too funny; i read this whole thread (among others from "search") with the intention of seeing if someone had put a Judson on a banger. well, back to "search"!
Judson wouldn't be big enough. The A engine is 200 cu in. They were used on 1200-2000 cc engines - all under 120".
Actually Judson Superchargers were produced in several sizes & configurations, one even specifically for flathead Fords...
Simple: Most have a flimsy crank, no counter weights, and 3 small main bearings. There was a Chrysler 4 cyl motor, with 5 main bearings. That would be a big improvement. Someone is putting a SBC head on one right now.
I've been thinking about this too. As generalities as I understand it, superchargers tend to "hit" harder with the boost (hard on cranks) but turbos have to spool up over a time lag so the cranks last better (generalities from off-topic air-cooled 4s). Superchargers go back to at least the 1920s off the top of my head, turbos I don't know.... Turbo HP is essentially free, using the energy of exhaust heat, superchargers of course use mechanical energy. Turbo plumbing and fabrication appears less involved than pulleys and belts (toothed?) and bracketry. My choice? A turbo set-up regulated to 6-7 lbs of boost seems very doable with low risk...
Zombies can't be killed, cause they're already dead, but that a junkyard turbocharger can be handy-hack belt driven has to be the worst wrong suggestion which just won't die. jack vines
I ran this for a little while on an A banger I had in my Cabriolet.....maybe 500 miles or so. It produced about 3 lbs of boost....and flattened out the hills and changed the throttle response. I run around between 5200' and 7200' elevation so it was giving me roughly sea level performance...not going to hurt the engine... It had a Lion II head with 7:1 compression and a Holley 94 Aaron Loveless makes a kit and it goes on a AMR500 blower. The trick is finding a good blower. They are cheap on the web but all of them are used. I've refurbished a couple but they are tedious to assemble. I will probably re-install it again at some time in the future and run it some more on a B engine
Interested to know how you went with rebuilding these, getting them apart & lining up the gears & impellor 's
Agreed...my experience is that it took the hopped up engine to sea level performance. I have a 'calibration hill' that I pull for performance comparison. It is roughly 4% grade over a distance of 3 miles and tops out at 7200' elevation. No blower, same car, same engine etc. no blower, tops the hill at 52 mph. Add blower 65 mph and pulling Everybody talks boost....actually with this set up, no blower there is manifold vacuum at full throttle of around 2+" water column with the blower, full throttle, slightly positive manifold pressure.... the pressure change due to added volume My set-up isn't optimum but it sure is fun and garners a lot of attention Am I going to win any races, against even the stock 216 in my '39 Chevy 4 door sedan, no will it keep me from impeding traffic and impatient drivers that get pissy easily following a stock powered Model A up this hill at 40-45 mph , yes