Has anybody rebuilt a Procharger on their own?

[Leadfoot1]

Are you saying ATI won't sell you the parts????

I think they should, i mean, you have their products...what kind of service is that if they don't even support the ones that support THEM!

Did you call and ask?

Lead.

[Blown353]

ATI will not sell *ANY* headunit service parts to the end user other than drain plug o-rings and dipstick seals-- I did call and ask although I did not get pushy nor would I have. They will only perform service on the units and replace what is needed and tell you to send the thing into them for inspection/service.

On one hand I can see their point-- if someone botches an install using parts they sold that guy might come whining back to them wanting to get it repaired/replaced for free. But for a guy like me who is out of warranty I don't really see the harm. If I screw up it's on me and I'll pay to fix or replace it. Let's face it, this isn't rocket science to rebuild one of these things but you can screw up the bearings by being overzealous or stupid with the press. The rebuilding thing is probably a cash cow for them too, if I had all the parts in hand up front I could knock it out VERY quickly and for what they charge I'm sure the profit is pretty darn good.

There are better bearings out there than what they used in my build but I'm guessing it boils down to a cost thing for them. As I mentioned earlier if you run the headunit at ATI's advertised maximum speeds you will be exceeding the manufacturer's spec for both the low and high speed bearings.

Not to mention the bearings on the oil aereator gear say "China"

My plan down the road is to change over to ceramic GMN bearings on the high speed side as they are rated to 78K rpm. The low speed side currently uses 11K rpm rated Koyo bearings (keep in mind at a max impeller speed the low speed bearings will see 15K RPM, so ATI is once again overdoing things a bit) and there are better higher speed rated alternatives for there as well. I have not priced them out but I'm sure they will be more expensive than the bearings currently used-- how much more I don't know.

[Blown353]

Another update...

I tried putting the new seals in today and reassembling the unit... no go. As I mentioned earlier, the rear high speed seal is a custom jobber with a non-standard thickness dimension. I scoured the catalogs of various sealmakers and purchased the closest seal I could but I can't get an out-of-the-book seal short enough to allow me to get the snap ring in behind it. The ATI seal is just an oddball. I could machine the supercharger housing to fit the new seal but that would be, well, dumb. LOL.

It looks like I'll be sending the unit in to be rebuilt since the only other option is to have a seal custom made. The good news is I figure I'll have them "upsize" it to a D1SC while they're at it.

[camcojb]

Originally Posted by Blown353

Another update...

I tried putting the new seals in today and reassembling the unit... no go. As I mentioned earlier, the rear high speed seal is a custom jobber with a non-standard thickness dimension. I scoured the catalogs of various sealmakers and purchased the closest seal I could but I can't get an out-of-the-book seal short enough to allow me to get the snap ring in behind it. The ATI seal is just an oddball. I could machine the supercharger housing to fit the new seal but that would be, well, dumb. LOL.

It looks like I'll be sending the unit in to be rebuilt since the only other option is to have a seal custom made. The good news is I figure I'll have them "upsize" it to a D1SC while they're at it.

Has Scott ever been able to rebuild these and source the correct parts? I'd guess you've asked him, just curious.

Jody

[Blown353]

Originally Posted by camcojb

Has Scott ever been able to rebuild these and source the correct parts? I'd guess you've asked him, just curious.

Jody

Yep. They won't sell service parts to Scott, he just sends them in for rebuild/service/inspection. I even had my other friend in town who is a dealer for Procharger call and ask-- they wouldn't sell him the parts either. I did confirm that the seals are indeed proprietary and custom made specifically for Procharger.

I'm pretty ticked at the moment; I just finished the intercooler installation and I really want to go drive the sucker but with the supercharger in pieces that won't work out so well.

[907rs]

Well that bites, Troy. Hopefully they'll be fair with you on the labor end of things when you get the bill.

[awr68]

Originally Posted by Blown353

I just finished the intercooler installation and I really want to go drive the sucker but with the supercharger in pieces that won't work out so well.

We need pics and specs on the intercooler!!

[Blown353]

Originally Posted by awr68

We need pics and specs on the intercooler!!

Pics of the intercooler are here: https://lateral-g.net/forums/show...ht=intercooler

I should have some pics of the install tomorrow.

The radiator moved back 2" and up about 1", I installed a new larger AC condenser, relocated the receiver/dryer and made new hoses, and added a power steering cooler while I was at it. All the intake plumbing is 304 mandrel bends. I would have gone aluminum but all my friends suck at aluminum welding (as do I.) With some careful planning I was able to retain the factory hood latch-- something which I thought I was going to have to ditch when I started.

I'm putting the supercharger back together tomorrow morning so I can reinstall it and finish welding braces on the SC to intercooler inlet pipe and also weld on 1.5" stubs for the bypass valves-- I was getting some compressor surge at high rpm / light load (I could hear it chattering back through the intake); I think that is what hurt the rear seal on the supercharger. Rather than buy the really loud Race bypass valve from Procharger I just bought a second Pro-Flo surge valve and will run a pair of them. Much quieter and in my situation easier to fit. Only problem is the new one is all pretty black anodized billet machined aluminum while my old one is an aluminum tube with a plastic actuator hanging off once side. Oh well, they're going to be stashed under the nose where you can't see them.

I'm hoping they can turn around the reseal operation pretty quick, I really want the car on the road.