Technical The Supercharger Thread To End All Supercharger Threads

Here's another link i found on S.Co.T blowers https://www.museumofamericanspeed.com/italimeccanica-supercharger.html Anybody have a copy of the rodders journal #29 "The Italian Blower story"?

 

“This is Steve Pick in the Koenig and Pick car, running a centrifugal blower and homemade injection through a Crower U-Fab manifold. The car made Hot Rod Magazine, which referred to it as the Rickshaw, because of its stance and unusual front end. However Steve could not make it competitive with the centrifugal blower, and later adopted a more conventional 6-71-Hilborn setup.”
Lion's Dragstrip 1959

Hello,

One of the first FED race cars we instantly took a liking to was the Steve Pick/Joe Koenig yellow framed dragster. When it fired up, it was loud, but heading for the starting line, it looked normal. At the start, the complete front end lifted up instantly with the full throttle and the dragster headed down the track.

The normal look of an FED was motor, frame, tires and headers. This had all, but for the two things that made it stand out were the hydraulic front end and the huge centrifugal supercharger.

They were very consistent in form and function for each run. To us, it was a cool sight each time they made a run. We knew the FED was from the Reath Automotive camp and anything from that group was impressive.

Jnaki


Steve Pick and Joe Koenig FED Lion’s Dragstrip

April 1959

After many months of tuning and changing the centrifugal supercharger specs, the team finally went to the standard tried and true 671 supercharger with a two hole Hilborn Injector System as most FED racers had at the time. 1960 the Hilborn two hole injectors almost became the standard set up for the top racers in the USA.

The first "The Bounty Hunter" After 1960 Steve Pick

 

Can anybody tell me about this? Picture found online.

 

Looks a whole lot like a gear-driven turbocharger compressor. Maybe off of a v-12 diesel. Or possibly an old Miller or Duesy supercharger? Useage is a variation of the Potvin crank-driven 6-71s. A few years back(90's n later) Dick Datson was working w/the belt-drive turbo concept, some of his readers tried the gear-drive instead. Not too long after that, I saw the crank-driven & gear-drive setup for some of the Pro-Charger superchargers. Which looks a lot like the front of that hemi. It also appears that this hemi version is home-made, & predates Procharger? Nothing new under the sun - or the moon -, for that matter. I always like to see the "odd n different" stuff. Mainstream gets real old, real fast. Carbs look sorta like aircraft carbs or updrafts turned sideways(?). Sure would like to know how this one ran. Hopefully, someone has the low-down 1st hand info on this, n pics, too, I hope!
Marcus...

 

That looks like a postwar turbo housing. Miller & Dues centrifugal superchargers were larger and had a fairly narrow compressor:
Duesenberg:


Miller:


The spark plug boots look late 50s-early 60s. The 90 degree updraft carbs do look like aircraft carbs, but I don't know which ones.

 

Yah, kinda forgot about the fins on the Duesy n Millers. Another possibility, though slim, could be the compressor portion from an old WW2 aircraft. Say, P-38 or one of the others that used those - which momentarily escapes me right know. I am kinda curious...
Marcus...

 

Check out this blower I found at the swap meet yesterday. It's 453 I've heard of a 371 but don't recall any 453's. It looks to be off a small 4 cylinder.

 

yes the 53 series preceded the 71 series and that is actually a 3-53 not a 4-53 the bearing plates have no bearings in them the rotors run on a film of pressurized oil the 4-53 is what the b&m 144 blowers were based off of they are a strange piece and can be adapted to things but there are no drives or manifolds that will adapt them that you can buy I have ran a 4-53 on a sbc it worked good but I had to make everything when I was younger I had more time than I did money so I used what I had

 

@wrenchbender the 71 series came first in 1938 followed by the short lived 51 series which came out in 1951 the 53 series started in 1957.

 

Charles Kettering was head of the GM Research Laboratory and in 1934 he started work on a hi-speed 2 cycle diesel. The use of Roots blowers on GMC diesels came out of that project.

 

I stand corrected I had been told the 53 preceded but thanks for letting me know I’m not afraid to admit I’m wrong

 

I stole these from @Fordors .

 

Weren’t the Hy-power superchargers just rebranded Itlelamechanica superchargers?

 

sitting on floor at Tognotti's Auto World, Sacramento

 

Here we see an original GMC 671 blower in its natural habitat. Most came off GMC trucks and busses. Photo buy @Fordors.

 

Going in front of my Chevy II dragster

 

Have you mocked it up yet? I'm anxious to see that!

 

working on the engine mounts, then I can start the mock-up once I set the crank in the block and install the spline drive crank hub

 

Assuming the same motor, it's a bit of a celebrity.

McHale's Navy, The McHale Grand Prix 1966.

 

This might sound ridiculous, but i'm wondering if the 1/25th scale AMT 57 Chevy 409 is based on a real blower and speed equipment. I've always loved this motor since I was a kid, and would like to learn CAD to 3D print out a large version of it. I think the blower is a 4-71 Cragar, and the chain drive cover is Howard. But that top part with the side draft Carters, i've never been able to find a real life part like it. Only thing similar, is the M/T part, but it's shaped different. Anyone know?

 

Hello,
That model blower does not look like a GMC 471 supercharger. Back in the 409 days, there were people that had blowers that looked like an Intermeccanica supercharger or even a Scot blower. Both had smaller fins on the sides.

Then some guys also modified the actual 471 on a lower manifold and used a low slung carb adapter to move the carb base to the sides. That allowed those guys to shut the hood and not have to have a hole in it with the carbs sticking up and out.


Jnaki

The model makers take what they perceive and say it is one thing, when it does not actually look like the original. But, as a kit model maker as a kid, anything different was ok and we could move parts around on other models with ease, if we did not glue them down permanently.

 

I have those ^^^^^ parts also... Might be cool for a Revell Deuce build....

 

1959

Hello,

We were surprised that this ad came out in the local Drag News weekly paper back in 1959. There were a lot of supercharged race cars at the drags, but none for the street in a daily driver mode. The superchargers for the street use were the centrifugal units from Ford, similar to the McCulloch/Paxton versions for the general public. There were more 671 driven superchargers at the drags than any other version or style.


One of only a few centrifugal type superchargers in a street legal class.

So, a belt driven smaller 471 supercharger kit for SBC, Oldsmobile and Chrysler motors was a surprise. The kits and set up were mostly out of reach of teenagers, so we were sure they would be show stoppers on custom cars or drag race cars in those numerous car shows in So Cal.

The 671 belt drive units were already in those larger Hemi motors, but it was not until 1960 that the Isky-Gilmer Wide Belt era for SBC motors came into play. We had one of the first units for an SBC motor. The 671 was a big blower and took up quite a bit of space on top. But, it was pure power when the SBC motor fired up for the first time… and ran well at Lion's Dragstrip.


Jnaki

For quite some time, the smaller 471 superchargers were not being used until later in 60-62 seasons. By then, more 671 supercharge kits were prevalent on those SBC motors for competition. Now, the race was on…



Oddly enough, one of the best set ups for a full custom car... Mox Miller's 1958 Impala...

 

The quick history of Roots blowers! Patented in 1860 they are awesome! From blast furnaces to top fuel dragsters they are still one of the coolest inventions ever adapted by hot rodders! History and more here! https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cnj4k66Pd6i/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

 

Working on this. Might not be friendly.