Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader - Boost Forum - j-body.org

Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader - Boost Forum

Forum Post / Reply
You must log in before you can post or reply to messages.

Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Thursday, November 24, 2011 12:20 PM

Well... I figured it was time I share this.

I've been quietly brooding over an idea for a while now.... something that would force me to learn some fabrication skills and hone a few others that I have. An excuse to buy new tools, a distraction from life and something that is unique in this community. (As the years go by, unique is hard to come by - this platform has managed to do a LOT in the last 10 years.)

I contacted Mike (MD-LD9) back in the summer regarding the stock crank size because I wanted to try my hand at retrofitting a supercharger to the LD9 on my "beater" car... Sickness. He was fantastically helpful in giving me some advice on the crank size and ratios for driving a potential supercharger... one I eventually picked up.

in 1990 Volkswagon released the G40 and G60 engines, complete with a very unique Centrifugal supercharger called the G-Lader, it works much like a rotary engine. I picked up a G60 G-Lader supercharger on ebay and have been staring at it on the shelf since August, wondering if I would really go ahead with attempting this.

We are talking getting a mock-up engine, finding space to fit this thing, making mounting brackets from scratch, designing proper belt routing for optimal tension and belt wrap, piping, fueling, tuning and oiling. All the fun stuff.

Did I mention the budget for this is around the $1200 mark for all parts including intercooler, bov, etc? Yeah.

Bear in mind this is an exercise in trying something unique and challenging myself - not going for max power. That "dream" sits in the garage still awaiting a GT35r.

The reason I'm making this post is to let the community know about the project - I plan to start a thread in the photos and media forum. Thanks to a kind JCO member I received my mockup engine this past weekend and I have already started some measuring and fitment prelims so I figured why not photo document this and share it with everybody. The other reason is I'm going to need encouragement - I expect to hit some heavy snags along the way. It's too easy to put a project aside and forget about it.

With that said - if you guys have any questions or comments I'm happy to answer them.

-Chris-

-Sweetness-
-Turbocharged-
Slowly but surely may some day win this race...

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Thursday, November 24, 2011 1:12 PM

ecotecpower

Pics of said charger? Good luck!!!

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Thursday, November 24, 2011 1:31 PM

SweetnessGT

Here are a few shots of what the unit looks like. (This is not the unit I have, this one also has a smaller pulley on it which would make way too much boost for my comfort... it's just to give you an idea of what I'm working with.)

Installed on a G60 (you can see how large this unit is)

And a neat shot of how it works:

-Chris-

-Sweetness-
-Turbocharged-
Slowly but surely may some day win this race...

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Thursday, November 24, 2011 1:47 PM

Leafy

Oh cool, its a vane type charger. I've heard of the design but I didnt think anyone ever tried making one. This'll be cool. If you want a cheap blow off valve see if anyone on the DSM forums are selling their stock re circulation valve.

1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Thursday, November 24, 2011 2:01 PM

SweetnessGT

Leafy - I was waiting for you to see this post. lol.

Yeah it's a vane style charger... upside is it's a centrifugal and it builds boost with RPM as opposed to being a positive displacement like a roots style that makes full boost right off throttle... downside is when over-spun or poorly maintained they LOVE to grenade, and boost is dependent on the condition of the apex strips that seal the two vanes against each other. That tiny timing cog belt is also a maintenance item and if it snaps or otherwise lets go the charger goes out of time and grenades.

It's a bit more high maintenance than something like the M90/62/45 but it's a lot cheaper than an after market unit... although I got lucky with this one on Ebay. These little guys are getting far more rare and it's a love/hate relationship in the VDub crowd when it comes to these units.

The biggest downer is it runs off engine oil so I need to supply and drain oil from it. God I hate tapping oil pans... luckily I found a way to mount it high enough that I could gravity drain it - I REALLY didn't want to have to get a pump.

Let me know if you have any technical questions or insights for me - you tend to look at things from many technical angles which is truly helpful with things like this.

-Chris-

-Sweetness-
-Turbocharged-
Slowly but surely may some day win this race...

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Thursday, November 24, 2011 4:22 PM

04whitecavalier

This is interesting

2004 Cavalier Sedan

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Thursday, November 24, 2011 5:42 PM

Addicted to meth

Nice, I will be looking forward to this.

FU Tuning

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Friday, November 25, 2011 7:43 AM

BuiltNBoosted

Gonna be a neat little peppy setup i imagine. going to be moderate torque from it?

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Friday, November 25, 2011 10:01 AM

SweetnessGT

Vince, I really don't know what to expect from it, I think some moderate torque but I think rather than beefing up the bottom end and gassing out like the M45 does it will beef up the mid-range nicely with a bit of low end torque added. From all my research this little charger makes boost very quickly down low and keeps building it to redline so I'm curious as to what the end result will be in terms of driving fun-factor. The ability to intercool it is a huge thing in my opinion and I'm curious to see its gains over an M45 setup at the same boost level. (If I can keep boost that low, I'm really doubting it.)

I am going to start a build thread in Photos & Media in a bit - I took a few VERY rough photos of the unit held where I want to position it on the LD9... I was fortunate enough to have a spare alt and H.O manifold to bolt onto my mock-up engine so that I could get a true placement and see what my real clearances are. It's tight. The thing looks like a beachball held in front of the block. lol.

-Chris-

-Sweetness-
-Turbocharged-
Slowly but surely may some day win this race...

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Friday, November 25, 2011 4:12 PM

BuiltNBoosted

I mean its going to be unique as long as you got the background and knowledge of it, which based off of what you have done previously.... you know what you are doing. Glad to see you are still into sweetness

I saw your other post and you seem to have a good idea what needs done and how to do it. I wonder how noisy of an SC it is too

Thats about my only like for an SC is the whine from a m45/62/tvs

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Monday, November 28, 2011 3:45 AM

-MD- Enforcer

As I posted in the other forum. About time, and good luck!

PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Wednesday, December 07, 2011 2:29 PM

Thrice .

Quote:

Bear in mind this is an exercise in trying something unique and challenging myself - not going for max power. That "dream" sits in the garage still awaiting a GT35r.

You do know Brandon (Boosted2point4) is selling his GT3582R for $850, right? and a Tial 44mm wastegate for $225. Screw sickness, let the black beauty get some lovin'! Driving my buddy's new Speed3 kicked my ass into high gear and got me back to the JBO. Don't make me finish my car only to have no local competition, Chris.

Re: Supercharger Retrofit - G60 G-Lader

Thursday, December 29, 2011 10:54 AM

jason norwood

Any progress on this?

Forum Post / Reply
You must log in before you can post or reply to messages.

Start New Topic Advanced Search