Thread: Supercharger swap questions

This weekend went to one of my salvage yards looking for a replacement air damn for my 06 Grand Prix. Came across one that just hit the lot and struck gold. It still had the supercharger. The car was marked as engine still ran when it hit the yard. No idea why it was junked.

I spun over the SC and no drag or grinding or wobble on pulley.

I looked up this info a long time ago but have since forgotten most of it but what is all that is needed to swap over?

I did get the supercharger and the lower intake manifold, fuel rail and both heads (that's all that I remember I needed). After I got it all home I looked at the pics I took before getting those items and I notice I need the bracket that holds the coil packs and what looks like a pulley or tensioner. Is there anything else besides that bracket and the fuel injectors (those where already taken or missing)?

Can I reuse my valve covers too or are they different on the SC 3.8's?

Will I need to change my cam?

I think the fuel line connectors need to be modified if I remember correctly. You will need the L67 harmonic balancer. The valve covers are unfortunately different, you do NOT want to run the L36 throttle body (it's oval), I doubt the cam needs to be changed (unless you just want more power!). You will need a special tune since the n/a has higher compression. I believe everything else is compatible though. You'll have to route the vacuum lines different of course. I'm sure scotty will fill in on what I missed! haha

so there's 2 belts, 1 for the rest of the accessories and 1 for the SC.

Originally Posted by GTPpower

Beyond the heads, intake, and blower, you need some other parts.

The pulley system for the blower belt is needed. You'll need the fuel rail, injectors, possibly the injector connectors ( I can't remember that for sure.)

Your throttle body will bolt right onto the blower without issue.

You need valve covers. Your stock cam is fine.

Yes the throttle body will "bolt right up", but your tune must be specific to that throttle body. The L36 doesn't flow as good anyhow (I believe the bore is smaller) and you'll have a massive turbulence lip where they bolt up. The L36 is oval and L67 is round. Other issue to watch out for, the pcv intake is routed through the throttle body on L67 and L36 both, so if you use the gasket you're safe, but if you use rtv (my preferred choice) be very very careful that rtv doesn't "squish" into that hole and cover it up, or your pcv will not function and you will leak oil all over the place. Again, don't use the L36, just get the L67 and use the gasket.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

na tb is smaller for sure. aint he dbw on a 06? if so you need an adapter plate to re use the one you got if its going on a gen 3 blower.

hes got a intake tube maf that can be reused.

Lol well that's what I get for not reading. Yes he'll need the adapter. Shouldn't affect intake much at all from stock.

Here's what I got. It was off a 06' same yr as mine.



I did get the vacuum lines and looks like a blowoff valve.



I went today at lunch and got the bracket that holds the coil packs . The tensioner and pulley were bad. So I'll just by those new. I'm going to go back and get the lower pulley and valve covers tomorrow or by Friday. Excuse the mess in the pic, it's how I found it.




I didn't take the fuel injectors cause they looked bad and some where missing.

Originally Posted by smws6ta

I was hoping the ECM was there so I could pull the tuning profile off of it but it was already gone.

You cannot use the stock tune for L32. The compression is different. I stress that you need a specific tune for this swap, and while I've seen it done using a canned tune, I don't recommend it. Also, for down the road, since the compression is higher, you have to start looking into solutions to manage your kr a lot quicker than the same pulley size on L32. Also, I know most top swaps mandate colder spark plugs by a degree or two. Another thing to consider is that the timing chain is different on the L32 than L26 (L26 is advanced 1% if I remember correctly) so this has to be accounted for unless you plan on changing the timing chain assembly. Even though everything bolts up, these engines do have their differences so please be careful.

And yes, I goofed, on your model you do not need a different throttle body, they are the same from L32 to L26. You just can't use a dbw one. No adapter needed since you have gen V.

Nice find btw!

Oh, and as scotty said, do NOT re-use the head bolts they're tty. You can usually get by re-using the rocker arm bolts even though they're tty once (but they're cheap so I never do). Technically the balancer bolt is tty, but I re-use mine with locktite.

Make 10000000000% sure you keep the lifters and push rods labeled and put them back exactly! I usually keep the bolts, rockers, and all together with the correct lifters and such just in case. The only exception to this rule is if you're getting brand new lifters and pushrods.

While you're there, I'm a fan of blocking off the throttle body coolant ports which will enable you to remove the supercharger, throttle body, and stuff without having the re-bleed coolant, and it future proofs you if you go for an intercooler and such. (trust me, you don't want to have to remove the lower intake just because of this again).

I know TTY bolts well. My play toy is a 98 Trans Am with a 403ci I built. I plan on getting new push rods and lifters as well since I'm here and don't want to have to tear it all down again to replace later on.

Sounds like I can do a coolant bypass like on the f bodies so that the throttle body doesn't get heated up from the coolant.

Went back and got the one pulley I didn't know to get and learned that one of the bolts that it connects to head is also a drain port for the coolant on the block. Once I pulled it out coolant came flowing out . It's the pulley that is right next to the water pump and the bottom hidden bolt. I'm going to need to look for a replacement nut and stud for the sc tensioner. Someone smashed it and the nut was lost or I couldn't find one and the stud looks like someone bent it to move it out of the way, why??

Also found 4 of the 6 injectors. For $5 each it still comes out cheaper to have them serviced for $25 each then find them new.

I also grabbed the MAF sensor. Where is the Map sensor on the manifold?

there is one barometric sensor and one map sensor, they look the same, but have different part numbers. they should be mounted on a bracket that was originally mounted to the back of the supercharger. i'm not sure about the other stuff you asked about.

Could someone take a pic of what they look like and where those are located and post it?

It would help a lot.