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Merlin 540
Does anyone have any info on the World Industries crate 540 that some of the online retailers sell? I think they have 9:1 compression. I have heard that they would not hold up with a blower ...anyone ever try? What needs to be upgraded internally
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check it out here (http://www.theengineshop.com/engine3.shtml)
A friend of mine has one in his 70 el camino...he spent some time on the phone with those guys about possible mods after the warranty ran out. I'll give him a call.
Last year (03) I purchased a 635 ci Dart from one of the engine builders. The price could not be matched by local builders. The warranty was the same. This engine has a comprssion ratio of 8:1. because of blower application. I did not put it to the test, I ran it some with good results. This year with a new hull and a ratchet, I will see if it will hold up.
I already have the motor...I got a "deal " on it.
What needs to be done so that I can put a whipple on it with and squeeze out 800 hp?
You might call Teague Marine. They sell that engine in a marine version and could probably recommend what needs to be changed for a supercharged application.
Crap, If you already have the motor, find the weights of the pistons and pins, get new lower compression units at the same weight. Set that motor up with a good sized intercooler and boost it up.
You could run the whipple on a 9:1 base setup, but you could pull more boost if your initial compression was lower. Regardless of what you do, remember the engine that is designed and built to make 800 hp will always fair better than the motor that was built to make 640hp and someone slapped a blower on it hoping to get to 800. ;)
The Merlin motor you are refering to has the goods to survive at the 800hp level if the deal is designed properly. I think you'd have better luck running a more common blower initial compression ratio (7.5:1 or 8:1) and running more boost; as opposed to keeping the 9:1 ratio and running a little less boost.
As a comparable, a Teague 740hp setup runs a B&M/Holley/whatever 250 blower on top of a 509 with a fairly mellow cam setup. I believe (and infomaniac or Dustin from whipple can correct me if I'm wrong) that the 3.3 compressor from whipple will out perform the 250 from B&M which means a cooler charge at equal boost levels, or the ability to run more boost at the same temps as the 250 setup.
I hope all that helps. Oh one more thing, if you're running a blower, invest in a good oil cooler and oil temp gauge setup.
Chris
So a B&M 250 blower can handle a 540, if it is planned out right from the beginning? I was told a 540 needs a bigger blower.
Not what I said ;)
I said that Teague runs a 250 on their 509 CI 740 HP deal. Having ridden in a boat equipped with that package, I can say that the blower speed is noticable. Trying to fill a 540 with that little blower would probably be a tall order without spinning the snot out of the blower.
I would check, but if you were looking into one of the smaller blowers, I think (and empasis on this as an educated guess) that the Whipple 3.3 will deliver more air.
If you're looking to do a real deal blower deal on the 540, I'd say minimum of a 8-71 but a whipple 2.2 quadrotor would probably work even better.
Now for the legal disclaimer: I'm not the blower guru. Talk to Infomaniac, Fiat, or any of the other regular gear heads for the real deal on setting up a for a durable and efficient setup.
Chris