Summer has been super busy here in the shop getting client's vintage racing cars ready to run at events at both Indy and Milwaukee, rebuilding a 1914 Simplex 4-cyl. 600 ci engine and trying to get a little time in here and there on the Volvo.
The new micarta vanes for the supercharger are finally finished, and you can see them above in the aluminum rotor, mocked up in about the same location in the housing bore that it rotates in (there is clearance below it).
The assembly rotates clockwise, and the right-hand vane is shown about five degrees before it starts to pull in the fuel and air charge from the portion of the aluminum manifold fed by the carburetor at atmospheric pressure. It then compresses it under the rotor; next as it rotates the vane slides out of the rotor slot via centrifugal force, lets the compressed mixture expand until it is forced out of the housing into the intake manifold at a maximum of 5-7 psi.
The intake mixture enters in the bottom half of the blower housing seen above through the diamond shaped openings. The compressed mixture exits through the top half into the intake manifold. The divider helps to equalize the flow to both the front and rear intake runners.
The new vanes above placed in the rotor. They are made of micarda, a tough thermosetting plastic and cloth composite that is the same material used for Volvo "fiber" camshaft gears. The slots assist in collecting the gas, air, and oil mixture to help lubricate the rotor slots and the sides of the vanes.
The housing bore and the rotating assembly will be lubricated by an Ampco "Vapor Lubricator"; this one is a brand new old stock unit. It injects a very fine mist of "Marvel Mystery Oil" or 10 weight oil through a spray nozzle into the carburetor venturi in the amount of about one drop very 4-6 seconds. After passing through the blower, it serves as a top end lube for the intake valve guides, intake valve and seat faces and the cylinder bores and rings.
New pressure-sensitive aluminum ID plate below for the front end of the supercharger housing.
Next up is to hone the ID of the blower housing on the shop Sunnen precision honing machine, in the same manner as a cylinder bore is done. Then detail everything, get new bearings and seals and reassemble it.