Supercharger for my Apache
 

After 4 years as my daily driver I have decided that it is time for some more power. The truck has the original 235 in it with a custom built one off fuel injection system built by a good friend named Greg and myself. Greg is an EE and did all of the wiring and computer programing and tuning. He has hacked several of the most popular GM OBD1 computers and is a genius at manipulating and tuning them. I am a mechanic and fabricator from the school of hard knocks and I handle those items.

My neighbor Kris, Greg, and myself recently installed a ZZ4 crate engine with a First Fuel Injection system (not FAST) on Kris's 1972 step side. There is a build thread here at:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=603726

My Apache runs well for a 50+ year old engine and the fuel injection makes the drivability of the truck great compared to the carb., but does little to increase the horsepower. Around town it is great but at freeway speeds it struggles when there is a hill and/or a stiff head wind. Since I live in the land of 75 and 80 MPH (posted) speed limits I want a few more horses to work with.

The fuel injection system consists of a vintage Edmunds dual carb manifold with 3 bolt flanges, 2 Retrotek Stromberg lookalike throttle bodies, a Frankenstein Chevy/Ford distributor and ignition system, and various GM and Ford sensors. I did a build thread on the fuel injection system on the Stovebolt Forum. If you are interested it is here:

http://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/...=678192&page=1

The engine also has Fenton cast iron manifolds with a custom built stainless steel 2 inch x 1 3/4 exhaust system out the back.

The rest of the drivetrain consists of a 1967 Saginaw 3 speed on the column, a Gear Vendors overdrive, the original rear end with 3.90 gears and 31 inch tires.

The plan is for a .040 over 261 and a McCullough supercharger. Other engine mods include a 235 cylinder head with some bowl work and clean up of the ports and a mild blower friendly cam. I'm not looking for maximum power. Just enough to get over the next hill.

Some might question the decision to use an old McCullough supercharger since there are more efficient units available. It is to stay with the style of the build which is vintage 60's.

While I am waiting for the machine shop to finish with my engine I decided to work on the supercharger. It is a VS 57 that needs a total rebuild and conversion to a SN (short nose) unit. Following are some pictures of the process.

More to come.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Here are some pictures of the truck and the fuel injection.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Very interesting & I like where you're going with this ... I'll continue to watch.

R46

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Great friends you guys are. A good team. Read the 72 build thread and enjoyed it.
Tagging along here to learn.
Supercharger came out nice and the truck is super cool.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Cool looking truck!

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Thanks guys! I'm hoping my supercharger rebuild parts come in today so I can work on it this weekend. Machine work on the engine should be done soon, but with the holidays I won't be able to do much until after the first of the year. Here are some more pictures.

1. Jim Hall
2. Bill Neale – Automotive Artist
3. Franz Weis – Crew Chief for Jim Hall – VDS Engines
4. Troy Rogers – Crew Chief for Jim Hall
5. Wesley Sweet – Crew Chief for Jim Hall
6. Dan Davis – Publisher “Victory Lane Magazine”
7. A. J. Foyt
8. Al Unser
9. Dan Gurney
10. Jack Chissenhall – Owner “Vintage Air”
11. Johnny Rutherford
12. Parnelli Jones
13. Peter Brock – Designed Stingray and Daytona Coupe
14. Paul Stewart – Son of Jackie Stewart
15. Doug Nye – English Motoring Journalist
16. Sir Stirling Moss
17. Vic Elford
18. Gil de Ferran
19. Ed Welburn – GM Vice President of Global Design
20. Al Unser Jr
21. Herschel Walker #34
22. Richard Petty
23. Geoff Bodine – Nascar Driver
24. Kyle Petty
25. Rutledge Wood – Television Personality

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

While waiting for my supercharger parts I decided to modify an old turbocharged Corvair air cleaner that I have to use on this project. The plan is to use the high pressure area in front of the windshield for a little extra supercharging and a cool air source. The mods consisted mostly of turning the oval inlet snorkel 90 degrees and giving it a slight angle so the unit can be mounted vertically.
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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

I'm am going to enlarge the outlet to 3 1/2 inches to match the supercharger inlet but, I don't have any tubing that size right now. A few more pictures.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Nice work! Interesting...so will the air cleaner snorkel flow air through a passage in the firewall from the vents at base of windshield?

