Not an a/c blower either.....
I am knocking around the idea of putting a blower on my 440 truck project, but I do not know much about them. I do know that the engine has to be near stock compression....right??
But like I said, I don't know much about them and around my area you don't see many at all. But the few that you do see around here never seem to run good. For instance, I saw one at a show yesterday and it was loading up, and smoking everywhere.......I felt sorry for the guy driving it because I knew he was getting upset.....and I remember another instance where a 48 Chevy truck with a blower was being run across an auction block at a sale I was at one time, they ended up having to push him across the block....so, those few examples being said............are these things streetable as a weekend cruiser that would only be driven once or twice a month?
And fill me in on the details, since this blower would be on a 440 in a truck, I want it to stick way up out of the hood....how do I do that?

You've already narrowed it down to a Roots-type supercharger, so that'll help you deciding which one to choose.

Yes, they are streetable. Choose a reasonable compression ratio and a reasonable displacement superchrager and it'll be fun. Too much of either one and you'll be frustrated, too.

Yes, very streetable. My friend has a 10-1 451 in a 71 Charger with a 8-71 blower and two holley 750's on it and you could drive it anywhere. I would not be afraid and get in and go to Carlisle (about 350 mi one way) or the nats in this thing. It gets about 10 mpg if you stay out of it, just about starts like it has fuel injection---heck we even started it when it was 10 degrees out side because we had to move it--and it still started and ran better than a regular carbed car. It even runs smoother than his 472 Hemi 69 Roadrunner he has.


AS a side note, a blower on a 440 in a truck is not going to stick out of the hood a whole lot. I have seen them before, the carbs are about half way through the hood. I guess you could put an intercooler between the intake and blower for another coule inches, but unless you start raising the engine radically in the stock chassis, thats about where its going to sit.

A blower on a high compression motor (above 8 to 1) is a compromise. To get best performance the motor must be built low comp. to allow the blower to build some boost. Otherwise the blower has to run a huge top puley to keep its RPM down so it doesnt make much boost and is mainly for show.

Here's the '62 Dart I drove on the street in the seventies, 426 Wedge with MW heads, 7.8 compression, 15% overdriven 6-71 with a pair of 780 Holleys. Even with a roller cam of 320° advertised duration it idled smooth in gear and drove like a stocker at cruise.

Built and have run several blower motors over the years...The BEST way is to build about 8.5:1 static compression WITH QUENCh which would incorporate a closed chamber aluminum head and a D dish blower piston. If I were to build one it would be a 440 block with a 3.90 stroke and a 7.100 rod or for a smallblock I would run the 3.79" stroke and the standard 6.125 rod.

You can get addicted to the instant torque at any RPMand that 'mad max" jet engine like whine on the highway....it's really fun when there's a a slight mist in the air because it cools the inlet charge and the motor loves it.

Fun, fun, the only downside to a rootes blower is "heat soak" whe nyou run it hard the boost will heat up the blower and it takes a long time to cool back down...great for drag racing where you have cool down between rounds but on the street it can can diminish the power an increase it's appetitie for octane.

my engine in my signature started with a smallish solid cam.549/.559 110 LSA[112LSA would be better] and 8.8cr and a BDS stage 2[hard anodized inside ]you will have a lot of fun.
here is an old pic.

I did a Mild 440 with a 6-71 back in the late 70s.
Used a Dyers blower, 1-1 drive, 7.5 Venolia Pistons...
Ran great, only drivablility problem was cooling it.. Hd radiator, 3 fans and many different pulleys until I got it right..
Actually got reasonable mileage..and was very drivable..