Hot Rods Can a Splasher Engine be Supercharged?

I’ve got an old 1937 Hudson with a original 6 cylinder L-head splasher engine and I’d like to add some additional power but am wondering if it’s even possible?

I’m not looking for anything crazy but enough to help get it going a little quicker. Have others done this with any success?


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I guess it could be done if you used a blower with it’s own oil supply like the ones Ford used on the Super Coupe Thunderbirds and GM used on some of there cars also.

 

Not familiar with the Hudson’s but the Chevy inline6 splash oilers

At higher rpm the oil would vaporize and airate, this providing low to no lubrication.

Oil pressure is very low going to the head as well, not sure if you could keep a charger living in that condition, never mind keeping the engine alive e in that abuse.

I know quite a few people who have multicarbed , split exhaust etc etc all the common fullpressire inline 6 mods on earlier splash lube engines with success.
And all stated “ when it blows I have a full Oiler I can build” well the splash oilers are still going, not as weak as people make them out for streetable driveable hp.

 

^^^^^ I haven't coined in until now because I also now nothing about Hudson's. But if oiling system can be modified to full pressurized, that would be great news.

 

@Johnny Gee
The Chevy 216 and 235 can be converted to full pressure.
But the cost to do it and switch from Babbitt bearings to inserts.
Money wise does not make sense.

 

@VANDENPLAS Agree, however to some money doesn't matter.

 

yes its been done...Graham supercharger..splash engine good to about 4 k, babbit mains handle what you can put to it,except detonation,spark knock kills them..you dont need pressurization,you do need more compression

 

This may be dicey since you only have one engine to experiment with and there is probably zero write ups on the subject. If a Roots type blower and babbit bearings I would start with a very low static compression, under drive the blower to start with to obtain 4 or 5 pounds boost max, rework the distributor to slow down the advance rate, and have a very efficient cooling system. A turbo might be better as it's boost is rpm dependent so a no detonation advance set up is easier to dial in. In either case a water or water/alcohol injection system might be a good investment. With low boost and low compression none of this may be necessary but you are dealing with the unknown. On popular engines there are special head gaskets, perhaps "O" rings, and a wealth of info available of which you would have none. This might be a case where a phantom project is best.

 

What do the connecting rods look like? If they are boney looking like a model A ford I think you risk bending one.

 

I don’t know anything about Hudson’s or splash lube engines. But what about an old McCulloch VS or even a newer SN series. They got used a lot on stock motors, even some factory stuff like Kaiser’s and Stude’s. Not a lot of boost and none until you get some rpm on them. But you can feel a difference at 4-5 lbs, sometimes even as low as 3lbs. Self contained oil supply, most carbs can be sealed or put in a box. You’ll still have to figure out how to boost reference the fuel pressure on a blow thru set up, but at low boost that’s not that tough. I looked at buying a 50’s convertible with the dual carb motor once, and I know that’s a different motor, but that was my thought.

Kind of period correct, more 50’s, but close enough.

 

Its important to understand that babbit bearings handle high load.Early diesel engines used babbit with 18 to 1 c/r's and 400 psi compression pressure. The problem with babbit is the actual process,it requires tinning the bearing cap with solder and pouring babbit on top with a mold..If the bearing cap isn't tinned properly or the babbit doesn't adhere to the tinning they come apart in short order..Properly done,line bored and shimmed correctly using grade 2 babbit you are as good as insert bearings,in some cases better,when the babbit wears you adjust the bearing by removing shims..when the babbit wears off on an insert you buy a new crank and bearings.Hotrodding your Huddy your splash and pressure babbit isnt the problem.Id work with fuel,compression and exhaust first,design an intake manifold that runs a pair of strombergs,see what you can do to shave the head and fab a header..or a split manifold..

 

Not everything that can be done, should be done! I question the wisdom in trying to supercharge a babbitt slinger!

 

Yes but not for long. Hudson like other splash lubricated engines, were not made for high speed or high RPM use. Plus we are talking about an 80 year old engine.
If it was mine I would tune it up as well as possible and be satisfied with that.
You might like to know that if you want to replace the poured babbitt bearings there are places that still do them, for around $200 apiece. There are 10 of them in your engine (6 rod + 4 mains) so, $2000 just for bearings if you want to do a rebuild.

 

Sure! You can totally do it!

First full-throttle burn out you do, you will be starting over.

 

Have you done a compression test? If the engine is in good shape and putting out the original amount of HP it should get down the road just fine. At least that is the experience of others I know who own 30s and 40s cars with flathead sixes.

A good tune up may corral some missing horses or, if the engine is worn, a rebuild or ring and valve job may be in order.

 

Look up British Railton sports cars from the 30s. Some were built with Hudson 6 or 8 cylinder engines and some of the sixes were supercharged from the Railton factory. I believe they used the whole Hudson ch***is. I can't speak to the longevity but they were built and went fast. It was the same splasher six and I am very certain they didn't do anything to change the oiling system. I believe it was a roots type blower but I am not sure.

 

Some things...the big issue as noted above is the babbitt job. If it is good you can do a lot!
next...RPM is what kills, not horsepower. Putting in a bunch of power at stockish RPM by supercharging is a LOT easier on the engine than doing most other kinds of souping that need elevated RPM.
Pressure of oil supporting your crank has little to do with input oil pressure:


Look that over...this is why early drip oil engines survived fine, even though they would have shown ZERO pressure on a common type gauge hookup. With the gravity feed at top the supporting oil at the bottom of the bearing could be very high. This is also why bearings are not fed at the bottom, even though this might seem the right place to support things!

