
2001 Ford F150 - Project Sinatra Part III: A Matter Of Breathing
BBK And Magnaflow Tag Team Our Supercrew Project
By Harley Camilleri
photographer: Harley Camilleri

Our Allen Engine Development supercharged 4.6L mil was lacking in power. We were highly disappointed with the performance when we first installed the kit and things haven't improved with time. After dropping the truck off to get the supercharger checked out, it was determined that the blower was functioning correctly with 6.0 psi of boost, but the coolant circulation pump had failed.
Our '01 Ford Supercrew, which has been dubbed Project Sinatra, has been languishing in a sad state of disarray and ill running for some time, so we thought it was time to give some life back to our ride. For any of you who don't recall the truck, it was featured on our cover way back in July 2001. Back then, it was rolling on 20-inch wheels and had been 'bagged. Then a bit later, it was suddenly lifted with 33s and 16-inch wheels. Of course, the truck was supercharged and had an after-cat exhaust. For a while, it was a parts runner, a daily driver, and an overall employee wreck. We never did have the 4.6L V-8 running quite right-since the engine never had an intake, there weren't any headers on the truck, and the after-cat would make some crazy rattling noises. We wanted to represent it properly, so we sought the assistance of Ford superstars, BBK. They sent us boxes of parts, along with Brian Rogers to install them while we clicked off pictures of the build. Brian beat his knuckles to death and our Ford even managed to draw blood, but in the end we won the war and spun the engine hard on the dyno. After messing around with a couple of different exhaust setups, we couldn't quite figure out why our SuperCrew was still lolly-gagging with a blower shoving 6 psi of atmosphere into it. A trip to MagnaFlow answered all of our questions and more. Check it out.
 We were basically running non-intercooled. The pump was replaced and we went on our way, but that remedied absolutely nothing in the power department. So with BBK's help, we were going to remove more restrictions and this was where we started. Brian began by disconnecting the IAT sensor. |  Next was the MAF sensor plug. |  The hardware holding the plastic throttle-body cover was loosened and then removed. |
 With the plastic cover removed, Brian loosened the hardware holding the stock throttle body to the intake elbow. |  After unclipping the throttle cable and cruise-control cable, Brian pulled the entire intake tube, filter, and throttle body from the engine compartment. |  It's a little bit easier to see the Allen supercharger with the stock intake tract removed from the engine. The three hoses you see running over the fan shroud feed coolant between the supercharger's intercooler, circulation pump, and heat exchanger. |
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