help alleviate my apprehension to running a blower

I have a 56 chevy that I built back in the mid eighties in high school. I had sold it in the 90's but have recently bought it back. It has a decent 327 - 4 bolt main 350 block, large journal steel 327 crank, good rods with ARP bolts and TRW dome top pistons in it now. The heads are a stock 300 horse double hump head, the intake is a holley strip dominator. I have two options: rebuild it and put a good set of heads and try and mimic the 550 hp 327 that AFR was involved in several years ago or change pistons and go with a blower.

I am not looking to set any records or anything just mke some noise and look cool around Marietta, Ga. I am putting a 4 speed back in the car and it has a 12 bolt with 4:88 gears. I am willing to change if needed.

I am reading about blwers but nervous abot all the tuning. Are they as complicated as I have gathered from reading. What are the recomendatons from all the hot rodders here on the HAMB.

Thanks in advance for you suggestions and help.

Alan

 

Running a supercharger isn't bad at all.There is alittle bit of tuning,but if your parts are right you should be able to tune it in no time.Don't go real radical and you will be fine.

 

Blowers are great but will require more maintenance than a naturally aspirated engine. My buddy use to work for BDS and installed a blower on his '69 Chevelle. He drove it to a show in Arizona. No hiccups until he came home. Pulling into the driveway, the motor leaned out and puff. He rebuilt the motor and blower but never dives the car anymore.

Another friend sold a Blazer he had with a blown sbc. Apparently, the new owner didn't maintain the motor by re-torquing the blower occasionally and puff, lean out.

 

It's like straight pipes or gear drive, you better like the unique noise it makes.....it would suck to have to change it out when you find out you just can't stand it anymore. One Q, shouldn't a blower motor have flat top low comp pistons?

 

Personally I wouldn't own a blower. Too much money for what you get and to "just look cool."
I know a couple of owners with blown cars that have never seen a strip and never will.. Whats the point?

 

I've been told not to run higher than 9 1/2 to 1 compression.

 

There are alot of opinions, but if you ask someone who actually owns a blown street car, they will tell you that a blower won't hurt the streetabilty one bit. I drive mine every single day and bunches of looooong trips without so much as a hiccup.

Hit the search button to get a game plan then just do it. You will dig it, I promise.

-Abone.

 

My friend has a blown 406 in a 32 ford,it fas 4:11 gears with a kiesler 5 spd. He drives it.I thas been on the road for more than 5 years. It has been to Paso Robles and many other places. It starts easy after sitting,easy on plugs gas milage is good. 2 Holley 80592 blower carbs ,msd ignition and boost retard.

 

Get it set right and you can drive it a long time... I had 50,000 miles on the same set up. Only quite drivin' it because I blew the imput shaft on the trans.

Does require checking the plugs at oil changes, just to make sure that everything is OK

 

I have a factory supercharged car, an 07 Roush Mustang, and I am impressed with it's drivability and power. And I love the way it sounds...

I think if you don't go radical, you could build a very fast and streetable supercharged ride...

 

I've put about 15 thousand trouble free miles on my blown Olds

but if I were you I'd think about changing those rear gears to something a bit more street friendly

 

If you do it right, no problems.

 

don't worry and set it up right. I have gotten 59k miles on my off topic truck with a bbc and get better mpg than stock as long as i don't put the loud pedal all the way on the floor

 

I ran this set-up on the street for the last 5 years,,,355 SB Chevy / 671 "Jimmy" blower / 8.5 to 1 blower pistons ,,two 600 cfm Holley "Blower Specific" carbs ( this is important ,,can't run regular carbs with a blower ) , ,,ran the blower one to one with the crank ,,never a problem ,
Once you go Blower ,,you'll NEVER go back ,!!!

 

These 2 friend of mine run blowers on SBC's & drive the shit out of them. Probably 8,000 miles a year. The 32 on the left is basically a stock 350 motor w/ a 671. The 32 on the right is a much more serious build. That's an 871 on a 383 that probably makes around 700 hp. No troubles at all. Driven in the cold, in the desert, in the mountains, you name it. Gas it up & drive! This pic is on Angeles Crest, about 6,000 ft. We drove 300 miles that day.

 

alot of the wear and tear is based on how much boost and how often you get on it. Going lean and knock are the two major engine killers. Have someone help you with a safe tune.

 

Thanks for all the responses. This is all driving me up the wall. To many choices. The wife does not like the no hood with a blower look so I am trying to make her happy and keep what I want. I will look at a cowl hood to be able to fit a bower under it. Oh well....... if she aint happy I aint going to be......

 

I have two friends who run them. Both claim that after you frist run one, you wont be with out it.
Lower compression is necessary to running a blower. The boost proficed by a blower boosts the compression incrementaly.

 

Is this your car, or your girls car?

Don't be a pussy. Get the blower.

-Abone.

 

It may not be quite as traditional, but why not go for a centrifugal supercharger? You could keep your existing intake, do some carb mods (or go to a blowthrough-specific carb), and be able to keep the hood on, without going to a cowl (which looks awful on a tri-5, in my opinion). Not to mention, you can make more power with less boost than one of the old roots style blowers. You could even run an air to air intercooler, and make 15psi on the street without detonation.

BTW, you will need to go to a numericaly lower gear...I'd say 3.55-3.73 at the lowest. You won't need it.

 

You can run a blower on the street, not much to it, just set it up right...helps to understand what a blower does, and what that means as far as setting up the car.

I have one on the big block in my 55, I drive it everywhere (including to the drag strip, and down the drag strip, and home again after). If you have some horsepower goal, and want to also make the car streetable, using a blower will help you meet both goals. Torque increases over the whole rpm range, so you can get away with running less rpm to get the same power--so you don't need those steep gears, you can run something in the low 3s. You also don't need or a wild cam, which means you don't need super strong valve springs, etc. No need for high compression, I run about 7.5 and I burn 87 octane most of the time. Mileage isn't great, and there's the constant whine of the belt, and you need a good cooling system. Those are most of the trade-offs. Oh yeah, the hood thing. You can run a hood, but you'll need a hole in it, or a scoop or bubble of some kind. Cowl scoops don't look right on those cars.

 

minor suggestion, not traditional, but get one of the new air fuel gauges, the good ones not the cheap ones, with the wideband o2 sensor, around 300 bucks, they will let you keep an eye on the air fuel ratio really well

 

We usually fear what we don't understand. However, your alternate solution - a 550 HP 327 - will not be non-maintenance deal and not exactly street / wife friendly. So, I would read up on blowers. Pay attention to the three big points: the right pistons; boost referenced carbs; timing control. You'll probably have less headaches than your other approach.

 

ive had one on my 32 for 10 years 8-71 2 650 blower carbs 402 ci 8.6 compression 4 to 5 lbs boost at 18 mpg never had a problem absolutly maintence free at this boost