this is for a future project, i figure they made superchargers for nailheads a long time ago. i'm wondering who made them and how many are around still. also wondering the aprox. value of a vintage supercharger and the intake for it. and if anyone makes an intake for one today. i would buy one right now if the price was right, but this is more like something i won't need for a few years.
I have researched this. If your wanting a roots style Blower Dyer makes them for the nailheads as does Blower Drive Service also known as BDS. if you want a centrifugal there are no bolt on kits as of yet. Bob
Don't forget Hampton Blowers. I believe he is the only one that will custom make a true blower manifold. The others are done with an adapter plate on top of a carburetor manifold. Rob, please correct me if that is wrong.
Someone on the board is running an ATI ProCharger on his nailhead......the preferred way to go, IMO. Here's a nice pic of a roots blower on a nailhead....no idea on the owner.
I`m currently rebuilding my 425 and planning to run it with 6-71. Intake should be low as possible to fit under `50 hood, so I think it`s possible to mill intake out of two flat plates of aluminum. Unlike the other V8`s, nailheads have flat intake surfaces on heads, there`s no need to mill intake to any angle. No water outlet, no distributor hole. Just mill runners to blocks, add pop-off and bolt them together. There might be room enough for air-to-water intercooler too. Carburators can`t be used with ic, but maybe efi injectors are possible to fit to heads, under the intake. At last week I milled Maddog/Ross pistons for 8.5:1 compression ratio. Milling low throttle body should be next. There`s no hurry, maybe some day...
So you are planning to put a nailhead in a 50 ? Hmm, seems to be the same reason I am building up a 425. I wont go with a blower but Dual Quads never look bad. Are you going to use the stock Buick Frame or arre you doing something different ? Any ideas what you are going to use for Motor mounts ?
Original Buick frame, yes. Just got welded 5" kick up to rear, but otherwise stock. I`ve been running with sbc for six years now, so the frame is modified for open driveshaft already. Former axle was from `81 Bonneville stw, but it`s too wide. Tirechanges was real pain. Now there`s a `73 El Camino rear resting on garage`s floor. New 4-link should be done and change those VW Transporter coils to airbags. I have no idea of engine mounts. I don`t have anykind of Buick motormounts. Maybe Chevy mounts, somehow. I haven`t trialfitted nailhead to enginebay yet, but looks like oilpan doesn`t need modifications. What kind of exhaust manifolds you planned to use? Steering column is real close to engine.
B 50, Here's a thread I posted some time back with pics of a homemade nailhead blower manifold. I don't know if it's 4-71 or 6-71, but it looks like any good welder could do it . Dan http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=21216
BDS Blowers has blower intakes for odd & even fire V6's, 401-425 Nailheads and 400-455 BBB's. You can get them for 6-71 or 8-71 blowers.........$799 for the manifold. You can also get a complete blower kit for around $3400.
Does Carmen do blown Nails? I don't see a camshaft included in the kit. Wonder who has the knowledge on how to set up a cam for a blown Nailhead ? Seems a low compession Nailhead has found its way into my garage and this sure would put some grunt back into her.
Doug - I would think it would be best to have heads fully ported to take advantage of the SC. I know the SC3800 Series II guys shoot for at least 90% on their exhaust ports. Once you have the head flow numbers, and an idea how much boost/power you're looking to make - you should be well armed to talk to the cam companies, TA, etc. to get a custom grind for your application. From what I've seen, you'll want a wider LS on the cam.....over 110*. Even with a killer set of heads, they may still recommend a split pattern, favoring the exhaust. A good set of step headers and an X-pipe could compliment the whole mix too.
Dan K, great pictures. The intake is much like I had in mind. Top plate bolt pattern seems like same as 6-71`s top bolt pattern. Underside of intake bolt holes are slotted, maybe it`s originally fabricated for 322 and afterwards modified for newer nailhead. But I can`t understand how the supercharger is bolted to intake. There`s no bolt holes or threads for 6-71 in the upper plate. Blower is wider than intake, but because of top plate bolt heads, it can`t be bolted straight to intake. This is just wild quess, but could it be like this; Hilborn 4-port injection, made for 6-71, is bolted to intake. Because of pop-off its obviously been supercharged, so maybe the supercharger has been McCulloch or Paxton?
Blower Depending on how much power you want i wouldn't go crazy porting the heads. I have a 671 blower on top of my 364 8.1 compression and it has about 10lbs of boost. The only thing really done to the heads is bowl work.
