Supercharging the Essex- Am I mad to try?

[capri_sam]

I love the idea of the supercharged Essex capri, still wont be too high on BHP so not too bad for insurance but silly torque and lots of lovely noise. I also know it's possible as it was done for aircraft hauling tractor units many years ago, but am I mad to try it?

Heres my thoughts at the moment- I don't actually know much about engines, this is my learning project haha, so excuse me (and let me know!) If I overlook anything vital.

1. Larger high pressure fuel pump
2. Bigger carb (thinking 40IDE but could do it on the standard 38 DGAS if I need to)
3. Supercharger (i'm thinking an Eaton M45 to begin with- it's maybe a bit small for a 3.0 but it'll do to begin with and i'll be running low boost anyways- plus they are only £100 off the bay and they are bleedin' everywhere so can't go wrong!)
4. Megajolt
5. Steel timing gear
6. HP oil pump.

Then later on when I can afford it i'll go for a stage 3, skim and Kent V63 cam. Then when I can afford to retire i'll 3.1 it and work for a couple more years to pay that off hehe.

What do I need to consider? I'm looking at side mounting the charger then having it run to an alloy airbox on top of the carb. I'm thinking I might leave it like this and just ramp up the mixture, but also might try and mod the crank case breather inlet to suck some air out and have it run back to the charger to create a vacuum. Dump valve etc and other ancilliaries as necessary. In my mind getting the thing working sounds easy- probably too easy.

Am I mad/ stupid/ just wrong? Will it work? What will it do performance wise? Don't be afraid to say what you feel, I don't know owt about engines, but I wanna learn

Cheers!

Sam

[Mr_lizard]

You ain't mad! The M45 supercharger is way to small -you'd be much much better off with an M62. I'd imagine the brackets and pulleys and plumbing would be the hardest bit, well, that and getting the fuelling correct. I think superchargers need an oil feed as well as with all moving parts, they need lubrication. it'd add a lot of torque and suit the essex's nature. You'd possibly need a stronger clutch to cope with that too!

[longboy]

while were talking superchargers.....

Can so tell / point me to how superchargers maintain boost?

i know turbos use a wastegate to control boost pressure but how do superchagers achive this when they are belt driven?

[Mr_lizard]

Superchargers don't work in the same way as turbos, because of the fact they are belt driven thus supercharger speed is directly proportional to engine speed. In theory an engine will use 'x' amount of air at a given speed, say for instance 2000rpm, and assuming a 1:2 pulley arrangement the supercharger will be turning at 4000rpm, and generate for instance 4psi of boost pressure. If the engine speed doubles to 4000rpm then supercharger speed will be 8000rpm, however, because engine speed has doubled 'x' amount of air is also doubled so theoretically the boost pressure is still 4psi. To alter the inlet pressure generated by a supercharger you need to change the supercharger speed in relation to the engine.

[Supercharged Nat]

Do it! ive used an M45 on my pinto... with a 38dgas too. it can be done im still ironing out the kinks but its been working for over a year now.

dont use an m45 for yours though, one its too small and two its got a stupid inlet shape meaning horride fabrication....

the eaton series of chargers are self contained- no external lub required, just make sure the level is correct. also can be used in any orientation and even in reverse- ok less efficeint but still work well.

keep pipe runs down to a minimum and i wouldnt bother with an intercooler for low boost- less than 6psi.

plus your motor should have higher than 6psi anyway- comp starts getting a bit high for std internals.
if you want to keep the carb where it is and blow air in through the top youl need a fuel pump that can supply 4psi more pressure than your max boost pressure (eg boost = 6psi, fuel pump needs to be 10psi min). dont use though bloody facet things- total crap and no good for what you want. youl also need a rising rate fuel pressure regulator as boost increases it will increase fuel pressure to match the boost (but maintain the correct pressure at idle/ no boost).

youl also need a way to retard your ignition timing when on boost and at the magic rpm for pinking- dunno about the essex but a pinto is between 2000&3500 rpm. only need a couple of degrees or retard so you could just knock your dizzy back a little but your then hurting performance. so you could try the retard capsule found on the 2.8i turbo dizzy...

good luck!

[Zetec_Escorts]

youl also need a way to retard your ignition timing when on boost and at the magic rpm for pinking- dunno about the essex but a pinto is between 2000&3500 rpm. only need a couple of degrees or retard so you could just knock your dizzy back a little but your then hurting performance. so you could try the retard capsule found on the 2.8i turbo dizzy...

good luck!

That is what the megajolt is for

I woudl go for it but fuel inject it

[Supercharged Nat]

Yeah i know, thats why ive got it

[longboy]

cheers Mr_lizard

[blown105e]

I`m supercharging my Essex V6 in my Anglia 105e at the mo! I`m using a Wade RO/34 supercharger running at 7lbs of boost, a Kent V65 cam, Stage 3 heads and a Predator carb. As the essex engines dont rev much higher than 6000rpm ,a wade blower is ideal cos they only rev to 5000 before the rotors will touch. Personally i wouldn`t use anything less than a 390cfm holley carb, maybe even a 600cfm, cos the heat the blowers generate will `evaporate` the fuel before it reaches the manifold!! I can give you the name and number of the bloke who`s building mine for me, so you can have a chat with him.