[z28&zr2]

This thread is to document my ownership of the truck, ill try to keep track of any mods big or small. Some of the stuff is not going to be very detailed as it was done a while back.

Day one; Brand new truck with all its unmolested factory stock glory. The only options on the truck is the glow tie, and the bose.

Not even a week old and I was already cutting it up to install the AEV snorkel. I added some corrosion protection to the cuts to prevent rust and also debadged it.

And finally the snorkel to plug those cuts. Since I use the rock sliders as steps, I put some skateboard grip tape on them.

I needed some better lights so I swapped out the old bulbs with HIDs, installed some ditch lights, and painted the tow hooks red.

Someone posted a complete sport bar with lights for sale near my area and I had to pick it up since I really like the look. I made sure to install it using the oem switch following the factory installation instructions. In addition to the sport bar I installed a tailgate light bar, and the chevy performance exhaust tip and rear all weather floor mat I picked up from @Y E T I .

Painted the calipers red with G2 caliper paint, and got some gorilla lug nuts.

Hit up weathertech for some mud flaps and window deflectors.

Need more clearance for 33's when the time comes to replace the tires so I installed the 589 1" level and went to get an alignment right after.

Ran into another Zr2 brother on the road

 

[Skrongbed]

Looks great. 33s will really tie it all together


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[z28&zr2]

To avoid having to do any trimming when the time comes for the 33's and to not raise the center of gravity too much I installed a 1.25" rough country body lift. It was my first time doing a body lift but it was super easy, just time consuming.

Really like the look of the chevy tailgate spoiler (PN: 84127088) so I threw that on also and I'm glad I did, it makes the truck look more sporty. And for the finishing touch I Added 2021 zr2 tailgate emblem.

The oem muffler wasn't doing it for me anymore so I took that out to replace it with the magnaflow overland cat-back.

This dang exhaust bit me with the performance mods bug, so I ordered a soler performance throttle body. I didn't get any pictures of the install but i will get the opportunity in the future... I'm sure.

Peak Suspension had a sale on the Lingenfelter supercharger so I had no other choice but to order it haha. But in preparation for the supercharger I decided I needed a gauge to monitor "stuff". Got the ADP gauge pod and banks 1.8 iDash. When I get the supercharger installed and figure out how to get it to read boost I will replace the gear PID to read boost instead.

Thanks to @Z1500 and his post I will eventually get it to read boost.

Some of this tread is old but maybe someone can say how much boost they are seeing out of the 3.75" and the 3.5" pullies.
My 3.75" sees 5-6psi most of the time with a little less at lower RPM and a little more right as I touch redline. Trying to get a 3.25" to work but need about an inch shorter belt.

BTW- about reading boost with the Edelbrock- The way the instructions and wiring harnesses from Edelbrock are, they have you using the truck's stock 1BAR map sensor only for reading pressure. But they give you a 2.5BAR sensor with a temperature probe in it, and that's the one pre installed in the lower part of the intake manifold. They are only using the temperature probe from that sensor. You can simply cut the two extension harnesses up and rewire it so that the truck uses the 2.5BAR sensor. This absolutely requires you to rescale the MAP sensor settings in with HPTuners. But once done, the ECU now knows what boost you are running and you can see this with your whatever electronic gauge.

 

[z28&zr2]

Sometime before the exhaust I cut the rear bumper up to install these chase lights, got the idea and motivation from Boosted Apex (you tubers), I'm not sure if he is a member of the forum.

 

[z28&zr2]

Here are some pictures of the magnaflow exhaust. I tossed the spare tire heat shield in the trash when I swapped the exhaust. I also added some thick heavy duty vinyl between the frame and the fender liner to get rid of the horrid gap created by body lift. The vinyl worked really well at hiding the frame gap, most people don't even notice that its there.

 

[z28&zr2]

I replaced the stock shifter knob with the blazer one, installed some 589 bed support brackets, and also lightly smoked the headlights with some lamin-x film. The headlights look a little foggy because I had just finished the install but the fogginess and some of the darkness went away with time.

 

[Koda2831]

looks like its coming together nicely....I want to do the gear shifter so bad, just not sure i want to do it...lol also whats the part number on the spoiler, use to love the look of those....

 

[Fosters_AUS]

Also interested in the rear spoiler, I think it looks great. I'm about to install the MF Overland Cat-Back too. What 'configuration' did you go for and what do you think of the note?

 

[z28&zr2]

looks like its coming together nicely....I want to do the gear shifter so bad, just not sure i want to do it...lol also whats the part number on the spoiler, use to love the look of those....

You should do the shifter it makes the interior look and feel more modern. The spoiler part number is 84127088.

Also interested in the rear spoiler, I think it looks great. I'm about to install the MF Overland Cat-Back too. What 'configuration' did you go for and what do you think of the note?

For the spoiler part number look at quote above. I went for the quietest setting without trying any of the other settings since this thing is only a v6. It didn't take me long to get used to the exhaust note after only a few days of driving it, that I almost feel like going to the "mid" loudness lever since I can verily hear it now. But ill probably keep it on the quietest setting for a long time. I would definitely buy it again.

 

[z28&zr2]

This next one is not a big addition or glamorous mod but its worth mentioning because of how convenient it is to have... the Course Motorsports Direct Fit phone mount.
With this post I'm finally up to date with most stuff done to the truck.

