Not advocating ANYTHING, here... This is just what ~I~ chose to do; might work for you; might not...
In a nutshell:
360 Magnum, with a STOCK SHORT BLOCK (with a windage tray) plus a Hughesperformance Magnum roller cam with these specs (REALLY mild.) .525" lift with 1.6:1 stock Magnum rockers; 214/218 @ .050" lift; 114 degree lobe center separation... reground, Magnum roller with stock roller lifters.
Almost stock, 360 Magnum cylinder heads; 3-angle valve job; minimal bowl porting; otherwise stock cast iron Magnum heads with Crane roller rockers, 300# open valve springs and thickwall, heavy-duty Hughes pushrods. I have taken it to 6,500 without valve float, but normally shift at 5,800. Idles at 475 rpm, making 12 inches of mercury at that rpm, for the power booster; works well with the OEM, 4-piston caliper, power disk brakes
Professional Products Air Gap-type intake, with a 750 double pumper Holley, modified for blow-thru action, by the Carb Shop in Ontario, CA.
Vortech V-1, S-Trim blower making 10 pounds of boost. 6-rib belt...
MSD Boostmaster ignition module with a boost-referenced, cockpit-adjustable, control; 1, 2, or 3 degrees of retard for every pound of boost. You choose from the driver's seat...
Mopar Performance distributor with the curve it came with, out of the box...
MSD coil. This is an analog ignition system; not multiple spark discharge, and not digital. Standard Autometer tach works with it. It seems up to the task; no "misses."
TTI stepped headers.
Stock 360 Magnum rods, crank, and composition head gaskets.
True 9:1 compression.
It made 445 rear wheel HP on a Dynojet chassis dyno with open exhaust and hi-octane aviation gas. See attached dyno sheet. I guess that is 525 flywheel HP, if you believe the rule of thumb that says rear wheel HP is 85 perccent of flywheel HP with an automatic. 525 X .85 = 446.
I used a Vortech because I found a brand new one, still in the box on ebay for $1,000.00. I made my own mount and idler pulley support because I couldn't find a Vortech-made unit that would fit my '72 A Body.
An easier way, and one that might make even more power, would be to buy the ProCharger complete kit. That takes all the pain out of the install.
The Procharger will move more air than the stock Vortech.
I ran 11.00 at 90 mph unblown; 9.74 at 106, blown, and had NO traction. With bite, it would have gone 9.50, easily. Those are 1,000 foot times.
Eighth mile, it went from 8.55 @ 80 unblown, to 7.49 @ 106mph, blown.
That's a car that weighs 3,550 with me in it...
The upside is, all those stock parts save a lot of money, and it's reasonably fast, with good driveability... drives like a 2-bbl 318.
The downside is, it had to have a whole new half-inch fuel system with a BIG-*** pump, there are hidden expenses
everywhere, in a car like this such as an expensive carb hat; the carb was $900.00 (!), it will blow stock head gaskets, I'm afraid, on pump gas (detonation), so it may be a time bomb.
Hasn't happened yet, but I guard against detonation with a SnowPerformance Boost Cooler, a water/methanol injector that serves as a chemical intercooler.
I ended up building two complete fuel systems, filling up with pump gas in the original tank, and av gas in an 8-gallon fuel cell. I can change from one system to the other in less than 5 minutes... but, it was expensive.. 2 fuel pumps and 2 filters... and a boost-referenced fuel pressure regulator.
I had my car dyno tested on a chassis dyno before the blower installation; 260 rwhp...
So, it picked up (445 minus 260 rear wheel HP) 185 horsepower at the rear wheels. Cost me probably $3,500 for the parts to go from unblown to blown.; I work for free.... :clock:
This blower is NOISY at an idle, but strangely, quiets down to the point that you really have to listen for it to hear it, just above an idle, and beyond.
I made a spare blower-mounting plate when I built the original one. Anyone wants it, it fits the Vortech V-1, S-Trim. $100.00, you pay the shipping. Might fit other Vortech blowers, too...
I had always wanted a supercharged car, and never had had one.
This one makes me laugh out loud when I stand on it.... LOL! Had cars before that would make me rin; this is the first one I ewver owned that made me lough out loud!!! That will last until the head gaskets give up.... LOL!
Lots of ways to skin a cat; this is just one of them.
Hope this helps...:read2:
