Trev is dead right.Trev wrote:And this (if recoed and ballanced) will set you back about $3000 anywayStygian wrote:Yeah, Greg has nailed it with the cost...with the 5 grand plus you will eventually blow on just the engine, you could buy a period Norman supercharger that was engineered to operate upon a STOCK grey motor...
But if you are on your "P" plates, then how about ditch the forced induction for a while... just slot in a nice 20/60 cam with resurfaced lifters, head with red motor valves and hardened valve seats, higher compression and keep the stock carb and exhaust. Nice cruising motor that if the cops ask you to pop the bonnet, it looks absolutely Grandpa...
But you can think of it this way. Spend 3 grand to have a reco motor you can cruise your P plate days without reliability/rego/insurance/defect notice dramas, whilst saving up the cash for a supercharger. If you are lucky enough to get hold of a Norman blower, then you will not have to rebuild the engine to suit. The blower will work nicely with a small cam. You already have a bigger valve area, due to the red motor valves, and a bigger valve area is needed to get the best out of a blower (read Eldred Norman's book "Supercharge" here). The bottom end will hold together provided you don't abuse it (e.g. no burnouts).
Of course, you will then need to shell out for a transmission other than the stock grey crash box (maybe an all synchro 3 speed). Plus you may need disc brakes, seatbelts, fan heater/demister and two speed wipers plus engineer's certificate. Plus you will always need to keep your car registered, as if it goes out of rego, you will have to get another engineer's certificate. The new certificate means the car has to pass the requirements of that future time, which maybe more restrictive than now (indeed, this is the trend). This may mean that you might have to make changes to your car.
As Aidan said, write out a figure about how much you need to spend, then multiply by three.
Andrew