Technical How can i supercharge my flathead on a budget?

my budget is in worse shape than obama's.....lol

 

Yes procharger

 

Heres a pretty cheap setup. Was good for 10 sec et's in my buddies car.

 

Lippy, exactly what part of that setup is cheap?

 

...

 

Shit, I was still trying to load the picture!! I think it was a B&M blower. He didn't have that much in it, really. I'd ask him but he passed away a couple months ago.

 

To all the guys saying it cant be done...well you're wrong. Here is my recipie. It put out 5-6 psi and worked perfectly for over 10K miles before I sold it. I had way less than $2,000 in the induction. The long block was stock.
BTW, the change in power was night and day. I lowered my 1/4 mile ET by 3 seconds with just that change! It also sounded super bitchin.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124409
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166071

 

love it, you're the man

SC rules

 

My fully rebuilt 8BA priced out at just over $3500, UNblown.

4TTRUK

 

Blown engine for under 2K? Not possible without stealing the parts. Crusty, you did it for under 2K but you had a milling machine and a tig welder. Plus an aluminum manifold and carbureators. Last time I looked a decent 4-71 was close to a grand and the drive system would cost damn near as much.

 

See, thats where you'd be wrong. I bought that manifold here on the HAMB for $30, "milled" it with my die grinder, cut offwheel, and elbowgrease. I did pay a local TIG welder to weld it up for me. I also bought carbs on the HaMB. The 4-71 came from ebay. I rebuilt it with the help of a book. I cobbled together a drive system that worked (all detailed in some thread of mine) and had way less than 2K in the induction system.

It is totally doable, just depends how bad you want to do it.

 

Try these:

http://www.gatorsuperchargers.net/

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Carburetedblowers/

Most on the is site won't even consider this. But it's worth looking at. To answer your Q: yes you can supercharge your flattie -very cheaply. & 5-6psi is just about a 50% power increase. (well, probably closer to 40%, but still... for ~ $300 USD, or probably, less... ). But you (or others' opinions you seek) may not like the looks. Doesn't mean you couldn't add fins, or different looks to it... I don't suppose building your own supercharger is "traditional", although I can think of a few folks who did...

These things were designed for 1 to (maybe) 3 liters. You do the math...
There is a load of development work listed/covered in the carbblowers site.
Dick was looking for low rpm boost, using no more than the mills' original redline. Rpm will make a difference, as in all centrifugal superchargers, so the diameter of the shaft dictates the rpm by the bearings available & the speed they can operate at.

Dick was looking for a target of ~ 6psi, just a hair more than the Paxton really put out - esp in the manifold. And he wanted a device that anyone could not only build themselves, but fix, too. Looks were/are secondary for him. The solutions he found aren't the usual, but they work. & if one isn't enough, more can be added easily.

If you can find a turbo off of a v12, or v16 ... killer. I'd mount it like a Frenzel (sp?), or maybe like a sidemount - either a Duesy or Graham-Paige (I think), or even an endmount, like a Miller. Last choice would be Paxton/McCullough, well, just because.

You could go blowthru, or drawthru.

HTH.

Marcus...

 

After reading all the replys I decided to do some careful shopping .. What I turned up was a roadrunner manifold with a very nice weiand 142 - guy was asking 1500.00 after I pointed out the cost of crank hub & pulley - and water pump pulleyshe droped the price to 800.00 - I am gonna have another $800.00 in all the pulleys, So thats about 1600.00 for the blower setup - I have around $700.00 in the 3 holleys and the 3x2 adapter - so not counting the small odds n ends thats gonna be $2300.00 - And thats on budget for me! I am rebuilding an 8cm and that won't b cheap but oh well - Oh and Joe Abblin was a huge help through all of this. Here is a pic of what I have so far. . . .

I polished the carbs and the 3x2 - The blower is next but I thing I'm gonna get a better buffer first! Probablly a decent 8" pedistal mount. Even a 6" would be handier than the bench grinder I have been using!

 

What about a Graham supercharger?

 

It's been 7 years. how far have you got?

 

Just strap a couple leaf blowers in and route the plumbing to the carbs.

 

What year was the first leaf blower releasted? This must be traditional right, no plastic shit.

