McCulloch supercharger ID help needed

I'm looking for an application for a VS57 McCulloch supercharger. A friend of mine was cleaning out his recently departed dad's garage and found this in the rafters. He said his dad was into Studes for awhile (but was also into just about every other make as well)?

The blower case #s read : 0 VS 57 A 9856 with a MC109 inside a circle.
The bracket reads: 1542293

I've searched high and low on the internet for ID help, but everything leads to the http://www.vs57.com and there is nothing there that can help me.
Thanks for any help,
Karl

 

The charger looks just like any other, but the bracket/tensioner looks like the one used for putting the Mickey on a Corvair.

 

The bracket will tell what it is from. Maybe shoot a better picture of it. I think the studebaker bracket had a water passage in it.

 

"57" is the model/year number, and "VS" means variable shiv (pulley.) The pulley has two halves, an inner and an outer. The slide apart to change the effective pulley ratio. That's why the idler has the big spring and long throw, to take up the belt slack.

The 57s were used from '57 to '58 or '59 or so. If it came off a Studebaker, it probably came out of a '58 Golden Hawk.

They have a "ball" type internal planetary that steps the impeller speed up over the input shaft speed, and the "variable" portion is, as I recall, electrically actuated sort of like an air-conditioning clutch.

They're somewhat fragile, and are limited on airflow, especially with the original straight-vane impellers, and parts are hard to find, though not yet nonexistent. It's worth more to a restorer than it is to a rodder.

Doc.

 

I asked for info on the VERY helpful Stude newsgroup and got these responses from a couple of knowledgeable Stude people:

1.Early supercharged Hawks and 57 Packard, 58 Packard Hawk with matching
bracket.

2.I just read his post... that part number looks like a Stude part of
57-58 vintage from the "154" prefix... unfortunately that is probably
the casting number of the arm rather than the Stude part number so he'd
have to compare to another one to 100% confirm... I can't really see in
the pics, does that bracket have a water passage in it?

 

Oh, Really?

 

Just a question how much power can one handle on VS57.com it sez 300hp I wonder if thats true or if you can tune it up and put more to it I am kinda lookin for one right now so if anyone has any leads?
Thanx Lumpy

 

The Engine In my Roadster is a '57 Vette with a VS 57 McCulloch on it.
I had it Dyno'd but the guy could not tell me a HP number.
He told me it would smoke the tires on the rollers, and he couldn't tie it down hard enough to make it stop doing that.
So he just adjusted it for drivability... ( He dialed in the Carb and recurved the ignition for me ).
He did a great job, It drives real nice...

 

Thanks Meatlshapes I am probably going to run a 1962 283 and some type of manual tranny in a model A tudor with a McCulloch if I can find one and wont burn it up hopin for 350hp? or more by the way if i might ask what gear you runnin?

 

-Yes. I didn't say it wouldn't work on a rod, I said it would be worth more to a restorer.

The McCullochs are getting harder to find of that vintage (prior to the sellout to Paxton) and they fit some obscure models, like the Packard Hawk, Golden Hawk, Avanti and first-gen T-Birds.

If I were going to run a centripetal on the street, I'd go with a modern unit with newer bearings, modern seals and capable of a higher airflow. The older McCullochs are worth more unmodified or as parts to somebody doing a restoration or a 'paper correct' clone (turning an R1 Avanti into an R2, for example.)

The straight-vane McC impeller and relatively fragile seals limits it's use- it's really only good to around 300 hp, and 350 ci is kind of pushing it. It's better suited to a 283, 305 or 327.

Doc.

 

I found bits and pieces at swap meets and I bought the pump from a buddy that thought he had a Granitelli converted Lark ( He didn't, it was a restoration project based on a rebody'd car...)
But what I should have done is buy the complete kit from Paradise Wheels ( their adress is on the VS 57 site ), that would have saved me a lot of money.
Paradise wheels sold me the mounting bracket, and they rebuilt the pump for me.
I am using a World class T5 out of a Iroc/Z Camaro ( Rebuilt ), Aluminum Flywheel, 9" Rear with 4.11 Gears and a Limited Slip Diff.

 

That is what I have...
Its freshly rebuilt to closer tolerances than original ( things like the driveballs are made a lot better these days ).
Yes, it was expensive and some parts were hard to find, but it was important to me to use period correct parts for my Roadster.
( a couple of parts on it are to new, but most of those are hidden...)
It doesn't seem any more fragile than a lot of other vintage parts we use to build Traditional Hot Rods out of...

