Technical How can i supercharge my flathead on a budget?

Kerry, that's very nice work, and great advice, IMHO!

 

2 gas powered leaf blowers in a blow through system. dont laugh it actually works

 

love that made in china belt!

 

How many pounds boost does it make?

 

I think the EFI blower guys seem to be forgetting that those are dry blowers and not intended to be used wet...would they work? Maybe...would you want to risk it without putting different seals in? Probably not...

 

Here's how I'm doin' mine...

 

Seals don't cost a lot and I would run it as is anyway until I knew I needed to change. I can't see any reason for not running fuel through it if the mixture dosn't puddle up in the rear.

 

What issue was that?

 

May 2011 of "Hot Rod"

 

Flatheads and blowers and budgets don't go together unless it's a large budget. Bearing problems and heat are just the tip of the iceberg, in my humble opinion.

 

Super simple and affordable. And, you get better mileage. Who wouldn't want one?

 

So as the air flows through it, the fan spins generating enough power to run the dome light?

 

I had always wondered about tacking apart a turbo and running it as a centrifugal charger. Anybody else ever thought along these lines?

 

Yes, mccullogh and paxton.

 

Hardee-har-har!

 

Hot rod magazine just did a junk corvette motor with a pair of leaf blowers. That's abiut as budget (and country) as it gets.

I would think that you could put together an old 471 and drive for less than 2K if you shop around, underdrive the hell out of it so you don't have to actually build a blower motor and you're supercharged.

 

So how much boost can a stock flathead take? And how much power would that produce?

$2000 might be better spent on a Mercury crank, some cast iron headers and a cleaning up of the heads?

 

I just saw a thing in Hot Rod magazine. Leaf blower ? Cheap ...

 

I'm putting a belt driven turbo on my LSR sidecar. Came off a wrecked Volvo ($80). Some left over tubing, $20 for grinding, $5 for a belt. I'm fortunate to have an enthusiastic neighbor with a tig. Not sure what I'm doing but ya never know it just might work.

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Thats what gave me the idea, my Grandfather had one sitting on his shelf for ages (Uncle took it). I had the thought as well for a banger engine.

 

I haven't seen it but I have been told the land speed racing BMR roadster runs a gear driven turbo.

 

Regarding the Eaton blower. I see in this issue of the Hot for Hot Fours magazine an Eaton blown Model A powered lakester. It has a Webber side draft two bbl. on the back and a connector tube from the opening on top, as it is mounted, to the Winfield intake manifold. Thing runs good at the Lake and on the salt so I guess it works. And I am reminded of Shug Hanchards Eaton blown bangers. Surely very low buck deals that work. So I say, look into the Eaton.

 

I wouldn't put more than 2 or 3 PSI to a stock flatty and you won't gain much over a stroked flatty with that if any at all.

I don't know about the OP here so this shouldn't be taken personally but from what I have seen blowers are sexy for the most part. For someone to be serious about it the engine needs to be built around the blower and that is a costly proposition, flatty or not.

 

I have spent more time and money than I care to talk about by trying to be cheap!
Do yourself a favor do it right the first time and you will save time and money

 

A decently built stock flatty should handle 4-6 psi - same as any other engine. There are no fragile parts in a flathead. You're making power once you get beyond vacuum...so 2-3psi is more substantial than you might think - this is more apparent at higher elevations like out west...

Here's Joe Abbin's site:

http://www.roadrunnerengineering.com/

Call him, talk to him, he loves to talk flattys & blowers!

 

check out Hot Rod magazine they just did it to a derelict gold chainer vette a couple of issues ago. it was a hoot- but the actually dropped their et. dont remember their boost or power increase #s

 

ive thought about it but turbos spin @ 10000 rpm to make boost so would need to be super overdriven

 

A friend of mine made his own intake, grabbed a blower off a 3800 Buick, whittled up a few pulleys, made some brackets, all for less than $400. Blower fit the flattie fine.Ran O K for quite a while till he got stupid. Bottom end came apart. Looked kinda cool for a while. Had some pics, but don't know where they went.

 

No problem to do on a budget just needs to be a big one