B&M Blowers

[disco_charger]

Are they worth anything? What about the little ones? I can get one super cheap, should I even bother?
Disco

[DogHouse]

There are a couple guys on the boards here that run the mega blowers and make near 900hp on 509ci. Their cats run 108 and 115. I'd say that's worth something! Teague also uses them on the 740 package. Lots of those running around out there as well. Not saying there aren't better blowers around but the B&M certainly have been proven to be useful in some applications. I also know guys with the smaller 250 blowers that give a nice boost to milder engine setups.
-brian

[HM]

If you can get a 144 or 174 cheap, they are good little bolt-on power units. Depending on what you want to put it on. They can safely make about an additional 100 HP to a fairly stock motor. They increase and flatten the torque curve.
Cheap should be less than $400. If more than that, skip em.
If you are looking at a 250. Same thing (I run this - but am pushing the upper end of performance). Cheap would be $600. Good used ones sell around $800.
If you can get one super cheap - go for it! You can always sell it later - and it is a nice introduction into blowers.
Like you sig says, you'd rather be blown. :D
[ February 04, 2003, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: HolyMoly ]

[HM]

BTW, I just sold my other B&M 250 I got from my dad. It had a superchiller, dual HP 950's, SS hardline, sidesaddle mounted and all linkage, and billet K&N filter (Like the one on my flattie) for $3000.
I was going to put it in the Campbell, but decided that I want a Whipple. My dad moved to a Whipple 3300 and will make way more boost with much lower charge temperatures and their intercooler is more efficient. What this means is that you can make some serious boost on pump gas.

[pleasantcat]

i have a 250 b&m i'll let go cheap. email me and well chat.

[superV]

pleasantcat:
i have a 250 b&m i'll let go cheap. email me and well chat. You have mail :D

[Liberator TJ1984]

I had a 177 on my boat when I first got it...after engine rebuild left it off till after break in then reinstalled it ...Blower added about 600rpms and throttle response is greatly improved...I liked it ...but I like my 8/71 more :D
Gopherrr

[hack job]

pleasantcat:
i have a 250 b&m i'll let go cheap. email me and well chat. what is cheep?
i might be intrested
wink

[wsm9808]

holyMoly,if you dont mind telling, I'd like to know where you are finding 144/177s for 400.00 and 250s for 6 to 8 hundred. I would buy them all day long for those prices.
Thanks
[ February 17, 2003, 10:55 PM: Message edited by: wsm9808 ]

[steve@kps]

I'm looking for a 250 megablower or maybe even a little bigger. I like the prices your talking about. I'll buy one right now at the right price. e-mail is keyprop@hotmail.com or phone is 918-245-1222
thanks.

[Brian Gilligan]

I have a weiand 177 blower with intercooler and parts. I am moving up to a larger blower for my 516 ci. Make me an offer before I trade it to Paul Pfaff for parts on my rebuild. The intercooler needs a core, other than that it should be ready to go.
Brian
(909) 913-0401

[Cas]

I just got my first ever blower yesterday, it came with a BBC I bought. It's a B&M and was told it's a 177. The first thing I noticed is the snoot is quite long without a water pump to cover the gap. Can I get a shorter snoot?
I'm sure I'll be asking quite a few more questions. Like I said, this is my first experience with a blower and will probably need some advice from time to time.

[Craig]

Does it look like this? B&M makes a 174, Weiand a 177. Of course they're all made by Holley now. Does yours have the spring tensioner on the snout?
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/140weiand-med.jpg

[Cas]

Craig,
Yes, it's similar to that with the belt tensioner on the snout, not quite as shiney though. Here's a couple of pictures of it but I don't have a close-up of the front.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/504/210engine2-med.jpg
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/504/210engine1-med.jpg
The engine also came with a Holley TBI except I didn't get the wiring or the controller for it.
I guess some of the questions I have are....
What kind of maintainance will this blower need?
Can I get shorter snout? (as you can see in the picture, it does stick out quite a bit)
I heard blowers need to be "bled off" every so often, yes/no?
Anything else I should know?
I'm pretty sure you guys have probably answered these questions over and over in the past. Any help will be much appreciated.

[Craig]

I think you're stuck with the snout length. Give us somne details on the motor (compression, cam, heads, valves,) it's on and what size carb you have there.

[Cas]

Craig,
Since I just picked up the engine, I know very little about it as I haven't really dug into it yet. What I do know about it is it was built for a 1970 Chevy p/u that was featured in Custom Truck magazine a couple of years ago. The engine is new in the fact it was pulled from the truck still with the break-in oil in it but it's been sitting since mid 2001....long story.
I pulled the valve covers to see that the heads are the large oval port 781's. From what I understand, the 781's are a little higher compression than the 049's but aren't more than about 9:1? It's pretty obvious the engine hasn't been run much as the heads are super clean and appear to have just been redone. Once I get into it I'll see what size the valves are.
As far as anything else goes, I have no clue yet but plan on changing the cam and lifters, timing chain and at least getting the springs checked.
Oh yea, the rockers are not rollers but the Crane stock style stamped steel alloys. I'll be changing those out to rollers also.
[ March 17, 2003, 10:39 AM: Message edited by: Cas ]

[gnarley]

Hey Cas, I have a 177 on mine. It does just fine for a low buck setup! Get your carb/carbs boost referenced so it works right. What do you plan to run for CFM?

