RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

I'm going to start a little photo journal of this installation. This is the first time we have applied the supercooler design to this engine.

The regular Vortech kit for this engine boosts power from 415 to 570 HP using a reprogrammed ECU and the stock fuel injectors and fuel system. The Vortech intercooler is about 220 in3 and the regular kit is a nice package for a stock engine.

Since the engines we are working on already make 500 HP with HP500EFI cams, a little headwork and CMI E-tops, we are aiming a lot higher. The Rtech kit uses the same Vortech blower and many of the supporting components, but the intercooler is 400 in3 and countercurrent design.

This first shot shows the CMIs and the shortened Merc throttle body studs that will hold the intercooler in place. You can also see the blue adjustable fuel pressure regulator peeking out from under the intake manifold. This is an Arizona Speed & Marine piece. AZS&M will be providing all the parts and technical support for the new fuel system and ECU programming.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

The oil supply is teed in at the pressure sender and delivered through a stainless braided line. There are three options for the oil drain; through the fitting in the Merc pan, through a fitting installed in the front corner of the valve cover, or through a hole punched into the oil pan. We chose the easiest one.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

You remove the power steering pump, alternator and stock crank pulley to make room for this cast aluminum bracket and machined aluminum crank pulley with blower pulley. Then the pump and alternator are relocated lower. This requires shorter belts which are not included so that's as far as we got today. Once the new belts are in place and all bolts tightened we can proceed to the supercharger installation.

You can also see the new polished SS coolant pipe running up between things. Also note that the stock mechanical fuel pump is removed, as is the VST electric pump/tank system.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

The new v belts are shorter than the stock ones. You need AC Delco 15525 for the power steering and 15430 for the alternator. There isn't much adjustment for the alternator belt, so you have to remove the pivot bolt for the alternator, slip the belt over the pulley and coax the pivot bolt back into place. As the belt stretches with time you will use up the small amount of adjustment to tighten it.

Once all the bolts and belts are tight on the accessories, the blower mounting plate and blower are installed. Oil supply and drain lines are hooked up. Then a smaller blower support plate is installed to make the assembly more rigid to resist bending due to blower belt tension.

The belt tensioner is actually a Ford part. You have to install the proper idler and then install the assembly on the blower mounting plate. Finally you install the correct length of belt.

A 120 thermostat is included in the kit. It is easy to install at the beginning. Since it was at the bottom of the box, I had to undo some work with the coolant tube to install it.

The side view shows the PCV line leading into the air filter assembly. The 90 degree brass fitting has to be massaged on the bench grinder to clear the supercharger housing.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Since the VST is too restrictive for the HP we are aiming for, we need to add a fuel cooler. When you have an electric fuel pump capable of 1000 HP serving an engine at idle, a lot of fuel is recirculating through the pump. If you don't cool it, it will get hotter and hotter until vapour lock sets in.

There is a great location for this fuel cooler on this engine, where the stock coolant hose enters the oil cooler at the back of the engine. A very simple bracket holds it in place using one of the bellhousing bolts.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Looks good tom lets see the Box!

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Patience, patience. We have a lot to do before bolting on the "Box". Finish plumbing the fuel system, modifications to install the larger 50 lb/hr injectors, intercooler plumbing, oil filter relocation, wiring harness, reprogrammed ECU etc. The intercooler assembly is being polished right now, and I don't get the new custom made Rtech cores until next week. Thanks for posting though; I didn't think anyone was listening to me rambling on. :rolleyes:

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

We're listening tomcat, watching and waiting patiently for the results.
LOOKing good!

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Definitely watching and listening. I may need something to put on my 502 to keep up with HP Junkie :)

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

oh yea were listening and watching

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

yep like little kids trying to be as patient as posible :D Rag's

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

You guys should be here chasing parts and handing me wrenches.

