return it will back up into the supercharger causing a leak at the bearing. (trust us on this one)

It is beginning to take shape, take care not to overlook anything in your excited state.

Another fun part of the job. The fuel line connectors must be separated so you can install the fuel pressure regulator which comes from Vortech.

This billet baby will regulate the pressure needed by the supercharger and supplied by the new fuel pump.

The new connectors go from the factory fuel rails to the new Vortech regulator. Make sure you do not cross them, otherwise you will have no power.

Now it starts getting fun, the air tubes have to be installed and the vacuum lines have to be hooked up.

In the right hand side of the pic you can see the relay for the fuel pump. The master power box has to be removed from its mount and turned upside down, you will look for the green wire with the yellow stripe under the relay for the factory fuel pump and splice into it.

Vortech also supplies a new PCV which must be installed.

This brace must be installed to keep the supercharger bracket from walking. The bottom bolts are a bitch to get to, that's why I got PT Bob and Jim to put these on, hey somebody had to take the picture!

I unbolted the fuel pressure regulator from the firewall because I initially installed it in the wrong location. My Bad!

Here is the infamous Jim, the J in J&R Motorsports.

Speak of the Devil, PT Bob shows he still has all his fingers after installing the bracket.

Jim is seen here tightening the lower hose clamps on the vent lines.

I couldn't resist this picture, our good friend Doug from Big O tires showed up around 1900 hours and stayed until we were done. Just say NO Doug!

Believe it not we are finished.

The time: 2100 hours.

I have a mischievous smile as approach the truck with the keys in my hand.

What do you spy in this photo?

Side shot of the finished install.

Total time to install: 11 hours

2100 hours, Monday.

Now it's time to take it out and run a few laps in anger around San Bernardino.