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

This is really cool. Excited to see how it turns out.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Thanks, and yes that is the plan. As steep as the windshield is I expect there is quite a bit of pressure in that area. At the very least I should get some nice cool air.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

More air cleaner mods. Air cleaner originally had an air deflector/baffle/shield which I had to remove when I did the snorkel modification. In doing so I pretty much destroyed it and it needed to be larger anyway.

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To make the stand off for the corners I did something I had never tried before. Instead of cutting them into the sheet metal and bending them I cut some 3/8" cold roll rod 3/8" long and spot welded them to the deflector and then to the housing. It worked very well.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

I couldn't find any 3 1/2" tubing for the outlet locally and I didn't want to buy a 10 foot stick of it anyway. So, I decided to roll my own. I had some 16 gauge hot roll (I would have preferred cold finish) in the pile so that's what I used. I decided a 3" long nipple would work and a little math told me I needed an 11" x 3" piece of material. After cutting and trimming to size I rolled it up with my old Jet slip rolls. Afterwards I welded it about 2/3 of the way on the inside. Past experience told me not to weld where the hose bead is going until last. Then I used my old homemade bead roller to put a bead on it.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

More pictures.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Glad to see you are documenting "Hanks" new heart transplant. I'm off this week so let me know if you need a hand or if you need me to break open a can of Nyalic or Rustoleum.

:gmc2:

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Will do. With the weather being so crappy and the roads icy for the next few days I might be able to get quite a bit done instead of running around and goofing off.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Finished the air cleaner yesterday. Made a flange to mount the snorkel to the firewall. I had to modify my original design because I couldn't mount it as low as I wanted to.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Made a clamp to fit around the outlet tube and a firewall brace to attach to it.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

I received my supercharger rebuild kit from Craig Conley at Paradise Wheels last week and finally got a little time to work on it today. Paradise Wheels purchased the rights to the McCullough and Paxton superchargers from Paxton Automotive and sells complete Paxton units as well as parts. Craig has been very helpful and quick to respond to my questions. The rebuild kit is high quality very complete and even has new springs for the ball drive plate which I didn't expect.

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I also purchase a new improved impeller and a SN type pulley at the same time.

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I started by replacing the drive springs.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Nice work Diceman. Like the aircleaner and mounting system. Will the supercharger pull through or blow through the carbuerator?

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Thanks AD.
It will blow through, but they are not carburetors they are throttle bodies with Bosch style fuel injectors in them.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

I finished my supercharger conversion and rebuild today. It was pretty straight forward and without any real surprises. Unfortunately I had a camera malfunction so there aren't many pictures of the actual assembly.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Looks really good Diceman. Dumb question, is the housing aluminum? Curious and I've never seen one in person.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Looking good my friend.

:gmc2:

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Thanks guys. Yes the housing is aluminum. It weighed 26 lbs. in it's original VS configuration and 19 lbs. after the conversion to a SN. I was amazed at the precision of the castings and the machine work on a 60+ year old piece.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Well, I finally got my 261 back from the machine shop. Then I promptly left town for nearly a week to attend the Barrett Jackson auction in Scottsdale. Unfortunately on the way home I caught some kind of cold/flu bug and was out of commission for another week. I have been trying to catch up on some other projects ever since. Now I am waiting for some warm weather so I can give the engine block a thorough cleaning with hot soapy water. I did take some pictures of the machined parts though. Still waiting for the camshaft.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/e...205_124712.jpg

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

The parts look really good and looking forward to the next steps. I kind of wonder how many machine shops today even know about grinding rocker arm tips?

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Thanks A/D, I too wonder about that. It seems automotive machining is becoming a lost art. Pete the guy who did the work on my stuff has been one of my best friends for over 20 years and has been in the automotive machine shop business for over 30 years. I dare say he knows as much about engines as anyone in the country. I am very fortunate to have his services available to me.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Diceman, any updates?

