supercharging a 302 windsor whats the best way to go

[stuartt]

I want to up the performance of my standard 302 windsor and was thinking of adding a supercharger, what is the best way to go about it?

[Barry Nelson]

Stuart I have a Paxton supercharger on my car (see my gallery)it works just fine starts easy on cold start problems smooth power from 1200rpm to 6500rpmand no overheating.
Regards

[Cameron Parsons]

Stuart,

on a previous car (Dax too) I ran a B&M144 blower. I had to modify the hood scoop very slightly to fit everything under.

Have a look in my gallery (early pics) it's the Red one going around the cones. It worked great and looked very cool under the hood.

Cameron

[NMattison]

hi stuartt just curious on your 302 windsor 302 never made a windsor, and a true windsor is a 351 w, just my $.02 thanks Neil

[Aussie Mike]

Ford Australia were producing 302 Windsor motors right up until about 3 years ago.

I was under the impression the 351 Windsor is a tall deck version of the 289/302 Windsor motor.

Cheers

[Alvin]

was thinkin of putting a super charger on my car but l was told that a high comp engine would not handle a blower!!!!!! (10:1) I think

Is this true?

[Barry Nelson]

Alvin, you would have no problems putting a supercharger on your car with autronic fitted,I have ford ecu and 10:5 to 1 compression 6lb boost it runs just fine
Regards

[Alvin]

Thanks Barry

What kind of numbers are you getting and what have you done to your engine?

[Delbecque]

Originally Posted by Alvin

was thinkin of putting a super charger on my car but l was told that a high comp engine would not handle a blower!!!!!! (10:1) I think

Is this true?

contact COMETICS, they offer metal gaskets of custom thicknesses and with a little help of copper coat you can choose your comp. ratio. Also add a progressive advance regulator from MSD.

[vettestr]

I have run many blown engines over the years with great results. You can get away with many less than ideal engine component combinations at low boost. By get away I mean the engine will run and stay together in most cases. Low boost to me is 6 to 8 pounds with 10 LBS getting less reliable and 14 LBS will break stock parts sooner than latter.

In very general terms you can run 6 - 8 LBS with bone stock everything but need to keep fuel ratios on the richer side. You need to control the engine basics and keep your RPM down to about 5K max. Never let engine rattle or pre-ignite from hot spots, lean condition and keep ignition advance down to 24 to 28 degree ballpark. Again I think these conservative ballpark numbers can all be pushed as engine hard parts are improved.

Positive manifold pressure starts to require higher valve spring pressures, hydraulic cams and overlap are not ideal. Sealing the cylinder pressure will push head gaskets out without better clamping and gasket material. Cast pistons seem to go before a cast crank or rods fail but higher boost will find the weak link. Pre-ignition for any reason is kiss of death on high dollar parts and forget stock components.

In HS. I worked in my Dads machine shop so used engines were almost free. A stock SBC will take 8 pounds of boost all day long without a problem if you simply don't rev beyond 5K or allow any of the things that cause pre-ignition. At 12 PSI you are going to hang a valve open sooner or later if you don't run a solid cam and springs. At 14 to 15 PSI you will push the head gaskets if other stock parts don't get ya so O-ring the heads. At 20 PSI with a forged crank and second keyway added, pink rods,forged pistons, O-ringed alum heads I pushed my roller cam through the bottom of the blower and saved the left valve cover but it was cracked. I also broke the input shaft on the tranny and never knew what part broke first.

[Merv and Sharon]

There was a discussion of superchargers a few weeks ago : Modification plates

I did a fair bit of digging around (I have a 302/Mustang HO) and the Kenne Bell from Blue Power (Melb) seemed to be a great option with almost instant boost at moderate levels.