McCulloch VS57 on a 359 Straight Eight

Posted by Stan Palma On 2011/4/6 11:41:04

Hello All, first post on the Packard Info site, hope to learn from the wiser heads. I am putting together a 1937 Super Eight based special, powered by a 1954 359 with, I believe, a manual transmission.

Following Packard's Panther example, I have purchased a VS57 supercharger and plan to install it on the 359. The first and obvious question is "has anyone done this?" and "how did it turn out?" I have seen some photos of a dual McCulloch/Paxton installation on a straight eight, but have never communicated with anyone who did the install.

Planning on using an airbox & the stock carb, fabricating the mounting bracketry & tension idler pulley (I have Studebaker Hawk pieces to measure).

As important to the install of the supercharger is knowing what is weak on the 359- I read about some cracking- hopefully not the block. The 359 I have was purchased running and running pretty well, at least not smoking. Can hardened valve seats be installed on these engines?

Thanks for any enlightenment you can give me! Stan P.