NEW VR-4 KITS FOUND!!!!

[pavement pounde]

I always wanted to know, the industrial Paxton superchargers have "what appears to be" a VR4 look a like impeller, they have been used a lot and pop up everytime on Ebay, are they the same?

http://www.paxtonproducts.com/

Look closer at their impellors

[Michael]

I always wanted to know, the industrial Paxton superchargers have "what appears to be" a VR4 look a like impeller, they have been used a lot and pop up everytime on Ebay, are they the same?

http://www.paxtonproducts.com/

Look closer at their impellors

At first glance, those industrial blower impellers certainly look the same as the VR-4 impeller. It would be interesting to compare the two side-by-side... if only the VR-4 was easy to get your hands on.

I've seen industrial Paxton blowers on eBay from time to time, but I've never seen just the impeller. I wonder if Paxton Products would sell one as a "replacement" item...?

I think the only person who could clear up the question of whether the industrial impellers and the VR-4 impellers are the same would be Joe Granatelli Jr. Not sure he'd be willing (or can) share that information though.

[Buck-Strickland]

One of the members has tried that before, I think it was suede57ford.

http://www.superchargerhelp.com/showthread.php?t=10142 Post #4

Above goes into minor detail about the industrial impellers.

[pavement pounde]

Crap, I forgot about that topic....

[suede57ford]

The industrial blowers are nothing like an original VR4 impleller besides a similar appearing casting. I have discovered three different dimension impellers used in industrial blowers with this style.

The original VR4 cast impeller are dramatically lighter and stronger than the industral impeller of the same size. They are made in different processes as the industral impeller is a really smooth casting, almost looking billet, but it is a type of casting that is very pourous and actually weaker.

I have the weights of each type of impeller recorded and there is a significant difference with the industrial very, even noticible by feel.

The heavy and weaker industrial casting is prone to breaking due to centrifigal force with blower speeds up to 44,000 rpm as in a performance application.

The industrial impeller is also cut at different profile than a true VR4 impeller. More material has been removed on the industrial impeller near the inlet profile, so you cannot make it fit a VR4 cover as it does not have enough material. Also you cannot easly cut down the profile of an impeller on the face of the blades as it would damage the blades trying to cut them on a lathe, unless you use a filler to suppor them while you change the profile.

Occasionally you see and industrial blower show up on ebay and they sell for way more than I would expect. They are not designed for high speed use, like a SN series blower and would not work well for a car engine. They are originally designed to move air, powered by an electric motor. Why would any one buy one? You cannot effectively use it on a car or use its parts on a SN rebuild.

They also have no interchangable parts with the valuable VR57 & VR58 blowers off the '57 Fords and '57 T-Bird F-code cars. They only slightly resemble them.

I intend on using a heavily modified industrial rear cover cut to match a true VR4 impeller in a converted Ford VR57 with SN converted internals for my supercharged '57 Ford sedan. It will look original on the outside but make VR4 pressures for Nostalgic drag racing and hot street use.

[suede57ford]

The industrial blowers are nothing like an original VR4 impleller besides a similar appearing casting. I have discovered three different dimension impellers used in industrial blowers with this style.

The original VR4 cast impeller are dramatically lighter and stronger than the industral impeller of the same size. They are made in different processes as the industral impeller is a really smooth casting, almost looking billet, but it is a type of casting that is very pourous and actually weaker.

I have the weights of each type of impeller recorded and there is a significant wieght difference with the industrial version even noticable by feel.

The heavy and weaker industrial casting is prone to breaking due to centrifigal force with blower speeds up to 44,000 rpm as in a performance application.

The industrial impeller is also cut at different profile than a true VR4 impeller. More material has been removed on the industrial impeller near the inlet profile, so you cannot make it fit a VR4 cover as it does not have enough material. Also you cannot easly cut down the profile of an impeller on the face of the blades as it would damage the blades trying to cut them on a lathe, unless you use a filler to support them while you change the profile.

Occasionally you see and industrial blower show up on ebay and they sell for way more than I would expect. They are not designed for high speed use, like a SN series blower and would not work well for a car engine. They are originally designed to move air, powered by an electric motor. Why would any one buy one? You cannot effectively use it on a car or use its parts on a SN rebuild.

They also have no interchangable parts with the valuable VR57 & VR58 blowers off the '57 Fords and '57 T-Bird F-code cars. They only slightly resemble them.

I intend on using a heavily modified industrial rear cover cut to match a true VR4 impeller in a converted Ford VR57 with SN converted internals for my supercharged '57 Ford sedan. It will look original on the outside but make VR4 pressures for Nostalgic drag racing and hot street use.

[pavement pounde]

Good info, thanks.

[Michael]

In case anyone needs proof of the CAD modeling abilities of the owner/administrator of this site (ie. me), I decided to model an impeller to see just how long it would take and how accurately I could do it.

I modeled this in a little over a day, without the use of a 3D scanner and accurate to within +/- 0.001"









So again, if someone is willing to send me a VR-4 impeller, I could probably model it in about the same amount of time and with the same level of accuracy.

[Buck-Strickland]

Nice! What software are you using?

[Michael]

Nice! What software are you using?

Thanks. I'm guessing you recognize it huh? LOL!!!

The CAD model itself was built using both Rhinoceros (for the center section) and Alias Studio Tools (for the hub surface and impeller vanes). I often bounce between the two CAD packages, depending on what I'm modeling and how I want model it; I find Rhinoceros to be a bit better for building "solids", while Alias is unsurpassed for complex surfaces. The rendering however was done using Keyshot2 (just a simple importing of the model file and applying materials and the environment)

As I said, I modeled it largely so I could see just how long it would take me to do it. If anyone on the site is willing to help out with this little experiment by lending me a VR-4 impeller I won't need it for very long.

[pavement pounde]

C'mon guys, If I still had my VR4 I would ship my impeller to him.
A little trust here and there.

[69fury]

Took mine apart to learn about rebuilding it- that's as far as i got...you guys serious about this?

rick.

[Michael]

Took mine apart to learn about rebuilding it- that's as far as i got...you guys serious about this?

rick.

Yes.

In fact, I'm working on this right now. Taking a little longer than I thought it would, but it's coming along.

[69fury]

Yes.

In fact, I'm working on this right now. Taking a little longer than I thought it would, but it's coming along.

so you've got an impeller/scroll? Just checkin in. I'm still kicking myself about that gear driver that got away last year.... oh well- hey why hasn't anyone shoved a auto trans planetary in one of these cases, yet? no slip.....

rick.

[Michael]

so you've got an impeller/scroll? Just checkin in. I'm still kicking myself about that gear driver that got away last year.... oh well- hey why hasn't anyone shoved a auto trans planetary in one of these cases, yet? no slip.....

rick.

Yes. One of our members sent me his VR-4 impeller and scroll cover along with a VR-70 impeller.

Apparently there is a prototype SN blower with a planetary gear type drive fitted to it. If you go to the Solanski Performance website there were a couple of photos of it. I think the reason it was never produced was because of cost.