Chain Drive Blowers.. what do you know about them other than when they come apart they can kill people. Personally I think they are absolutely wicked. A little scary too
I helped a buddy put a chain drive blower on an Olds in a '36 Ford coupe, in the 60's. The chain broke after a while, and put the passenger side front fender up in the trolley wires. I wouldn't get within ten miles of another one.
Chain drive sure looks mean as hell. And BONUS!! It's dangerous! LOL Keeping the chain properly lubricated is a Scott Oiler away. Near zero maintenance.
Von hartman, yeah it's a Hilborn setup. Click on the link i put in my previous post (with the picture) and it will take you to the article all about that nailhead. The chaindrive definitely looks wicked! sounds like they are just as nasty as they look
My Pops had one on a 39' Coupe with a blown flathead back in 48'. It was 4 bicycle chains. He say it was loud godawful loud........
knew a guy who ran a chain drive huffer on his harley... it had "nut shredder" painted on the tank...
I just figured that the chain drive blowers were a positive drive before cogged belt technology was more common. Some guys say that with V belt drives you don't need a pop off valve. If it backfires in the blower the V belts will slip a bit. That badass lookin' chain ain't gonna slip. A cogged rubber belt puts holes in carbon fiber and fiberglass when it or a pulley breaks. It also absorbs some of the energy. The chain will just transfer the energy. If the mount on the Kung Fu Star lookin' idler pulley broke I wouldn't want to be around. Smokey
Here's my chain drive Cragar SBC. I had thought about puttin it my A sedan with a Howard chain guard. My father in law said it would be very loud for the street.
I have also asked about chain drives before because I am not too big on the fat belt look, but the multiple V belts seem like a better option than chains. But, here is a question, what is the difference from these than a timing chain other than length for the most part? Timing chains seem like essentially the same and they don't break and go flying out and hurting people or making a lot of noise. That Howard full enclosure looks seriously cool. Would love to get my hands on one of those for my blown 392 hemi I am working on. That would be over the top.
V-belts work just fine for the low-buck approch, the reason racers don't use them is that they start slipping if you try to produce than 8 psi of boost. The enclose chain drive looks cool, but when the chain want's out, it wants out so there goes you nice chain guard.
Cool! I had a doubble row chain-coupler in my little dragster. Then went to a 0" with a pin coupler....
If you are turning the engine over and get your pinky between the chain and the idler gear, it smashes the fuck out of your pinky, sends blood flying evrywhere and hurst like hell. Then after the pain is partly gone and your have stopped screaming, evereyones laughs at you for being a dumb fuck. I am experienced,,,can't you tell.
And if you catch your finger between the belt and the pulley it just gets cut off and falls on the ground. V belts have more pre-load tension than chain to operate (equals wiping the #1 crank bearing), but not as much as serpentine. The usual slip problem isn't inherent in the V design, it's a function of load vs. belt width - and the missing element is belt wrap. If the belt contact with the pulley is too small (low percentage of a large diameter pulley, or good coverage of a small pulley) it will slip when it reaches its limit of pre-load + traction vs. driven load. If you can, add another row - a separate pulley & belt is fine as long as the width is very close. Going from 2 belts to 3 adds 50%, etc. If not, increase the diameter of all pulleys as much as possible. If the small pulley had 35% wrap before the percentage won't change but 35% of the new 5" pulley is 25% more surface contact than 35% of the old 4" pulley, etc. Last resort: go to a larger V, like 3/8 to 1/2. More data: http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/blower-drive4.htm
Gary Cagle--Top Speed of the first March Meet 1959---first car over 180 at Bakersfield. 180.36 MPH--twice in the the same day. Chain drive, and a baby food size jar of Hydrazine in with the Nitro. My dad knew about it, and my uncle poured it in the tank per Chets instructions. My uncle still talks about it---
Hello, Reath Automotive did have some early chain driven set ups for the 671 and 471, but they were the first models made for the new superchargers on race cars. (as the advertisement says: Competition Use Only...) Then the Howard Cam Company developed their chain drive with an actual finned cover over the blower chain. Safety being the main concern. Howard Cam chain drive with finned covers 1960 Lion's Dragstrip In 1960, My brother and I thought about getting a chain drive for a 671, as it was better than the multiple skinny belts that were on the market. (1940 Willys Coupe 292 C.I. SBC ) Having less slippage was the reason for the closer look at the chain drive. But, by the time we were ready to buy one, the new Isky Gilmer Belt Drive System came out and we were now the proud owners of one of the first units. similar Isky-Gilmer Belt Drive 1960 Jnaki The first units for the SBC were a big hit. We were one of the early builders with the latest Isky-Gilmer unit, thanks to our friend from Los Angeles, with ties to Isky and Edlebrock. It provided us with something not too many racers in the Gas Coupe and Sedan Class had at the time. One of our proud moments took place in the pits of the Lion’s Dragstrip, after towing our 1940 Willys Coupe into its place to get classified. The tech guys were impressed with the motor and 671 set up as they had not seen one on an SBC before. So, we were classified into the B/Gas class and started our adventure. When we towed it to the pit location, we got everything ready and fired it up to get some inkling of how it was running. After a short spurt of warming up the motor, we were amazed at the number of people standing around watching us. It wasn’t as if we had the only 1940 Willys Coupe in the pits. So, it had to be the sight of the early adoption of the Isky-Gilmer 671 Blower Drive for the SBC motor, and the sound, of course. (versus the chain drive units seen earlier in drag racing) 1960
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