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PAGE 12 Preying on unsuspecting Corvettes accustomed to tromping on Thunderbirds at stoplights all across the country the new "F" code Thunderbirds with no tell tale markings finally got revenge in the summer of 1957. The first Factory Supercharged Thunderbird producing a whopping 365 horsepower hit the streets around mid June in 1957 and began seeking out Corvettes to embarrass. (Although Ford rated and marketed the F Code Thunderbirds at 300 HP, McCulloch, the manufacturer of the supercharger system rated them at 365 HP) In order to stay competitive in NASCAR and keep up with the Corvette fuel injected engines Ford developed the Supercharger system for the Thunderbird.  NASCAR wouldn't allow it to be used on the track unless it was used on regular production cars so Ford began producing Supercharged Thunderbirds and Ford cars. After they had a couple on the road NASCAR allowed them on the track and Ford went on to claim many victories. The Supercharged 1957 Thunderbirds are one of the most sought after collector cars today. As promised following are the major parts that make up this rare supercharger system. I'll begin with the crank damper. It has three pulleys rather than the typical two pulley damper of the C, D and E birds. The obvious reason is that the third one runs the blower. This first picture is the damper on my car which which is an Automatic car. The Standard Transmission cars uses a smaller diameter blower pulley. Also note on this picture the timing pointer which is shorter and shaped slightly different than the other Thunderbirds and the lower generator mounting bracket which the blower mounting bracket will attach to.   This picture courtesy of Frank Rice shows the Automatic and Stick Dampers. Both of these Dampers are being reproduced by Jim Weatherly. This is a picture of the unique generator and blower mounting brackets being recast by Don Antilla: (Photo courtesy of Don)

Here is the McCulloch VR57 Blower and generator attached to the above brackets. I'll show you them mounted to the engine later: Next up is the idler assembly. It attaches just below the blower to the blower bracket.  It keeps tension on the blower belt to keep it from slipping during acceleration. Frank Rice reproduces the complete idler assembly as well as the pulleys for the blower. Here are the two moulded rubber hoses that connect the blower to the air filter (short hose) and the blower to the Carb bonnet (long hose) In addition to the short hose a corrugated hose (not pictured...yet)with wire inside it to keep it from collapsing connects the short hose to the blower: Don Antilla reproduces the rubber hoses and they are typically marketed by Dan Evans for him. Jim Weatherly reproduces the corrugated hose. Here is the air cleaner which is reproduced by Frank Stubbs. The air cleaner is attached to the right inner fender by two "L" shaped brackets also provided by Frank Stubbs. Return to TOM MARUSKA CARS Move ahead To PAGE 13