Heys guys, im in need of some opinions here...I recently put a built 355 in my '86 sport coupe but the CC q-junk carb and distributor is outright holding it back and i'm not going to even bother to try to tune or trick the computer into doing anything, so my plan is get rid of the PITA computer, cc q-junk carb and distributor and go with a weiand 177 roots blower along with a holley 750cfm "supercharger" carb and make some REAL power. The real question is, the 177 blower will NO way fit under anything less than a 4" cowl hood or will even need bigger if i want to run any decent size filter. I'm not at all a fan of any cowl hood over 2.5-3" so i would like to run a single carb hilborn style scoop(not the butterfly one) through the stock hood, the scoop should end up about 2-3" max over the base of the hood after my calculation so its not going to be outrageous and hideous like some i see around here up to the roof line of their car lol!. So which do you think would look better(for the street), a HUGE cowl or an attractively done scoop?

 

as long as it truely has a super charger on it and not some 2' tall intake spacer combobulation, i thnk that it would look really good. i'm assuming it's not going to be driven in the rain and stuff, right?

however, with the proper drop base, and running the 144 series blower instead of the slightly larger 177, everything should fit under a 3" hood. i think it would look pretty good that way, and it's still has the sleeper attributes that the SportCoupe brings to the table.

 

I would need to see pictures of your car and hood but most likely I am going to have to go with cowl but I cant say without pictures. Sounds like a real engine coming along.

 

mw66, you got me thinking man! I really like the sleeper effect but at the same time, I just can't stand the thought of a 6" cowl and i really want to run the 177 blower because I spoke to a holley tech and he said the 177 will spin 10psi without even trying and do it efficiently also (making good boost without excessively hot air) where as the 144 would be TOTALLY maxed out @10psi along with blowing useless hot air. The ultimate sleeper would be a centrif setup and keep the stock flat hood but i really don't have that kind of money to put into the SC like i did with my Z28, so the roots setup is a MUCH cheaper alternative to good power.

 

a blow through carb setup with a centri is not as expensive as the efi stuff......think about it

 

I think the cowl would look awesome. But you can just about forget the sleeper look cause either way people are going to assume big horse power.

 

mw66, i was thinking about the carb setup with a centrif also but i've never experienced a roots blower and i would like to..i heard from from a guy who had a 6-71 on a 383 in his nova, his direct words were "instant boost is PRICELESS no matter what the world wants to say". Pheonix as you said, cowl or scoop most people are gonna think a big-block 454 is sittin' below there anyway

 

Cowl.

 

I know the cowl will be more of a sleeper than the scoop but if was gonna use the 142 blower it could fit under a 3.5-4" cowl with a drop base and like a 2" filter. The thing is im going for the 177 and the case of it alone is 2" taller than that of the 142, then add a carb and filter to the 177 and then you'll need no less than a 6" cowl and IMO that just looks ridiculous on a street car.

 

Procharger, procharger, procharger, procharger, procharger, procharger....sorry, i don't think i can emphasizw that enough. a D1SC setup properly will blow away your buddies nova any day of the week. especially with the ability to be easily intercooled. 15+lbs. is totally attainable without killing stuff. give the guys at Procharger a call and ask them about thier blow through stuff. it's pretty incredible.

and as far as instant boost, i think the d1sc will do that better than you think...

 

So why not put a small block 454 under there?
World Products makes a 454 small block chevy with 600 horses. Last I checked it was only 10K.

But yeah, I agree with these guys. If you don't ming a tiny bit of extra work, I'd do the centrifugal. The roots is dated, and not as efficient as a centrifugal. You'll make more power easier with the Procharger. I'd go that route myself...