"We don't want to break it," said Chris Johnson, senior calibration engineer at Edelbrock, as he tossed us the keys to our '65 El Camino project car. He wasn't referring to the engine or the car but rather the Muncie four-speed that is the wide-eyed weak link in the drivetrain between the roughly 700 hp at the flywheel of the now-supercharged Chevrolet Performance crate LS3 and the gooey Toyos bolted to the Moser 12-bolt.
That's our excuse for not having "after" numbers to accompany this supercharger installation story. No dyno guy wants to mop up precious '60s Muncie parts off the floor of his dyno room. So for now, you will have to trust us. Mat the throttle, and the chassis leaps away from the pavement like it's on a forklift, and this car builds speed like a locomotive that just blew its stack. Let's take a look.
Edelbrock's new E-Force supercharger kit is based on Eaton's new Gen VI TVS 2300 rotor. It is roots style, meaning it is a non-pressure system with an equal number of lobes on each rotor that rotate away from each other, but with a 160-degree longitudinal twist. It's this twist that allows the TVS-style supercharger to be more efficient at low speeds. Edelbrock's system inverts the supercharger so it moves air up from the front-facing intake, pressurizing a plenum before passing through twin intercoolers and eight individual 12-inch intake runners. The impressive design eliminates the low-end torque deficiency of a short runner, and because of the intercooler and the twist in the rotors, it greatly improves the efficiency of the supercharger at higher rpm, where heat and friction create diminishing returns.
This supercharger kit is designed for cars that are already equipped with a Chevrolet Performance LS3 crate engine, Chevrolet Performance computer, and supporting fuel and cooling systems. The base crate LS3 makes 430 hp and 424 lb-ft of torque. It uses the L92-style square-port heads and a 204/211 duration at 0.050 camshaft to make power. It's tough, with an aluminum, six-bolt deep-skirt block, and it revs to 6,600 rpm. The Edelbrock system promises 600 hp, a gain of about 150 hp over stock. Since our engine already made 600 hp, thanks to a stroker kit and ported Chevrolet Performance heads, we're estimating about 700–725 hp from the kit.
The E-Force is an easy bolt-on with hand tools, a little fab work, and a weekend spent working in the garage. The tuning is performed using a hand-held controller that plugs into the OBD-II connector on the factory harness. If your engine is modified with a cam, heads, or a stroker kit, there is a tuner version available as well.
1. This is what we started with—a Chevrolet Performance LS3 with a Y-body (Corvette) FEAD. We had to remove the FAST throttle-body and replace it with a factory Chevrolet Performance drive-by-wire unit and relocate the power-steering reservoir.
2. Cooling and fuel systems need to be up to the task. We are using the Be Cool Direct Fit radiator and an Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump. The supercharger requires a minimum fuel flow of 65 gph at 60 psi. The A1000 pump is rated at 725 lb/hr at 58 psi. Doing the math (725 / 6.2 = 117 gph), you can see that the pump can keep up with the power.
3. The supercharger, manifold, and intercooler are preassembled at Edelbrock so there is virtually no way to make a mistake. The oil system is self-contained, so there is no need to plumb into the oil pan.
4. This is the underside of the supercharger. You can clearly see where the air is moved into the intercoolers (indicated by the water ports) and down through the intake runners.
5. The LS3 uses a press-on balancer that doesn’t include an anti-rotation mechanism to prevent the balancer from loosening. The Edelbrock kit comes with a drill guide to install a crank pin. Fortunately for us, the rotator from Procomp Electronics/Demon Engines had a standard keyway, and we used a keyed balancer from TCI and skipped those steps.
6. The supercharger has a slightly different bolt arrangement than the stock valley pan, so a new one is included in the kit. The bung at the back of the lifter valley is for the oil-pressure sender.
7. The kit requires a heat exchanger (sold separately) that mounts in front of the radiator. We used a pair of brackets made by Car Craft fabricator Grant Petersen. The reservoir mounts above the passenger-side valve cover and the pump mounts near the stock battery location.
8. Grant also mounted this bracket that hides the intercooler water pump under the battery. The bracket itself is from a Ford Racing/Whipple supercharger kit.
9. Here is how the intercooler works. Water is pumped from the reservoir into the heat exchanger, and then into the intercooler and back. Edelbrock provides the pump, the hoses, the reservoir, the wiring harness with a relay, and a fuse.
10. The supercharger manifold uses the stock O-rings that fit into machined grooves. The torque spec is only 7.5 lb-ft (90 lb-in), so you might want to invest in an lb-in torque wrench.
