Black Magic Hydraulics Set Up - Budget Hydraulics - Lowrider Garage - Hydro

When it comes to hydraulics, Lowrider owners have to put their thinking caps on and prepare for the ultimate automobile puzzle. Beyond power, clean set ups can set your car apart from the rest, but a truly effective set up can only be achieved through planning, designing, and visualizing the amount of room that you are going to use. We visited Black Magic Hydraulics of Las Vegas, who pointed us in the right direction by telling us what they recommend for a big body. After answering a few questions and understanding our budget concerns, they recommended a two-pump set up, which kept us within our $1,200 budget.

Black Magic’s recommendation was an all-chrome two-pump street setup. The pump had two pump super 80/marzocchi’s and featured four Black Magic dumps that would allow us to straighten out the car when needed. We used 8-inch and 10-inch cylinders and kept the old style cups for the cylinders. Luckily, with these big body Caddys you have the option to do this. With four batteries in mind, we were setup and ready to get started on our lock-and-lay hydraulic system.

This hydro install was perfect for our space needs as well. Beyond having a sizeable trunk in which to work, this build left us so much leftover space that we could of easily housed a spare tire, a cleaning supplies bucket, or even a sound system in addition to the setup! Now follow along, as we show you this nice and clean budget install, courtesy of Black Magic’s “Street Setup”.

1. This trunk was ready for a Black Magic setup.

2. The Black Magic pumps come semi-assembled and were ready to be put together.

3. We jumped ahead of our pump assembly as we used Teflon tape on our pipe thread fittings.

4. We started to assemble the pumps and plugged the unused return holes.

5. The Black Magic pumps began to come together quickly.

6. Using our JawHorse stand made it easy to assemble our pumps and get a visual of how to mount everything in the trunk.

7. When doing custom hydraulics, you need to have a starting point or foundation for the parts to be bolted on. After finding the frame, the floor board was cut out.

8. After cutting out the mounting points, we decided to throw in the pumps and a couple of batteries so we could get a visual once again of how to build the best setup.

9. Using our Miller plasma, we cut out some excess material off the frame.

10. To allow the cylinder to pass through the floors, we used the plasma to cut the hole through them.

11. The plasma was used to cut out both sides of the floor, allowing the cylinders to pass through.

12. The foundation of this trunk build was based off the hydraulic racks that were being made to be removable.

13. Once the racks were square, they were welded up.

14. The battery tie downs were mocked up.

15. With an easy to use Miller welder and equipment, the racks where a lot easier to complete.

16. The racks were ready to go.

17. Using a hole saw extension made it easier to cut the front of the frame, as all the obstacles were out of the way and allowed for an easy cut.

18. This perfect hole will keep the cylinder in place.

19. The cylinders needed to be assembled.

20. The Black Magic cylinders were assembled and ready to be installed.

21. Since we wanted to keep the install simple, we used the traditional style cylinders and coils for the build.

22. To make sure that the coils didn’t fall off, we added a deep cup and flipped it, which kept the coils lined up and in place.

23. The cylinders and coils were in place and the hoses were connected.

24. With the pumps already assembled, they were bolted into place.

25. The batteries were secured in their spot using a tie down bar.

26. The hydraulic hoses were connected to the pressure lines.

27. The same step was done on the second pump.

28. The pumps were filled with 10-30W oil as the fluid is what keeps the car up in the air.

29. The solenoids were wired up for the 48-volt hydraulic system.

30. The hydraulic switches and dump valves were powered at 24-volt.

31. These switches were pre-wired and ready to be installed.

32. This switch panel was mounted on the dash, allowing easy access to lower and raise the car.

33. The ground cable was left in an easy access area.

34. The pump was ready to go, as there were no leaks and all the wiring had been connected.

35. This Black Magic setup was ready to work its magic on this big body Cadillac with a hit of the Switch!