Any future plans to add forced induction to the engine?
That was on the decision matrix when I first started planning it out, but there were several things that led to the current configuration of nitrous/high compression (10.5:1):
1) Turbo(s) might be difficult to do for these cars due to the lack of underhood space, heat issues, and my desire to keep as much of the factory accessories as possible up and running. Maybe it has been done (and perhaps even on this forum by some of the members), but I don't know if it would be something you could comfortably take on a 500-mile road trip without melting something. When you start running a free-flowing set of headers or manifolds which horsepower of any kind requires, even the primary tube sizes start cutting things close. I have an F-350 Super-Duty with a V-10, and, while researching factory sound deadening items, it amazed me how much underhood heat shielding is in place for the Turbo Diesel option (and that is with a much larger engine bay with even more clearance than our V-6 inspired ones)!
2) Supercharging is definitely an option (and these cars have a surprising amount of room under the hood as far as engine height); however, I guess being a child of the seventies, nothing sounds better to me than high compression and a cam. From the time you start it up, this combination puts a big smile on my face, even at a red light while sitting still. I don't doubt that a properly set up stock block supercharged 347 might make more power than the 363 I've built (off the nitrous), but you would need to have your foot on the floor to get the full enjoyment out of it as compared to the sound that a high-compression motor makes any time it is running. . .but remember, that is just my opinion. That is not to say that you can't get by with a hotter-than-stock cam with supercharging, but the characteristics will be different, and what I wanted was something that reminded me of some of the cars from my youth.
I should say something here about the nitrous route; to do it properly, you really need a controller like the nitrous companies sell ( I'm using a Nitrous Express Maximizer). These allow you to dial in the phasing, rpm, and amount (you could make it something like the secondaries of a giant 4-barrel carb if you like, as far as power delivery). It also controls the bottle heater, and uses a pressure sensor to turn the heater off and on to maintain consistent pressure to the jet. The only issue about nitrous that I am seeing is that it takes about 30 minutes to heat the bottle - even using an insulating jacket (in all fairness, I am running a 15 lb bottle though). What this means is that it kind of kills the spontaneity as compared to having turbos or a supercharger. I guess since I'm a little more cooler-headed than I once was, this has not been an issue for me - but if road rage power-bursts are part of the requirements in the decision-making process, this might be something to consider!