[Cas]

Gnarley,
Funny you should post up here. Don and I were just talking about you. He told my you were running the same blower and that I should get ahold of you....you beat me to it.
Anyway, I was told about the referrencing a couple of days ago so I'll be getting that done soon. Anyone around here that does it...besides CP?
Oh yea, I have a 830 dp that I thought I'd use. I also have a 750 vs but I don't think it'll work as well as the 830.

[gnarley]

Cas, go with the 830 if you are correct. What is the list #? A fellow boater over in the East Bay did the boost reference for me & I owe him a debit of gratitude, thanks again Bob! It really isn't difficult to reference, you just need a drill press & a mill makes it much easier than a die grinder but you could do it yourself! What pulleys? And you better get a boost gauge installed or how will you really know what boost it's making? How big is your fuel pump? And what size lines are you going to plumb with? Make sure you can tell fuel pressure so add a gauge for that also if you don't already have one.

[Cas]

G,
Yep, it's an 830, had Jesse at Bigs check it out for me. The list # is 9381, if I remember correctly.
The pulley on the crank is a 6" and the pulley on the snout is a 3". It looks like there's a place for a boost gauge right underneath the carb although I'm not goofy about the way it's done. There's 3 brass fittings screwed into each other apparently to get a proper angle for some reason. Anyway, all but one of the fittings is now gone.
The fuel pump is non existant right now, need a new one and the fuel lines are currently 3/8" which draw from both tanks at one time.
Any suggestions on a fuel pump?
The carb fuel log I have has a little fuel pressure gauge that I used on my other engine.
Should I get a better one?

[Heatseeker]

Cas, it is not entirely neccessary to boost reference. I plugged the PV's off in my carbs, and stepped up the jets all the way around. I also made up some new squirters, going from 25's to 35's. The carbs work fine like this.
I learned this by talking with Ty at TPC(hotcrusader76). You could give him a call. He's real helpful.
Unless you can get Gnarley's buddy, Bob(058?) to do your carb, you're going to spend a few $$$ to get it referenced.
If that engine came out of a truck, why no water pump. I though those B&M's had the long snout to clear the water pump and all stock accesories. Also, you might check to see what cam is in there. It may be the "correct" cam for that blower set up.

[gnarley]

Cas what you said "right underneath the carb" for the boost gauge fitting doesn't sound right. If it's right under the carb all you'll get is vacuum, it needs to be in the intake under the blower. Mine didn't have a fitting so I just drilled & tapped it in the back near #7 just in front of the distributor.
With the pulleys you have it sounds like it should provide 4-5 #'s & if your pistons are good & you feel safe you could buy a smaller top pulley and bump it to 7-8 #'s. The only problem with turning it faster by adding the smaller pulley is the little blower will start making more heat in the charge much faster than a 6,8,-71. I have done this & since I have no room for an intercooler I am building a water injection system to cool it & theory says will also make more power by mixing additional H2O with the charge.
As for fuel lines I upgraded to #8 from the water separator to the pump to regulator & carb, then made sure to check every fittings ID visually so all the std fittings from the tank to the separator are 3/8 ID. For the pump I have the newer Holley Blue that is supposed to have a built in bypass to allow the pump to cool but others have said they still overheat at times. If I had a choice I would of opted for the Mallory Marine if memory serves me correctly as it is also supposed to have a bypass & work really well, or so I have been told. If you trust your small pressure gauge great if not make sure you can & I run mine at 8#’s. What ever pump you run (elect or mech) just make sure it can deliver what’s needed at the RPM you plan to redline. Also make sure your spark arrestor can flow enough air, I’m guessing somewhere in the amount of 1100 CFM at WOT 5500 RPM or so. Remember the blower will make the carb flow more CFM than advertised.
Then lastly what John said about boost referencing, I agree with him. You don’t have to & can just block of the PV’s & jet up to compensate for the loss of enrichment from the missing PV. I did block off the rear but did reference the front for drivability. Also, as he says that cam might be just fine.

[Cas]

John,
I took the water pump off along with all the other car related stuff :) Thanks for the tip on the carb, I'll be giving that a try before I send it out.
Charley,
The fitting is tapped into the blower housing about 1/2" below where the carb mounts.
For now, I'm not sure I'm going to play around with the pulleys. I want to see how it runs the way it is and since I don't know what's in the bottom end yet, I would rather err on the safe side.
As far as the fuel pump, I'm probably going with mechanical from CV products. Here's a link to a post I made about them on Banderlog.
About CV Products feul pumps (http://www.banderlog.com/cgi-bin/banderlog/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=2547&forum=DCForumID1)
Thanks for the info on the spark arrestor, I was going to ask that also.

[gnarley]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Cas:

The fitting is tapped into the blower housing about 1/2" below where the carb mounts.
I'm probably going with mechanical from CV products.
Plug the fitting under the carb, then drill & tap another one UNDER the blower in the mainifold. The fuel pump looks like it should do great! I can't run one on mine as it's a MK V & has no mounting area for a mech pump.