There's no denying it, old-school is where it's at. It seems as though early V-8s are now making a comeback, with their popularity matching that of when they were the hot new thing. The resurgence of the venerable Flathead Ford V-8 and its matching early speed equipment is enjoying well-deserved attention by the throngs of those who wish to pay homage to the roots of rodding. Advancements in manufacturing and material technology have opened the floodgates for a plethora of brand-new vintage performance equipment that allows the rodder of today to build a powerful and reliable hot rod from yesterday.
One of the leaders of this old-school advancement is the extremely talented father-and-son(s) team of the Herman family-Max Jr., Mike, and Max III-and their company, H&H Flatheads in La Crescenta, California. Aside from offering premier-performance Flathead engine-building services (both V-8s and bangers), the company is also a major source of vintage and vintage-style speed equipment from traditional sources such as Sharp, Baron, Cyclone, Eddie Myer, Edelbrock, Offenhauser, and most importantly, two of the most noteworthy speed-equipment brands in the industry-Navarro and S.Co.T. (both of which are exclusively owned, manufactured, and distributed by H&H Flatheads). Here we're going to take a look at one of H&H's newest offerings in the world of Flathead speed equipment-the new (and vastly improved) H&H/S.Co.T. Supercharger.
After World War II and into the '50s, the Flathead Ford V-8 was the engine of choice for the vast majority of rodders of the day, and every one of 'em strove to squeeze as much horsepower and torque out of those engines as possible. One of many performance-enhancing options available at the time was to follow in the footsteps of some of the more exotic, high-dollar, prewar cars like the Cord and/or the Auburn, which were equipped with, at the time, centrifugal superchargers. The European road-racing crowd was embracing supercharging (though utilizing a positive-displacement or Roots-type supercharger rather than a centrifugal design) with great success back then as well. So, American hot rodders followed suit, realizing that mechanically forcing an air/fuel mixture into an engine versus having it drawn in solely by the intake stroke resulted in a much more dense and more powerful combustion mixture-and did so happily with an otherwise unmodified engine. And it was with this revelation that the hot-rodding world began to embrace the "blower motor."
The I.T SuperchargerOne of the most popular Roots-type superchargers of the day was a unit manufactured in Europe-actually in Torino, Italy-by a manufacturer named Italmeccanica. Italmeccanica realized that marketing a slightly larger supercharger for the American V-8 market would be advantageous. The supercharger, by then known as the I.T. Supercharger, caught the attention of the dry lakes crowd (primarily the Southern California Timing Association) and shared its place alongside Roots-type blowers like the esteemed GMC 3-71 and a few Mercedes versions.
By 1950, Italmeccanica had the forethought to package a complete supercharger kit that made it much easier to add a crank-driven blower to the Flathead V-8, and it was a pretty successful marketing idea. The "easy-to-install" kits were marketed profusely in the automobile magazines of the time ('50-53), and their wide selection (nine different models and capacities) covered many engine models. Unfortunately, while offering huge performance gains as well as an artful exterior design, the I.T. Supercharger was not without its drawbacks. Everything from incomplete and hard-to-understand installation instructions, oddball metric or Whitworth thread pitches, and numerous designs and versions whose parts did not interchange served to aggravate users and installers. Once these hurdles were overcome, other design and manufacturing flaws began to become apparent as well. It was soon found that the helical design of the rotor drive gears presented undo lateral thrust, which pushed the gears away from each other. This created stress in the lobe shafts and shaft bearings and caused premature wear to both bearings and the bearing cover bores, ultimately resulting in leakage or outright failure. Compounding the problem was the use of too soft an alloy in the drive gear's construction, which led to semi-frequent gear tooth separation.
The First-Gen S.Co.T. SuperchargerThe aforementioned flaws and resulting headaches were perhaps one reason the company began to suffer and ultimately go through internal restructuring. This reorganization resulted in the formation of a new entity called Societa Compressori Torino, which inherited all the rights, production facilities, and engineering staff of the former Italmeccanica Company. Societa Compressori Torino moderately updated the I.T. design and began to market their version as the S.Co.T. Supercharger.
The S.Co.T. utilized SAE thread pitches, straight-cut gears, and two-piece shaft assemblies-improvements to be sure, but not ones that corrected all of the unit's shortcomings by any means. Although the S.Co.T. blower has suffered its fair share of shortcomings, it has remained one of the most sought-after traditional-styled Roots-type superchargers, especially among those wishing to run a truly traditional hot rod blower motor (and who aren't averse to dropping in the vicinity of $6,500 to $9,000 for well-used units that normally require another $2,000 to $3,000 worth of rebuilding).
The All-New S.Co.T. SuperchargerH&H Flatheads has acquired all rights to the S.Co.T. Supercharger, and after investing an immense amount of engineering refinements, material upgrades, and wheelbarrows of cash, H&H has succeeded in producing a supercharger that is not only a true S.Co.T. in every sense of the word, but one that's truly technologically superior to its roots, so to speak. H&H has addressed each and every negative aspect the S.Co.T. blower had suffered in its checkered past and has resurrected an icon that's destined to again become the ultimate supercharger of the true hot rodder.
Recently, I was lucky enough to drop by H&H Flatheads and pry Mike and Max Sr. away from their duties long enough to get them to show me their new S.Co.T. blower firsthand. And, not only did I get a chance to see their brand-new unit, but they were kind enough to disassemble one so we could compare its refinements against a much less refined vintage unit. While they were at it, they shared a slew of information with me that I'll attempt to share here. So, let's take a look at the following images and get a peek at the all-new S.Co.T. Supercharger from H&H Flatheads.
