Supercharged Trailblazer 4200 I6

gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
Looking real nice,..what are the plans after the collector? Are you welding a flange for the factory exhaust or something else?

I can't imagine it will be too hard to get to the RH motor mount but I thought I would throw that out just in case.
 

bruhaba

Original poster
Member
Apr 17, 2012
118
Full custom exhaust all the way back. Single 3"...Flowmaster SUV muffler and stainless tubing. I'll put a v band right at the end of the header. It will be the last thing after trial fitment.

Motor mount access should not be a problem.
 

ScarabEpic22

Member
Nov 20, 2011
728
Finally coming back to recheck this project out, looks like you've come a LONG way in the last year!

Glad to hear it's running for ya, exciting after lots of blood, sweat, and tears. :biggrin:
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Definitely sexy. Glad to see this is still happening!
 

24v 4.2

Member
Jan 16, 2013
430
Nice!

How is the truck running? Mpg?
 

bruhaba

Original poster
Member
Apr 17, 2012
118
Truck is running perfect. Only issue that has come up is the supercharger belt stretched a bit and the serpentine tensioner I designed in to the belt path ran out of travel so the tensioner rattles a little at about 900 rpm.

I'll answer the MPG question even though it goes against my reason for existence on earth which is to burn GAS! When I first added the supercharger the MPG went from 15/22 to 15/20. Then I changed to the 4.10 rear with the supercharger and that absolutely killed it. It's at about 13/17 which I think is about what a trailblazer SS does so that makes some sense to me. I do not drive with a light foot.

The header fits perfectly! Can't tell you how happy I am about that as I pretty much took a lot of measurements with a tape measure and tried to mock them on the engine stand. It worked because the header fits like a glove and the outlet is in just the right spot!

The rear exhaust manifold bolt was broken before I even touched it and the front one was finger tight; both were leaking. Unfortunately the broken one is flush in the head. What a pain. That is probably the little "rattle" that I've been hearing for a while at a certain load speed that I thought was a heat shield somewhere but could never find. I've spent a bunch of time drilling this thing and screwing around cutting stubby drill bits to get in there. EZ out wouldn't budge it so I drilled it. Heli coil going in.

More to come in a few weeks on the rest of the winter upgrades!
 

JayWildChevy

Member
Dec 12, 2014
35
I nearly cried tears if inspiration after reading through this thread. Bravo! I wish I could just send my truck to you, and pay you everything to build mine. Love superchargers I do.

Congrats! And more videos please! haha
 
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bruhaba

Original poster
Member
Apr 17, 2012
118
Wow, thanks for the note of appreciation! Progress is really slow these days but I will march on continuously.
 
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04GTP

Member
May 30, 2015
1
New member here and this is my first post. I also own an 04 GTP hence my name. Would an Generation V M90 from a GTP work with this setup? Gen 3 M90's came on the 97-03 GTP's and Gen V M90's came on 04 and 05 GTP's and Comp G's. I'm interested upon seeing this to try and make one of them work on my 03 Voy 4.2L. You can PM me if youd like and if there's groups on FB like there is for the Grand Prix groups,I'll go join them. Sorry for spooling up and old thread but this is very interesting to me and I'd seriously like to look into doing something like this. Any help is greatly appreciated!
 

24v 4.2

Member
Jan 16, 2013
430
Didn't they make a kit to mount it on the late 90's v6 camaro?

The throttle body was on the opposite side from the belt drive. I think the camaro kit had a U shaped pipe attaching the throttle body to the blower.
 

bruhaba

Original poster
Member
Apr 17, 2012
118
04GTP,
You can make whatever you want work...with a lot of work. You need to recognize that you will need to build absolutely everything to duplicate my setup. I used a mill, lathe, drill press, bandsaw, tig welder, tap and die set etc...takes a lot of resources.

The only thing original in my engine bay is the long block! M90 won't have enough steam in my opinion for these motors. I've done lots of calculations and ended up using an m112 and it is spinning pretty fast as is.
Good luck,
Chris
 
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bruhaba

Original poster
Member
Apr 17, 2012
118
no, it's still in there. I just don't use 4wd. Won't be able to pull it out until I'm ready to convert the trans to a 2wd output shaft and tailhousing. Not real high on my priority list
 

bgipson89

Member
May 21, 2015
31
You can run it as 2wd, just have an annoying light. Ask me how I know. I need your diff to replace mine that got destroyed.
 

Gerbil21

Member
May 28, 2014
839
bruhaba said:
Finished the header and working on the full exhaust. Had Airborn ceramic coat it. A couple weeks it will finally be back on the road. I have no time these days!



Damm that really is a beautiful made header, any interest in making more?

