Adding Supercharger - what else will I need?

oz · Sep 19, 2011

Greetings,
I recently bought a lightly used Paxton 1220 SL and plan to put it on my '91 GT. The blower cam with both the original 3.8" pulley (~6 psi) as well as a 3.33" pulley (~10 psi).
The car has 50k miles, the engine has the typical H, C, I upgrades as shown below and makes ~290 hp at the wheels.

287.2 rw hp @ 5200 RPM, 326.6 ft-lb rw tq @ 4000 rpm
Powerheads (CNC'd E7TE castings w/ 1.90/1.60 valves), Ported Cobra Intake, Motive 3.73 Gears, Comp Cams XE270HR (.512 lift, 218/224 @ .050, 114 lsa), FRPP 1.6 Roller Rockers, FRPP 65mm TB, Pro-M 75mm Bullit MAFS, FRPP 24# Injectors, Custom Autologic Chip, MAC Eq. Shorty Headers, MAC Offroad H-Pipe, MAC Muffs and Tails, Moroso CAI, 3 Core Radiator, Stock Alt. reworked to 130A, B&M Ripper Shifter
After Dyno:
Black Magic Electric Fan, Accel 300+ Ignition

I plan to upgrade the cooling fan, fuel pump (255 lph hi vol), add a rear end girdle & possibly braces and a new clutch (my stock one is already slipping). The guy gave me a big Pro-M meter and 30# injectors to match so I'll use those too.

Do I need an oil separation system for the PCV lines?

If I run street tires, do I risk breaking my axles or transmission?

What else do I need?

Finally, can I run the 3.33" pulley (~10 psi) or will I grenade my stock block?

THANKS!

Noobz347 · Sep 19, 2011

Your stock axles and tires will be fine. Oil separators on the PCV is a good idea but you won't know if it's totally necessary until you begin to detect blow-by. 10 psi will not grenade your block <-= IF =-> your blower combo is properly tuned.

I recommend:

A fuel gauge
Vac/Boost Gauge
Wideband AFR meter

oz · Sep 19, 2011

Noobz,
What do you mean by 'A fuel gauge'?

I already have an adjutable fuel regulator and pressure gauge under hood... are you suggesting I put the pressure gauge where I can see it at all times?

I was debating the A/F meter - I have one on my other car (carb'd '69 Mustang) as a tuning aid but it lost its calibration a couple of years ago and it won't communicate with my laptop to recalbrate it.... I could pull it from there, send it in for calibration and then put it on this car if there is a need. I was thinking that I'd get it tuned (by either Don Walsh Jr - who did the current tune - or Livernois) and then not worry about the A/F ratio - bad idea???

Thanks.

Noobz347 · Sep 19, 2011

Those three things that I listed are (for me) a necessity to be in view of the driver when in boost. The logic is that if anything goes wrong, you have a good chance of catching the problem on the gauges before somethig goes, "BOOM".

Your fuel pressure reading while at idle and not in boost is really of no consequence.

LOTS of folks go for the custom tune and don't run an AFR meter. I can see the logic in that but again... if something goes awry, how do you prefer to be notified? By a bang or by a heads up set of guages?

Case in point: I had a vac line pop of the intake side of my KB. I had no idea that this had happened except for.... Yes... my AFR meter indicated that I was running leaner than usual. It's a pretty significant sized line. the port itself is the same size as the port that feeds the brake booster. Had I not had the meter, I would not have known to pull over and check things out before mashing the gas and getting into the boost.

oz · Sep 19, 2011

Noobz,
Makes sense.

So did you mount your 3 gauges in a pillar pod or elsewhere? What A/F gauge did you get? I assume I'd want one with colored lights so i didn't have to be looking directly at it to see when it goes lean (red lights).

Thanks.

Noobz347 · Sep 19, 2011

I have an Innovate LM-1 mounted to the right side of my center console and facing the driver.

The two guages that I run on the pillar are the Vac/boost and Fuel Pressure.

What I'd REALLY like to do is just hide the LM-1 altogether and put a greddy analog gauge into a 3 guage pillar. The Greddy guages are FN sweet (and expensive). It takes a 1V input from any wideband reader that has an output.

