It started about 10 years ago after I finished restoring my car. In it's finished form it was a 1969 with a 2.2L, Electromotive EFI, 40mm individual throttle bodies, coil overs, slotted cross member, 4:11 LSD, 240sx 5 speed, Comp header and Borla exhaust.
I was pretty happy with the result. It dyno'd at 135hp/ 138 torque at the rear wheels @ 13.5 AFR. The EFI/ throttle bodies/ 4:11 created fantastic throttle response and torque in 2nd and 3rd gear, and sounded amazing.
I beat the holy hell out of that engine, including one glorious day at Thunderhill before a Mount Shasta event, and it lasted about 15k miles before I discovered that I had a head gasket coolant leak. Once I cracked the engine open I also found it had a massive amounts of carbon deposits, probably from running rich by taking so long to learn how to tune the EFI system correctly.
Now that the engine was apart, and I had some project cash, I decided it was time to make it bulletproof for some forced induction.
I felt a "sleeper" needed an engine with a little more "wow" factor when you popped the hood, and I was tired of all the SR guys asking me, "Why not a SR??"
The answer to that is because I'm an idiot, and I don't do things that make sense. For some ungodly reason I like the L-Series engine, and the only way for it to make power is to stuff it full of air/ fuel.
So for years as the car sat I researched "Turbo vs. Supercharging" and made my brain spin with all the informed and incredibly uninformed opinions that the global interwebs has to offer.
But finally the decision came down to this: I have never seen supercharged 510. Actually let me re-phrase that. I have never seen a running supercharged 510. I've seen pictures of custom intake manifolds, mounts, pulleys, etc., but never video of one actually working. PLENTY of turbo setups, but no SC.
After I decided "Supercharging", I spent another year researching Twin-Screw vs. Roots vs. Centrifugal. For a number of reasons I went with twin-screw, and none of which I care to debate..
With my decision finally made I did my best to build a bulletproof engine: Torque-plated clean up, ARP stud kit, Carrillo rods, forged pistons, o-ringed block, copper gasket, Rebello flowed head (probably not necessary with FI, but what the hell), 8.5:1 compression, angry secret-sauce Rebello cam, etc, etc.
In the spirit of "When in Rome" I also completely took apart the interior of the car to fix a few things I didn't like about my original dashboard restoration (more on that later).
All of this became overwhelming (my once perfect car was in pieces again) and I was suddenly out of time and patience for all the fabrication that was no doubt waiting for me, and it was then I realized why I have never seen a completed supercharging project. It sure ain't easy.
SO after 5 years of sitting and collecting dust, and slowly disintegrating before my eyes, I am finally polishing the dime back up and getting ready to finish this thing.
I'm trying my best to avoid my normal hyper anal-retentive methods, and just get the f'ing car running again.
Phase One: Get the f'ing car running NA, finish dash/ interior
Phase Two: SC fabrication/ installation/ tuning
Phase Three: Patch, paint and polish
Phase Four: Twin-charging???
The new engine has been un-bagged and is now in the car and the battery has been relocated to the truck (to make room for the future SC).
Last thing I did was start to put the EFI system back together, and contemplate moving the alternator to the opposite side of the motor (also to make room for the future SC)
...more to come.