I'm shure people would love to be able to buy good headers for a good price especially since it would be the only one for sale lol.

Maybe you can talk to the guy who's running the trailblazer rs 2.0 project he has a whole shop and people to fab parts, if you were to work with him maybe trailvoy owners will have some hope
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,684
Tampa Bay Area, FL

Gerbil21

Member
May 28, 2014
839

BlazingTrails

Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
Gerbil21 said:
Well yes I know it won't be the only one for sale but that header isn't even worth it at that price, i5 owners have a list of headers to choose from, we have one you have to pay a whole bunch for that dosent come out worth it so I don't consider it a choice

I would rather use that money for a port job, 08 manifold and a diy cai
I'm not sure if you know but I did the 08-09 Manifold on mine and I don't believe a kooks header could flow any better than that. It has much larger ports and a high flow design. I could tell a big difference after installing it. I had to go back and adjust my tune after installing it.
 

Gerbil21

Member
May 28, 2014
839
BlazingTrails said:
Yeah I'm pretty sure hiring a shop to one off a few manifolds would cost much more that the kooks header. Also it took the op like a year to finish it because he is a very busy fellow, so I doubt he is willing to build any more.

It is a bad ass header, I would like one myself.
That's why I said to have the guy doing the rs 2.0 project do it because he can get a shop to mass produce the parts since iirc he said if the 6 speed swap and turbo goes good they will produce alot of parts not at one off prices
 

BlazingTrails

Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
Well that sounds nice in theory, but it is impossible to produce parts and sell them at low prices, until you are mass producing thousands. There is not a big enough market to do that, if there were the big companies would already produce them. Why do you think you can build a 600 HP civic for like 2k? Because there are millions of ricers building civics. It just simple business bro. Supply and demand, If there is no (or little) demand there is no supply. Not without spending a significant amount of money. :smile:
 
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Gerbil21

Member
May 28, 2014
839
BlazingTrails said:
I'm not sure if you know but I did the 08-09 Manifold on mine and I don't believe a kooks header could flow any better than that. It has much larger ports and a high flow design. I could tell a big difference after installing it. I had to go back and adjust my tune after installing it.
I am aware of that, I actually read that thread after seeing this post of the headers lol, I was thinking of doing that too but that would be more work since it required the cat's pipe to be shortened, the 06 header should be a easy plug and play swap even though and have the same O2 sensor position and the 02-05's
 

BlazingTrails

Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
Gerbil21 said:
I am aware of that, I actually read that thread after seeing this post of the headers lol, I was thinking of doing that too but that would be more work since it required the cat's pipe to be shortened, the 06 header should be a easy plug and play swap even though and have the same O2 sensor position and the 02-05's
Well I have had all three of the Manifold at one time or another and the first 2 have no significant differences to be honest. It's not worth buying unless you need a replacement. I am really glad that I did the 09 because it looks better, runs better, and has not cracked yet. The 06 Manifold only lasted 13 months.
 

gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
The trick is to get the 06+ heads which have alot more meat in the ports and can be ported much more than the earlier head. Couple that with a set of custom cams and I believe the average net is 40-50 HP.
 
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Gerbil21

Member
May 28, 2014
839
gmcman said:
The trick is to get the 06+ heads which have alot more meat in the ports and can be ported much more than the earlier head. Couple that with a set of custom cams and I believe the average net is 40-50 HP.
Yes the heads are where the power really is, which is why 06 engines are perfect, since they have the new design but they also swap right into 02-05. Also as proven with the engine dyno of altered222's engine with 8.3 cr pistons and cams it made 350hp I would only imagine with stock 10:1 cr it would be a good bit more

BlazingTrails said:
Well I have had all three of the Manifold at one time or another and the first 2 have no significant differences to be honest. It's not worth buying unless you need a replacement. I am really glad that I did the 09 because it looks better, runs better, and has not cracked yet. The 06 Manifold only lasted 13 months.
Well i know the 08+ manifolds are the best but I dose require cutting and welding, something that most people don't have or atleast I don't [emoji26]
 

bruhaba

Original poster
Member
Apr 17, 2012
118
Thanks for the kind words guys. Bottom line is there is no way to do this at a profit in low volumes unless prices of finished components are equivalent with Ferrari aftermarket parts. After I built this I was thinking what a deal the kooks header is. Still glad I did it because the collectors I have are true merge, it's 1-3/4 tubing and ceramic coated. Plus I don't like having stuff others can buy! I would have bought a camaro ss and bolted on a supercharger kit from a box in a weekend if that was the case. (I'm not digging on that setup, I'd love to have that). I just get a lot of satisfaction out of building stuff.
 

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