Ford Stroker Build Vortech Supercharger - Superstar Stroker Part 3 - Tech

It is important to center the blower pulley because if it isn't centered, there will be a serious belt alignment problem.

Groh made two spacers on the lathe so the crank trigger optical eye mount and timing pointer could co-exist on this engine.

The backside of the YSi-Trim supercharger features a 4-inch inlet and refined impeller. According to Vortech, this supercharger is capable of supplying enough air for approximately 1,200 hp.

The clockwise, straight discharge supercharger mounts to the driver-side cylinder head using twin 11/42-inch billet brackets and a special tensioner. Unfortu-nately, this mounting position prevents the A/C from mounting in the traditional manner. A 10-rib drive pulley system was employed for this project. The extra two ribs help the belt have more traction on the pulley and prevent any slippage at high rpm.

The new BV-57 bypass valve from Vortech prevents air from backing up into the supercharger when the throttle body blade is shut. It vents the unused air to the atmosphere. Vortech supplied us with the aluminum flange that gets welded to the blower charge tube. A band clap is used to secure the bypass valve to the flange. Both aluminum and steel flanges are available.

A special strut from Vortech connects the blower to the front of the 8-inch crank pulley. The strut hit the market almost 10 years ago, and the design is proven to help keep the blower from flexing under high-tension loads. It secures the blower and helps prevent belt slippage.

Special thanks goes to Super Street Outlaw racer Carlo Catalanotto, who lent us a complete FAST engine-management system for this project. We have a FAST unit, but it wasn't available, and Carlo was gracious enough to overnight his unit for our dyno session. This system is now defunct, but it is a proven performer. It is a sequential system with individual timing controls. Groh whipped up a startup program and tuned it to per-fection on the dyno.

Chris "Noodles" Hemmeter of Behind Bars Race Cars fabbed up a discharge tube from the YSi-Trim head unit to the Wilson throttle body. He also mounted the BV-57 bypass valve on the tube.

Groh poses with his latest creation. We had to boogie out of town and were unable to stick around for the blower tube to be finished. Due to strict editorial deadlines, we were also unable to get the engine on the P.E.R Racing Engine SuperFlow dyno in time for our drop-dead date. Look for complete results next issue.