Paxton and McCullough Superchargers

all american boy

all american boy

Well-known member
Prospects look good for getting one.


Any tips of running one of these?


Looks like you have to put a seal on the throttle shaft.


We will be starting from scratch with just the supercharger.


Thanks.
 
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One we will probably end up with won't be one of the Ford/Thunderbird ones.


It will be a a little smaller.Going on a 292 or a 430.


Should at least give snap throttle response if nothing else.


Have opportunity to get one or more and going to grab 'em.


Might be a 'also ran'.Company not in existence anymore.That's okay.


Have fun!
 
Thank you Mike(looks like that is your name)


Yes.Just what the doctor ordered.


Should get a pretty good idea how they work.


Ours will probably be a different brand but same principle.


Thanks again!
 
all american boy said:
One we will probably end up with won't be one of the Ford/Thunderbird ones.


It will be a a little smaller.Going on a 292 or a 430.


Should at least give snap throttle response if nothing else.



Have fun!
Click to expand...
Throttle response off idle may not improve. At idle there will be no or very little boost, plus you have to lower the compression to run a supercharger. Therefore the engine will be 'softer' at off idle response.
 
'may not improve'


Let you know what happens.


Had a bunch of Studebakers.Never made the deal for one with a



supercharger though.


GT Hawk, Packard Hawk and Avanti had them.


NOTE Quickchange came from Studebaker 3/4 ton pickup rear axle NOT


Ford rear axle.


Think early ones had Ford bell axle housings redrilled on them.


Not sure about that part.
 
OAbout the supercharger.


Lately been thinking about stuff we didn't grab in the 80's and 90's.


When I realized we could get these superchargers it fell together.


I think GMC superchargers have instant throttle response.


Okay with us if these centrifugal ones don't work like that.


Have fun!
 
Answer to 'low rpm not much boost'.From engineer Paxton.


'Notice first the curve of the “constant drive-ratio Roots-type supercharger.” It’s almost flat, indicating a steady build-up in boost to maximum at peak RPM. Now check the curve for the “constant drive-ratio centrifugal-type supercharger.” Not so good at low and intermediate RPM but OK at peak RPM. Right here is where we get a lot of “static” about the McCulloch not being any good at low RPM because it’s basically a centrifugal type blower. And this criticism would be valid were it not for our VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE



As long as you “keep your foot in it,” the McCulloch supercharger will stay in high-speed (hi-ratio) drive and follow the top discharge curve. (Notice how discharge pressure is regulated to hold maximum boost from 3,000 RPM on.) The minute you “let up on the throttle,” no matter what the RPM, the unit shifts back down to the low-speed (lo-ratio) discharge curve.



 
15 years ago when I put a Paxton SN 90 on my 55 bird, Craig Conley at Paradise Wheels in San Marcos had all the old ball drive inventories from Paxton. They sold all that off to concentrate on the new Novi units IIRC. My understanding is Paradise no longer sell parts, bracket, etc., but provides rebuild services. That was 3rd hand info. On the west coast (other than Paradise) who I see most often referenced is John Erb in Carson City, NV. His contact info is in the VS web site above, best of my knowledge he’s still around.

The VS units are the ones with the split drive pulley that you reference in the Paxton post. Operation can be problematic, and a variety of ways have been tried to give boost at low rpm, and not over speed the unit at higher rpm. On my original set up, pulleys for 4lbs in the manifold (not at the carb hat), there was no measurable boost till almost 3000rpm. That was the SN with the straight drive ratio.

Back then, the most knowledgeable people I found were Meyers Studebaker. A local guy built a s/c motor for his Gran Torismo, and they were helpful to him.

http://www.myersstudebaker.com/

If you’re interested, send me a PM. I’ll tell you what I know, and more important, what I don’t know about these units.
 
Thank you Mike!



'Meyers Studebaker'


We used to get our parts from Foster & French downtown LA.


Looks like no supercharger for the present.


It's going to be TWIN TURBOCHARGERS!


They are for smaller engines.60's vintage though!



Quick calculations show two of them for 292.


I almost asked if exhaust manifolds can be fabricated!


Then remembered headers.So yeah they can be fabricated.


Gotta go!
 
I had to rebuilt one my self back in 1968, looking at in side rotor drive the balls and center spool had gone bad,outter races were good. They were ware pitted{ not smooth or shiny any more}. Back then I was able too get a replace kit.
 
all american boy said:
Thank you Mike!



'Meyers Studebaker'


We used to get our parts from Foster & French downtown LA.


Looks like no supercharger for the present.


It's going to be TWIN TURBOCHARGERS!


They are for smaller engines.60's vintage though!



Quick calculations show two of them for 292.


I almost asked if exhaust manifolds can be fabricated!


Then remembered headers.So yeah they can be fabricated.


Gotta go!
Click to expand...

I see you had picked up a 292 to rebuild back in November of 2011. Is it completed, and if so, how does it run? How's the car coming along?
 
Thanks Dana


'Is it completed?'


A BAD thing happened to it.


It is NOT something we discuss.Period!


Have Lincoln 430 at the moment.


Getting another 292.

' How's the car coming along?'


GREAT! Have improved the design.


Gotta go!
 
Paxton/McCoullogh were made in my home town of Santa Monica. Located about a block away from my high school. Lots of guys would be back door customers there. The company was owned by Andy Granatelli. As for their bearings, I remember when his car lost the Indy 500 when a bearing in his turbine engine went bad.
Mel Scott, of fuel injection fame, was one of a few bright minds that worked at Paxton.
 
all american boy said:
Thank you Mike!



'Meyers Studebaker'


We used to get our parts from Foster & French downtown LA.


Looks like no supercharger for the present.


It's going to be TWIN TURBOCHARGERS!


They are for smaller engines.60's vintage though!



Quick calculations show two of them for 292.


I almost asked if exhaust manifolds can be fabricated!


Then remembered headers.So yeah they can be fabricated.


Gotta go!
Click to expand...
Can rams horns be used upside down?
 
"Can rams horns be used upside down?"


Ford Y-Blocks can mount exhaust manifolds upside down because the bolt pattern is in a straight line from front to back. The Lincoln Y-Blocks however were not in a straight line and can't be mounted upside down.
This is provided there is no interference in the head and valve cover area when upside down.


Sal
 
'Can rams horns be used upside down?'


Thank you for the suggestion.At one time looked into using the '62 292


exhaust manifolds as twin exhausts,remember it does not quiet work out.


It was the system with the crossover at front of engine.


We will be fabricating exhaust manifolds.The ole's tin box again.


Do want to get them away from heads first though.


Make little 6" port stacks or something like that.Run 'em straight out to



'breadbox' on both sides.Twin turbos.
 
We will have plenty of room around engine for fabricated exhaust.


This picture is what we're building.


We will update it in a few ways but that be it.


Side by side seating and no clutch.Just disconnect driveshaft to tune it up.


Run it.We got plenty of time.Don't need in/out box.Push it to start it.


Wide tires on it for handling.A rolling engine stand.Gas it around a big


parking lot.


Gotta go!
 

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'What a BEAUT!'


Yep.Picture below is Holly Hedrick's Rear Engine Modified from '61.


Craftmanship on our car will be more like that.

You can clearly see layout.


Engine/bellhousing rearend.


These 50's and early 60's hot rod articles are full of good tips.


The 'homebuilt' era.Tons of good ideas in the articles about cars in old magazines.


Thanks.
 

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