 

[z28&zr2]

As I mentioned earlier, I’m waiting on the delivery of a Lingenfelter (Edelbrock) supercharger I ordered from peak suspension and in the meantime I’m getting a few things and tools ready for when the installation time comes. I am really hoping it gets here before thanks giving.

Im planning to swap the factory 3.75” pulley with a 3.5” pulley right from the start, I’m not even going to try the 3.75” pulley unless something goes wrong haha. I don’t plan on going WOT too often, I just want this thing to feel like a v8.

With a little bit of research I found out that the Lingenfelter supercharger differs from the Edelbrock by providing a some different brackets and having a 1.75 gallon reservoir instead of the tiny thing that comes with the Edelbrock kit. I highly recommend those with the Edelbrock supercharger kit to get a larger reservoir to keep IATs down. For those wanting to go down to a smaller pulley you can use the v6 camaro Edelbrock pulley, but the downside is that its a 6-rib pulley vs the colorados 5-rib pulley. Im pretty sure it will work but I didn’t like the idea of having a 6-rib pulley on a 5-rib drive pulley assembly.

Lingenfelter offers a 3.5” 5-rib pulley for our trucks, it’s a bit more expensive then the Edelbrock one but it was worth the price to me for the peace of mind. To make the pulley work without changing belt sizes you can use a larger idler pulley from autozone PN: 231148 (thanks to @FunctionOverForm for the tip).

I’m hoping the cat-back exhaust, and ported throttle body compliment the supercharger and smaller pulley and that I get some nice results. It might be a while before I get a proper dyno tune, so the Edelbrock tune will have to do for a while.

Here is the Lingenfelter 3.5" pulley i received from them.

Autozone idler pulley was was pretty cheap and worth it to avoid getting a different belt.

 

[z28&zr2]

This is my fabtech spare tire mount setup, its easy to use and remove from the bed if I need the space. I still have the oem spare stuff in place incase I want to or need to put the spare under the bed.

 

[Mr Nick]

Did you install the Soler throttle body yet? If so, how do you like it?

 

[z28&zr2]

The throttle feels more responsive and it minimizes that dead pedal spot when starting from a stop. The truck doesn't feel any faster than before, probably gained like 4-7 hp at high RPM, but i feel like it will compliment the supercharger and exhaust. I would definitely buy it again just for the throttle response.

 

[z28&zr2]

The eagle has landed. This Saturday I will try to install the heat exchanger, water pump, intercooler reservoir tank, and hoses (from heat exchanger to reservoir tank). I would try to do the complete install in one day but removing the bumper is going to eat too much time. On one of the following days I will try to install the blower and tune, I don't want to rush this installation so I will take my time.

The only place I can find on the supercharger to tap into for a boost gauge besides the solenoid actuator is at the front of the of the supercharger intake manifold/brick above the t-map sensor. Once the supercharger is installed that location will be very difficult to access.

From this angle you can see the inside of the factory port to tap a boost gauge.

 

[splitting_lanes]

I had a supercharged Pontiac GTP that I installed a smaller pulley on — one of the best mods I ever made to a car.

How do you like the ADP gauge pod?

 

[z28&zr2]

I give the ADP gauge pod a 7 out of 10 since it doesn't have a perfect fit around the dash vent, I might try to shave a small amount to make it fit better. It was easy to install and it looks good.

 

[z28&zr2]

Put in some work yesterday to get some of the supercharger kit installed. Got the 1.75 gal coolant reservoir, water pump bracket, and heat exchanger installed. Taking the front bumper off the second time is a lot easier than the first time, but is still a pain in the ass. Thankfully everything went smoothly without any problems. Today I'm going to try to get the tuning process started to hopefully get a tune from edelbrock before the middle of the week so I can finish the supercharger install before next weekend.

 

[z28&zr2]

Had to buy a cheap laptop since all I have are macs and I need windows to use the RTD flasher from HPTuners to save my factory tune and then email to edelbrock for their supercharger tune. Now the wait begins for the edelbrock tune.

I have been thinking about getting HPTuners to adjust the tune but I live in commiefornia and now they check the ECU to see if it has been flashed with a CARB approved tune, and I don't want to fail the smog check.

 

[z28&zr2]

Edelbrock surprised me today with a very prompt response to my supercharger CARB legal 91 octane tune request, so i might tackle the rest of the installation soon. Unfortunately for me, California started checking vehicles for aftermarket tunes for their smog checks so I have been hesitant about getting a custom tune. But from what I have seen online you should be able to pass the smog if you reflash back to factory/CARB approved tune and reset the readiness sensors by driving 30-100 miles. Right after the smog is done you can reflash your custom tune... and repeat the process every two years or until they change the rules again. All this can be done using HP Tuners and/or other tuning programs.

People on the internet say the canned edelbrock tune is trash so I'm not sure what to do yet, I'll probably drive with the canned tune for a bit and make up my mind about a custom tune after getting some more exposure to the supercharger and canned tune.

For those wondering about the california smog nonsense, you can check it out at corvetteforums here.

List of possible tuners for a custom tune.
Trifecta
Will at Overkill (really busy, might not respond and could take months)
Peitz Performance