Installing Imagine Automotive Super Charger on my 1998 2.5 Boxster

[drbodzin]

Hi,

Been a while since I posted. Finally getting some time to resume working on my 1998 Boxster.

Here is the link to the restore I did earlier this year:

1998 Boxster Project - Complete Restoration

Anyhow, I've enjoyed driving her a lot this summer! Everywhere I go, people stop me to ask about her.

This weekend, I decided to start the Super Charger Install. I bought the system (new, never installed) from a fellow forum member 6+ months ago. I will post the progress as I go.

Any insights from fellow members are very welcomed.

For this first post, here are some pics of the SC and some of the mounting hardware from the kit. I will post each step along the way.







Here are some links to the prior work leading up to this:

Oil Leak - Pulling Trans to change RMS, IMS, Clutch, etc

http://986forum.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1702797

[drbodzin]

Step 1: Remove the stock air intake system

I had done this step as part of the work I did earlier this year: Oil Leak - Pulling Trans to change RMS, IMS, Clutch, etc

Here are some pics of the newer cold air intake installed from this SC Kit.





This is the stock intake tube, with the baffle removed. I was able to seal the hole with some plastic
off the original air box and JB Weld. I've use it for the past 4-5 months and its performed great!

As part of this SC install, I have removed this intake tube and will be selling it with another cold
air intake kit I have. PM me if you are interested in the complete cold air intake kit.

[drbodzin]

Step 2: Installing Resistor in the Mass Air Flow Harness (I HAVE REMOVED THE RESISTOR SINCE ADDING THE Apexi AFC)

The SC kit comes with a resistor that needs to be installed on the Air Mass Flow Harness.

Before starting, detach the negative battery strap.

Locate the White Wire with the Blue Strip. Then I spliced in the resistor and soldered it in
place. So far so easy! I should also mention, I had already removed the engine cover
exposing the front of the engine and removed the serpentine belt. Although not
necessary for what's been done so far, I figured I would do all the stuff on the top
of the car before I head beneath.

[drbodzin]

Step 3: Relocating the Air Pump (HAVE SINCE LEARNED TO DISABLE THE AIR PUMP WHEN I TUNE THE AIR FUEL RATIOS SO I DON"T GET FALSE LEAN READINGS FROM THE WIDE BAND O2 SENSOR)

This step was mildly challenging. The Air Pump stock location is on the passenger side of the engine compartment.
It needs to be relocated to make room for the new air intake pipes. The kit comes with a custom bracket that will hold
the air pump on the driver's side of the engine bay behind the oil cooler.





Here is the Air Pump in the stock location (right arrow). It is removed by detaching the hose (left arrow) and three (3)
nuts securing it to the bracket.



When relocating it, the air intake tube from the throttle body to the air box had to be removed. With a stock oil cooler,
there is enough room to wiggle the air pump behind it and get it in place. I had installed a Boxster S oil cooler earlier,
so it was impossible to get the air pump back there. So I had to drain the coolant and oil from the engine and remove
the oil cooler. Now that I have gone through the process, not sure I would attempt it without removing the oil
cooler, even if it were a stock cooler.

The new bracket is held in place by the three rear intake manifold bolts.







Here is the final placement of the air pump. I also had to add 3 feet of wire to the wiring harness . I routed the extended
wiring around the forward portion of the engine compartment.

[evomind]

That looks great, come and do mine when youre done!!

[Kenny Boxster]

Subscribed! Eager to follow the project.

[Nine8Six]

So cool, I always wanted to do this mod on my 2.5 but we can't get anything above 95 octane in this part of the world

Someone told me to reduce the size of the pulley on the SC and it should be just fine... but then, what's the point

So all I have left as a serious power upgrade option is mimicking the sound of an F1 car with my lips. Makes my little 986 go so much faster (feels like anyway?)

Lucky you, can't wait to see the results

[Jamesp]

Wow! How much boost will you run, and what torque and hp gain do you expect?

[woodsman]

Yippee! TORQUE! And done by the best DIY'er around. Keep up the good work.

