Frank, your work and project are both worthwhile and commendable! I am abosolutely performance oriented and would love to install and test your supercahrger. I have ridden Harley-Davidson, with a Magna superchargger, and dreamed of putting one on my RX7. Count me in, contact me offlist by email, I have friends racing RX7 who may have access to some of the numbers and performance limitations you are asking about. Even Detroit realizes the value of supercharging small engines. All I can say is bring it on!! Cheers for now,

 

To answer a few of the last posts: when this "kit" is ready, it will not have to be run from a laptop computer. It will come with everything necessary for a complete, smooth, no-hassle bolt-in to either a standard N/A or a turbo RX-7. Can we build a TURBO charger? Yes - very easily. I have always felt that superchargers were a much better way to get performance gains (no intercooler, for one) and the process of designing a kit is much simpler. That why I tackled the supercharger kit first. Cost will be competetive. One of the biggest restraining factors are the inhearantly HIGH cost of ALL RX-7 parts, aftermarket or otherwise. The turbine, once we figure out that we have several orders, will drop in price dramatically, the second we can switch away from hand tooling the case and diskpack. If I can get it to a cast case, it can drop to as low as 300.00 per unit, verses over a thousand dollars to hand tool. Volume drops everything. I'm still working on the bugs we encountered over the weekend, but that's mostly because I've eliminated the stock engine controls, and now I have to figure out where I screwed up the mapping. Let you all know when I have more information.

 

I am far away, and i would still drive down if he didnt mind


On another note, imagin the weight reduction benifets that some people will beable to exploite when the TT is available.

it will be the weight of a turbo car less

Heavy turbo manafold, replace with some nice headers
-No heavy large wastegate
-no blow off valve
-no intercooler, unless i missed something and the plan is to use one now


thats nice, obviously i dont have the weight for anyof this, but just speculating, i see the car being lighter with the TT

 

Frank; at =< $300, I say bring on the Supercharger now. Having experienced both Superchargers and turbo, I am far more interested in the Supercharger from an initial cost, ongoing maintenance, servicing, and replacement of worn parts perspective.

Find the point of max boost without detonating the engine and set the boost there. Design in a boost lift for those who want it for track days and don't mind owning the bragging rights to replaced engines. Porsche designed their turbo this way, partially because most drivers simply cannot out drive the capabilities of their vehicles in the first instance, conversely, they overdrive their own abilities. Hence Porsche's H.P. restrictions with their turbo are not engineering driven, rather they are safety driven. Yet, who would call a 911-turbo tame?

My point? A Supercharged engine with boost set at a maximum level that does not encourage engine detonation will maintain its normal useful life with no abnormal deterioration in performance or engine wear, and will equal or exceed the performance specifications of a turbo-charged engine without the accompanying cost of turbo maintenance.

Frank; all I can say is, bring on the Supercharger, the RX7 needs it now. I can probably speak for two now, and at least 6 for members of the club. Contact me, off list, through my profile with the when, where, and how to order the Superchargers.

Cheers for now,: cool:

 

Thanks for all the posts and suggestions. It would seem there is enough interest and potential buyers that the project will now be taken over down in Austin, Texas, by my partner, Martin Dorantes, and be done properly in our machine shop there. This will also yield results much more quickly than I can do up here in PA. No more cobbling...yippie. On a note to any/all members and guru's out there - does anyone CURRENTLY have a supercharger on their RX-7? What I am interested in mainly is the aftermarket parts list and items that come with the kit for direct bolt-in applications. If there is a quality kit already in existance, all that would need to be done is switch out the supercharger (impellor, more than likely) with our unit - saves allot of time, and the performance gains alone would be more than worth our effort to track one of these "kits" down and pull the switch.

 

As far as I know, there aren't any SC kits available anymore.

This might help:
http://home.earthlink.net/~burntoast/super.html
http://www.rx-7.cc/supercharger.html
http://pbgarrott.tripod.com/pgsupercharger/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/oatseason/supercharger.html

Don't forget all the other cars out there that need boost. If this works for the RX7, it will work for numerous other vehicles.

 

frank, i saw someone selling a nelson/paxton supercharger kit over on www.thepartstrader.com if you want to actually get your hands on one but he wants $2000 for it (pretty steep IMO).

http://www.thepartstrader.com/Single...=101&C2ID=1004

also, i definately like the intake elbow on those units, and if your supercharger isn't to heavy i might sit nicely at the end of that elbow without a bracket. Frank, is there going to need to be any kind of lubrication system hooked up to this think? if there is, is it self contained?

oh and SuperchargedRex's website is http://www.geocities.com/boatseason/supercharger.html

 

Thanks for the links...we're on it. I made a bit of a mistake in running things from the laptop and now need to reconnect everything we tore appart and just have the laptop MONITOR everything and NOT control it. I can't control the supercharger and the electronics and the engine parameters at the same time...anyway...reconnect we go. The Tesla type systems do not (nor ever did) need any oiling or internal or external lubrication. We started using Magnetic bearings (virtually zero friction - unregisterable wear) and there are even "air-gap" bearings which are less expensive than the mags. Weight of the entire (tooled steel) unit is appr. 6 lbs. total. Gotta go...lots more wiring to do between today, tomorrow and Wednesday...the fun never ends.

