TPC SuperCharger

[jporter1966]

I have recently purchased a '97 boxster with a TPC supercharger kit. I have been told that there are no parts available and no one can rebuild the supercharger. I have bearings going out. I need a source to rebuild or a list of OEM items removed so that I can bring it back to stock.

Please any assistance would be great.

Jim

[jhandy]

Kilian Bearings :: Custom Ball Bearings and Assemblies :: Kilian Manufacturing Corp :: Syracuse New York :: Bearing manufacturer machined-race bearings machined race bearings OEM precision-machined bearings Bearing distributor Buy bearing

have someone remove the bearings and maybe they are a standard size, otherwise, the people above, sure there are others, will custom make you a race and bearing set.

[healthservices]

any turbo shop should be able to rebuild your turbo

[DFW02S]

Originally Posted by healthservices

any turbo shop should be able to rebuild your turbo

How will they do with the TPC supercharger that he mentioned?

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by jporter1966

I have recently purchased a '97 boxster with a TPC supercharger kit. I have been told that there are no parts available and no one can rebuild the supercharger. I have bearings going out. I need a source to rebuild or a list of OEM items removed so that I can bring it back to stock.

Please any assistance would be great.

Jim

If you post a picture of the supercharger we can probably tell you who manufactured it & you can rebuild it.

[pk2]

THat exact supercharger was built by one of the largest super mfgs. in the world. It has been used in everything from Mercs. to Buicks. A rebuild kit on ebay is about $100.

The rest is fabricated tubes and is replaceable by any competent shop. Electronics can also be upgraded with any on of a # of piggy back controllers.

Hardly a loss.

Regards, PK

[Bruce Wayne]

OK, i know that this is a bit 'old hat' but i've suddenly developed the urge to look at supercharging a 986.

it seems that no one is doing the 'kits' for these anymore however someone must have manufactured the supercharger somewhere and the ducting is something that is workable.

does anyone have any data on kits or the SC manufacturers that were suppliying the units ???

[Johnny Danger]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wayne

OK, i know that this is a bit 'old hat' but i've suddenly developed the urge to look at supercharging a 986.

it seems that no one is doing the 'kits' for these anymore however someone must have manufactured the supercharger somewhere and the ducting is something that is workable.

does anyone have any data on kits or the SC manufacturers that were suppliying the units ???

No one is producing super charger kits for the 986 any more .

[Jaxonalden]

The stock compression ratio is too high for forced induction. Sounds like an expensive experiment in how to make a hand grenade. Please do your homework.

[pk2]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wayne

OK, i know that this is a bit 'old hat' but i've suddenly developed the urge to look at supercharging a 986.

it seems that no one is doing the 'kits' for these anymore however someone must have manufactured the supercharger somewhere and the ducting is something that is workable.

does anyone have any data on kits or the SC manufacturers that were supplying the units ???

Good for you, they're a blast. Far and away the best bang for the buck on these. "Urge" that's why I did it.

Google around, It’s the same roots blower used on the first baby Mercedes SL’s, it was also used in some early 80’s Buicks. Can’t remember the name or model, I think Magnum(?) is the distributor. These complete TPC kits used to show up on ebay and here for about $2500. If you handy, I'd still start there. It has plenty of fault's you can improve upon but it also sorted lots out.

You can call TPC. TPC only “supported” this kit for about 5 yrs. They are pretty unhelpful but should at least be able to tell you the name and model of the blower. Mike is a nice guy but good luck getting him.

It doesn’t matter though, The super itself is not made anymore. A subsequent/replacement model (m2 (?)) is a lot better; about %20 more efficient and 20% smaller, & can spin a lot faster too. (the original can never spin enough for more boost, uses 25hp to work and barely, barely squeezes in)


Jaxondale is right and wrong. This car has an 11:1 comp. ratio. Hi compression = higher cylinder temps. Throw on a super and & it’s even hotter, should be ugly, but it isn’t. It's only a 5-6 psi boost & TPC did a trick (albeit dirty...but cleanable) to cool cylinders by ritchening it up + stock knock sensors do their jobs, retarding the timing to further cool things. My temps (via EGT gauge) are comfortably within range. Never heard of the bottom end going of these going. Whats left?

The hand grenade analogy is witty but not exactly new. No-one can ever really point to one of these, reasonably set up, that ever blew, or any that blew for that matter (though I'm sure some have). It won cause D' chip or IMS problems (might let go 10 mi sooner if they are going to). Mines been in for 6+ odd yrs, no prob & i hardly baby it. The only problems I heard of were only anecdotal & apparently occurred when people “pully'ed” them up for more boost.

You can cool it down plenty with water/meth injection (and clean up TPC's dirty work). Add a new piggyback controller, maybe bigger injectors & you can really clean it up and really make it go. My intention.

