For anyone who has attended a recent Super Chevy Show, the ProCharger name will most likely be a familiar one. After all, the crew at ProCharger sponsors the Bracket One Brawl at every event in which the winner receives a cash prize of $3,000. Most Super Chevy attendees may also be familiar with the drawing in which a ProCharger system is given away at season's end. For those who can't wait and feel that Lady Luck might not be on your side at winning the raffle, let us take a look at one of the latest from ProCharger: the Small-Block Serpentine Accessory Drive, part number 1CA110-D1SC.
We've all seen what a Roots...
We've all seen what a Roots supercharger looks like. Take a look at the diagram of a centrifugal blower provided by ProCharger. For years ProCharger has offered a carbureted V-belt kit. This serpentine kit is the newest child in the family. Included in this kit is everything you see (minus the AC compressor and alternator).
This new serpentine kit allows the purchaser to keep and reuse their air conditioning system, power steering, and alternator. We know the term "bolt in" tends to get used and abused by many a magazine editor and aftermarket manufacturer, however, in this case ProCharger's serpentine accessory drive truly bolted in with absolutely no modification to the vehicle.
Way back in the August 2005 issue of Super Chevy, we featured a white 1960 Biscayne on the cover. It is this very same automobile that we used as a donor car to test out ProCharger's new serpentine system. The weird part about it is that it fit like it was specifically designed for this very vehicle. This is a testament to the engineering team that ProCharger keeps employed.
Before a bolt was turned on this Biscayne, we pulled it into the Primedia Tech Center to flog it on the Mustang chassis dyno. The stock GM Performance Parts ZZ4 small-block crate engine (backed by a GM 700R transmission) was putting out 220 horses to the rear wheels of the party barge. Keep in mind that the dyno runs a bit on the conservative side and there is an amount of parasitic loss in horsepower from the flywheel through the drivetrain and large 18-inch wheels.
As we mentioned earlier in...
As we mentioned earlier in the article, before any bolts were turned we rolled the Biscayne onto the chassis dyno where it dyno'd in at 220 hp.
Just about eight hours after we had started, the install was complete and the non-intercooled ProCharger system on the Biscayne was ready to run like a hobo chasing a ham sandwich. After a second chassis pull, the small-block was throwing down an additional 90 hp to the wheels (310 total), a 41 percent increase with only 8 pounds of boost. But we ran into a problem: the fuel system. As it turned out, the supercharger was capable of producing even more horsepower, but the fuel system on the Biscayne was maxxed out.
As the centrifugal supercharger spooled up and boost increased, the mostly stock fuel system was unable to keep up with the demands. In order to solve this problem, the solution was to increase the fuel lines from 1/2 to a 3/4 line and then get rid of the restrictive stock fuel-sending unit. These changes would allow any vehicle's fuel system to parallel the boost levels of the supercharger.
Unfortunately, the owner of the Biscayne, Chris Basset, blew up his stock 10-bolt rearend shortly after the ProCharger install and we couldn't retest it. While that may seem a sad tale, we can't help but smile at the same time, at least he was out having fun stuffing fuel and air into the engine as it happened. After a trip to Currie for his new rearend and an altering of the fuel system, we will post some more dyno results in a future issue, just to see what this ProCharger can really do. Stay tuned: We aren't done yet.
 Let's take a look at what...  Let's take a look at what comes out of the box (other than packing peanuts):
- All brackets and pulleys (CNC-machined)
- Serpentine belt
- Supercharger, belt drive, auto tensioner
- Supercharger oil
- Carburetor bonnet
- Tubing
- Surge valve
- K&N air filters
- Fully illustrated instructions |  ProCharger technicians Sergio...  ProCharger technicians Sergio Shifman and Dorian Comeau jumped under the hood of the Biscayne even before it had a chance to fully cool down after the initial dyno pulls. |  The first order of business...  The first order of business was to remove the brackets, hoses, carburetor, water pump, AC compressor, alternator, fuel pump and power steering pump. Just the week before, Chris Basset (the vehicle owner) swapped out his Edelbrock Air Gap dual-plane intake manifold for a single plane Edelbrock Victor Jr. ProCharger technicians suggested he do this swap prior to the install of the supercharger. The advantage of a single-plane blowthrough manifold is increased atomization of the fuel compared with the dual-plane intake (which came stock on the ZZ4 crate motor. |