Supercharging a rover V8?
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm in the very, very early stages of planning to bolt a supercharger to my 2001, 4.6 range rover (rover V8).
I've seen that you can pick up an Eaton M112 for around £500, and in my very simple view of the work involved in imagining I can fabricate an adaptor plate to bolt the output of the Eaton to the stock air intake manifold, then some pipework to route the cold air inlet to the intake of the Eaton.
I'm not looking for massive boost, from what I've seen / read 4 or 5 psi is enough to get a nice bump in performance without shoving too much torque through the gearbox or blowing up the bottom end of the engine.
Is it as 'simple' as sorting out the pipework / mounting and it will just work, or do I need to have a programmable ECU to get more fuel flowing to match the increased airflow? For cooling the charger, would a forward facing vent in the bonnet to force air over it be enough or do I need some sort of intercooling?
I'm in the very, very early stages of planning to bolt a supercharger to my 2001, 4.6 range rover (rover V8).
I've seen that you can pick up an Eaton M112 for around £500, and in my very simple view of the work involved in imagining I can fabricate an adaptor plate to bolt the output of the Eaton to the stock air intake manifold, then some pipework to route the cold air inlet to the intake of the Eaton.
I'm not looking for massive boost, from what I've seen / read 4 or 5 psi is enough to get a nice bump in performance without shoving too much torque through the gearbox or blowing up the bottom end of the engine.
Is it as 'simple' as sorting out the pipework / mounting and it will just work, or do I need to have a programmable ECU to get more fuel flowing to match the increased airflow? For cooling the charger, would a forward facing vent in the bonnet to force air over it be enough or do I need some sort of intercooling?
Deicist said:
I mentioned intercooling & programmable ECU at the end there 
I take it from that then I will need all of those for supercharging to work, I can't just dump more air through the engine and expect it to adapt on its own?
Well, you can, but don't expect much!I take it from that then I will need all of those for supercharging to work, I can't just dump more air through the engine and expect it to adapt on its own?
When I first added my supercharger, it was non intercooled and the inlet temps were frankly ridiculous, something like 80-90 degrees, mental.
An intercooler, better fuel system and proper management are of course all needed and will actually make it worthwhile.
Deicist said:
Hi all,
I'm in the very, very early stages of planning to bolt a supercharger to my 2001, 4.6 range rover (rover V8).
I've seen that you can pick up an Eaton M112 for around £500, and in my very simple view of the work involved in imagining I can fabricate an adaptor plate to bolt the output of the Eaton to the stock air intake manifold, then some pipework to route the cold air inlet to the intake of the Eaton.
I'm not looking for massive boost, from what I've seen / read 4 or 5 psi is enough to get a nice bump in performance without shoving too much torque through the gearbox or blowing up the bottom end of the engine.
Is it as 'simple' as sorting out the pipework / mounting and it will just work, or do I need to have a programmable ECU to get more fuel flowing to match the increased airflow? For cooling the charger, would a forward facing vent in the bonnet to force air over it be enough or do I need some sort of intercooling?
Of course fuel and sparks will need taken care of. There are many ways to achieve this, a programmable ecu is one if you are using fuel injection.I'm in the very, very early stages of planning to bolt a supercharger to my 2001, 4.6 range rover (rover V8).
I've seen that you can pick up an Eaton M112 for around £500, and in my very simple view of the work involved in imagining I can fabricate an adaptor plate to bolt the output of the Eaton to the stock air intake manifold, then some pipework to route the cold air inlet to the intake of the Eaton.
I'm not looking for massive boost, from what I've seen / read 4 or 5 psi is enough to get a nice bump in performance without shoving too much torque through the gearbox or blowing up the bottom end of the engine.
Is it as 'simple' as sorting out the pipework / mounting and it will just work, or do I need to have a programmable ECU to get more fuel flowing to match the increased airflow? For cooling the charger, would a forward facing vent in the bonnet to force air over it be enough or do I need some sort of intercooling?
The type of blower you refer to, does not lend itself easily to charge cooling, even more so for a basic DIY build as you propose.
Again the style of blower you talk about, will add a relatively decent amount of torque per boost compared to some other styles...whether it is enough to cause concern for drivetrain depends on what drivetrain you have.
And installation and belt routing alignment will be critical or you will be plagued with problems.
Deicist said:
Okay, if the Eaton isn't a good idea for the sort of DIY build I'm talking about, what's a better option? Is there anything in the £500ish range or should I just shelve this idea until I can put some serious money into it?
Something like this will be way easier but plumb it into an oil feed and intercooler. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vortech-V1-supercharger...Different power delivery to a PD blower which delivers a fixed amount of air per revolution. That means you get more torque low down. Centri blower like the Vortec will give boost from about 3k rpm but is more efficient and kinder to weaker engine components.
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 23 March 16:38
Deicist said:
Okay, if the Eaton isn't a good idea for the sort of DIY build I'm talking about, what's a better option? Is there anything in the £500ish range or should I just shelve this idea until I can put some serious money into it?
I never said it wasnt a good idea.But any blower install will require some skill etc. That style may be easier than some others...of course depends exactly what blower you have, and what skills you have etc.
And also factor in such a setup will likely struggle with bonnet clearance ? Unless you can manage to make it quite compact.
In many respects, the cheapest and easiest boost option, is usually a turbocharger ( but again, this too requires some abilities etc to make it all work )
But there are literally hundreds of cheap turbo options out there, so that, some welding ability etc and some ability to take care of tuning and you should be up and running
Stevie and myself have both used FI on rovers in years past.
I prefer turbo's and manufacture turbo manifolds for the Rv8. Whichever way you go be it S/c or turbo you'll need the efi management. A turbo can be used to pressurise a holley quite neatly and if you uses a home made water injection set up you won't need an intercooler and associated pipe work.