Good luck, PK

[mgmperf]

Talk to Mike at TPC
TPC Racing
He'll be glad to help you out.

[Ghostrider 310]

No-one can ever really point to one of these, reasonably set up, that ever blew, or any that blew


Maybe, but we can point to a bunch that were lovingly cared for like family members that took a dump all on their own without any additional stress adding elements.

[pk2]

Good deal, thats 3 of us now, we ought to be able to it get figured.

Amp, stands for "manifold pressure mod(?)". IF you don't have it, might get a hold of the developer manual. This ones online, I've got it as a PDF (I think) along with some other stuff I gathered up back when. They have some model specific install guides with maps, (none Porsche of course) I think brushed up on some that were similar I.E. Bosch, 6 cyl, german, etc., might help.

Regards, PK

[tranceatlantic]

Looking at the manual for SMT6 they say they call the manifold pressure sensor AMP to avoid confusion with their timing maps. So an AMP sensor is a MAP sensor. The boxster has a MAP sensor right? So I just need to wire the SMT6 to MAP input on the ECU. That would be pin 17 I think (labelled as hot film mass air flow sensor).

I tried to install the EGT last night. As I drilled into the exhaust manifold by drill bit melted. That's some tough stuff they make those manifolds from!

[pk2]

I wouldn't try to put the egt in the manifold (if it's just the probe sort). I doubt there will be any appreciable difference in the reading a few inches down the pipe. It's a little relative anyway, you'll have to do some mental calibration once you get the Porsches actual temp specs. It will help to get the probe tip centered in the pipe as best you can though.

I put mine a couple inches behind it in the pipe. If it not late, you might trade yours in for the kind I have. It just took a few minuets under the car. There like a hose clamp. if you looked at the end it's like a "Q" where the leg of the "Q" is the probe and circle of the "Q" is the hose clamp that clamps it on and seals it up. Drill a hole in the pipe, tighten down the clamp, run the wires up, done. (If yours is threaded , you can buy a threaded stainless bung (ebay) and have a muffler shop weld it on to the pipe.)


Ya I forget which, MAF (mass air flow) or MAP (mass air press.) are on these, doesn't matter though, either one is just putting out 0-5v signal that reflects how much air your sucking in to be mixed with the fuel. It definitely won't hurt SMT6, and for data logging, it ...none invasive.

Good work, PK

[tranceatlantic]

I have the EGT probe in and will be making an 8 hr trip to Tennessee this Friday so I'll be able to get some readings and normal running temperature. I did end up putting it in the manifold as that was the most common spot in all the how-to youtube videos I saw. Plus, its easily accessible from below but should be safe.

Here's some pics. I used a hose clamp to help keep it in place, although the screw-in plug did seem to hold it so its just a precaution. Notice the drill bit tip I melted and the tap I destroyed. The dewault bit, however, did the business.

[pk2]

Can't go wrong with that. Good job. I put mine on a little after the fact, I already felt reasonably good about the kit.

Your trips sounds perfect for logging some data. Around here mine never changed that much, there was idle and Highway-speed/hard acceleration (of course about 35% of the time somewhere in between). Never went over the same highway-speed/hard acceleration high mark.

Here's an idea, sounds like your going to be pretty scientific. Might try some good 100 oct. Theoretically, higher octane burns cooler (octane is a more complicated than it seems though). There's also stuff like toluene and xylene that have very high octane ratings you can add to your fuel, if you dare. I tried them all for awhile but saw no difference from the 91 oct, the best we get around here. Be interesting if you saw the same.

Good luck, PK

[tranceatlantic]

I can see if I can find some 100 octanne. Sounds like a worthwhile experiment. Unfortunately my gauge doesn't log data. Theoretically I can put the voltage input into an input for a OBD program and plot it vs RPM but I haven't got there yet. I can say that mine has a very fast response to load. I'm quite impressed. For example, at 75mph on a flat interstate I get about 1120F. If I hit a hit a hill at the same speed I can see it immediately respond by slightly higher temps like 1200 ish. Same RPM but greater load. The highest I managed to get was about 1240F on the interstate through Kentucky. Higher RPM due to speed (I'm not putting the number on here - ask me in a private message. Needless to say I'm a new fan off I-75 through south Kentucky and Tennessee) but not a particular high RPM. I'm sure I can see hotter temps for high revs but I was only looking at it when I was doing a constant speed.

[pk2]

Fun trip I bet.

100 octane is just unleaded race fuel. Your in the south, nascar land, I just Googled and its allover the place down there (but $$). Try BP. I will say though, there's 100 oct and 100 oct. But try it, they all theoretically should cool things down.

I'll be curious just to see your highs and lows and under what circumstances you got them.

Good luck, PK

[tim986]

Jim check out ebay for the super charger rebuild kit only costs about 100 bucks comes with bearings and oil