 

Taipan: The problem going this route is when someone like me comes along and wants to use this for racing. I need full control over the unit and able to really fine tune it. It sounds like you want to have restrictions on the controls stright from the factory. That might be good for joe schmoe street racer, but not good for me. So im against that.

 

Scathcart from bc has a sc and he's got some nice lists put together -- he's been posting on this thread.

 

OC; you may have misread me, sorry for the confusion. The setup I postulate couples the idea of a fantastic performing "stock" setup with the option of setting the boost parameters manually for those special occasions, or trips to the track, which is what I meant by my comment "design in a boost lift" for those who want to stick out their tongues and see where it goes before it breaks.

I don't think about Joe Schmoe street racing. I started driving RX2 in the early 70's so I can appreciate your thoughts and comments. Ability to adjust boost is great in Supercharging, and especially for race or performance oriented drivers. However, a well thought out factory setting will ensure mega performance for the everybody RX7 driver without having them give it up do to engine failures. Trust me, having ridden Harley-Davidson with the Magna-charger system, if it is set up right it is nothing but fun, and it lasts, or if overdone, well, then your engine will be over-cooked before you can wink.

BTW: Glad to hear that you are into racing, so am I, and I can hardly wait to hear the good news that a low priced Supercharger is finally deliverable.

Cheers and Good Luck on the track!!

 

if we get a good discount and the kit is priced under 1k, then im in, but will us na guys have to upgrade injectors and fuel pump? and once again, FRANK, what are the possibilities of using this with nitrous? thanks .

 

but like i said, if its under 1 k, count me in for sure

 

Pressure sensor will definately have to be replaced, and pump and injectors will if the boost is high enough.

 

You will definately need to upgrade your fuel pump, injectors, your exhaust, and the intake (which will be with the kit). Add ons will more than likely now include a boost regulator, inlet pressure sensor, timing retard computer or module (MSD or Jacobs make them at affordable prices, and, I'm using the JAcobs Rotary Master and it works fantastic with ignition retard/advance controller), air flow meter, alternator upgrade and 0 to 2 guage wiring to the mains. An internal blow off pressure sensor should protect the engine from the mild to the serious runners...set it to the level you expect to be able to handle the boost, as a dual safety feature besides the dial-up control which will be in the cockpit.

 

You can post the links all you want, Frank, but you still haven't properlly addressed spool up time. Telling us it works because of friction and viscosity doesn't work. My tires work because of friction but inertia still keeps it going foward if i try to turn to hard at high speed. the oppisite will keep the air at rest. if you are serious, you need to GIVE a working prototype to a forum moderator and let them tell us how it works.

 

There will be vertually no spool up time. I just built a tesla pump out of a 12V RadioShack motor, a tagboard disc, and a cardboard tube. It works. I know this from experience. Try it yourself and then say "Why the hell didn't I think of this myself." It has been my experience that most of the great ideas are rarely anything new, just old stuff figured out by someone who recognized the fact that he'd figured something out. Again, try it. Build your own (admittedly low pressure, very fragile, and very very ghetto) tesla pump.

 

got any pics of it, im just curios about what yours looks like

 

sorry, no digi camera. It's really very easy though. Mine is a single disc with gobs of excess clearance. You can get the idea just by shoving a pencil through the middle of a round cut-out and spinning it in your hand. You'll feel the air being blown away from the spinning disc.

 

just moving it up. 3rd page is no place for this thread

 

If there is a quality kit already in existance, all that would need to be done is switch out the supercharger

Saw this request. I'm in the Los Angeles area, same as Nelson who desigen the Nelson Supercharger kit. I contacted one of his old employees who will try and put Nelson in contact with me (he has since retired and gotten out of this). I'll see if he still has his molds, templates, etc. that you can leverage into.

 

Hey Frank,

Just read your message on the TT list.

This is exactly why I said early on "please make a profit." Who cares if you haven't built anything for mass market before. If you have a good product, make a profit. You need to find market clearing price, and go gangbusters.

 

Now rember you all we can always out trick ourselves but is it pratical , why not use an atkins supercharger? why try to design new tech when what we need is simplicity?

 

....because of how much that atkins costs. Besides... this tesla supercharger sounds like it could not only perform better but also be much less in price. Why not?

 

And simpler. Don't forget simpler. The Tesla design has all the simplicity you could possibly want.