Not Ranked
been there , done that...SEE PICS IN MY PHOTO GALLERY,
as i added a 60s era ball drive paxton blower upgraded to vr-4 specs to my 351 windsor in a spf with 780 custom pro systems built holley and dual plane manifold. the fit is tight, lots of custom bracketry etc needed to install. getting the plumbing for air intake over the valve covers was tough and to make it fit it had to be compromised, ie, tubing somewhat squashed.
car ran like a banshee, sounded like a f-16 fighter , threw you to the rear bulkhead as the blower spooled up and looked great. when the hood went up no one cared that it was not a fe or bb.
however, i had been misinformed about the metal content of my pistons and compression ratio . i took someones' word without checking it myself . i had bought a used car and there were engine misrepresentations made i discovered during the post blower autopsy. hence my blower at 9 pounds of boost and 3,000 miles later blew the tops off 3 of my pistons and the edges off of 3 others, as well as some valve damage as those metal pieces were ingested and eventually became schrapnel in my side pipe packing, with some getting blown out the pipes. oh, what a mess....oh yes, i had been cautioned by many, including the installer, that this was a risky install, but i proceeded nonetheless. others were more right than i was.
so, if ya add a blower, make sure your lower end is built for one, your pistons are of the right metal content and your compression ratio is low enough to handle it and then be cautious on the boost of the blower...or as the blower suggests, it will blow.,as in blow the motor as mine did. the blower however remained intact and is good as new.
i sold the old engine, bought a new 392 stroker ford racing engine and put the paxton and attachments in boxes as garage art as a reminder of silly money spent and lesson learned. no blower for me on the new engine.
while the blower is unique , it is many times wasted dollars at the expense of engine longevity vs a new bigger motor from the start...or different heads and other power addder aftermarket add ons. there are other cheaper ways to get same or similar horsepower. others have been luckier than me and have not had catastrophic failures like i did.
darn, i sure miss that blower on the car...now i cant decide whether to sell it or put it on my modified k-code engine in my 65 stang...til i get off my duff and decide, it remains garage art and a conversation topic....oh, it was so pretty !
good luck to you adverturesome blower inclined installers...next time around i will ensure that the engine getting the blower is specifically built for intended blower usage...bill, motown, spf 156
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