JJ, I spoke to you months ago about the Magnum Power SC in my 05 build. By what you discuss in this thread, it wasn’t worth the headache?
Despite my experience with the supercharger, I can say that when it was right, it was awesome.
The problem with my application was that there were 20 different “experts” that had a hand in crafting the spec and the Jeep was so far from the intended application that nothing worked together.
I would still recommend Magnum powers as a viable option. I would still recommend the build as a cheaper HP/$ option over a swap.
That said, you really have to start with the S/C and probably work with someone who can run the EFI off of a third party like Holley or Megasquirt or something other than the Mopar ECU.
Fueling was what really killed the progress and ultimately killed my cylinder heads.
So in closing, the trip was not worth the fare because the fare just kept creeping higher due to all the unknowns and the limited ECU tuning resources.
I think if you had this system installed by one shop with stock options and a third party tune (or a stock friendly re-flash they offer) you would be great and probably close to LS performance in a Jeep. I was never in that boat!
I am about to salvage the S/C kit for $800 back to M/P. If you want it for that price, I’ll hold it and you would have about $3000 retail worth of the MP kit.
Message sent
Note for the records…
One oversight on this swap was the oil pan.
There are 3 viable options:
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Stock “truck” pan. This one hangs about 8.5 inches from the seal surface and is a rudder just begging for a rock to punch it in the face especially since its a rear sump and is located in the middle of the undercarriage. Cheap, high volume and a bit hard to skid since it is already low.
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F-body/ H3/ vette pan. These are only 5.6" hung from the seal surface. They can sometimes be found from camaro/firebird take-offs. They hold about 5.5 qts, bolt on and are easy to match up as long as you have the correct oil dipstick, windage tray and pickup. They can be further enhanced with a baffle by enhanced performance.com in order to prevent starvation during off camber or “high lateral g’s… up to 1.4”.
3 Holley/after market. There are some steel pans with no filter options for sale. There are also Holley pans for LS swap. The 302-1 and 302-2 are similar to F-body, but feature different cut-backs designed to clear cross members (which jeeps don’t have in that location). The cut back is often where exhaust is run, so it may be a short cut to clear various set-ups.
Any of these options probably should be protected, but I found the hard way that it is much easier to swap this out before doing any exhaust runs and final nip/tuck. That said it is critical enough to go three steps forward, 2 steps back to avoid crying over an oil slick in the middle of nowhere…
I am going with option 2 F-body and a skid btw…
After weathering the GM strike to source my new oil pan, the Jeep is running!
I was able to wheel the toy run snow with 100% functionality and gobs of old fashioned torque.
Ricky will have one more crack at this thing to button up a few loose ends found on the shake-down run, but I have been daily driving it since last saturday and loving every minute behind the wheel.
I am happy with the Dynomax Superturbo muffler. It was the replacement for the aggressive hushpower/series 44 which got a ton louder after it burned it. The Super turbo is almost too quiet unless a whack the throttle… At least that’s what I thought until I did a 40 miles highway rip… The note at highway is very pleasant and worth the tradeoff of not having a meaner sound on the trail. Kate loves it especially compared to my original setup with the hushpower (she is a hearing doctor after all…)
Looking forward to the final hit list being buttoned up, but even those items won’t change how great the 5.3 is in this spec!