when did blowers show up on hot rods?

I can't remember where I saved this from. Bean Bandits sticks in my mind? Lots of four banger stuff so pretty early...

 

One of my very favorite setups. From Kustomrama I'm pretty sure. Not really street rod stuff but damn it's cool! And early..

 

Earlier this year.

 

Hello,

When I posted the story about the first 671 Isky Gilmer Blower Drive Kit for an SBC motor, it was late 1959-early 1960. It started at Isky Cams in Inglewood. But, that was the drag race version and only two were out at the local drags. Sure, the 471 supercharger was on other compe***ive cars, but it was not a daily sight on the streets if any…

The one supercharger for the street was the centrifugal supercharger from Paxton/McCulloch version. It was named after the designer/builder, Robert Paxton Mc Culloch. It was a first for the street usage, but it came on very strong when the auto manufacturers added their version for the street models. Like, a supercharged Thunderbirds, then a supercharged Ford Sedan, using variations of the Paxton centrifugal supercharger.

They were easy to place on the smaller motors for more power. Several of the top Gas Coupe/Sedan racer/builders used them and were the trophy winners almost every weekend. As that popularity started and the factory joined in, now, we were seeing more of them on the weekend warriors cruising around.

The 671 did not have an adaptor to allow daily drivers to use them for the street. Yes, it was a street legal cl***, but no one drove around with a 671 on any motor as a daily driver and weekend cruiser. Since the 471 superchargers were already set up for the SBC motors for the drags, they were the first roots style blowers for compe***ion and trickled down to street usage in the USA.

The Latham Superchargers were around, but hardly anyone was using them for compe***ion and daily driving. YRMV

Jnaki

For us teenagers, unless we thought our sedans were going to be competing at the drags, no one thought of a 671 for daily driving. In late 1960, when our 671 SBC 292 motor was sitting in our backyard garage, my friend with the 57 Chevy Bel Air and I thought it might be a good project to put that motor in his Bel Air Hardtop. But, we knew it was not going to be a daily driver to and from school, plus to his after school job.

So, we looked at the motor and just wondered how it would work or that we could make it work for a “daily driver.” It wasn’t for quite a few years that someone made enough parts to make one work for a daily driver, with different power options for the supercharger. By then, we were all off on a new horizon after high school. Work, military or college for the next 4 to 6 years, or longer.

 

My 2 cents,
Alot of early Hot Rodders were WW2 vets. They would have seen 2 stroke diesels with blowers everyday all day. The 71 & 92 series Detroit engines have and impressive weight to HP ratio. It makes a lot of sense, plus it was an era were Pattern Makers were prevalent in the work place. The time was ripe for making manifold adaptation to automotive engines.

 

Hello,

Superchargers were on hot rods and early drag racing cars as noted in old photos. But, we had the #2 671 GMC supercharger kit specifically for an SBC motor. Yes, the 671 superchargers were on Hemi motors and other brand motors. And 471 superchargers were on SBC motors. When the Isky-Gilmer Belt Drive came out with a specific Edlebrock manifold, in early 1960, we were able to get our hands on Number 2. Number 1 went to the Isky sponsored SBC motor in a gas sedan at the earliest.
photo by Doyle Hatfield of Bones Balogh’s 1949 Chevy Fastback at the drags.

Note:
“In 1955, when Lion’s drag strip opened, Bones took his ‘38 Chevy down there. He couldn’t keep up with the guys until he got hold of a 283 Chevrolet V-8 and put in into a '49 Chevy. This w’s when he was hanging out with Ed Iskendarian and they became life-long friends. Bones went to work for Isky working on motors, grinding cams and dreaming up ways to make more power. “

“Bones was at Isky from 1960-66 and anything Bones wanted to do when it came to drag racing was fine with Ed. In fact, Ed would help him out. They had over 250 wins at Lion’s drag strip with that ‘49 Chevy and after putting a big 671 blower on it – it ran 113 mph and was unbeatable!”



Jnaki

When we got our own Isky Gilmer Blower Drive in late April 1960, nothing was available for any 671 supercharger for an SBC motor. It was a miracle that we were able to get the #2 kit from our friend in Los Angeles. Then after it came out publicly for the motor, in late 1960, it went nation wide and in a few years, there were almost as many 671 blowers on SBC motors as there were 671 on Hemi motors.
Our 283 became a blower spec build with a bored out to 292 c.i. in the SBC. Then all blower built parts were installed including the new Edlebrock manifold and the Isky-Gilmer belt drive kit. A flat Weiand Stromberg carb manifold was also used on top. The final addition was the Joe Hunt Vertex Magneto and a set of Hedman Headers.

There was already one 671 SBC supercharger in a Gas Coupe/Sedan Cl***. When we rolled into the pits with our 1940 Willys Coupe, folks thought it was just a SBC motor with Strombergs as we had it in the first edition of the build, months earlier. But, when it fired up for the first time to head up to the staging lanes, now, it gathered some interest as a new build.
Now, the compe***ion in B/Gas and C/Gas cl***es were good and daunting, but we were game to go against the best in So Cal during our races. YRMV

 

This is one of Tom Beatty’s very early fabricated 471 manifolds, I believe by the early 50’s he used cast alloy. Also a pruned 471 & Cragar drive.

 

My brother's car in 1958 with a Paxton: