mstangtony

Hey guy,

I thought this place would be best to ask questions and hope to get some promising answers. I have searched to see if anyone posted this before but no luck, so If I missed it, I apologize for adding it aagain.

I have an 02GT mustang with Mods: JLT RAI, 75MM TB, Accufab Plenum, X2 Tune, SLP Full exhaust (except headers, I have stock manifolds).

I am looking to order and install the Kenne bell 2.1 Kit with the intercooler. It shows that I can install on a stock GT (like mine) and do 6psi, or up to 14psi with internal mods on motor (rather not blow my motor)

My questions is has anyone done this before on a stock GT and how it ran, also, anything I should add to my list (thats NOT on the KB Kit) that i NEED to have for this install to go smoothly.

one last question is, if I ever went to 14PSI, what exactly do I need to upgrade in my motor so it wont blow. (i know pistons and Rods) any specific brand anyone likes? Cams?

Thanks guys for reading and taking the time to help out.

Tony

Z28KLR

IMO you could probably go 8-10psi without issue. Most s/c setups, intercooled and with a somewhat conservative tune should hit the stock bottom end's threshold of 400rwhp at that amount of boost and still be reliable.

I'm not familiar with what all is included in their kit, but aside from the obvious things like the blower and heat exchanger and related tubing, you'll want injectors rated at about 39lb/hr and and upgraded fuel pump - Walbro 255 and 300lph units are pretty common for what you're trying to do and also very reliable. Another option is an SVT Focus pump but I don't know if it would support your future goals. You'll also need to upgrade the injectors again later down the road when you turn up the boost, but for now something like 39-42lb'ers is probably what you want.

The big thing regardless of how much boost you run is tuning. A good professionally done dyno tune is mandatory, period. I would not run any sort of email or canned tune in a power adder application, except maybe just to baby the car down the road from your garage to the dyno, but that's it.

CalBoy101

Ms, I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a KB 2.1 also for my mostly stock 2002 GT.

If you are buying the 50 state legal kit they come very complete, they come with a chip that has the smog legal tune for the system and they come with a "boost a pump" (BAP) that lets your stock pump put out the extra fuel volume required.

You'll see a lot of comments about their tunes being not so hot but I'm definitely going to start with it and see how it runs before trying a different tuning approach.

The stock fuel pump is the only part I'm planning to upgrade when installing my KB. Although the stock pumps are supposed to be ok with a BAP mine has over 90K miles on it so I'm going to replace it. A common upgrade for this pump that is compatible with the stock system and the BAP is a "Focus SVT" pump, the part number is Ford 3S4Z-9H307-BC or Motorcraft PFS-204, rockauto.com has pretty good prices on these pumps.

These pumps will replace the stock pumps but some of other parts that come with it won't fit and you have to reuse the old ones, I haven't done this yet but apparently its pretty straightforward.

At a minimum you should add a wideband AFR gauge to watch out for the system going too lean under boost, it should stay at 11.5 to 1 or so. A lot of tuners recommend the NGK AFX unit, I've got one of those installed and it seems pretty good. A boost gauge and fuel pressure gauge are also a good idea.

If you are fat on $, the optional cold air induction and larger MAF option that they sell as a unit look like its worth it, I'm leaning to get that also.

They won't warranty a system if you use a different CAI, which I guess I can understand as everyone is different and a lot of them suck in too much hot air from the engine compartment which is bad news with a blower. So you either have to go with their CAI kit or use the stock intake.

Have you had any discussions with them on price and have you seen any willingness on their part to discount to land the sale?

I'm also looking at the ProCharger and Vortech systems and if KB won't discount some I might go for one of the other systems.

Stevo86

Just my $.02 but in these cars the centrifugal style blowers usually perform better than the roots style because of the intercooling ability. The roots style uses two air-to-water intercoolers one in the front and one in the manifold where the CAC is subject to heat soak. Whereas the centri blowers just use a front mount air-to-air intercooler like a turbo.

They are also more straightforward and easier to install than the roots style. The best 2V numbers that I have seen come from Edelbrock Vic Jr manifolds and a centri blower. But again just my opinion.

CalBoy101

If you want to go fast at the strip, at equal boost the centris will be faster than a KB because they are more efficient.

And a turbo car will be even faster because they are the most efficient.

But if you want to have fun on the street its hard to beat a KB, at almost any RPM when you punch it they roll your socks down and roll them back up again.

The KB's are actually not roots blowers, they are a more efficient screw type but even so at equal boost they heat the intake charge more than a centri or a turbo, so with a KB you definitely want to go with the intercooled style.

mstangtony

Hey guys,

thanks for all that info, CalBoy, I appreciate all that as well, I have been thinking of Centri of Roots/KB and the reason im going KB is because everyone here has a Centri Blower and just looking to be a bit different. Now i WAS looking into a single turbo kit, but thats also a very complicated setup and install from what I was told. Plus im looking for that "GO" kick and torque the KB has. thanks Steveo for the info on the Centri Blower, I was looking at the Vortec V3 but just wasnt what i was looking for.. yes you are right they are much easier to install, but everyone has one. lol Z28KLR the Kit the KB has says its coms with the Finj and boot-a-pump and chip. I never thought about the SVT fuel pump. but if they have one that is best recommended ill try that. if i dont have to change or buy anything extra thats not in the kit (or dont needa) i wont do it. however i would like in the future to gain more power. so my other questions were what do i need to do to my motor to be built for more then 420 HP??

CobraFrenzy

Forged internals..

Stevo86

^ Yeah those and a good set of cams to let the engine breathe properly.

luke1333

this ^

if you are going to do it and do it right forge the engine and crank the boost up on that kenne bell. i always wanted to drop a 2.1 kb on my 2002 stock 2v but now that it is wrecked looking at going for a mach 1 but i would put a kb on it before a centri anyday. those saying centri are better then a roots/twin screw style i dont agree with at all. more displacement and more power out of a roots/twin screw setup and they cool very well with the intercooler right under them

CalBoy101

Luke, don't get me wrong, I'm big on KB's for a lot of the same reasons you are and I'm probably going to buy in instead of a centri.

But after looking that them pretty hard there are hard facts that don't lie, the centris are more efficient that the screw blowers. This means at equal boost there is less drag and lost HP on the motor and less heating of the intake charge, meaning you can run more boost and more advance and get more power. And for the same reasons the turbos make more power (all things equal) than both of them.

But for my street warrior I want the looks, the whine and the "instant on" features that the KB delivers. I always dreamed of having a car with a blower and now that I have a chance to make it a reality I want one that sits on top of the engine like a "real" blower should.