 

PS...hotrod guru Don Francisco did a tech article on a different engine in each issue of HRM around 1950.
I know some of those were on various Hudsons.

 

Lots of superchargers have their own oil sump built in. They don't need a lot of oil. Turbochargers are not a**** them. Turbos turn very high RPM and have to deal with exhaust heat. Without a good oil supply to carry away that heat you will be carrying away the turbo bearing pretty quick. If your engine is in god condition and you don't start thinking of it as a race motor, I think you can do it

 

Forgot to say...I don't know anything much about this engine's internals, but the part I would worry bout is how the oil gets up to where it drips from! Your oil goes up to somewhere above the crank so it can drizzle down upon the bearings. Some old crocks simply used something moving (like the flywheel on a Model T) to hurl oil upstairs where it found some sort of containment from which it entered p***ages to bearings, some like the Model A had a pump that filled part of the valley where it drizzled down through simple p***ages to the mains. From here various means including scoops urged the oil to fill the rods. There might perhaps be reason to enlarge any reservoirs and carfully study paths to the rods.

 

Look into a vintage Judson Supercharger.
However I think a small turbocharger is the better way to attack it.


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Just be sure to put the ****ter shield on the oil pan!

 

I would consider a McCulloch, I think it was the VS57 that was used on Studebaker, Kaiser and others in the ‘50’s. The boost will be moderate and it can be lowered with a pulley change if deemed necessary. As far as the bearings go I don’t see any trouble there if you keep the engine out of detonation which would hammer the babbit bearings.
It will never be a strong performance engine that will be constantly beat on, I think the OP just wants a little more power and will enjoy the challenge of making it work. I say go for it!

 

Indeed, it will never be a race/performance engine. I’m just looking to add a little juice to make it more enjoyable to cruise around in & in turn make it a little bit more of a “Old School Hot Rod”. Lots of great ideas and I thank you all for your feedback to me!

As mentioned high rpm will be harmful & was why I have looked at supercharging over turbocharging. However since it’s still 6 volt I don’t even know what rpm it is turning. My other 37 Hudson with the straight 8 always sounded like it was screaming at 55mph so I rarely went much over 45mph.

I don’t recall the compression off the top of my head but it wasn’t bad as I recall. This past fall when I repainted the engine & changed the intake & exhaust gaskets I did a bit of gasket match porting. I did this to both the intake manifold, exhaust manifold & engine block. Since it was my 1st time doing any porting & the engine wasnt torn down, I focused on gasket matching of both surfaces & within reason going into the engine. Primary smoothing the rough casting on the block as I don’t know how thick things are from the factory. It took some time & may only gain me a couple ponies at best but I really enjoyed treating my old girl so well!











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According to an old Chevy garage mechanic trouble started when the engine started to use oil and the owner went to heaver oil hopeing it would use less. He said he put hundreds of thousands of miles at 65 to 70 miles per hour and never had rod problems using 10 weight oil. In splash systems the oil has to run in not pumped in.

 

I’ve heard of a Hudson guy who did vintage racing with an old Hudson straight 8 Engine a decade or more ago. From my understanding he was a machinist & had been working to make the 8 cylinder engine a full pressure system. I’ve been told it’s been less than successful if not impossible to do.

The old Hudson 6 or 8 cylinder engines have dippers & a tray - pan setup. The upper pan is where oil is slung from & there is a 3-5lb pump who’s only purpose is to push oil up from the lower pan to the upper tray for slinging of oil.




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Blowers work great on anything...but especially well on impaired-breathers. (L-heads)
Centrifugal blowers usually need blow-thru carbs and Turbos need installation by
a Union-Plumber.
You can belt run a 3-71 or 4-71 GMC blower into a fabricated intake. They start and idle great.
If you throw a belt...the car will still run and idle as the blower will still spin via vacuum.
The blower really CAN"T make much boost.... unless you put you foot in it and the engine
will respond well at low RPM. The blower really enhances 2,000-3500 rpm torque.
If you LEAVE your foot in it and seek high RPM's you will crack the cast piston domes
and cause other engine health issues.
Old engine bottom ends (even babbit-pounders) will live fine with blowers. Spindly rods
are notorious for having a little FLEX in them from spring-like steel and usually are fine.
The rod and main bearing AREA of my flathead is about the SAME as a Big-Block Chevy.
Some guys laugh at the flathead for having a front main...a rear main...and the OTHER main.
That has not caused me problems and your inline has plenty of bearing area. Put any carb
(or carbs) you want on top of 3-71 or 4-71 ....and run it at maybe 10% under drive.
(I run 8% overdrive and get 10#'s boost for very short bursts. )
Remember for every "you can't do it" there is always some idiot (like myself) who didn't know
"you can't do it."
That is the nature of Hot Rodding. Good luck with your project.

 

What do you guys think of how I could adapt / position a supercharger on the engine? As you can see the exhaust manifold comes up & to the front before going into the exhaust pipe. The intake is entering the engine below the exhaust & on the side of the engine.



Currently the compression for the Standard Head is a lowly 6.25 & this vehicle is the “Hudson Six”.








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Cut a custom cam that will allow you to run the intake into the original exhaust ports, and the old intakes now become exhaust. Then create a new manifold on top that holds the blower, and a header out the side taking the fumes away.

 

Often intake ports are not as sturdy as exhaust because they don't need to be. I have heard, but not seen, that some of the reverse flow engines had block failure because of this In this engine a lot depends on what blower you are considering using. Roots? Centrifugal? Makes a big difference in mounting and manifolding. There have been pictures of a roots blown Hudson posted on the HAMB before. Someone must know where. A company who makes blower kits for anything. Anything.