[Jamesp]

I was just looking through your pictures, and they rock. On your resistor install you might consider using shrink tubing. You'll need to unsolder one end of the resistor and slip the shrink tubing over the wire out of the way, then back up over the resistor after resoldering. Hit the shrink tubing with heat to shrink it. It's a clean solution that looks stock and eliminates electrical tape unwinding over time.

[drbodzin]

Originally Posted by Jamesp

Wow! How much boost will you run, and what torque and hp gain do you expect?

Hey,

The kit says the boost is under 6 psi to keep it safe for the Boxster engine.

[drbodzin]

Originally Posted by woodsman

Yippee! TORQUE! And done by the best DIY'er around. Keep up the good work.

Wow, that's a really nice compliment. Thanks!

[drbodzin]

Originally Posted by Jamesp

I was just looking through your pictures, and they rock. On your resistor install you might consider using shrink tubing. You'll need to unsolder one end of the resistor and slip the shrink tubing over the wire out of the way, then back up over the resistor after resoldering. Hit the shrink tubing with heat to shrink it. It's a clean solution that looks stock and eliminates electrical tape unwinding over time.

Thanks for the suggestion. I am familiar shrink tubing I did use it on the harness extension to the air pump.

[Nine8Six]

There is someone that we know here who has that same SC installed on his 986 and that since 2008 if my memory is good. He drives the car every single day and never complained having to change his engine once It's all down to how you drive the car really and whether you had +100k before installing the kit.

In my case, I take the 986 out for a spin once or twice a month and I don't get used to using the gas pedal when I do - it's always floored. So in my case that would be a bit risky engine/pistons/lifters-wise. Unless of course I could find some +100 octane gas anywhere then it would be a different story

I'm guessing if you make normal use of the motor then you should be just fine!

+35rwhp? that is what my mate here claims he got out of his kit (dyno'ed). Sick eh

[evomind]

Originally Posted by Nine8Six

There is someone that we know here who has that same SC installed on his 986 and that since 2008 if my memory is good. He drives the car every single day and never complained having to change his engine once It's all down to how you drive the car really and whether you had +100k before installing the kit.

In my case, I take the 986 out for a spin once or twice a month and I don't get used to using the gas pedal when I do - it's always floored. So in my case that would be a bit risky engine/pistons/lifters-wise. Unless of course I could find some +100 octane gas anywhere then it would be a different story

I'm guessing if you make normal use of the motor then you should be just fine!

+35rwhp? that is what my mate here claims he got out of his kit (dyno'ed). Sick eh

I think he will be 75+ hp to the wheels after the install

[drbodzin]

Originally Posted by evomind

I think he will be 75+ hp to the wheels after the install

That's what I think. From what I've read, it seems reasonable to expect 65-85 hp to the wheels. I did not get a dyno before, but I will probably get one later.

[drbodzin]

Originally Posted by Nine8Six

There is someone that we know here who has that same SC installed on his 986 and that since 2008 if my memory is good. He drives the car every single day and never complained having to change his engine once It's all down to how you drive the car really and whether you had +100k before installing the kit.

In my case, I take the 986 out for a spin once or twice a month and I don't get used to using the gas pedal when I do - it's always floored. So in my case that would be a bit risky engine/pistons/lifters-wise. Unless of course I could find some +100 octane gas anywhere then it would be a different story

I'm guessing if you make normal use of the motor then you should be just fine!

+35rwhp? that is what my mate here claims he got out of his kit (dyno'ed). Sick eh

Do you know if your friend had to get his DME reprogrammed? I am pretty sure I will need to do that.

[Nine8Six]

Just had a word with our indy who did the job for him. Yes he apparently sent his ECU to GIAC back in the states to get it flashed. He also went for the 4" pulley option on the SC so the 35hp is about right within what everybody heard about his SC mod here.

Apparently the MY96 motor is less than a great motor for forced induction and simply not designed to take the added power. Common problems are the top rings melting, pistons cracking and lifters failures. My indy also said that for such a system on a cheap flat6 engine, you'll need to change a lot along side e.g. much bigger fuel injectors, better pistons and rings, huge headers and exhaust pipes, some sort of intercooler, a pro-tuner "timing" job, etc etc etc. A proper set-up can run between 10k~20.

