Positive Update Time!!: Will post pics if anyone is interested or curious, it's not exactly super thrilling, but it is an item I can "X" off my dream board lol. I finally got around to purchasing and installing the Magnuson/SCOL HD Tensioner kit! It's been at the top of my "future mods/to do" checklist since I installed the blower over a year ago now... so for me it's not only a step in the right direction, but a big relief to finally have that piece of the puzzle installed.
The base Magnuson tensioner pulley bearing was starting to growl at me in the cooler temp/cold start mornings, and it even got to the point where I'm certain the bearing started failing at times causing the pulley to drag and grab the belt, one particular day the growl was more noticeable and a slightly different pitch, popped the hood and immediately noticed two full ribs of the belt were riding completely off all the grooved pulleys... lucky me I noticed it in my driveway or else it could have been a mess out on the road.
In the same time it took me to lever the tensioner and slide the belt back into place I simultaneously hopped on SCOL.com and ordered the HD kit to the tune of $170 some odd bucks... lucky again, it arrived and I installed BEFORE the stock Magnuson one completely failed.
I mentioned this item was towards the top of my list since the blower install... and if some of you have been following this thread you know I previously (back in 2004) had a similar setup going on with a silverado ss (Magnuson Radix MP112 @ 12-14 lbs boost etc etc)... I learned my lesson well from back then, the week I pulley'd down from the base 5.5 lbs boost to 8 or 10 lbs. I quickly snapped the stock mag tensioner in half... naturally warranty-d it installed another and snapped another... went through about a tensioner a month habit till I learned the driving and load conditions that caused the failure repeat, and ALWAYS carried a spare tensioner, belt and 15mm socket wrench in a neat little kit in my truck.
Obviously the HD tensioner kit didn't exist back then... I did have a buddy at Ktech that offered to design and cut me one from billet for circa $700, I was flattered and appreciative but not interested in dropping that kind of cash for a tensioner... I did however find an alternative stronger unit by gatorback, which every one I purchased I had to mill slightly as well as swap the pulley with a fresh gates unit... the result was a moderately stronger tensioner that could take the hard decel hits a few times more than the base gates, but essentially cost me the price of two units each time... by the time I sold that truck, the HD kit from Magnuson still hadn't been developed!
So naturally when I decided to slap a Magnuson on my Denali, this was a major concern to me, for when I were to inevitably pulley down and boost up... thankfully this kit existed, and thus, top o my list!
** next up **
Black Bear tune! I have already purchased the efi live tune kit -used- with plenty of available credits left on the unit, so I just have to shell out the $300 for the tune now...
** after that **
Fresh spark plugs (LS9?), 2.8" (9.5/10 lbs) pulley, re-install my factory e85 injectors, crank pin kit, update black bear tune, and MAYBE figure out how to modify an aftermarket (probably FAST) fuel rail to work with my Magnuson setup (currently I have the earlier style TVS kit that utilizes the factory fuel rail, modified with an over-the-top of the blower cross over tube) not only is it unsightly, but it just seems flimsy and basically a poor design... the only other option is to swap out my blower base with a new tub from SCOL for just under $400 then also purchase the updated nice polished billet Magnuson fuel rail and cross over kit for it (another $300ish bucks) - the difference is that the injector seats on the blower base are vertical on the newer/updated TVS units... on my older style the seats are angled, and they never made a Magnuson rail for those few short years that the seats were angled, they chose to maintain the factory GM rails and just provide a taller crossover tube with their blower kit.... now I'm not certain there is much, if any, performance to be gained by doing all this, but what does draw me to getting rid of the over-the-top crossover (other than looks) is the fact that I would be getting rid of two possible fuel leak points on the system (modifying the GM rail to accept the Magnuson over-top crossover involved slight bending and tweaking that originally caused me some leaking issues... being a firefighter, leaking fuel on top of my engine isn't "super cool", obviously I corrected it, but now it's always at the back of my mind etc etc)
###FINALLY###
Thoughts? Suggestions? Input? Comments/concerns?
