McCulloch Supercharger on a Flathead

[Turbopackman]

Does anyone have any experience using an SN60 blower on a flathead? I'm using one on my 327 Packard straight eight, and was wanting to use my 600 cfm Edelbrock carb. I'll have to build an intake for it, but I'm worried about having the end cylinders running lean, or would the blower make up for this? Any suggestions?

Eric

[Deuce Rails]

What exactly are the differences between the different McCullochs?
SN60, VS57, VR57, DO-59, etc?

[Turbopackman]

Rather than get into a long winded discussion here on the differences, check out http://www.vs57.com/
It's the best site I've found. Not much info on the SN60, though. That's why I need help.....

Eric

[Bigcheese327]

No technical knowlege, I just wanted to say - you rock. What's all this going in? A Packard? That much engine ought to hang out in the wind somewhere.

[Turbopackman]

It's going in a 1949 Hudson PU. Was a sedan, now a truck. You can see a pic of it at -- http://www.tinyskustoms.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=3&sessionid=5fabea248e2f3634 5bbd7ae9c908fb44&page=2
It's under "Eric Boyle's homebuilt Hudson truck" A HELL of a lot of work to get what you want!

Eric

[drgnwgn289]

An SN60 is exactly the same as a VS-57, except, all the variable speed stuff was taken out and the front housing was shortened. They use all the same internals, i.e. balls, driver, races, oil pump ect.
What is the displacement of the motor it's going on? Depending on that, you might want to get a bigger carb. With a blowthrough system, you want as much airflow as possible. I run a 625 cfm AFB on a my stude 289, and I think its too small.

[Turbopackman]

The engine is a 327cid, but it originally had something like a 250cfm 2 barrel. I'm adding headers and HEI to this mix, too. I also plan on a manual trans (wouldn't be a hot rod without one, right?) I figure,giving the breathing capacity of the flathead, 600cfm would be plenty. Of course, originally, it wasn't blown.

Eric

[Bigcheese327]

Do you have an I-8 bellhousing or is there a trick to putting a manual trans behind one that I don't know?

[Turbopackman]

Yeah, I have the whole setup, including trans. But the trans is for a column shift, I'd rather have a '39 Packard trans, it all bolts up, and I don't have to find a shifter for it.


Eric

[drgnwgn289]

I'm not saying that a 600 won't work. It will probably work really well, but you just want to be sure that your carb is not the limiting factor in how much air your engine can flow.
I just assumed that you were going to run it as a blow-through system, is that right? If so, are you going to use an air box, or do you have a sealed carb? This can make a difference in whether some cylinders will run leaner than others.

[Turbopackman]

Yes, it will be a blow-through setup. I was gonna build a box for it, using an old oil-bath air cleaner. Cut out the guts, weld on a mounting plate on the bottom, and weld on an inlet tube. The old air cleaner is plenty big enough to house the carb, and looks cool too. AND, I don't have to do anything special to the carb.

Eric

[drgnwgn289]

sounds cool. one thing i would suggest, is to make a baffle for the top of your carb, or just make sure that the air being blown into the box doesn't blow across the top of the carb. With the studebaker air box, the inlet air blows right across the top of the carb (in the same manner you blow across a bottle opening to make noise). This does wierd things to the air flow and can make some of your cylinders run leaner than others. For my setup, I made a baffle out of an old coffee can with some differnt sized holes drilled in it. Truthfully, I didn't notice a power increase, but I'm confident that the motor runs more efficiently this way. Good luck!
Jake

[Turbopackman]

Here's an idea that goes along the lines of your idea--
http://cancermn.net/TS/chapter_18.htm
It seemed to work for him, so I figured one of the old lady's pasta strainers might work? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Eric

[drgnwgn289]

Thats a really good idea, and it looks pretty bad ass too.