PARTS LIST Description PN Source Price 168-tooth flywheel 460535 McLeod 506.00 16-inch braided lines 139100-16 McLeod 69.00 4-inch flexboot 9775 Spectre 29.99 4-inch race filter 889612 Spectre 49.99 7-inch 22-degree elbow 97290 Spectre 49.99 -8 to ORB-08 fuel fitting 15118 Aeromotive 36.95 Air intake support bracket 9702 Spectre 29.99 AN -6/-8 fittings and hoses N/A Earls 150.00 Brake master cylinder MCPV1 CPP 95.00 E-Force Supercharger 1540 Edelbrock 6,895.87 Electric fans 75007-M Be Cool 292.75 Exhaust system Discontinued Edelbrock N/A Fan belt K061031 Gates 28.66 Fan bracket 72049 Be Cool 161.95 Fuel pressure regulator 307030 FAST 122.95 Fuel pump 11101 Aeromotive 324.95 Front accessory drive kit 19155067 Chevrolet Performance 858.95 GM PS flow valve adapter CPFCV-K CPP 19.00 GM PS hose kit 605HK CPP 61.99 GM SFI bellhousing 8630 McLeod 518.00 Harmonic balancer 872032 TCI 195.00 Headers Discontinued Edelbrock N/A Heat exchanger 15405/15406 Edelbrock Call Hydraulic throwout bearing 1300-3 McLeod 383.99 Hydramax master cylinder and firewall mount CAGM-30002 American Powertrain 379.00 Intake bracket kit 9701 Spectre 14.99 Lower radiator hose 8631 NAPA 22.99 LS pilot bushing 8-1094-4 McLeod 46.99 LS series starter 351110 TCI 276.95 LS1 throttle cable TC-1000LS1 Lokar 50.95 LS3 crate engine 19211709 Chevrolet Performance 7461.99 Motor mounts Discontinued Edelbrock N/A Oil filter 7060 NAPA 6.69 Oil pan swap pan 19212593 Summit 172.95 Optima battery 517974 Costco 151.44 Overflow catch can 70003 Be Cool 117.95 Upper radiator hose 23080 NAPA 15.28 Radiator 60188 Be Cool 709.95 Radiator cap 70001 Be Cool 45.95 RST Street Twin 6911-04 McLeod 900.00 Stainless steel fuel tank N/A Rock Valley 1,100.00 Water pump bracket N/A Ford Racing/Whipple Call
11. This is more of a swap issue you might have encountered already. The oil-pressure sender differs depending on the year of the engine. On the left is the one that came with our LS3; on the right is the one that is required for the Chevrolet Performance wiring harness. PN 12616646 cost us $100 at the dealer, but now we can monitor oil pressure using the factory bulkhead connector.
12. The LS3 runs without a vacuum reference to the fuel-pressure regulator. The E-Force required us to use it in order to boost-reference the fuel pressure.
13. The supercharger comes with its own manifold absolute pressure (MAP) sensor. Inside, there is a chamber with a vacuum on one side and a port to atmosphere on the other, separated by a membrane. As the throttle is opened and closed, the pressure reading against absolute zero at the MAP converts engine load into a electronic signal the computer can recognize.
14. Although the PN4061015 Gatorback belt is not supplied, the kit comes with the new pulleys and adaptors to make them work with the factory Y-body FEAD. Non-GM drives will require some engineering.
15. New Siemens 60 lb/hr pound injectors are provided with the kit, along with a new fuel rail. It is normally a dead-head system, but this one is returned at the pressure regulator on the firewall. The system will work both ways.
16. It is important not to ignore the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system. Edelbrock supplies the hose and fittings to connect the port behind the throttle-body to the passenger valve cover.
17. Fresh air is drawn through this port from the crankcase to the port on the throttle-body.
18. This is the passenger-side port. It attaches to a bung between the throttle-body and the mass airflow (MAF) sensor. If one or more of these ports are left open, there will be a vacuum leak and a lean condition.
19. The MAF sensor, a Chevrolet Performance part, comes with the wiring harness on the crate engine (4-inch cone filter not included).
20. Using parts from Spectre, we connected the throttle-body and MAF and tried to position the cone filter as far away from the engine and radiator heat sources as possible.
21. The system produces 5 to 6 pounds of boost, a little less than half of one atmosphere. This is safe for the 10.5:1 compression ratio of the factory LS3 crate engine. There is a lot more in this system if you are willing to play with the tune and octane.
