How practical is a s/c for a d.d.

[80Grand_LeMans]

I was thinking about a small supercharger on a 350 for my 80 LeMans. Just wondering how that would be on a daily driver. I saw this article and its pretty much exactly what I want...

http://www.carcraft.com/featuredvehicles/116_0609_supercharged_350ci_chevy/index.html

I found one of those superchargers for 550 bucks but it will probably get sold before I can get the money for it. Plus I wouldn't be ready for it for a while anyway.


Basically just wondering about maintenance and how well it will last being driven everyday.

 

[Doober]

That's an excellent build Not a bad price on the blower for sure...

Some (maybe all) of the centrifugal type (look almost like a turbo, bolt to the front of the motor) use an oil line. The article basically says that one doesn't require any maintenance, i.e. bolt on and go.

At the same time you have to be sure the motor is built to handle a blower... i.e. forged pistons, I would get a forged crank to be safe, and I would also probably use a 2-bolt block and get splayed caps. You're probably getting pretty close to the limits of a production small block (meaning it may be time to invest in an aftermarket block if you want to make that much power or more). Also make sure the oil system is in tip-top shape (high pressure pump, not necessarily high volume though). On top of spending the $ for the blower you'll be spending extra $ on the engine itself to handle the boost/extra power if you're building it right. You'll also want a blower-specific cam to help as well.

 

[madmoose63]

I ran a 385 chevy with forged probe pistons (8.5to1), Performer Rpm heads.comp solid roller,4 bolt main 350 block, scat cast crank,eagle 5.7 i beam rods.....ran it in my 78 nova street car, pump gas, 3575 with driver...it ran 11.28 @120 mph.......it was a blast to drive imo cool.gif