[PICS] Old school blower/supercharger afficionados, come in & tell me about this 6-71

[.]

I was at the NHRA museum monthly get-together this past Wednesday, and saw this:

Look at the front gear area. Never saw a system like that.

Is that pressurized oil from the lifter valley? Is there a return line?
Why was this done?
Why is there a breather on there? Did they come that way or did the owner modify it? (owner was not around car)
I wonder if that middle casing houses something besides the timing gears or if there is more to it underneath.

 

[john]

Re: [PICS] Old school blower/supercharger afficionados, come in & tell me about this

Pretty sure that is a chain drive off the cam. Nice old 392 Hemi there. In the old days there were a lot of different drives, belts, chains, some mounted the blower out in front and were driven by the crank snout.

 

[Muddy]

Re: [PICS] Old school blower/supercharger afficionados, come in & tell me about this

That's real old school. It is an internal drive probably chain drive. Oil is pumped up to the top of the drive on the front of the blower and allowed to spray down on chain and gears. Breather is to relieve any presure that might build up. WAY cool. I haven't seen anything like that since the early 60s. You don't see that type of imagination and creativity much today.

 

[john]

Re: [PICS] Old school blower/supercharger afficionados, come in & tell me about this

Check the Olds with a Potvin drive, first pic.

Front Mount Blowers - THE H.A.M.B.

 

[.]

Re: [PICS] Old school blower/supercharger afficionados, come in & tell me about this

Ahhhhhh. I understand it now.
I wonder what size link is on a chain like that. Is it a double roller?

I've seen the chain driven exterior pullies and the front mounted blowers, but had no idea on this one.

Thank you Ian and John!

 

[john]

Re: [PICS] Old school blower/supercharger afficionados, come in & tell me about this

Some real early drives used what appeared to be big bicycle style chains, then some used double roller and singles. With V belt drives, 3-6 belts was common.

 

[Nick Name]

Re: [PICS] Old school blower/supercharger afficionados, come in & tell me about this

A lot of the street rod stuff had multipale V belts, but then again, they weren't trying to really spin the blower.

Jay