Forget what I said about the fuel cooler position. Due to interference with the Y-pipe for the thru prop exhaust it has to move. This is what it should look like. Because you don't want the fuel cooler right beside the starter, it has to be first in line after the raw water pump. The intercooler tee comes after that. I'm still sorting out the best route for the return fuel line that goes through the cooler.

The oil dipstick tube has to be moved to the front of the standard fuel filter bracket. This gets it out of the way of the intercooler. A support bracket for the underside of the intercooler will be fitted between the fuel filter mount and the standard bracket.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Since I'm waiting for some parts, I decided to bring the second engine up to the same stage as the first. Second time through was a lot quicker! There is a definite order of operations and since this particular installation is a hybrid of three groove pulley drive, MPI and HP500EFI I'm working from three different instruction manuals. Now that I'm familiar with the parts lists I can see where to streamline the parts ordering process next time.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Got the intercooler housing assembly back from the polishers today. Still no cores ready but a trial fitting was in order anyway. These shots show how the plate bolts to the throttle body, and the almost ideal transition from the small blower outlet to the size of the upper intercooler core.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

The intercooler housing bolts to the plate. The top, stbd side and bottom of the housing is polished. For this installation the plan is to paint the front and back panel with blue Duplicolor metalcast paint to match the anodized hardward of the Vortech blower support plate. I used PhotoStudio to simulate the effect. The blue kind of goes with the other blue components. The guys at the shop say just powdercoat everything, which will likely be the standard finish. If you're wondering, this is not going to fit unless you have 6 inches above the top of the intake plenum, like the 35 Fountain we are working on. The reason for the height is you have to stay above the throttle linkage below the bottom edge of the plate, and you can't go any farther forward or backward. So to get the proper size of intercooler core, you have to go up. Going up also gives the blower a straight shot at things.

The golden rule of air flow: Don't ask air to make a turn at high speed; slow it down as much as possible, then make the turn. This requires large cross-sectional area, which happens to be exactly what the intercooler needs too.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

More shots of the complete assembly. Front of the housing does not come as far forward as the blower drive. The oil dipstick tube has to be relocated slightly. Most bolts pass through the plate from the port side into threaded flange pieces in the housing. But two bolts down near the throttle body have to pass through the flange into threaded holes in the plate. Found this out the hard way. Standard Bravo shifter plate location on CMIs does not change. Water fittings holes for intercooler also avoid the shifter. After the air passes through the upper part of the core, it makes a 180 and goes through the lower core, enters the lower plenum which the throttle body draws from. Because this turn is made at slow speed after passing through a perfect diffuser (the upper core), pressure losses are greatly reduced compared to the standard rubber hose elbows.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

This shot is a little fuzzy but it shows the large filter head and the Fram water separating fuel filter. Fittings are 1/2" NPT. Fountain uses 5/8 hose from the tank to the filter. The only reason there is room for this large filter is we have removed the standard mechanical fuel pump which mounts on top of the raw water pump. This allows us to reroute the water hose to the CMIs and get the large filter head in place on the standard Merc bracket. You can also see the throttle linkage clearing the underside of the housing.

More to come when we get the fuel system and new injectors installed.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

I picked up the intercooler cores today. You might think this core looks a little unusual, but you should see the stuff this plant builds for the military. The color is due to a mil spec anti-corrosion coating. These pictures show how the core is split into upper and lower with the flat plenum divider, and the turning vane which helps the air flow through the 180 degree turn. The vane forces the the air from the first three passages above the divider into the first three passages under the divider. It also creates a smooth radius for the rest of the air from the other passages. Tomorrow I'll show you how this core fits inside the intercooler housing.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

The oil filter has to be relocated since it used to be mounted on the front of the CMI header where the supercharger air filter is now. I also needed a bracket to support the intercooler off the front of the cylinder head. By using Mercury's upside down filter head and a Vortech bracket, with a few modifications we were able to kill two birds with one stone. The bottom picture shows the routing of the red intercooler water supply hose.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Better pictures of the finished intercooler support bracket.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

This is what the intercooler core looks like inside the housing. Also shown, possible routing of oil lines from the new sideways oil filter.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Hey Tom,

Want to swap engines?