 

Thanks for all the input guys. Since I couldn't post more pics last night, here are a couple more of the bracket.

 

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
if the 57 is a year thing how come they used vs57 superchargers in 1954 and 1955 kaisers?

the 57 is a model number

 

i got a service manual home for the mcculloch superchargers with pictures of all brackets etc, i will check if i have time and can find it when i get home i bet i could find what the brackets for... but as im going on vacation tomorrow i might not have time to check it, so i might not be able to help for 1 week, but i can help...

/daemon

 

Another response from the Studebaker newsgroup:

"The # is O VS 57A 9856 & there's also MC 109 stamped on it. VS 57A
indicates an early 50's version. "B" was the Kaiser version. "C" was the
universal contemporary of the Golden Hawks; which were "S" type.
An "A" came with a 12 spring pressure assembly; compared to the 14 spring
"S". The ball drive races weren't pinned in place, on the "A" or "B"
models. They were backed by friction discs; and expected to turn in the
housing and pressure assembly, to keep the ball drive from being overloaded.
In their Jan. 1954 SAE paper, McCulloch engineers said they never had a ball
drive failure in testing! Oil pumps on early models were different. They
had inlets offset to the rear; later, to the front. An "A" probably came
with a 6V solenoid.
The supercharger could very well have been updated or rebuilt using later
parts; because the ball drives damn sure did fail in service. The "O"
prefix and "MC 109" may indicate this.
The picture isn't very clear. The idler arm has a sharp angle in it that
mine, (casting # 1542316, from a Golden Hawk), doesn't. There was a
different arm for Golden Hawks with AC; but I've never seen one of those!
He says the casting # on the bracket is 1542293. Mine is 1542283."

 

The bracket is pictured on the site - just tucked away in www.vs57.com/brackets.htm.

I think it's the 1957/58 Golden Hawk bracket- Part numbers are 1542344 for the idler arm (1543559 with A/C) and 1542330 for the bracket (1543560 with A/C). The Idler pulley has part number 1542345 I believe.

The idler arm part number is an oddity -1542293, and it looks different to the one pictured below. It's definately a Studebaker number - I wonder if it is the air conditioning variant?

The Packards/Studes used VS57S superchargers - these were the final variant of the VS57S and featured improved races and springs - even then they are pretty much limited to 300 horses. 54/55 Kaisers used the VS57B. The VS57A and VS57C variants were the ones sold with aftermarket kits - the VS57A used a 6 volt solenoid, and the VS57S a 12 volt solenoid. When they went back for a rebuild at McCulloch some had upgraded spring packs and races fitted and were given an O prefix. This never applied to the VS57S vaiants as they already had the uprated setups. The Mc109 is just a McCulloch quality stamp which indicated that the supercharger had been rebuilt at McCulloch at some time.

The Paxton SN60 is a descendant of the VS57. Basically it's the VS57 without the variable drive mechanism and a shorter nose (Believe it or not SN stands for short nose). Improvements in balls and races meant they could be spun a bit faster (32,000 rpm as opposed to 29,000 rpm) and reduced the effectiveness of the variable drive - which could be unreliable if the unit was not maintained properly. If you peel back the label on the early SN60 units you can still see a hole for the VS57 solenoid to sit in. SN89, SN92, etc are all improved versions of the SN60.

Because the SN series was is basically a VS57 without the variable ratio part - the VS57 can be rebuilt using SN parts. That's what Craig Conley at Paradise Wheels - so you get the improved reliability (assuming you don't spin it too fast, shove it on something that demands more than 2000 lbs per hour of air (can anyone convert that to cfm?), and you mantain it) of the SN units - with the low speed boost characteristics of the VS57.

John Erb is another noted rebuilder - he also rebuilds them to modern spec and I believe he also has a modified impellor that can make them produce a little more boost.

 

I can't believe BigJim posted a reply at the same time as I was typing mine - which was fundementally the same.

I didn't know about the oil pump offset.

The C's were basically 12 spring - and went to 14 spring during the rebuild when the O prefix was added.

Also the 1542316 and 1542283 casting numbers are new to me.

Interesting stuff!

 

That does look like a 57-58 Stude/Packard bracket - that someone's done some, um, "interesting" custom work to! Looks like there's a piece cut out of where the thermostat would mount, like someone adapted the bracket to another engine at some point in time.

Not sure how that could be fixed, as I believe it's cast iron, unless you a) know someone that can weld cast and b) you just happen to find a bracket with the other side busted. Or, you could just get creative with it and try to fit it to whatever you're driving now.

nate