A pair of used t25's can be found on fleabay or from saabs.
To keep it simple you just shove your turbocharged air into a top hat on top of the carb. 5 psi will give you a very big grin :-)
I prefer turbo's and manufacture turbo manifolds for the Rv8. Whichever way you go be it S/c or turbo you'll need the efi management. A turbo can be used to pressurise a holley quite neatly and if you uses a home made water injection set up you won't need an intercooler and associated pipe work.
A pair of used t25's can be found on fleabay or from saabs.
To keep it simple you just shove your turbocharged air into a top hat on top of the carb. 5 psi will give you a very big grin :-)
For 5psi you would be able to get away with water injection instead of an intercooler.
It would probably be possible to remap the stock ECU but that is unlikely to be cheap. An aftermarket ECU has a higher up front cost but means you can do more of the work yourself. The main limiting factor I suggest is packaging. My 4.6 is in a TVR which has masses of space under the bonnet, but even so there were really only a couple of options for fitting an M112 in there. I spent quite a few months with cardboard mockups of M90 and M112 blowers working out how the various ducts and belts would go, and I think you're going to need to do the same.
It would probably be possible to remap the stock ECU but that is unlikely to be cheap. An aftermarket ECU has a higher up front cost but means you can do more of the work yourself. The main limiting factor I suggest is packaging. My 4.6 is in a TVR which has masses of space under the bonnet, but even so there were really only a couple of options for fitting an M112 in there. I spent quite a few months with cardboard mockups of M90 and M112 blowers working out how the various ducts and belts would go, and I think you're going to need to do the same.
Deicist said:
Okay, if the Eaton isn't a good idea for the sort of DIY build I'm talking about, what's a better option? Is there anything in the £500ish range or should I just shelve this idea until I can put some serious money into it?
By the time you’re done with a working solution, you can add a zero to that figure at the very least.normalbloke said:
By the time you’re done with a working solution, you can add a zero to that figure at the very least.
If you have the skills and knowledge, a welded and various materials lying about, a turbo setup can be built very very cheaply. Still not £500 total, but still cheaply.I presume that £500 is the blower only.....but as you say, a full build can easily run into 5-10x that.
However lacking all the skills needed...the price will go up.
Boosted LS1 said:
Stevie and myself have both used FI on rovers in years past.
I prefer turbo's and manufacture turbo manifolds for the Rv8. Whichever way you go be it S/c or turbo you'll need the efi management. A turbo can be used to pressurise a holley quite neatly and if you uses a home made water injection set up you won't need an intercooler and associated pipe work.
A pair of used t25's can be found on fleabay or from saabs.
To keep it simple you just shove your turbocharged air into a top hat on top of the carb. 5 psi will give you a very big grin :-)
From the year, I’m assuming he’s running a P38 Range Rover with the THOR (bosch) engine management and also runs cats.I prefer turbo's and manufacture turbo manifolds for the Rv8. Whichever way you go be it S/c or turbo you'll need the efi management. A turbo can be used to pressurise a holley quite neatly and if you uses a home made water injection set up you won't need an intercooler and associated pipe work.
A pair of used t25's can be found on fleabay or from saabs.
To keep it simple you just shove your turbocharged air into a top hat on top of the carb. 5 psi will give you a very big grin :-)
Max_Torque said:
Hows about dropping in the complete powertrain from a later AJ42 engined model?
Absolutely no problem going that route, but I believe getting the AJV8 up and running with an aftermarket ECU is a bit of a pain....although that's entirely things I've read on the internet If I could drop the jaguar powertrain in, and get the becm on the car happy, and get the engine happy then that would probably be my preferred option.
Deicist said:
Absolutely no problem going that route, but I believe getting the AJV8 up and running with an aftermarket ECU is a bit of a pain....although that's entirely things I've read on the internet
If I could drop the jaguar powertrain in, and get the becm on the car happy, and get the engine happy then that would probably be my preferred option.
It's just an engine, no reason for it to be any harder to get running than another.If I could drop the jaguar powertrain in, and get the becm on the car happy, and get the engine happy then that would probably be my preferred option.
Everything mentioned so far is absolutely possible, the big limiting factor is of course the ££££ & while I don't want to be "that guy" you'll need to consider insurance too as that alone could blow your £500 budget.
Personally I'd go the Jag path as it's going to be far easier and more efficient than an amateur built conversion (I'm assuming based on the question that this might be your first time out) & As far as setting up Engine swap ECUs yes it's a pain but not much different to aftermarket ECU installation really & unless the original ECU is forced induction friendly I'd go the smart path & save yourself all the "leaning out and burning head gaskets & pistons dramas" that seem to follow 1st time supercharger enthusiasts, I know I thrashed countless head gaskets on my first few HiPo blower and turbo conversions but that was way before the internet when we had to learn everything for ourselves
Personally I'd go the Jag path as it's going to be far easier and more efficient than an amateur built conversion (I'm assuming based on the question that this might be your first time out) & As far as setting up Engine swap ECUs yes it's a pain but not much different to aftermarket ECU installation really & unless the original ECU is forced induction friendly I'd go the smart path & save yourself all the "leaning out and burning head gaskets & pistons dramas" that seem to follow 1st time supercharger enthusiasts, I know I thrashed countless head gaskets on my first few HiPo blower and turbo conversions but that was way before the internet when we had to learn everything for ourselves
If you are considering swapping the engine, you could just do it properly with an LS engine swap.
How about this?
https://www.racingjunk.com/LS-LT-complete/18287402...
How about this?
https://www.racingjunk.com/LS-LT-complete/18287402...
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