Anybody know what year Crower made the 8 port injectors? I think I've seen pics from the late 60's. They were on a lot of early Funny Cars and drag boats. I picked up this one for a future project. Note the old gold anodizing on the magnesium scoop.
Puddin' the gold "anodizing" is more likely a process called Dow 7 that is used to protect the mag. If the part is polished before being treated it looks quite a bit like anodizing. The 8 hole Crower units span quite a few years and come in different sizes--later is usually bigger. Saw a lot of them last week at Garlits' museum as they were a favorite of his. Roo
Still available from Crower into the early '80s, at least. I think Ron's handles them now (makers of the Flying Toilets).
maybe around 70 or 71....seems like the picture in hot rod of the then "new " donovan 417 had one on it....brandon
I don't know what years they were made but I'll see your Crowers and raise you a Cragar Blower. As A side note Rons has no Crower shit left,however their nozzle jets do fit in the nozzle bodies on the Crowers. Also the throttle response with the Crowers make for very difficult low speed driveability because the tiniest opening is huge with all those butterflies. They outta be fun on a blower or as a manifold topper like all the hat injectors runnin' around nowadays.
Hey "Yo Baby"! Nice shop. I like that you have salt & pepper shakers and even a flower on yer traditional workbench.
Yeah well you know,sometimes a guy has to make do.LOL My 5 year old daughter had a ball with the peanuts and bubble wrap.
I have a book that shows all the Garlits dragsters up til 1970 and there are none in there so I would say early 70's.
Thanks Roo. I've never understood the Dow 7 coating, but I do remember it coming up when talking about magnesium wheels. Anybody still doing it today?
Yo Baby... I see yours has the scoop mounted opposite of mine so your barrel valve is in the front. I guess it doesn't matter. Mine came off an old drag boat. I have a 427 blower motor that will be topped with a 6-71. I'm thinking of running the crower injector with alky. The car that will get the motor will most likely be a late 60's early 70's style match racer. It may see a few street miles as well... Before I run mine, I will probably send it someone like Gene Adams. He set up the Hilborn on my 55.
wow that is cool.....i have a thing for intakes and i would love to have that....i guess i have an intake fetish haha
Shakey: Sent you a PM. For Cripes sake Jacin.........you got a Scott ??!! Write me sometime. Getting Cabin Fever allready.. Way too bad that Crower did not keep Mfg especially with the Nostalgia movement getting as big as it is know. Stuff like this is a better investment then the stock market..
Hey Shakey,like you pointed out it doesn't know which way it's mounted. However there are some considerations,,,,if you mount the set up like yours is in a car,changing the jets and idle mixture with the B/V in the rear is kind of a pain and you have to stand behind the exhaust when the engine is running.You also run the risk of getting fuel in/on the ignition too.Could get ugly. On a boat the opposite is true. With it mounted like mine is ,the jet cans, B/V link and idle stop are in your face and therefore easy to deal with.Oh and the exhaust is aimed away from you. You can stand there flat footed and get busy. I've heard it opined that with the B/V up front you run the risk of spanking the B/V ,links and lines if a belt unwinds. Which although highly unlikely, I'm sure it's been known to happen.LOL However,IMHO a good belt guard (which is required these days,LOL)will negate that issue and I want everything possible on a race car easy to service. Gene Adams is the man.
The small 8 port Crower you have first appeared in 1968. It was also used on Connie Kalitta's Boss 429 Ford Hemi powered front engine top fuel car in 1969. Garlits made it famous from 1971 on. They were in direct competition with Enderle and Hilborn for top fuel injection. Enderle's Bug Catcher has 32 sq. inches of opening. Crower's injector [like the one you have] is 38 sq. inches. Its a better injector becouse it directs the air straight down into the blower opening. Garlits also liked it becouse they were still using a pedel clutch for the most part. You could feather the throttle out of the gate on a slippery race track and the competiiton could not tell how far open your throttle was. The Crowerglide clutch changed all that. Many teams were VERY successful with the 38 sq. inch Crower. Prudhomme, Beadle, Jungle Jim, Muldowney, Candies & Hughes, Jerry Ruth, Johnny Loper, Gordie Bonin, Herm Peterson, and many more. In the late 1970's Enderle cam out with the Bird Catcher. The opening was enlarged to 45 sq. inches. This was in demand for the growing number of alcohol cars that needed a bigger injector. Many of them found their way onto fuel cars. Crower stepped-up in the early 80's with the "Hercules" injector. 53 sq. inches. Again, many fuel cars were faster with the new Crower. Garlits, Gary Beck, Mark Oswald, Etc. As technology progressed, Enderle introduced the " Buuzzerd Catcher" @ 59 sq. inches. Crower decided to get out of the injection business in the late 1980's and sold everything to Ron Upham of Flying Toilet fame. He did not push Crowers excellent products that he bought and just let it fade into history. I own several Crower blower injectors and run one on a tunnel ram with alcohol. I have set-up several others and dyno'd them also. They give very good cylinder to cylinder distribution. We have 8 EGT's on the dyno and these Crower's perform the best. I think they are one of the best injectors ever made. They have a very nice barrel valve assembly. Very user freindly and versatile. Take your barrel valve apart and look it over good. Many people had different opinions on how to hack and wack on the inside of the spool. Some of the modifications are not very good. I am rebuilding a 53 sq. inch unit right now. I have it all apart putting in new shaft bushings and getting it powder coated. I will try to load a picture of it. Turn your scoop around, it must have came off a boat. If you need it looked over, call me: Pro-Formance Specialties 1115 East Main St. Rochester, NY 14609 585-288-1499 / 8-5 / EST Matt
Matt (FED), Thank you for all that info. If you didn't quote that out of a book, than you should write one!! I'm a ways off from setting this injector up. I also have an early Hilborn 4 port for a 6-71. The Hilborn is definitely correct for a 60's gasser. Can you confirm that the early Hilborn injector bodies were magnesium. I know the new ones they make are aluminum.
Shakey: At the pace I type I would not make any money writing a book. It took me 1 hr to just type that up this morning. I do enjoy fuel car history. I have not paid much attention to Hilborn stuff. I do not know much about Hilborn history. Yes, a Hilborn is the only thing that looks right on an early gasser!! Good luck: Matt
Excelent thread gentlemen. Great chatting with ya today Matt. BTW, how tall is the injector housing on this small model? Regards. Al
Is the Gemini setup available? I'm looking for a unit for a blown nailhead in a '32 highboy that we can run efi on without spending quite as much as the Hilborn 4 Hole efi setup, besides it looks better.
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