No bulky wideband in vew anymore with that setup.

One other note:

I'm sure you're already aware but wanted to clarify. Hooking up a guage to your OEM O2 sensors DOES NOT provide you with any usable information regarding your air fuel ratio. You need an actual wide band sensor and reader.

oz · Sep 20, 2011

noobz,
I have an LC-1 in my other car. It's really not needed on an ongoing basis since it's carbed. It was just there to help me pick the right jets.

I may remove it from the '69 and put it on the '91 when I install the blower. I'd rather have an analog gauge since it gives more instant feedback but I could always upgrade in time I guess.

Yea, I know, the stock O2 sensors are not wide band.

Thanks.

Noobz347 · Sep 20, 2011

Sounds like a plan. Install it in the blower car for AT LEAST as long as it takes to get the bugs worked out.

ssj50driver · Sep 20, 2011

In all honesty I would say to go with at least 42lb injectors and maybe some sn95 fuel rails. You always want to have more fuel than you need. Also adding an inline 255 hp walbro wouldn't be bad either to complement your 255 intank. Power via boost is addictive. If your trans is stock (I might have missed if it was a stock t5 or not) then you might be on borrowed time. I would not suggest getting a clutch that is really harsh like a spec3+ or something with a tough pressure plate. I would get one that will be softer on your trans. It should be fine with no 5k clutch dumps and using street tires is helping to save your rear end as well as your trans. Good luck with it.

Sharad · Sep 21, 2011

I'd upgrade the clutch, upgrade to 31-spline axles, run some good quality suspension components, and sticky tires!!

from6to8 · Sep 19, 2025

ssj50driver said:
In all honesty I would say to go with at least 42lb injectors and maybe some sn95 fuel rails. You always want to have more fuel than you need. Also adding an inline 255 hp walbro wouldn't be bad either to complement your 255 intank. Power via boost is addictive. If your trans is stock (I might have missed if it was a stock t5 or not) then you might be on borrowed time. I would not suggest getting a clutch that is really harsh like a spec3+ or something with a tough pressure plate. I would get one that will be softer on your trans. It should be fine with no 5k clutch dumps and using street tires is helping to save your rear end as well as your trans. Good luck with it.

I know an older thread but google brought me here and I know you're active still on the site .

Now I know I'll be taking a chance sure and don't really want to necessarily do a new engine right now since I'm doing one for the 95 and also have good compression on this engine in the 94 so I'm thinking about going for it. Also have a rear main seal oil leak just to mention.

When I put the engine in the 94 from my wrecked car back in around '22 ( 285 rwhp, was 291 years ago with a few different pieces and maybe 50 k prior to the last tune), I went from shorties to longtubes, 3.55 to 3.73 ( new gears in the 94 the 3.55' setup is going in the 95), McLeod street pro clutch, and from flowmasters to a free flowing pypes bomb catback.

Here's my list if that the installer gave me to look of pricing for if I put one on my 190k mile 94 Cobra with oem trans:

Vortech V3 self contained
sfi rated dampner
60 lb injectors
Ignition box ( not sure if MSD)
90 maf
power pipe
bigger SC pulley 3.47
340 pump w/ wire upgrade
plugs
aeromotive fp reg
guages

Will the stock radiator be fine? This will be a sometimes on the weekend driver as I have 3 cars, and no track just fun street car and my cars get babied a lot lol.

Any other things you can offer as advice I thank you. Yeah I really want to do another engine for the car but want to finish the 95 first. So some added pep in the meantime would be nice as I'm used to the power level of the engine in the 94 and have been for over 20 years. So tbh if it blows up then it'll give me an excuse to build one lol. If the trans blows I know i'll need to get another but hopefully it all stays together well into maybe 230 ish k miles

Mindseye007 · Sep 20, 2025

Noobz347 said:
I have an Innovate LM-1 mounted to the right side of my center console and facing the driver.

The two guages that I run on the pillar are the Vac/boost and Fuel Pressure.

What I'd REALLY like to do is just hide the LM-1 altogether and put a greddy analog gauge into a 3 guage pillar. The Greddy guages are FN sweet (and expensive). It takes a 1V input from any wideband reader that has an output.

