Why so blue? Tim's Paxton Supercharged GT Journal

Looks fantastic!!!! So jelly. So so jelly. ;-)

Thanks for love guys ... much appreciated!

Sure does toughen up the front of the car, definitely happy with the end result.

The bodyshop did a nice job with the paint work, no goobers or flaws that I have spotted yet. Overall the panel fitment is also pretty good, no real issues to report. All the shut lines are symmetrical on both sides, and looks pretty straight overall.

Put it this way...its as good as you could hope for an aftermarket fiberglass body panel, so I'm definitely satisfied with my purchase.

My paint work is DYING for a 2 step correction and coating, so that is on my list for before Xmas. Going to let the newly painted hood and rear bumper cure for a little while before having a detail shop correct the whole car and apply some kind of coating (Maybe Modesta). As you know, professional detail work is not cheap, so I'll be saving up my pennies to get the cars paint dialed in later this year.




.

Houston, we have boost...again! ;)​

Managed about 2 months without boost. Yea...not happening. Felt like a neutered pony So, promptly got the car sharing situation addressed so I'm getting the build back on track.

Fancied a change from Procharger this go around. Nothing wrong with the PC kit, it felt great and was nice quality, just wanted to try out another set up. I like the centri's, and the Paxton puts down some killer power with basic mods. So i'm excited to see how this performs.

Terry at beefcake racing is a very good vendor - responded to personal text messages with customer service questions very promptly. Highly recommend this vendor for any big purchases.

Stage 2 kit, 3.6" pulley, BV57 BOV, ID1000s.

^^^congrats on working everything out!

Very very nice! Can't wait to see the paxton on the car and what numbers it puts down. The stage 2 kit is exactly what id like to possibly go with one day as well, the BV-57 looks beastly.

NightParade said:

Very very nice! Can't wait to see the paxton on the car and what numbers it puts down. The stage 2 kit is exactly what id like to possibly go with one day as well, the BV-57 looks beastly.

Click to expand...

Yea the BV57 is a monster! :lol:Shame it will be out of sight tucked behind the bumper near the window washer bottle :(

Love it Tim! Glad that didn't take long, though it probably felt way too long. Looking forward to seeing the new system on your car.

Good stuff, Tim! Congrats on getting back into boost =) Make sure to keep us updated with how you like this kit compared to the PC setup. Also curious to hear your thoughts on the install. Cheers!

GT_Tommy said:

Good stuff, Tim! Congrats on getting back into boost =) Make sure to keep us updated with how you like this kit compared to the PC setup. Also curious to hear your thoughts on the install. Cheers!

Click to expand...

Well, I can already say the install instructions aren't the best. Very wordy and difficult to easily absorb. Spoilt with the Prochargers install manual for sure - that was a cake walk.

Also, the parts are not individually numbered and bagged, so you have to pick out the correct parts as you work through the install.

Starting the install Sunday night, so will most definitely make a detailed write up here with lots of photos




.

Hot dam, nice to see you feeding your car boost again! Looking forward to the updates :cheers:

Thought you had sold the Procharger because the wife said the car was too fast, curious what tactic makes them stop with those crazy thoughts?

Paxton Stage 2 Install​

Going into the install, I knew that it was going to be more involved than the Procharger kit was. Reading through the 60+ page install booklet that was provided by Vortech/Paxton doesn't exactly make for light reading. To top things off, nothing is in the correct order, so my advice is to read through the guide and then decide for yourself which order you want to tackle the steps. I also found a 3 part video on YouTube where someone installed a Paxton kit on their GT, and I was able to pick up on a few issues that they dealt with and prepare for that ahead of time. Namely the modification to the tabs on the ends of the crash bar area, and beneath the headlight area, both of which required some hammering to make room for the boost pipework.

Definitely more modification required compared to the Procharger kit, but nothing too bad. If the car ever gets returned to NA, the only thing I'd need to pick up would be a new radiator fan cowling, since I had to cut away a good amount on the top edge to make clearance for the air intake. My aftermarket radiator made things exceptionally tight at the front of the engine, so I had to modify more than your typical Paxton install. Cut a little, test fit, repeat until adequate. I made sure everything was properly clearanced, all pipework etc, so that I don't risk any false knock issues down the line. So far, everything has been perfect.

Here is the order I did the install in:

1 - Remove front bumper and belly pan
2 - Change out spark plugs and injectors
3 - Mount intercooler (no pipework, just the IC itself)
4 - Remove stock airbox and stock throttle body
5 - Mount supercharger mounting bracket
6 - Mount supercharger headunit and install belt
7 - Drain coolant, fit new coolant tank and hoses
8 - Fit throttle body with spacer
9 - Install boost hard pipes
10 - Modify vacuum system lines
11 - Install supercharger air intake
12 - Re-fill coolant system and flash new tune
13 - Front bumper reinstalled, job done.


Overall, the install went smoothly. The kit itself is not labelled as to which parts are for what, so you need to select the appropriate fittings and pipe as you go along. I was left with a small selection of unused hardware at the end of the install, mostly related to the PCV lines, which I didn't use as I opted to run breather filters on my crankcase and just replace them periodically. Gives a clean look to the install.

I took photos along the way, so you can see the various steps involved. As previously mentioned, various trimming is required to get the kit to fit. Mostly done at the front of the engine bay to the radiator fan shroud on the top edge. My car has the Watson Racing 70mm radiator, which is an absolute monster, and made install more difficult. That said, it can work just fine, so anyone with a Paxton or Vortech can run an aftermarket large radiator with no issues.

Tuning is being done by Rob Shoemaker and runs sweet as a dime. Fine tuning WOT as we speak, and it is a complete animal

You will notice I installed some blue Mishimoto coolant hoses. The upper and lower radiator kits worked fine, but the ancillary kit didn't work due the fact the paxotn kit runs longer lines to the relocated tank. This week I'll be ordering some more lengths of blue hosing so I can switch out the lines that run to the coolant tank. Adds a little bit of color and is also nice quality hosing.


Photos (kind of in order, bare with me). Please note that in some of these photos I was in the middle of the step when I took the photo, so don't be alarmed if you notice things like the wiring loom cable tied hanging in the air above the intercooler...that was securely fastened down after the photo was taken. Same goes for the dremel cutting...all surfaces were smoothed and sanded after any cuts were made to give nice clean edges. I just snapped photos whilst I was busy in the middle of doing the work...

Hood & Paxton are spot on Tim! Great work/mods buddy...

Looking good Tim!! The polished head unit plus carbon intake is CLEAN. How's it feel so far compared to the P1SC??