KAAMA

iTrader: (1)

Shah Mat,

If you send your blowers out to California you are going to at least pay right around $300 for shipping alone. I know of a guy who has a 250 size supercharger that needed repair. He called a few well known supercharger manufacture'rs out in California and if I remember correctly they both told him they wanted about $1000 just to tear them down and give you a recommendation. That's A LOT of SMACK to be laying down for a tear down---especially before parts and labor. My friend utlimately sent them back to Holley and they rebuilt his supercharger for about $550----and that was WITH shipping! He now has his other blower at Darren Mayer's shop for a rebuild----his shop is only 70 miles away which helps too.

I know you get what you pay for-------and not that the well known shops don't do quality work, and cost depends on what is needed for repairs, but I would call around as my friend did. Darren Mayer's shop would at least be worth a phone call. It was kind for BBQ/Ron to speak on Darren's behalf. Whatever you do I hope it goes well for you.

BBQ70

Tim,

There really is not a good answer on how offen a blower needs to be rebuilt. We rebuild a lot of B&M blowers every year. Most of them have between 200-500 hrs. Usually with this aomount of hrs they need main shaft and coupler, and some times gears. I have seen alot of blowers need major work with less then 100 hrs but then I see a lot with stardard rebuild only on blowers that have not been serviced for 10 years. The main key to longevity of the supercharger is maintaining the proper oil level in the gear case. The majority of the blower failures we see are due to low oil. The rear bearings on the B&M blowers is typically not the problem on the blower failure. The roller bearing design works really well, that is why we use that same design on our 192 and 250 blowers. I would say that only 1 out of 100 B&M blowers we rebuild have rear bearing problems. The Weiand blowers however with the single row bearings both front and rear in an oil bath is a different story. They tend to be a 50/50 on the front or rear bearing failure. Again this is due to the lack of oil or fuel contaminated oil. If the oil was checked at least once a year and replaced if contaminated then the majority of the wear would go away.

The other hard part of answering you question is this. If the blower is serviced say every 2-4 years depending on the use and how hard you are on the parts, then you can prevent a major blower failure that can be expensive to repair. Once you lose a bearing and the rotors start to hit each other, they usually need to be replaced. So you are looking at $400-$500 for a standard rebuild or $1000-$1500 if it needs hard parts. Now that parts are harder to find for the B&M and Weiand blowers the repair price is only going to go up. You have to remember that most of the replcement parts have been discontinued. We are really seeing it now with the 420 mega blower. Rotors are no longer availiable so they can not be repaired if the rotor are ruined. So it has to be a judgment call on your end. Do you service the blower every couple of years as more of a preventative measure or try to get 5-10 years and hope you catch it before a bearing fails.

Kaama

I do not know which companies your friend called out here, but we do not charge for inspection and tear down. Most standard rebuilds are $265 labor and $145 for the bearing and seal kit. If the blower needs hard parts then yes it could be up in the $1000 range. I don't know any of the other blower manufactures out here that charge that kind of money for tear down either. Most do not charge or might have a 1 hr min shop rate for inspection. I would think that the $1000 number was more of a quote then just an inspection charge.

I do agree with you that people should shop around and check with some other manufactures. I do not know what Darren charges on the rebuilds for the B&M blowers so I can't say if he is a better deal. All I know is that he does quality work and have not heard anything bad about him. I have no problem refering anyone to him. If you can save on the freight, then why not use someone closer. Even if Darren is more expensive, use who you feel more comfortable with. If you are comparing price, apples to apples, then I think most of the blower companies are in the same ball park on price. That is why I think you should use who you feel the most comfortable with.

zahndok

BBQ70

Would it be practical to drill a hole in the front cover of the 575 blower and thread it for a 1/8" pipe plug to make for easy oil change?

Dano

Another question... if the thing takes a dump and needs a major rebuild whats a good replacement and or upgrade?

BBQ70

zahndok,

An oil drain plug would be helpful especially if you want to change the oil while the supercharger is on the motor. You probably wont get all the oil out, but you can get the majority out. Just make sure you pull the front cover off when you machine it as not to get any aluminum chips in the gear case. Don't take offense to that last comment, it is nothing personal. You would be surprised at some of the things I have seen people do, and they just say "I did not know"

Ron

BBQ70

Dano,

Which blower are you refering to?

If it is a 420 blower we move them into an 8-71 blower. This does require a manifold and drive kit as well. If it was an 8mm drive you can use your belt and pulleys.

If it is a 250 B&M blower, we can put our 250 rotors and gears in them.

The 256 Weiand or Merc 575, we modify our 250 to fit their manifold and snout. We no longer put our 250 rotors in the Weiand blowers because the single row bearings can not support the rotor.

We are in the process of designing a replacement 177 blower to replace the Merc 525 blowers. We are not sure if we are going to make it the same size (177 cu in) or use our 192 case and rotor and modify it for the 177 manifold.

Any of the other size Holley blowers (142/144, 174/177) as long as they are their new style, replacement parts are avaliable. Holley has changed the rotor, gear, and bearing design, so you can not interchange the old with the new. The only way to use their new style rotors is to change the bearing plates as well. This just gets expensive since you are only using your original case. The Weiand and B&M pin center to center was different, and I believe Holley used the Weiand pattern, which means they will not fit the B&M case. I will have to verify that because I do not rember exactly which way it was.

Canada Jeff

Can some one tell us what oil to use in Merc's 575? I am doing ours soon and need to know. Thanx.

Dano

BBQ70,
Yes I was refering to the 575 motors. I'll be refreshening and looking for ideas.

BBQ70

Weiand used a standard 80-90 wt gear oil.

Any good quality gear oil with a gl-5 rating will work.

We however now only use Red Line Heavy Shock Proof oil in the Merc 525 and 575 blowers.

Ron
The Blower Shop

Canada Jeff

Thanx.