Friend of a friend has a LATHAM blower that he wants to part with. I've seen them in magazine features and the AMT Double T kit had one in it in the early 1960's, that is all I know. Were they a good addition to a motor, or just a wall hanger shelf item today?
I had a friend of mine that had one on his T roadster back around 1960.It was the compe***ion model that had 10 psi boost and used four Carter YF series carburetors.This was mounted on a 339 cu.in.SBC.The boost was very noticeable on acceleration but there were a couple of problems: The biggest problem was keeping the flat belt tracking properly.If it wasn't perfectly aligned,it would:throw off the belt and also wear the flange away on the blower pulley.As the crank pulley had no flange this could createw a problem.Also if the belt launched it would allow the blower to free wheel and if it had been at any speed above idle(it turned at 5.5 times crankshaft speed) the damn thing would spin for about 10 minutes after the engine was shut off.Luckily it had sealed bearings so there was no damage incurred there. The only way to adjust the belt tracking was to loosen the hold down bolts and move the back or front of the blower from side to side on the manifold until it tracked correctly.A very time consuming job. Kenny(the owner)being an engineer devised a very simple fix to eliminate the time-consuming adjustment.He mounted small aluminum blocks at each corner of the blower housing(on the manifold)with a long setscrew running through each one and resting against the housing.By loosening the bolts and then adjusting the setscrews in on one side and out on the other he could get an almost micrometer adjustment.Worked like a charm! The other problem was the carburetors;they were continuously spilling fuel out of the airhorn no matter how many times they were re-built and/or adjusted.The engine ran great when you got on it but didn't idle worth a damn.That never did get sorted out as the car was sold not long after that. I don't know if he has any info on them still;I know he was in touch with Norm Latham back then about the problems. Here's a pic of the car circa 1961
Here is one a friend has on a 4 banger in his roadster. He's never had any trouble with it and is using it with a Woodworth carburetor. The carb he has on it now is one he picked up at a swapmeet, doing a little experimenting. The one he is putting back on is the Woodworth. The earlier Lathams were made in Florida, and those are the most desirable. The later ones are made in Calif. If it's one of the units made in Florida and is complete and not outrageously priced grab it.
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