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

:D Sorry, these aren't mine to swap.

I read what happened on your thread. I don't think 6 psi boost is too much (at WOT), but the Whipple is capable of high boost at low RPM. Kind of like the kick in the pants you get from nitrous. That cylinder pressure has to be high and it's always looking for a way out. There is so little gasket material between cylinders I wonder how they seal at all. I have seen head gaskets that were ready to go on a stock HP500EFI that was in for a 250 hour freshening. Good luck with the new engine.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Final shots of the intercooler/oil filter bracket

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Final shots of the intercooler housing being assembled.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Tomcat,YOUR DA MAN!!!! That's some cool stuff,keep educating us!!! I don't have 6" above my plenum (272 baja-tight) but now you got me wanting a r-tech cooler&carb for my boat,is this intercooler something you market? How much $ and how long a wait? Would be a good witer project when i freshen engine this winter! Keep it coming,Smitty!

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Yea, that was a little scary wasn't it Tom. I guess I had to get lucky somewhere along the line. That 250 hr freshening turned into about a 6 grand job when all was asid and done :(.

Hows the 500efi system coming?

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

articfriends: Yes, we are selling these systems, either complete with Vortech blowers or just the supercoolers as an upgrade for Procharger. The carb box might fit your 272; we would have to compare notes. You can find out more details and prices at www.rtechperformance.com.

Hi Sean: When I get this Fountain finished, I will work on the HP500EFI design again. I'm thinking of using this same intercooler with a cast adapter to mate with the front facing throttle body. I'm looking forward to seeing your engine sometime.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Some more details on the fuel system. Aeromotive now sells a USCG approved pump which is black. Fuel coolers are from Vortech. Red aeromotive fuel filter goes after the pump, white Permacool water separator goes before the pump and takes return line after it passes through the fuel cooler. Because we have the room we mounted the after filter on top of the intake plenum, which allows us to pivot the stock fuel rail lines and hook right in. We use -8 line for both supply and and return from the fuel rail. The stock lines are a bit bigger than -6 and use inverted flare fittings. We connect with adapters. Fountain uses big tank pickups and 5/8 hose from the tank to the water separator (-10 line) so that is good already.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Don't you want the fuel filter before the pump? I put mine after the pump and sucked in a piece of weld slag from the tank and killed the pump and left me stranded and had to be towed in.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Hi Marty:

The big white fuel filter/water separator goes before the pump. The red filter is after the pump. Aeromotive uses the same red housing with a 100 micron stainless mesh screen before the pump to prevent what you had happen. That mesh has very little pressure drop so it can't make the pump cavitate.

I didn't use the mesh screen filter because you need the water separation ability on a boat. So you just get the biggest water separating filter you can find, in a filter head with 1/2" NPT and as few ELBOWs as possible between the tank, filter and pump. I go straight into the filter head without an elbow, out of the filter head without an elbow, but I had to use one 90 degree fitting before the pump. It isn't a brass fitting, it is a formed tube Aeroquip fitting with a decent radius. Then there is another one of those after the pump, then straight to the red filter you see through 1/2" hose.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

This photo compares the stock injectors to the visibly larger 50 lb injectors. Arizona Speed & Marine has to machine the body of the injector down a bit to fit. They also supply a fuel rail spacer kit that raises the fuel rail. We found that we had to mill this spacer from 0.260" to 0.185" to hold the injectors down into the large rubber isolator in the port bosses. You still have to be able to spin the injectors by hand, no too tight.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