I'm guessing that 986 SC guy here didn't had that kind of patience and cash therefore had to go for the downgrade option and live with +35hp, but a reliable set-up

Don't take above for granted, I know crap about cars and even less about the flat6 engine and just repeating what I've just been told by a pcar pro-tuner here. I'd check with the professionals who are not affiliated with the SC manufacturer to make sure your (awesome) boxster stays awesome before thinking about throwing it +75 more horses

Everybody told me this kit needs MINIMUM +100 octane juice to run safely, how are you dealing with that? Can we run those on the cheap commercial gas we find at pump everywhere now? Guessing the DME needs to be adjusted for that?

[The Radium King]

solder is not designed for situations where mechanical work is being done (ie, opportunity for wire to bend); better off with a crimp, as well as some support for the resistor leads (they will break if worked also).

bigger power puts out bigger heat - think about a 's' third radiator, 's' oil cooler and, possibly, an intercooler to manage the extra heat you will be making.

take a look at how the kit handles vacuum. it looks to me like a 'blow through' system (as opposed to suck through) where the sc is blowing through the throttle body. this means that the location where the aos normally takes vacuum from no longer works (will be pressurised by the sc). you can draw vacuum from the sc intake, but you probably don't want to be sending a lot of waste oil through the sc. what I've seen on the tpc sc kit is that the aos just dumps to a catch can. this is a viable solution except don't race on my track, as I don't want your car puking oil on the track from an overfull catch can. also, with the catch can method, you no longer have vacuum on your crankcase and what I've read indicates that the piston rings require the pressure differential to work properly.

otherwise, the resistor is a hack to avoid getting an expensive tune. I think the bettor solution is to let the maf do its job and pay the money for a proper tune. apparently the oem injectors are up to the task, and 2.5 headers are easily improved (provided there is room allowed by the sc; with the tpc kit the sc location only allowed the use of 2.5 headers even when installed on a 3.2 which really killed power for the larger engines to the point where folks were getting no hp gain after the install). so, i'm not saying don't do it (FI is cool) but understand the implications and trade-offs. iA was only in business for a year or two, so consider their product accordingly.

ps, if you wish to avoid the smog pump relocation issue, just get your indy to push a 'rest of world' (ROW) tune on your car - removes requirement for smog pump and secondary o2 sensors (and you can start your car without depressing the clutch); takes about 7 minutes. uncertain what your smog testing requirements are, but gonalaus on this forum successfully passed smog in Chicago with a row tune and smog pump deleted.

[drbodzin]

Originally Posted by Nine8Six

Just had a word with our indy who did the job for him. Yes he apparently sent his ECU to GIAC back in the states to get it flashed. He also went for the 4" pulley option on the SC so the 35hp is about right within what everybody heard about his SC mod here.

Apparently the MY96 motor is less than a great motor for forced induction and simply not designed to take the added power. Common problems are the top rings melting, pistons cracking and lifters failures. My indy also said that for such a system on a cheap flat6 engine, you'll need to change a lot along side e.g. much bigger fuel injectors, better pistons and rings, huge headers and exhaust pipes, some sort of intercooler, a pro-tuner "timing" job, etc etc etc. A proper set-up can run between 10k~20.

I'm guessing that 986 SC guy here didn't had that kind of patience and cash therefore had to go for the downgrade option and live with +35hp, but a reliable set-up

Don't take above for granted, I know crap about cars and even less about the flat6 engine and just repeating what I've just been told by a pcar pro-tuner here. I'd check with the professionals who are not affiliated with the SC manufacturer to make sure your (awesome) boxster stays awesome before thinking about throwing it +75 more horses

Everybody told me this kit needs MINIMUM +100 octane juice to run safely, how are you dealing with that? Can we run those on the cheap commercial gas we find at pump everywhere now? Guessing the DME needs to be adjusted for that?

Thanks for the thorough reply. I've confirmed that the pulley on my SC is 4 inches. Glad to know there's the option to send the ECU to GIAC to flashing. I was making the assumption I would have to bring the car to a tuner.

Anyone have thoughts on that?