I used to be an active member on LS1Tech, then life happened and kids came into the picture, and any and all car hobbies went on full stop. I've been saving for my C8 Z06/Z07, but since that's a ways off, I decided to pick up a SS1LE and leave it stock. So naturally, 7 months later, I bought a Magnuson 2650 kit and LT4 fueling from Jannetty (Thanks Ted!).
This forum has been very helpful in making decisions. I'll use this thread to document the install and hopefully be a resource to other mildly certified YouTube mechanics like myself. While the Magnuson supplied instructions are good, there are gaps that I personally experienced that I tried to help with below - use at your own risk.
Update: Car made 593whp/602wtq
. Overall, install was very straightforward. I'd rate the difficulty as medium - using the HPFP alignment tool, a proper seal puller, crank pulley puller/installer and a trusty plastic hammer made the install relatively straight forward. Jannetty did an amazing job with the tune and the technical support!
Mods include The Magnuson 2650 w/ 100MM upper pulley, LT4 injectors/HPFP, JMS Voltage Booster, Rotofab intake, 170 T-Stat, Corsa axle back and a Mishimoto catch can.
Link to Jannetty's FB site for the dyno pull, install notes, etc.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18nVzQ1RNQ/
Car is a 2018 SS1LE with 9K Miles.
- My first time using these new GM clips (push up on the red clip, and use a small flathead to press
in the black piece where the red clip secured to)
- Fuel system removed, tool PN#: EN-51092 to ensure the cam is in the correct position (and cyl #1 in TDC) for LT4 HPFP install. Removed the fuel rail gently by using only my fingers and pulling lightly on each end, came out with very little effort. Used a tiny amount of Vaseline on the injector seals and they slid right into the rail.
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Something not in the Magnuson instructions, The Magnuson supplied fuel line that connects to the output (Male connector) of the LT4 HPFP hits the OEM fuel lines and simply doesn't fit. JRE instructed me to gently use a plastic hammer (
pictured below) and very slowly, gently tap tap tap away and move the connector more toward the driver's side. Another thing to do here, the fuel lines (
where circled below) can potentially stick up and hit the bottom of the 2650 as referenced in Magnuson's instructions. I used the same hammer to gently tap the line downward to ensure the highest point of the line was below the top of the nearby bolt. I had no clearance issues after these steps.
- Pulley removal/install was easy as well, used the ARP Crank Bolt PN 234-2503 (with a
1 1/16 Standard 12 point deep socket) to avoid the whole stretch/torque angle meter. Used the lubricant provided/instructed by ARP and torqued to 250 ft lbs. PN W89712 for the puller from eBay was perfect. The installer I got from a LS swap site (non-sponsor so not linked)
- Use the LS3 seal, and as pictured below, install it dry, and ensure the correct orientation (LT1 seal is inverse from typical crank seals - the LS3 seal installs flat side facing out). I learned after the fact that some folks use brake clean to help with the ease of the crank seal install (because it dries to fast, it counts as a dry install still). I didn't do this, but I'll try it next opportunity.
- The Intercooler pump supplied was incompatible with the suppled wiring harness (photo below). A quick call to JRE and Ted Jr. sorted me out quick with the right pump. The new pumped I received didn't have the connector off to the side, making the rubber mount install much easier.
- On the subject of the Intercooler Pump, parts of 'Section 11: Intercooler Pump Plumbing' should be done before 'Section 10: LTR install'. I'll put some extra pictures below to help explain why, but install the pump bracket first, then with the pump out of the car, install the 3" X 20" 'L' shared hose onto the pump. Then ensure the lower LTR hose is slid through the radiator area, then install the pump on the bracket. This will make pump install much easier vs. wrestling with the hoses with the LTR brackets in the way.
- The IAT sensor (front of the blower toward lower passenger side) arrived broken in the packaging. JRE also sent me a new one no questions asked. Not something that I would replace with the blower installed.
- Remaining instructions from Magnuson were very straight forward, really don't need to add much more.
- I had to manipulate their supplied intake elbow a bit to fit on my LT1 Rotofab air box, and then the Mishimoto catch-can into the side of the box, but these are obviously outside of The Magnuson kit. I will likely explore a custom bracket to fit inside the Rotofab box that'll provide a more attractive solution to the catch-can mount.
- Because I upgraded the fuel system, Ted was able to install a smaller upper pulley to spin the blower faster, and got a whopping ~50WHP/WTQ gain. End results are above, video is great that they provided.