[Turbopackman]

I figure that his setup will give me 250-300 HP, hopefully. With the blower, headers, a bigger carb, with a little porting and relieving thrown in. Stock HP is 160 @ 3600RPM, with 295 LB/FT at 2000RPM. I hope to see an increase in torque to 350-375 LB/FT, a real twister. Might wanna look into a T85 trans.....


Eric

[drgnwgn289]

yeah, T85s are monsters. They'll take every bit of 350 ft lbs like it wasn't even there...

[Turbopackman]

Hmm, I have a T86 with O/D, I wonder how much it can handle? I know it's not as much, but I already have the trans, and spare parts for it.

Eric

[drgnwgn289]

It might get you around for a little while...but as soon as you romp on it...that tranny is done for. I put 4 T-86 overdrives in my stude in about a year and a half. The funny thing is, they don't break off the line...they break first gear at about 5500 or 6000 rpm, when the boost is at its peak, right before you shift to second.

[dehudso]

I would think about doing a setup like Vortech has now on their "universal" sb and bb chevy blowers. It basically encloses the entire carb, so throttle shafts dont leak, and whatever associated problems come with runnign a blow through setup. Here is a picture of it:

http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com/images/4ga218-020_underhood.gif

My dad and had thought about doing that to a '53 hornet we had for the longest time. We thought the thing would cave in because the roof was gone. Yours looks really cool. Do any frame strenghtening?

[Flexicoker]

[ QUOTE ]
sounds cool. one thing i would suggest, is to make a baffle for the top of your carb, or just make sure that the air being blown into the box doesn't blow across the top of the carb. With the studebaker air box, the inlet air blows right across the top of the carb (in the same manner you blow across a bottle opening to make noise). This does wierd things to the air flow and can make some of your cylinders run leaner than others. For my setup, I made a baffle out of an old coffee can with some differnt sized holes drilled in it. Truthfully, I didn't notice a power increase, but I'm confident that the motor runs more efficiently this way. Good luck!
Jake

[/ QUOTE ]

thats the bernouli (sp?) principle your talking about, when air blows over the top of the carb its creating a vacuum, but a vacuum sucking out of the engine, not into it. Thats what was making it do weird things.

[Turbopackman]

No frame strenghtening, no reinforcements. All I've done is put in a 1977 Pacer front, 1996 Cougar independent rear, and presently a 1973 429, which is for sale. The most I've done is weld a brace (actually a gas tank mount) behind the front seat, out of 2 1/2" square, 1/4" thick tubing. It did give some strength to the front of the bed, but really wasn't intended to. When it was all said and done, it made a hell of a difference in the comments on the car! BTW, the gas tank is out of a 1968 Chev PU. (the original wouldn't fit after the independent rear was installed)


Eric

[drgnwgn289]

Flexicoker...you're a brave man...I thought everybody would tease me if I tried to explain the bernouli principle.

[Flat Ernie]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought everybody would tease me if I tried to explain the bernouli principle.

[/ QUOTE ]

We're supposed to tease you? OK.

[ QUOTE ]
when air blows over the top of the carb its creating a vacuum, but a vacuum sucking out of the engine, not into it.

[/ QUOTE ]

It won't create a vacuum, but an area of lower pressure (semantics). For this to happen, the air moving across the top of the carb would have to be moving faster than the air moving down through the carb. This would likely be the case with a blower.

Bernoulli's principle states that when flow speed increases, pressure decreases.

It will indeed mess with a carb's metering if you blow across the top of it...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Turbopackman]

I thought you straight eight guys might like to see a little project a friend of mine is working on, a 288 Packard with 2 Webers, on a homemade intake, with a homemade megaphone header. This baby ROCKS when it's fired up!

http://images8.fotki.com/v112/free/5b7d2/3/387754/1370292/IM000298-vi.jpg

Eric

[Turbopackman]

Here's some more......

http://images7.fotki.com/v110/free/5b7d2/3/387754/1370292/GMHEIina288Packard-vi.jpg?1096428970
Funny, damn thimg worked before.....

Eric