Just bought a new (to me) '03 Convertible to go along with my Bimmers. I have a couple of questions in regards to the car:

1. The drivers side headlight "jiggles". I have looked at the light and I see where there is some play in one of the arms. Before I take it apart I want to know if anyone has experience with removing the play in the light. If not, I guess I will post a thread detailing my results. The passenger side headlight is fine. I see a lot of posts about the headlight gear and that is not my problem.

2. The front right tire is missing the air monitoring stem. There were new tires on the front when I bought it and I won't make any assumptions on what happened. The "Warning" light did not come on until I drove the car about 75 miles and then I figured out what the problem was. Do I need to go to the dealer to get the correct stem or will most large tire stores carry the correct one. Thanks in advance for the posts on resetting the monitoring system once I get the correct stem replaced.

3. The lumbar support does not work on the driver's side seat (fine on the passenger). Should I replace the fuse/module for the seat first or search for a loose connection?

4. Is replacing the passenger seat back release lever a simple DIY job. I will be undertaking that task this weekend.

5. Finally, my preliminary research favors the Vortech Supercharger. I don't need to know if there is a better choice available, I just want to know if this is a bad choice. I mainly oppose the "roots" style because I want it to remain "stealthy" and don't want the new hood to give away my secret.

Thanks in advance....and don't worry, I only paid $28k for the car so I will accept a few flaws.

 

Only thing I can comment on is the supercharger. I have the vortech and I have yet to see any problems, I'm not saying that its good on the vettes I just bought the car with the supercharger installed already. With the vortech im pushing 460 hp at the wheels and over 500 at the crank so I'm pretty happy with the vortech preformance. Lee or somebody else can most likely get into detail why or why not this is a good sc for vettes.

 

I've had both types of SC. Actually I prefer the roots style on a stock block because it builds boost down as low as 2000 RPM where the Vortech, Prcharger or other centrifugal SCs build boost almost exclusively above 3500. My '02 ZO6 with the Magnusen was about the sweetest driving car I have ever had - gobs of low end torque and pretty good HP up top -- all the stock block could take.
I went with centrifugal SCr for the C5R engine because no roots available at the time would blow enough air for it. Vortech and Procharger are roughly the same -- both work well, etc. I went with Procharger for two reasons: the Vortech needs a feed oil line from the engine oil pan and I did not want to tap the oil pan and have another line under the hood -- the Procharger is self oiling, and I could get a discount price on Procharger.
Most people who get a centrifugal seem to select it because it is a bit less of a bother to fit versus a roots style, and because it is less expensive (you do not have to buy the new hood and have it painted, saving about $2000+). These SCs also do make a bit more power up top, above 5500 RPM, than the roots style but they lose all that low end torque by comparison. My Procharger is great, and of course on a 427 I already have plenty of low end torque. If I were doing it again, though, I would probably go with the new Kenny Bell roots blower -- its nearly 20% larger than the largest Magnusen and I already have the hood. But I am happy with the Procharger and a Vortech would not be much different.
Advice on getting the SC. With a stock block resist the temptation to go over about 6-7 lbs of boost and/or 470 RWHP - you can get more but you will bust the engine with your exuberence: there is so much temptation to push for a smaller pulley and more boost but the stock pistons can take only around 7 lbs for long. And spend money on an intercooler -- it helps.
Finally, if you put on a centrifugal type, you can do what some fanatics do and select a radical power cam with all its power up top, and the combination of cam and SCr will give you lumpy idle and no low end torque but a thrill as it builds revs -- and bragging rights to as much HP as you can get out of the beast. But you can also select a "grandfather" cam with big lift but small overlap and timing for good low end N.A. (i.e., in the rev range where the SC does little work) and then let the SC do all the work up top, where that cam will not breath well. This gives you about 30 HP less up top but much more of a dirveable and enjoyable daily car or the street.

 

Lee one more question on the matter, I read your post and you said an intercooler was good to have. I have an aftercooler does that add any hp or do any thing significant?


Thanks

Luke B

 

Its the same thing basically.