[cheap]

I cannot get my harmonic balancer/crank pulley bolt loose. Even spent maybe an extra hour pulling the radiator fan/shroud to create clearance for my 1/2” impact.

Also how do you get to the LTR bracket bolts? The instructions are so nonchalant... “yeah man, just slap those brackets on using the four supplied bolts, NBD.” Did you have to pull the whole radiator out? This is on a 2017 1LE so I’m not sure if I have more plastic deflectors to force air places that weren’t on the base SS.

Lastly, the Magnusson instructions say to pull the fuel line that crosses the intake manifold. The Whipple instructions don’t mention it at all but it’s not present in the intake manifold removal picture and I don’t think I have a spring lock connector small enough to work on those lines.

[shinysun]

You need to use a heating gun or gas torch on the center bolt.

[Dysan911]

Yeah what Shinysun said. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


I took a handheld propane torch and heated the bolt up for about a minute and it was the easiest thing to remove with like 1 hand..

[cheap]

I got the crank bolt out using my wife's hairdryer.

For the life of me I have no idea how I'm going to get the LTR brackets on the side of the radiator. My 1LE has plastic bits secured to the side with those disposable push clips but the evap lines run through the shroud, so even with the clips off I can't get in there at all. I can't even SEE the lower bolt.

[Nmolina9239]

I just went through this with my Whipple install. I ended up taking out as much hardware to bend the plastic out. Find somebody with small hands, I got lucky myself having some lol. Lots of patience and beer.

[biker2k]

pictures of that would be great im about to do an eforce install
love to be prepared

[GT-ER]

Your problem is your 1/2" impact. I use a 3/4" impact with a 3/8" hose and it took a whole second to remove that bolt.

[oldman]

You would be surprised at a what the Kobalt electric impact will do. It came off with that and 20 seconds of heat, impact and 15 seconds of heat impact done all in a minute.

I did upgrade all my line to 3/8. there are new high flow 5/16? fittings too...

[RuthleSSchevy]

Careful using heat you may damage the crank seal... I use a 36" chain wrench to hold the balancer and a 42" 3/4" drive ratchet to break the bolt loose. Usesome mudflap rubber around the balancer to avoid scoring and aid in friction.

[cheap]

Install is complete. Notes for future folks reading this: that crank bolt needs heat. I used a few minutes with the wife’s hair dryer. The fittings you have to reuse have to be cut out, they don’t “disconnect” from the lines like the manual implies. The fuel line in the back needs to be straightened out towards the drivers side but not excessively; I have way more fuel line than I needed back there. The evap line that connects to the fuel line will need to be disconnected because the hose they supply from that to the evap solenoid isn’t long enough to reach otherwise. The serpentine belt was barely big enough with the tensioner fully compressed; I had to have my wife hold the breaker bar while I bolted on a smooth idler pulley because I couldn’t get it to slip on otherwise. The LTR brackets are a royal PITA with 1LE plastic aero bits from the radiator area, there’s one bolt I couldn’t get in. I had to cut away a section of plastic air deflector for the LTR supply and return hoses as well.

[cheap]

Another thing; turned out my tune didn’t install correctly. When you read the factory tune you have to make sure to deselect CCM or their program wants an extra 3 credits (at $50/credit) to upload the CCM part of the file that Whipple doesn’t touch anyways. Got it figured out after my car went into limp mode after the first drive with more than just idle, and the drivability is back at stock refinement now.

[Tim M]

Cheap: post some images so in the future others can understand your challenges/solutions...like me!

Thanks.

[Chris V]

Originally Posted by cheap

Another thing; turned out my tune didn’t install correctly. When you read the factory tune you have to make sure to deselect CCM or their program wants an extra 3 credits (at $50/credit) to upload the CCM part of the file that Whipple doesn’t touch anyways. Got it figured out after my car went into limp mode after the first drive with more than just idle, and the drivability is back at stock refinement now.

I had the same experiences with the air shrouds around the radiator - cutting and time were the only remedy.

One tip - get a real tuner on the car sooner than later. The canned Whipple tune was terrible for me. Too much throttle at tip in made it feel fast, but really hard to drive in a performance setting. I also melted my OEM cats.

I’d recommend Steven Rankins at 42 Auto Sport. He can remote tune better than a well-known tuner who had my car in the shop and on the dyno.