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Engine Performance Upgrades

2:55
55:11
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At 2:55 in

The Birth of a Legend: NASCAR's Early Days and Pioneers (Bill Blair Jr's Personal Museum)

What happens here

To boost engine performance, moonshiners would install higher-compression aluminum block heads (often called 'Elco heads') and dual carburetors on their flathead Ford V8 engines. The Grancor (Granatelli Corporation) intake manifold was a popular choice for dual carburetors. Additionally, McCulloch superchargers, which later evolved into the Paxton brand, were fitted to engines to significantly increase horsepower, providing 7-8 pounds of boost. These modifications were cutting-edge for the 1930s and '40s, pushing the limits of available technology.

Goal: Understand how engines were modified for increased speed and power.

Tools and materials

  • Aluminum Block Heads — Increasing compression and engine horsepower
  • Distributor — Timing adjustment with a movable 'strip'
  • Dual Carburetors — Increasing fuel delivery to the engine for more power
  • Engine Block Ford — Example of a modified engine block for an oil filter and pressure/suction pump system
  • Grancor Intake Manifold Grancor — Mounting dual carburetors to the flathead Ford engine
  • McCulloch Supercharger McCulloch — Forced induction to significantly boost engine horsepower (7-8 psi)
  • Methanol — High-performance fuel, requiring twice the amount compared to gasoline
  • Nitro — Added to methanol for even greater power, often up to 40-50% concentration

What they say

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they put two carrers on them I'll show you one up here but see uh well this this car here just to give you an example it started out being 85 horse well next thing you would do get on a horow you put the El roock heads on as you see down in there then the next thing you would do is get you a molic supercharger see that thing on top of that block over there that was made 1939 4394 I found that one not long ago and going recondition it and paint it put on this board over here to simulate what he had and you put two carers up on top of if somebody asked me could you buy a supercharger for your Flathead port in 1939 I'd really have to think about it well they started making his made in Milwaukee uh guy's last name was mullik I think his first name is Fred but U anyway it's U it's pretty pretty neat that was made for just uh a regular adapter you put that on uh this a regular uh two barel in Tite and you had two CES on it's how crude to that that compressor wheel is compared to a a turbo now or does how many all give about seven or eight PB boost what it did all those little things had to be carved out by hand in the mold and that's just that's incredible I got to figure out how the old hooks back up and everything and strip it paint it and I'll get it back together now this block here is one I put my cam sh in to plot them I plot cam Sha but as is I'm on cam sha these things he also later on would put a the Mercury motor in with more stroke little supercharger hum you know but law didn't have anything run any faster so you you equal and sometimes they' give him an xri car when he went up there and he got caught and they put him in jail didn't have no bail money spend all his money on buying the liquor so they called home to Mr Blair he said well we just caught your son up here William Ivy Blair with 125 gallons of KN on tax paid liquor so Mr Blair thought a minute he said well sir let me tell you what you do B you caught him you keep him and hung the phone up yep that's what he did so next day Bill's mother sent the oldest boy Garland up to get him out jail and it cost $5 that was the bail and so his daddy got all over him so he went to trial later on in uh Danville that was the Western District Court of Virginia and they find him $100 and put him on probation didn't send him to K chil carthy he know he was going to chil karthy but he didn't go and I think Mr BL daddy probably in politics called up and got somebody to fix it for him I don't know that but…

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