Seeking advice re a few hiccups with supercharger install

[rob323]

A mate and I finally put my engine back in the car after a little freshen up and fitted Mokesta's old supercharger over the weekend.
I have a couple of queries for those that have already gone down this route.
It's a Jackson Racing kit at heart.
Is it normal for the maf to be virtually wedged in hard between the strut tower and the bypass actuator? With the rocking of the motor, I'm concerned that the maf is going to cop a battering.



The other niggling issue (which may or may not turn out to be a problem yet) is that when we aligned the supercharger pulley up, both by eye and using a steel rule, the edge of the supercharger belt rubs ever so lightly on the raised portion of the water pump pulley. We have moved the supercharger towards the front of the car a little bit to help pull the belt away from the water pump pulley but haven't fired the car back up yet to see if this new alignment is going to cause any belt shredding issues. I can take a pic of this tonight if it helps to show the problem.

Cheers,
Rob.

[zossy1]

Hmm... I can't imagine the MAF will like that... especially if your engine mounts are a bit worn.

[rob323]

The engine mounts are new SE mounts, but yes, I don't think it's ideal.

[zossy1]

Is there any way to rotate the intake around a bit?

As for the belts, those JRSC belts are a well known issue (both tension and alignment). Might be worth a search over at m.net if you haven't already.

[93_Clubman]

Is it normal for the maf to be virtually wedged in hard between the strut tower and the bypass actuator?

The other niggling issue (which may or may not turn out to be a problem yet) is that when we aligned the supercharger pulley up, both by eye and using a steel rule, the edge of the supercharger belt rubs ever so lightly on the raised portion of the water pump pulley.

Not normal - usually it sits much lower. But from the look of that elbow there's not much option. The elbow looks a bit different to how I remember it - it's possible it's from JRSC kit for another car.

Tolerances can be very very tight, but from memory locating as far forward as possible was the initial fix to try.

[rob323]

After a bit more fiddling (with the car) last night, I'm going to ditch the JR filter and use something else. Cause the JR filter bolts to the chassis, it determines where the maf has to be. I can't rotate the cast elbow down any further as it is currently sitting on the cap of the valve in the air con line. The car has to go visit the air con doctor shortly so I might see if they can make up some new lines to free up some room in that area.

[93_Clubman]

If you haven't already got the latest instructions for the M45 kit they here, just scroll down:
http://www.miatamania.com/Shop/ViewProd ... exID=75083

Pic of elbow here:
http://www.miatamania.com/Shop/ViewProd ... exID=77561

MCC-051-920.jpg

But does sound like it might be that AC line in the way.

[rob323]

Even if the ac line wasn't in the way, and I could rotate the elbow so that the maf is further down, it wouldn't then line up with the JR filter.

So my brain wave over a Corona or two last night is to ditch the JR filter, add a straight bit of pipe from the elbow til forward of the strut tower, then add a 180 degree bend to loop it back towards the firewall, through the maf, into an enclosed pod filter and back to the existing hole in firewall from the previous Loch Stewart style intake.

That should give me a lot more room to play with, allow the engine more room to move, allow me to solidly mount the maf and still keep it all legal by having the pod filter enclosed.

[zossy1]

Sounds like a plan. Good luck!

[93_Clubman]

Heard that someone in the ACT had a replacement elbow fabricated for their M45 JRSC, which negated a long air intake tract & any 180 degree bends, drawing its air straight from the 75mm circular cut out in the cowl wall normally used for the MX5 Mania/ Loch Stewart CAI.

[rob323]

Yep, and if you ran with a map sensor, thet would be almost ideal I reckon. Alas, I am stuck with a maf for a little while yet.

[rob323]

More coronas last night lead to more brain storming

If the car didn't have AC, you could make a real nice fibreglass air box to sit in the corner up against the firewall and duct to it from the cowl.

[93_Clubman]

Some of that high quality flexible brake ducting might get around the AC & still be reliable enough in that situation.

[rob323]

That's the plan, I will need to use something like that to allow for the movement of the engine. And I still have to stick the maf in the end of the pod as well.
I might try mocking up an airbox in fibreglass to see if I can make something decent out of it. If it comes out any good, I'll then make it from carbon fibre (due to less weight of course, got nothing to do with looks ).

[rob323]

Ok, in an effort to get this thing out of my shed so my wife can have her daily back (and so I can get on with an engine swap on my rally car), I laid off the coronas and actually started to get some work done instead.

I re-mounted the JR filter and the maf will be bolted above the shock tower by an angle bracket off the factory bracket which the diagnostic plug is attached to. That should keep the maf and air filter nice and solid and locked together (just have to double check bonnet clearance yet). I bought two 90 degree silicone bends and did a rough mock to make sure it will work.



I'm still yet to cut the bits of alum pipe to join allt he silicone together and fit the necessary brass nipples for the vacuum lines. But hopefully this will allow plenty of engine movement without causing any problems like pulling hoses off.