Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Well, I plan on being in Branson this summer for a Packard meet....

If you are starting from scratch, then a large single turbo is quite sufficient for the Packard 320-352-374 V-8 engine.

Use stock exhaust manifolds. Route Y-pipe similar to this:originalho.com/TurboForce.html

Use a throttle-body injection setup rather than the QJet and H-O pressure bonnet shown above, because the latter is no longer available. There are many sources for the TBI including boosted applications and tuning is easier.

Plan on spending at least $10,000 (probably a lot more).

Craig

Listen to Turbopackman he has the experience not theories.

I agree that the Paxton is a better bet for your application than the VS57 and he can show you how to install it, what parts you need, how to make the brackets etc.

He probably has the only street driven supercharged Packard V8 (non Studebaker)in captivity.

For certain technical reasons the Paxton is the best choice for your application. Centrifugal blowers are more efficient than positive displacement types. They are easier to install and give excellent street performance while having the minimum of drawbacks.

A turbo is a good supercharger too. But more complex to install, and they have problems of their own such as causing excess heat in your exhaust valve area. Factory turbo cars use modified engines to cope with the various pressure and cooling issues. The Paxton does not have these problems.

Since the Paxton is still in production parts and accessories are easy to get. A Paxton would be the easiest and cheapest and best supercharger for your application.

A Paxton supercharger can be installed on a stock engine with no mods, and will not blow the engine or reduce engine life or reliability. PROVIDED the engine is in top shape to begin with, meaning a new car with less than 50,000 miles on it. Or a recently rebuilt or overhauled motor. And provided you keep the boost down to 5 pounds. And of course, provided you are halfways sensible of a driver.

According to old McCulloch test a 5 pound boost will give you a 40% increase in rear wheel horsepower.

There are other details to it. John Erb is the Paxton expert. He has rebuilt, installed and tuned up hundreds of them. I have his phone # around here someplace if you need it.

1. Quote: Are you sure about this? AFAIK, the Paxton ceased production and all the parts were sold off years ago. They now make the Novi, which is an entirely different design.
2. Quote: A Paxton won't make five pounds of boost on a 352"-374" and Paxton sales brochures lied like a rug about horsepower increases. Even on the smaller Studebaker V8, the engineers only claimed an increase from 225hp to 275hp, which is a 22% gain.
3. Since the Paxton is very old technology and these days all which is available is a used or expensive rebuilt Paxton unit, it is better to start with a Procharger, Vortec, Novi, one of the current design units. FWIW, no one else ever copied the troublesome Paxton planetary ball drive unit. All the current designs use gears or belts for the step-up drive. These give better performance and longer life.
4. If I were doing another supercharged Packard, I'd strongly consider the Eaton from a Ford Lightning pickup. They are large enough, OEM rated for 100k miles and fit nicely inside the vee of the engine.
5. Whichever way is chosen, supercharging a Packard V8 is a challenge:
A. To install a Paxton, one has to be an Eric-level scrounger and fabricator, or pay someone who is. What he accomplished was a minor miracle, albiet with some good help and advice from this group.
B. Buy a complete Ford Lightning engine and wiring harness and pay someone who knows how to handle the EFI and the fabrication.
C. Buy a universal hot rod kit for Novi, Vortec, Procharger and make it fit.

thnx, jack vines

I second what Jack says and expand it. The supercharger off of the Lightning was also used in the newer Mustang Cobra models. There is a catch, though. The earliest Lightnings had a 351W, which would be a different supercharger than the 4.6L and 5.4L Ford modular V8's. And no, I don't know the specs of them. If you're looking to put a roots type supercharger on one, then I'd be scouring the swap meets for something no bigger than a 6-71. A 4-71 would probably be perfect for the street, and would be cheaper to boot. Personally, after all I've experienced with forced induction on a Packard, you can't beat the small size and ease of installation a centrifugal supercharger has going for it. You can mount it almost anywhere, and it doesn't have to be right on top of the intake. Of course, a Roots doesn't HAVE to be either, but 99% of them are.

hey eric, how dose the late mod motor ford blowers mount? do they bolt on to an intake? i know thw intake on the standard 46/54 are really W-I-D-E!

Which type? Centrifugal or Roots?

I stand corrected.Paxton still makes superchargers but of a different design. One of those would be an excellent choice.Better than an old McCulloch.

According to McCulloch/Paxton guru John Erb it is possible to get up to 12 pounds boost out of the old design. There is also an improved impeller that increases output.

The Kaiser and Studebaker superchargers were detuned for general use and only had about 4 pounds boost. The ones they sold as an accessory had 5.

They claimed 40% increase in rear wheel horsepower which to me is credible. Rear wheel horsepower is only a fraction of advertised horsepower. Assuming atmospheric pressure of 14 PSI an additional 5PSI should increase breathing about 1/3. At altitudes above sea level of course the improvement would be greater.

So 40% is possible but would represent the upper limit.

This is strictly theoretical. If the original questioner had his 352 running perfectly I'm sure he would have plenty of power. In fact if he is used to newer cars of similar stated horsepower the Packard will feel like a Rolls with an afterburner. The performance or at least, the impression they give, is a revelation to someone brought up on modern 4 cylinder and V6 cars.

Said it before, say it again, Paxton lied like a rug in their adverts and promotional materials. The 40% increase claims began when they put one on a 239" 100hp flathead Ford. With a lot of other changes, it made maybe 140 horsepower. That 40% increase was so impressive, they kept it in the ads. However, on bigger OHV engines, it was a flat misrepresentation. I've done a few supercharger installations, complete with boost pressure gauges and a couple of before/after dyno and drag strip tests. Even on a small OHV8 engine like a Stude 289", the Paxton did not increase horsepower 40%. The strip times don't lie and the increase was never more than 20-25%. On the larger displacement Packard 352"-374", the Paxton won't make 5# of boost. The 12# high-output units John Erb references are race-only units and at 12# of boost, have operating life spans measured in hours, not years and thousands of miles. I've had many conversations with John on the Paxton and he agrees it was all we had back in the day, but that day is past and there are many bigger, better units available today.

As always, your car, your money, your decision.

thnx, jack vines

On this subject, I think I made a maximum of 3psi with the SN60 on the 320. I was going to put a smaller pulley on the blower to try and increase the boost but never got around to it.