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Ready for her close-up. The Daily Camaro has come a long way since we first got our hands on it, but it’s time for boost!
Raw blanks for the rotor shafts are heat-treated and milled by state of the art machinery.
The famous Whipple rotors begin life as massive blanks of aluminum before they are precision-machined and coated.
Once all the components are made, technicians assemble the superchargers.
With the superchargers assembled, the Whipple crew pulls the rest of the kit parts from the warehouse to box everything up and ship out. The last photo shows all the kits that were boxed up and ready to ship that day.
In a room full of test mule engines, Dustin showed us a 3D-printed prototype featuring modular runners to accommodate various platforms.
The research and development team used the Daily Camaro to take measurements for the newest generation blower.
Camaros have notoriously tight engine bays, but the team at Whipple finds ways to stuff massive blowers under the hood.
We went back and forth on the color, but we’re glad we landed on this fantastic red powder coat.
Most of our accessories prepped for install.
After the battery was disconnected, the front bumper and fender liners were removed.
The installation consists of eight main steps, the first of which is tackling the heat exchanger and accompanying plumbing. The supercharger’s heat exchanger’s job is to lower the coolant temperatures as it enters the supercharger’s intercooler. Thereby cooling the charged air and creating the most efficient combustion.
Time to install the heat exchanger.
We started our installation by working in the trunk and disconnecting the battery. Once that was taken care of we moved back to the front of the car.
After removing the front wheels, front bumper, and fender liners, we were afforded unimpeded access to the heat exchanger’s mounting location in front of the radiator. Of course, all the necessary brackets are included in the kit.
The pump for the heat exchanger is mounted behind the passenger fender.
This was also when we installed the necessary intercooler pump on the side of the front frame rail and began wiring it to the factory fuse panel.
The lines for the heat exchanger come pre-cut and loomed in a protective sleeve.
All of the hoses that are routed from the pump, heat exchanger, and intercooler are included in the kit and pre-cut to the proper length.
MSD Fuel Pump Voltage Booster
We made quick work of the heat exchanger and moved on to address the fuel needs of our powerplant. To feed the mighty blown LS3 requires a lot of fuel. This is why Whipple includes an MSD Fuel Pump Voltage Booster with the blower kit.
The MSD voltage booster was a simple installation. The most difficult part was running the signal wire and vacuum reference to the front of the car.
Mounting the voltage booster was easy because we utilized the factory battery hold-down.
Plumbing the relay signal wire and vacuum reference line was tedious but at least they were protected using the supplied loom.
To prevent the harmonic balancer pulley from spinning on the crank due to the added force it will be subjected to, we needed to drill and pin the crank pulley.
The crank pin kit includes a new ARP crank pulley bolt and washer.
We began by removing the factory crankshaft pulley bolt. Luckily, we didn’t need to apply any heat to the bolt to get it out, although, that is a method Whipple recommends utilizing in the event of a stubborn fastener.
The kit makes drilling into your crank pulley a relatively stress-free endeavor.
Once removed, we installed the supplied drill guide using the factory pulley bolt, and drilled the harmonic balancer to accept the new dowel pins.
The last step is torquing the new pulley bolt to spec.
Once we’d drilled the holes and inserted the pins, we installed the new ARP balancer bolt and washer with Loctite and torqued it to spec.
We started the installation of the actual 2.9L supercharger unit by removing the factory air box, throttle body, fuel rail, injectors, and intake manifold. All of it almost came off as one assembly.
Before we could set the red monster on, we had to install some of the necessary accouterments such as the coolant air bleed line to a coupler located near the top of the radiator, just to the right of the factory overflow.
After disassembling the blower and lower manifold, we installed the supplied o-rings sensors. Then we set the manifold atop the 6.2 LS3.
We also took a moment to install the supplied electronic throttle control extension cable to extend the factory connector to the driver side.
The moment of truth came when we set the blower in the center of the GM lump and began bolting it to the cylinder heads. But we didn’t set it on in one piece, mind you. We began by bolting the intake manifold on first, followed by the blower unit itself.
But we still needed to install the supplied O-ring gaskets, the supplied MAP sensor, and our boost-a-pump’s vacuum line.
Finally, it was the big moment to bolt the blower in place and connect all the accessories.
After that, it was as simple as following the torque sequence while securing the new fasteners. Then we were able to bolt the supercharger on, but not before filling it with oil. It did involve a tricky process of setting the supercharger assembly on the front of the manifold and attaching the cooler lines, but that was accomplished with the help of an assistant which made it much easier.
Luckily we didn’t have any interference issues with the Camaro’s plastic underhood cowl, but Whipple’s directions state that some people may experience that and can easily push it out of the way while sliding the supercharger into place underneath.
We wrapped up the blower by installing the shaft cover.
Once the supercharger was bolted on, we began connecting the brake vacuum check valve, purge hose, and throttle body. We also connected our fuel line and adjusted the vacuum actuator.
One of the key components of a supercharger kit that is often overlooked by those on the quest for major power is the belt. Which explains why the new idler pulley plate is so important. To prevent the blower from spitting out belts or shredding them, there has to be a proper amount of tension on it at all times, but still enough flex that they won’t snap under heavy load.
The idler pulley plate plays an integral role in the supercharger's operation, and the components, like the rest of the kit, are crafted with great care and precision.
So, one of the last steps of the install involved us bolting on the new idler pulley plate and pulleys.
More than simply having a place to add or change the fluid, the intercooler reservoir serves to reduce intake air temperatures which will result in a horsepower increase.
Having the reservoir mounted right next to the blower makes bleeding the cooling system easy and hassle-free.
Installing the intercooler reservoir was as simple as bolting on the supplied brackets, connecting the hoses, and, of course, filling it with fluid.
The factory airbox mod gives the whole install a factory-fresh appearance while circumventing difficult tests which enables Whipple to make this kit 50-state legal.
As we mentioned previously, in order for Whipple to offer a 50-state smog-legal kit for our Camaro, it is designed to reuse the factory airbox. The instructions include a template to make the removal of plastic material for better airflow easier.
Dustin having a blast tuning the Daily Camaro.
Dustin double-checking all of the coolant lines before we make some heavy dyno pulls.
After all was said and done, the Daily Camaro made 629hp to the rear tire with its new Whipple 2.9L supercharger. Impressive to be sure!
The numbers really do speak for themselves! Remember, this is a mostly stock high-mileage 2010 Camaro SS with little more than a bolt-on blower.
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