 

I know this is an old thread but depending on your resources super charging your flathead is totally doable for $2K. In todays world of lazy amazon shoppers who don't even go outside, Some people tend to forget that you can dig a swimming pool with a shovel. Just is not as easy as with a track hoe. However both tools still do the same thing.

 

$2,000 is about correct. Buy a used 4-71 that still spins ($300-400) / buy a used 2-2bbl manifold
($200) Also available new from Speedway @ $219. Have a 5/8th Aluminum plate water cut to
match a 4-71 base gasket and mount it to 2x2 manifold. Buy a long 8" drive snout used off E-bay or
new from Speedmaster 79. ($225) Buy 2 used pulleys E-bay ($125) Mount one pulley to snout
with flange to rear... and pulley opening to front. Buy a used Ford alternator ($25) and have a 3-inch
1/2-inch cog pulley made by machine shop and run alternator as your idler. Most everyone will tell
you that you can't use alternator as idler. THEY LIE ! ( I've been there/ DO that.) Run a ProComp
2bolt flathead (cam drive) distributor (new...$75 on E-bay) Run a used MSD 6A box or go the budget
route with an externally mounted HEI module. Go with the wide 3-inch belt. Not so much for need it
....but for looks and whine. If you're going to run with the big dogs...WHINE like one.
I run blower at 8% overdrive and boost gauge quickly goes to 10lbs and the tires light up. Do not make full blasts at that boost or you will have problems. I sunk a few cast piston domes until I went Arias pistons.
My car is fast /noisy / and a daily driver.
Good luck with your project

 

$2000??? Don't tell my wife that crap. I paid almost that for the main caps and bolts holding mine together.

 

I know it's an old thread but I vote for the McCulloch VS57 centrifugal blower. It was designed for the flathead Ford and the prototypes were tested on 52 Fords. You can buy used ones for $300 - $400 (I have bought them for less). You might get lucky and find a complete Ford setup with mounts, idler pulley, crank pulley and all. You might have to pay $600 or $700 for a complete outfit.

They were designed to work with a stock Ford engine and not hurt it at all, while giving 40% more rear wheel Hp.

 

I am doing this at the moment, supercharged flathead on a budget... I bought 2 superchargers for $400 and sold the second one for $600. Cut some alloy plate from the local salvage yard ($30) to mount the supercharger to the manifold and for a carb plate. The manifold came with other parts that were on sold, and it owes me nothing. I've done this my entire build, buying in bulk... sell what I don't need and it pays for everything. My roadster cost $1,000, everything hotrod related in my shed owes me nothing. If you really want something on a budget, there are ways around it. I wanted a hot rod, but with a mortgage and 2 kids I could never afford to pay someone to do it for me, let alone pay for it without on selling parts. It can be done with some imagination and desire.

 

a little inspiration for you, here's my mess...making 6 lbs boost.

 

I built this set up more than 2 years ago, boat 4/71 blower for 200, intake for 400, snout and tensioner were used parts found on ebay for 400, carbs were used ones that i rebuild for cheap... built my own pulleys for 150... did make 6 psi and 232hp....

 

any others find a way under $2K?

 

I made this 2x2 carb adaptor for this Eaton M90 supercharger

 

Agree, Eaton M90 is a reasonably modern blower, (not totally worn out and stuffed) about the right size, and more or less readily available. Only real objection to it (for a hot rod) is the rather unfortunate rear entry.

Several ways around that, maybe contact Elco above, or fabricate something similar yourself, or fit carbs onto the top of the blower casing direct.

Just because the original inlet is located at the back for hood clearance, does not mean you have to use it that way on your hot rod.

Like any roots blower, a downdraft carb entry can be fitted onto the top of the casing by simply cutting a hole in the top, and fabricating a suitable carb mounting.

 

A 6v53 gmc supercharger is an easy fit to a flatty with a simple flat plate manifold and short drive.

 

Yep, many ways to skin a cat, utilizing a jackshaft type rear drive opens up your "budget" blower options as long as you have the creative skills.
Some inspiration here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=sup...wjJs5Wb_u_pAhVKs54KHTF4DAUQ_AUoAnoECAwQAg&biw

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachments/img_0005-jpg.1056434/