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Unfortunately nothing of any note has been done. As usual "Life Happened" and I missed my window of opportunity to get it done right away. Some other obligations came along so it has been moved to the back burner for the time being, but it is still simmering. Thanks for asking A/D.

Diceman

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

This is interesting!
Never have seen these superchargers.
Great to see you're building the Old School Power back in an Old School Truck!
I love it!!

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Understood Diceman. I've been enjoying your project and look forward to whenever you are able to get back on it. One of my first fascinations was engine machine work which isn't done so much today. Learned valve guide knurling, rod resizing and honing, sleeving blocks and even block boring with a Kwik Way boring bar that mounted on the block cylinder surface....many years ago now.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Well, so it begins. I have been waiting for the perfect time to start the build on my new engine. Then I decided that there may never be a perfect time. So I am going to use the next few days to at least get started. Unfortunately I am leaving town next week for an undetermined stay. I hope I can get it pretty well buttoned up before I leave. Here are some pictures of the parts cleaned and sorted on the bench.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Wow, I am really fascinated by this thread. Hadn't seen it before somehow.

Diceman, if I missed it I apologize for re-asking answered questions but here goes:

1. What compression ratio will you be running in this 235?
2. How are lubrication and cooling of the supercharger handled?
Will there be (is there a need for) an intercooler?

I know very little about forced induction but admit I find it interesting. Will the custom fuel injection handle this setup without physical revision? Or will your propeller-beanie buddy (a term of affection for Engineers in my line of work) just revise the fuel mapping, etc to deal with this change?

Can't wait to see how this turns out!

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Thanks Dan,

I don't know what the compression ratio is going to be. I have read online that putting the 235 "848" head on a 261 will raise the ratio approx. 1/2 point. If so that will put it about 8.5 to 1. Whatever it is it should be well within the acceptable range for forced induction.

The McCullough supercharger has its own oil reservoir and is air cooled. Sometimes an oil cooler is added for max horsepower or racing applications. Shouldn't be an issue for me.

As for an intercooler I will not be using one. There are several things involved in deciding whether one is needed or not including C/R, engine size and type, cylinder head design, etc., but generally speaking an intercooler is not considered necessary if boost is limited to 9 or 10 psi. Well below the capabilities of a McCullough. There might be a slight performance advantage by using one, but that is not what this project is about. I want this to be something that you might have seen in the 50's or 60's. Notwithstanding the EFI.

In anticipation of adding the supercharger, Greg installed a new operating system on the current engine a while back. The new system will support a 2 bar MAP sensor which we installed at the same time. This allowed us to make sure it is going to work in non boost situations as well as the previous system did. So far so good. When the new 261 is installed we will run it without the supercharger until we get the fuel injection dialed in for the bigger displacement and more aggressive cam. Then we will add the blower and start over again. The object is to not add too many variables at once.

I hope I answered all your questions. If not don't hesitate to ask again.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

I had hoped to get my engine to the long block stage this week, but things didn't work out. I was able to install the crank, rods, and pistons so some progress was made. When it came time to install and degree the cam it was discovered that it had been ground for mechanical lifters instead of hydraulic.

Also I need to correct a mistake in my last post in which I stated.

Obviously the last sentence should have been. "Well above the capabilities of a McCullough"

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Dumb question for my learning...how were you able to tell the cam was ground for mechanical lifters? Guessing the shape or timing of the ramp?

Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

There are no dumb questions, but there are a lot of dumb answers.

My friend Pete who did the machine work on my engine is an expert in matching components for an engine. The most expensive go fast parts in the world won't make any power if they don't work together. Pete looks at the engine as a whole and the purpose of the engine and picks a cam profile that is compatible with same. He has most of his performance cams custom ground and being someone who takes nothing for granted he checks them for accuracy. By putting the cam between centers and using a dial indicator he can plot the profile and compare it to what he ordered. The differences in mechanical and hydraulic flat tappet cam profiles are subtle and this is the only way to tell as far as I know.

Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

Because of an improperly ground shaft, lost shipments , and defective a defective core I am still waiting for my camshaft. So, I decided to work on the supercharger mount in the mean time. Following are some pictures of the process so far.

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Re: Supercharger for my Apache
 

More pictures.

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