Everything I ever wanted to know about a Maggie,,,and your gonna tell me!!!

[Twitch]

After months of you guys pushing me, rubbing it in my face, and telling me how much I needed it, I finally got the Maggie. There goes my bike money....
It should be here Wednesday, and I plan on starting right away. In fact, I'm gonna do a few things ahead of time.
At least two of us jumped on this deal, so don't be shy if I missed a question.
1. Any tips, tricks, or things I need to look out for while doing the install? It seems like an easy job, but with your help, it'll be like I've done it before.
2. Do I really need to take off the nose?
3. Five gallons of coolant enough?
4. Let's talk about the Magnavolt. I know they were a problem, but haven't heard anything in the year I've owned my V. Problem solved?
I'll take extra care while grounding it. If it dies, will the car run at all? DON'T wanna get towed.
That said, I think Randy has bigger injectors, with no Magnavolt. Is it worth doing this, down the road, along with the Magnavolt?
5. Any spares I should buy (hoses, clamps,,,)?

???? Thought I'd have more questions.
Thanks guys

Tony

[CTSV_510]

Tony-

I'm jealous that you're starting Wednesday. I still need my car to drive until Friday afternoon.

Intercooler tank should hold a bit over 2 gallons of coolant (8 liters). I will be re-using my currently fresh coolant for the radiator, which takes a bit less than 3.5 gallons. If you're using all new fluid I guess you'll need 5.5 gallons.

I'd also like to know about hoses - specifically do we need to buy that extra hose for purging the intercooler system of air?

From reading wildwhl's old install threads, you're supposed to stagger the wire cuts for the new harnesses so that everything fits in the looms after you put the crimps on.

-Tom

[thebigjimsho]

you're

[Twitch]

Originally Posted by thebigjimsho

you're

I'm,,,,,?

[heavymetals]

Taking the nose off makes the job a lot easier, and quite frankly you almost have to when mounting the radiator for the intercooler.
(radiator removal).

Drilling the hole for the crank pulley pin is duck soup compared to removing the bolt, but it is a downhill job from there.

Don't stick the windshield washer arm on a grinder without removing the connecting arm (it does "pop" off if you stick a lever between it and the arm and pry gently). You might also take some time here to remove the rough edges from the washer assembly casting as they are sharp!.

Be very aware of the wiring loom behind the maggie pulley. If it isn't secured out of the way you can grind through it (not good).

You can bypass the Magnavolt if it fails so you don't get stuck.

Get a shop vac ready to vacuum out the valley after you remove the intake manifold (clean up everything before install). This will also give you time to inspect your cam.

Don't do any "half-ass" wiring.

ALEVE is your friend.

[rand49er]

For the life of me, I couldn't mount the HEX as Magnuson shows. I made up my own brackets and mounted it my way. Same with the routing for coolant lines. I also reversed the order of the reservoir and the HEX from their diagram.

You've got some leeway in how you route all the hoses/harnesses under, over, and around the maggie itself. We'll wait till you get there. I'll take pics of anything you need, not that I'm any expert by any stretch ... just been there, done that. Mistakes help you learn; heck, I must be a genius then.

[csp3000]

You will be on for a very long time...

[heavymetals]

Seriously consider replacing the valve springs as one of your next mods. IMHO

[Seattle CTS-V]

I had 3 Magnavolts go bad. It ended up being bad grounds. For the 4th one, I took some heavy gauge speaker grounding wire and ground the damn Magnavolt in 4 spots. It never gave me a problem after that!

[Twitch]

Thanks to everybody for your input. I'm reading up on some old threads right now. But since this such a big project, every little bit helps.
Keep em coming!

Tony

[Max-Q]

It's a big job but it's not all that hard and in the end it's very rewarding. I used a ball joint puller to remove the wiper arms since they were very tight. I had to remove the hood to get the driver's side wiper off. Nothing too hard. I also took my front end to a body shop and had all the chips and scratches taken care of while it was off the car.

I would highly recommend an air compressor and an air rachet. It made everything go way faster. Also take the time to torque everything properly.

It's already been said and it should be obvious but make sure to take your time on all the wiring. One bad connection will cause you a lot of trouble. You are cutting so many wires it would be almost impossible to diagnose a problem when you are finally done.

Good luck.

[heavymetals]

"It's already been said and it should be obvious but make sure to take your time on all the wiring. One bad connection will cause you a lot of trouble. You are cutting so many wires it would be almost impossible to diagnose a problem when you are finally done."

Yeah, find the thread on the guy who sawed through his harness!

Don't be cheap on cable ties and be prepared to cut a lot of them off when you reposition stuff to "neaten it up".

Be sure to secure the rear harness as close as you can to the firewall.

Remove the battery and the wiper unit and facia and you will be suprised at how much room you have to work with.

With the nose off and radiator out it's a cavern.....

[CTSV_510]

The space in front of the crank pulley looks tight, even after the space is opened up from removing the radiator. I there anyway to fit a normal drill in there for drilling the pin holes, or do you definitely need a right angle drill?

Do I need to buy an hose for purging the intercooler system of air, or is there an extra hose in the kit?

[heavymetals]

I had plenty of room for my SEARS 3/8" with the radiator out and the nose off.

There really isn't anything in the way after you remove them.

The A/C condensor isn't in the way, but you don't want to go bashing into it either.

As for purging the sysem, what I did was attach very long hoses and let the pump just run into and empty a bucket as it circulated fluid through the system.

After install, you can loosen up the brass screw and syringe (a turkey baster works great) fluid in to top it off and release some air if any is left.

I don't think there is an easy way to purge the system without spilling at least a pint of fluid on just about everything.....

[rand49er]

Originally Posted by CTSV_510

... do you definitely need a right angle drill?

Do I need to buy an hose for purging the intercooler system of air, or is there an extra hose in the kit?

I bought a right-angle pneumatic drill from Harbor Freight. For having eleven-year-old female gymnasts, that Chinese drill worked great!

Originally Posted by heavymetals

... As for purging the sysem, what I did was attach very long hoses and let the pump just run into and empty a bucket as it circulated fluid through the system. ... I don't think there is an easy way to purge the system without spilling at least a pint of fluid on just about everything.....

Heavy's right, as usual. I've got a photo of what I did ... very crude, but effective. Rick thought it was great; he had basically came to the same conclusion that that was how it could be done, so we were of the same mind. I'm on the laptop, and the pic is on the desktop in the office in the other room. I'll post it tomorrow.

Wish I had an overflow/reservoir tank of a liter or so capacity hooked to the exit from the intercooler. As it is, adding or even checking the coolant level in that system is near impossible without dribbling coolant all over. Maybe with these guys doing their install, we'll collectively figure out something that's a little better. I think Rick figured out something, but I didn't pursue it back then. I'm up for it now. Hey, heavymetals, how do you check yours? Got anything fancy?