Thanks for your input. I like the idea of air to air FMIC because it seems so much more simpler than the water pump setup for the charge cooler. Ideally I'd like to stay with my current 4.25" pulley then run FMIC without the need for tapping the fuel rail for the 5th injector.
Other question is, what would the impact on the radiator's cooling ability be with an FMIC up front?

 

No other system/comptech/CT/SOS uses a 5th injector in these base supercharger systems. They have a rising rate fuel pressure regulator like Vortech, but unlike Vortechs, theirs are externally adjustable and you can turn up the fuel pressure easily to deliver the added fuel you need, and its preferred because no out of the box system is 100% properly fuel tuned for every car, and definitely if you are running without a cat, or bolt ons with more flow etc. A lot of VT kits run dangerously lean from the factory for that reason. Id try and get your hands on one of the other kit rrfpr and run it with your VT kit. You should still be able to run the 5th injector if you want/see the need for it but you shouldn't with the better rrfpr. Hopefully you are running a wideband so you can see what your afr is for getting a safe street tune. Once you are set up to be able to adjust your fuel tuning, then you can safely play with a few different pulley sizes to maximize your power potential at you lower level with getting a proper safe afr.

Ive always run the after cooler because overall its more efficient then an FMIC on a supercharger just because of the boost loss and I was trying to get the most out of the blower. But I think as long as you have moving airflow either is fine as far as radiator cooling. In general it can be a problem when you are in stop and go traffic for long periods of time with the ac on in the middle of the summer, thats when ive had issues of 235+ coolant temps and had to cycle the a/c on/off but that was an extreme case i haven't found myself in but one time in several hours of stop and go on freeway.

 

Ah yes, the RRFPR. The VT kit has this fancy looking blue one. Is that not an RRFPR? I noticed that not all year model SC kits from VT include a fifth injector. Seems like only the '04-05 model years kits came with that fifth included but they also have a smaller blower pulley as opposed to the '00-03 kits having a larger 5" pulley. I'd prefer not running the fifth in all honesty while getting as much power from the blower at a safe AFR as possible. Have yet to get myself an AEM wideband. Got an Invidia TP right now. do I have to weld in another bung for the LSU sensor or is there another way to install it without any bung welding?
Spec stage 2+ clutch if/when the blower is installed or ACT PP with OEM disk - what you recommend?

 

Yes VT has a rrfpr, but its only adjustable by opening it up and swapping in a desired thickness puck to put pre load on the internal spring to gain fuel pressure/fuel for your tune, so talk about ridiculous and virtually useless in that effort, don't even know if you could get the right size puck, not practical at all for keeping the car tuned year around. What you want is one that has an external adjustment like Comptech/SOS. Now I believe, and could be wrong, but Vortech offers one, but it doesn't come in any of their kits, its an aftermarket option. Either way, its what you will want if you are to correctly tune your system at the stage one level without an EMS. If you get an externally adjustable rrfpr from sos or comptec, get the one for the ap2. It has a steeper fuel ramp up rate, so you could run a little more boost/or have some headroom. I don't know if you have an ap1 or ap2, but doesn't matter, if you are trying to maximize the equipment, that's the rrfpr you want.

You need to weld in a bung separate for the wideband sensor. This should be put in the test pipe closest to the header collector - if you are running one) If running a HFC or cat then you will want to install it in your header collector where all pipes merge for the most accurate reading of all cylinders.

 

Vortech should have just provided the adjustable one with the kit then! those guys lol. I have a piggyback unit capable of running injectors, etc. I would ideally run an EMS but ATM affordability is not going to allow that. I'd be happy with 400HP (not WHP although yes, I'd love that).
I have an AP1. The original 2000 model, GPW with red interior

What's the safest max HP the stock injectors can support?

 

300-315whp which is typically 7-8psi. That's maxed out full 95-100 fuel/injector pressure. Best not to push the injectors to 100psi, thats where they max and can start running inconsistent idle and worst case lock up on you under WOT, which means bad news for the engine. Ive run them consistently at 95psi without issue long term, but its still not ideal. 300whp should be your expectation for the equipment here. There is going to be a little experimentation with you running an fmic and what you can get away with on the pulley size, because we dont know how much boost loss you will see, but your net pressure is what matters no matter what your using to cool the IAT, so thats what you need fuel support for. target around 7psi net at the manifold and you should have enough fuel with the stock injectors as long as you have the appropriate fully adjustable rrfpr as mentioned. Adding the 5th injector will give you more overall fuel and its something you may still consider running just to knock the total fuel pressure down a little bit for safety/long term health of injectors. Dont get greedy though beyond 7 psi even if it looks like you might have a little more fuel left, as you are still running the stock timing advance and dont want to start having detonation issues, that will blow motors too over time. You need an ems to retard timing to run safe much past that 7psi range, unless you are going to run water/meth injection. Then you could feasibly run another psi or two.

 

That's quite a lot of power from the stock injectors. Yeah I know not to max out their duty cycle for the reasons you mentioned. For safety sake and even power sake I think it's best to just that fifth and have it tuned to only fire when boost is at the point where the engine needs that much of a fuel boost. Water/meth not an option right now. Walbro 255 to replace stock fuel pump.

As for the oil return, I heard that its best to have the return line above the sump plug to avoid issues with oil surging out up top and through the blower so running that convenient sump plug oil return adapter socket is a no go. Is that true?

 

That would be a false in application, sounds good in theory though. All Comptech and SOS kits since originally implemented over 15 years ago have successfully utilized the stock drain plug for oil return for the blower. I have never had an issue with it, however its always nice to have a separate bung modded into your pan for convenience in oil changes or if you want to have a dedicated place for an oil temp sensor.

 

Then there's nothing to worry about. I like the idea of having the return go straight into the sump plug bolt location. Would it be inconvenient to change the oil with this setup?
I might get a Tegiwa oil filter sandwich plate which would allow an oil feed and a location for an oil pressure gauge feed. Maybe it allows a temp sensor too?

 

I did it for quite a few years till I eventually put in a modded baffle pan with another bung for the sc. It takes two wrenches to undo/do and its an aluminum earl type fitting, so you have to be extra careful cross threading, its kind of a pain in comparison but its totally doable.

Ive never run one and not familiar with the brand, but ive seen these with multiple ports so you probably could. Id get a good one though. Its one part you dont want to cheap out on from some no name Ebay option. Blow motors when things that like fail because of crappy metallurgy.