Who here has rebuilt their Vortech

[Wild Horses]

Got my used power cooled kit a few weeks ago. Didn't pay much, but I did quite a bit of body/paint labor for it. Getting a used blower that's ten years old I sort of factored in a rebuild and almost expected it. My issue is just the front seal behind the impeller. I'm quite sure that's what it is at least. Had a small pool of oil on the edge of the intake lip of the compressor and then a little down in the elbow before the aftercooler. I'm using the JLT prefilter on the intake side and that pcv hose is bone dry so I know it's not coming in that way. It's not a lot of oil but it's not a little. Everything else seems ok. I don't think i can bring myself to spend nearly $600 and deal with shipping my blower across the country for a couple bearings and seals installed, not to mention have my car down for nearly two weeks waiting. I know a lot of people do them theirselves so I just want to know what to watch out for or what to really be careful with and whatnot. I'm a 15 year auto tech and have access to any type of press I could need... so I'm confident I can tackle this no prob. I'm just curious as to why Vortech would charge so much when it seems very simple. What's the tricky part? There has to be one...

 

[ttocs]

I think its one of those jobs where they are not charging so much for the actual work done but for the value of the work done. I mean its only a couple of seals/bearings but then when they are done they can check the measurements and then only THEY can say its up to spec and good for a few more years. They also need to figure that there will be some returns from bad parts or bad work and need to cover that cost but I mean they could figure $xx/hr but they would be selling themselves short of money they could make.

 

[Wild Horses]

I think its one of those jobs where they are not charging so much for the actual work done but for the value of the work done. I mean its only a couple of seals/bearings but then when they are done they can check the measurements and then only THEY can say its up to spec and good for a few more years. They also need to figure that there will be some returns from bad parts or bad work and need to cover that cost but I mean they could figure $xx/hr but they would be selling themselves short of money they could make.

That's the only way I figure the value of the service their doing. That, along with whatever type of warranty they provide if they do a rebuild. I'm not sure if they give warranties on rebuilds... I only called on prices.
I found the high speed rebuild kits for a little over 200 with all new hardware. I think I'm just gonna go for it. That way I can pull the blower, repair and throw it right back on the car. I'll post update pics.

 

[96blak54]

Removing the impeller isnt bad, it resetting it on the shaft. It has far above average press on condition. The impeler needs to be pretty hot before pressing on the shaft. Taking advantage of thermal expansion

 

[Wild Horses]

Removing the impeller isnt bad, it resetting it on the shaft. It has far above average press on condition. The impeler needs to be pretty hot before pressing on the shaft. Taking advantage of thermal expansion

Yea in doing my research Ive been reading that a bearing warmer or heat in some form makes the job much easier. How difficult is it removing the impeller without bending or damaging it? I would think a direct flame on that kind of component couldn't be good for it...

 

[96blak54]

Conditions have to be right! I would guess roughly .015"-.020" press in ambient temps. Damaging the impeller is super easy! Super hot impeller and rounded edges on edges

 

[Wild Horses]

Conditions have to be right! I would guess roughly .015"-.020" press in ambient temps. Damaging the impeller is super easy! Super hot impeller and rounded edges on edges

I got it all apart with the high speed bearings removed. Wasn't bad at all. I did slice my hands on the gears in a few places without even knowing though. Haha. Input shaft bearings were fine. I'm pretty sure this unit has been rebuilt already. Everything except the impeller shaft seal and the front impeller bearing look brand new. If it hasn't been rebuilt I am very surprised how well these things hold up. Impeller seal had a tiny piece missing on both lips so I did find the actual cause of the leak which is great. I'm guessing the front impeller bearing being bad had something to do with the seal failing.

Parts will be in tomorrow. I'll post pics when done.

 

[g36 monkey]

Good deal! A friend of mine did his a while back and said the worst part about it was all the boxes said "FAG bearings" on it or something. So, you might have that to look forward to ;p

 

[Wild Horses]

Good deal! A friend of mine did his a while back and said the worst part about it was all the boxes said "FAG bearings" on it or something. So, you might have that to look forward to ;p

WELL THATS NICE OF THEM! They're getting delivered to the shop too. I'd never live that one down if that's what they send me. LOL

 

[g36 monkey]

As I recall that's the company that makes them. I just remembered thinking, could you imagine working there? What do you do? O yea, I work for FAGs.

 

[98snakehorse]

Ooooh a good write up on this would be good. My blower is in pretty great shape but having a little know how on the process of rebuilding one would be good.

 

[Wild Horses]

Ooooh a good write up on this would be good. My blower is in pretty great shape but having a little know how on the process of rebuilding one would be good.

There is a GREAT thread from back in like 07 or so over at moddedmustangs or one of the other forums. The info is a little outdated but that's where I got specs and little info like if it mattered wether the impeller was put back on the shaft in the same clocked position that it came off. Turns out they're just balanced to themselves not the shaft.

if there's enough interest I could definitely do the write up. I would just have to take sone disassembly and a few reassembly pics.

 

[Wild Horses]

As far as my progress goes... I got my high speed bearings and impeller seal. Not 5 minutes after USPS dropped em off my mechanical impeller shaft seal was broken...The socket I had setup on the inner sleeve on the press jumped just a TINY bit. But enough to take a big chunk out. $45 down the drain. Ordered a new one that will be here Monday and I'm crossing my fingers because the car goes on the dyno the next morning!

Anyway... here's some pics.

Everything lubed up with new bearings ready to go back together.

Im not really sure how it will react to this but I figured a polished surface would help flow. I know incoming air has strange dynamics and reacts to polished surfaces much different. When I ported my heads I left a nice 80grit intake port surface and they flow like crazy. I guess I'll have to see what happens.

 

[98snakehorse]

Looking good hope everything goes back together alright

 

[Wild Horses]

Looking good hope everything goes back together alright

I think she's gonna be just fine.

I think someone may even have upgraded the compressor to an SI-Trim! It looks identical to the si promo pics Vortech has on their site.
Someone has definitely rebuilt the entire unit before. Just don't know exactly what they upgraded.

 

[Wild Horses]

One last question before final reassembly.... when pressing in the mechanical seal do I press it until it seats on the bottom lip? I DO have the deep seal bore. And also after that seal is in does the impeller get pressed until it stops or until its just flush with the back plate? I'm just kinda curious how it's going to seal against this mechanical seal. You wouldn't think that's the best seal design but in told they work better... and that's what this unit came with but not what whoever rebuilt it used.