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Old Apr 8, 2010 | 01:49 AM
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Well I have searched and read a lot of posts about superchargers on this forum. I had the plan on installing a weiand 144 or 142 on my 74. My question is how dangerous am I getting here. I have a stock bottom end and pistons, The mechanic that did the work said he has never seen such clean pistons and walls in a 30 year old engine. The heads were changed last year along with everything on the top end aswell as the fuel system. Im running 72cc iron heads (giving me around 8.9:1 compression), a comp 268 high energy cam (218/218 @ .050, 110 lobe sep), running a mallory dual points, 1.5 rockers, gear drive, etc... Im worried that I am going to put on a mini blower and the next week be rebuilding my bottom end, however i do have the forced induction itch. I plan on keeping this a street machine, very minimal track time/racing, just cruising. I really dont need that much boost I would be happy with 4 psi. Any suggestions? Am I setting myself up for a meltdown?
Thanks guys.
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Old Apr 8, 2010 | 04:22 PM
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Originally Posted by 74moneypit
Well I have searched and read a lot of posts about superchargers on this forum. I had the plan on installing a weiand 144 or 142 on my 74. My question is how dangerous am I getting here. I have a stock bottom end and pistons, The mechanic that did the work said he has never seen such clean pistons and walls in a 30 year old engine. The heads were changed last year along with everything on the top end aswell as the fuel system. Im running 72cc iron heads (giving me around 8.9:1 compression), a comp 268 high energy cam (218/218 @ .050, 110 lobe sep), running a mallory dual points, 1.5 rockers, gear drive, etc... Im worried that I am going to put on a mini blower and the next week be rebuilding my bottom end, however i do have the forced induction itch. I plan on keeping this a street machine, very minimal track time/racing, just cruising. I really dont need that much boost I would be happy with 4 psi. Any suggestions? Am I setting myself up for a meltdown?
Thanks guys.
IMO, you'll be fine with premium pump gas. I've been running a 144 for 25 years. Keep the boost to 5 psi or lower....watch the timing advance.
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Old Apr 8, 2010 | 05:46 PM
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I ran a mini-charger before I went to my 8/71..
if you can get a 177 with a sbc manifold you won't have to spin the blower fast and still make boost.... the faster you spin the blower the more you will beat and heat the intake air , not a good thing ....my blower case was always hot , but maybe it was just defective or clearaced wrong ?

ps; they are fun though..instant bang for the buck when you nail it ! like said above keep an eye on your tuning, run good fuel...etc...

Last edited by Rmorgan&11; Apr 8, 2010 at 05:49 PM.
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Old Apr 8, 2010 | 07:19 PM
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L-48 or L-82?

L-82 had 4 bolt mains, forged crank and pistons. No problems.
L-48 had 2 bolt mains, cast crank, cast pistons. Playing with fire.
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Old Apr 8, 2010 | 09:14 PM
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Just don't overdo it on the boost and there shouldn't be too much problem. If the lower end has a lot of miles on it, you may want to put fresh bearings on the crank/rods. Clean pistons and bores may just mean that you buy good gas and put some cleaners in on some regular basis. It would have been better to know if the cylinder bores had any significant wear. If you [or the mechanic] felt the ridge at the top of the bore, that might indicate whether there was significant wear and/or any out-of-round condition that needed to be addressed. If just a light ridge was detected, you shouldn't have much problem if you only want to bump it up 75 hp +/-; the production engine should take that with no problem.
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Old Apr 8, 2010 | 10:07 PM
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L48, 56,000 orignial miles, there was no wear on the cylinder walls. I dont plan on running any more than 5 psi, 4 (the lowest possible) would be what I'm shooting for.
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Old Apr 9, 2010 | 04:59 AM
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It will put more load on the engine components, but I don't see that as too much of a problem. Naturally, with more load, it will eventually fail sooner than if you didn't have it. But that blower shouldn't overload that engine's design capabilities.
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Old Apr 9, 2010 | 08:39 AM
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I installed my first supercharger on a stock 1990 350 in my '90 3/4 ton 4x4. It was a B&M 144 blower. The stock motor ran great. It didn't burn oil. I never checked compression, or did a leak down check. I just bolted the blower on the stock 60,000 mile motor. With 5psi boost, it added 100 hp and 100 trq. I added a different chip to the computer to control the timing. I drove it hard daily and towed with it, until it tallied up another 70,000 miles. (130000 total). Never missed a beat, lost 1mpg, never started burning oil. Pulled the blower and sold the truck.

Get a MSD 6 BTM to pull your timing back to 32-34 degrees, bolt on the blower, add premium fuel, and enjoy.

L48, or L82, at 5psi on a healthy motor, there shouldn't be any melt down issues. Boost is safer then rpm's. Cast pistons and detonation are evil. Your biggest problem will be the hood clearance.
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