No bulky wideband in vew anymore with that setup.

One other note:

I'm sure you're already aware but wanted to clarify. Hooking up a guage to your OEM O2 sensors DOES NOT provide you with any usable information regarding your air fuel ratio. You need an actual wide band sensor and reader.

Let's see pics ...

Noobz347 · Sep 20, 2025

Mindseye007 said:
Let's see pics ...

I'll go grab some.

Since this post, I've picked up an AFR gauge so, the LM-1 may get moved.

from6to8 · Sep 20, 2025

Noobz347 said:
I'll go grab some.

Since this post, I've picked up an AFR gauge so, the LM-1 may get moved.

Did you see my questions?

Noobz347 · Sep 20, 2025

from6to8 said:
Did you see my questions?

Ummm... The fuel pump is too big and the radiator is too small. IMO

A 255L Walbro is all you should need for that setup. Pumping more just means cycling that gas tank fuel through the hot engine bay and back again.

from6to8 · Sep 20, 2025

Noobz347 said:
Ummm... The fuel pump is too big and the radiator is too small. IMO

A 255L Walbro is all you should need for that setup. Pumping more just means cycling that gas tank fuel through the hot engine bay and back again.

Okay I will ask the installer about that see what he says.. I know he mentioned getting a power pipe too so I need to see what options are they're going to be for the air filter and if the only option is going to be down near the fender well pointing downward instead of pointing horizontally

Noobz347 · Sep 20, 2025

And the gauge that I've not installed yet that could put the LM-1 under the seat:

I'll put the FP in the high spot, Vac/boost at eye level and AFR in the bottom position.

Noobz347 · Sep 20, 2025

from6to8 said:
Okay I will ask the installer about that see what he says.. I know he mentioned getting a power pack too so I need to see what options are they're going to be for the air filter and if the only option is going to be down near the fender well pointing downward instead of pointing horizontally

What does this mean?

If you want to keep the airbox 'close to home', check out this piece from March Performance's Ram Air kit:

I used to have the entire kit kit installed, once upon a time before deleting the scoop and the hose that comes from it.

from6to8 · Sep 20, 2025

Noobz347 said:
Ummm... The fuel pump is too big and the radiator is too small. IMO

A 255L Walbro is all you should need for that setup. Pumping more just means cycling that gas tank fuel through the hot engine bay and back again.

Since I have to buy a pump anyway I guess maybe it's better to just go with the 340 with the upgraded wiring as he said but I will see what he says when I ask him about the hot fuel recycling. Going to go with 60 lb injectors in the car it's already at about 285 rwhp. I just want a little boost when I play around with it on the weekend sometimes but for the most part my cars don't get dogged LOL. So yeah just a little something extra for right now a car has 190k on it and I will do another engine somewhere down the road but I've this last a good while then it'll stay as is with the blower on.

nicholase · Sep 20, 2025

There are lots of fuel calculators available on line. Here's one:
https://fuelab.com/p-35856-fuel-pump-calculator.html

If you didn't know, for a 340 you'll probably want to use 10ga power and ground wire to the battery. You can use the factory relay and wiring to trigger it. But the factory wiring should not used to power that large of a pump IMO.
A 255 is alright with the factory wiring if it's in good condition with good clean connectors.

Adding Supercharger - what else will I need?

oz

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

oz

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

oz

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

oz

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

ssj50driver

New Member

Sharad

ALWAYS choose the V over the P!!! Wait... what?

from6to8

There's suction so I used that end O_O

Mindseye007

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

from6to8

There's suction so I used that end O_O

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

from6to8

There's suction so I used that end O_O

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

Attachments

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

from6to8

There's suction so I used that end O_O

nicholase

I lubed and pushed, until it was all the way in

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Adding Supercharger - what else will I need?

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New Member

ALWAYS choose the V over the P!!! Wait... what?

There's suction so I used that end O_O

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

There's suction so I used that end O_O

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

There's suction so I used that end O_O

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

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Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

There's suction so I used that end O_O

I lubed and pushed, until it was all the way in

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