The larger injector body requires a bit of work with the Dremel on #1 and #8 cylinders. You have to plug up all the port bosses so the chips don't go into the intake manifold. The #7 hole in the injector rail has to be opened up from 9/64" to 13/64". This is a bit tricky. All the other injector holes are full the O-ring diameter all the way up into the top (supply) side of the fuel rail. But the #7 hole is only 1/2 as deep because of how the supply and return lines are plumbed into the back of the fuel rail in this vicinity. So there is a small hole drilled on an angle from the #7 hole into the top of the rail. This needs to be opened up to supply enough fuel to the larger injector. Finally, everything in the fuel system is together and subjected to a leak test. This is a good time to set the base fuel pressure to 50 psi.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

After some thought about how hard a boat can hit the waves we decided to add another brace to the intercooler/oilfilter support bracket. We installed the 2 Bar MAP sensor and hooked up the new harness, repinned (for the MEFI3). A slightly different MAP plug comes with the sensor from Vortech and you have to swap this for the old plug on the harness.

This is the fuel filter head that comes with the Permacool filter from Jeg's. If you order the Fram 1/2" NPT fuel filter head it is exactly the same. We ordered both just to see. It does look like the Fram filter is more detailed; it has an extra little screen inside the center hole.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Tomcat,are these mods you did to the fuel rail the ones azsm usually have you send it to them to do? I have also trimmed the plastic a little before on the three pin plug in wiring harnes so it would plug into two bar map sensor without splicing into factory harness. Did you trim the rail spacers because the injectors were too loose? THANKS

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

I guess you could send the rail to AZSM to enlarge the passage in the #7 injector hole. Vortech brought it to my attention and AZSM told me how to do it over the phone.

You're right, you could trim the plastic to make the MAP plug fit. Vortech sent the different plug and we had a pin removal tool so that's what we did. You don't have to splice into the harness; just pull the pins and push them into the new plug.

I thought the spacers held the injectors too high out of the large rubber isolators that sit in the port bosses of the intake manifold. At first we tried spacers that we made out of 0.125" aluminum, but they were too low; you couldn't spin the injectors. So we split the difference by milling the AZSM spacers.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

HEY IT LOOKS LIKE THAT CREATURE IS GOING TO BE A BMF.KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK LAZ MESA WWW.MESABALANCING.COM

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Here is a comparison of an MEFI 1 ECU and the smaller MEFI 3. This is how the old computer is mounted. The black metal plate you are looking at is mounted on the port exhaust riser and normally faces the stbd. It is laid over for better viewing in these pictures. You only use one of the four original mounting holes, and drill another to mount the new computer as shown. When Bob Endress of Vortech repinned the wiring harness the two large plugs that go into the ECU wanted to sit in this position so that's the way we mounted it.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

I am really stretching the memmory but I remember there was a problem with the fuel rail. It feeds from the rear with one about 3/8" hole and that feeds all 8 injectors. This is inadequate! If I remember Vortech had some adapter pieces and I rerouted the fuel lines. On the IN line into the fuel rail (fr) I put a T fitting and then ran a fuel line to the front of the fr and into a T fitting and into the shrader valve hole and then screwed the shrader valve into the T. You use the fuel pressure regulator adapter piece from Vortech and then use a freestanding FPR. By doing this you are now using the rear supply hole in the fr to supply the back 4 injectors and using the front hole in the fr to supply the front 4 injectors. I think you will have to do this because the stock fuel rail and it's 3/8" hole will not be able to supply enough fuel to the injectors. The front injectors will starve and boom. All the high HP EFI SC applications recommend/require 1/2" bore fuel rails on each bank only feeding 4 injectors.

I'll try and dig up some of my old papers. Talk to ya later. Marty.

Re: RTECH Supercharger on 502 MPI
 

Here's the harness plugged in to the new ECU.

Because the oil filter is relocated to under the intercooler, oil lines have to change. You can use the two stock steel lines to make up a new line feeding the oil filter. A new line has to be made to go from the filter to the oil cooler. The stock oil cooler to engine line remains. I should have joined these two lines with a better 90 degree fitting but couldn't find a better fitting.