We all know a blower can add gobs of power, but adding one to any motor can be an intense situation and an arduous task for some. Surprisingly, thismod couldn't have gone any smoother. If anything, it was a little too easy: Just pull the old manifold off, lay new gaskets, and plant the new blower on. It was like Miracle-Gro for our small-block. Not only was the install simple and fast, but the blower performed as well and even better than some of the high-zoot combos we've been around.
If you recall, back in our June '07 story "Crate This," we flogged a low-buck 350 crate engine from GM Performance Parts. We swapped out the cast-iron heads for a set of GMPP's aluminum 210cc Fast Burns, added a Comp Cams flat-tappet camshaft with matching rockers, and polished it off with an Edelbrock manifold. All said and done, the mini Mouse netted 70 hp over the base 315 hp (GMPP rates this one at 290 hp). Though 385 hp from this mill is pretty impressive for any street ripper, editor H wanted to push the mill even further. Enter the Magna Charger Gen-1 blower for small-block applications.
Not surprisingly, the kit came complete and ready to bolt-on right out of the box. Inside the Magna Charger kit were all the drive components: the crank pulley, the idler, the supercharger nose-support, a tensioner, a belt, extra-thick gaskets, and hardware. How'd it produce? To say we were impressed wouldn't do the system justice, but the proof is in the numbers, so read on to see how you can turn up the wick on your small-block in a matter of hours.
We started by separating the...
We started by separating the manifold from the block. Since Magna Charger supplies new gaskets, we tossed the old ones. Completely remove any old gasket material before applying the new one. Here's a tip: Lay shop towels in the lifter valley and stuff the intake ports to prevent any debris from getting inside the ports.
After removing the gasket,...
After removing the gasket, we applied Gasgacinch across the face of the intake port surface. Keep in mind, Gasgacinch works better after it becomes tacky. Next, we applied Gasgacinch to the gaskets as the intake ports started to dry. From there we lined up the ports, laid the gasket down, and put pressure on them by hand to ensure proper bonding.