The biggest disadvantage of Mad Max: Fury Road, I personally think, is that a lot of things didn’t work in it. And I’m not trying to somehow diminish the merits of this film right now – moreover, I fully support the rules of coolness: if something looks really cool, then it’s quite possible to turn a blind eye to such things as “realism” and “efficiency,” but… after you find out that that thing over there didn’t work, but this is just for beauty… No, I’m not at all in favor of looking for a second Elvis with a V12 for the role of a stunt car, which has one scene in which he flips onto the roof and then goes to the landfill. But, for example, why the Gigahorse had non-working turbochargers is not clear to me personally.
Razor Cola: It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t work
Yes, I know perfectly well that the budget is also not rubbery, and everything takes time, and so on – I understand everything perfectly and infinitely respect all those people who worked on Fury Road, for their hard work and the time they spent. I liked everything I saw on the screen, but nevertheless, you must understand, there is still some feeling of annoyance and a sense of missed opportunity. Who else, if not George “I Don’t Like Non-Working Things” Miller, will be able to build such a cool thing? Especially in our age, where they try to make everything eco-friendly and hybrid, and in the movies it’s completely painted?
Everything looked extremely good and organic on the Razor Cola that was in Fury Road: The Ford Falcon from Fury Road is one of those rare cases when I’m ready to put a rusty trough one step above a sleek lacquered handsome man with a flame on board. I wanted to see something exactly like this in real life: catchy but neat.
Tower Of Power: Works, but ugly
I mentioned the lacquered beauties for a reason: yes, there are at least a few more cars with two superchargers mounted on top of each other, the most famous of which is the 1970 Pontiac GTO, built back in 2006, nine years before the release of Mad Max. It’s not difficult to find this muscle car, but I personally find it and other similar cars somewhat… disproportionate.
Opinions about this GTO are divided into two camps: some are delighted with the power plant, aptly nicknamed Tower Of Power by journalists, while others consider it extremely ridiculous and Photoshop ten more superchargers to the car.
It is well known that the GTO still exists, and fresh photos and videos of this car continue to appear on the Internet. His story is described in great detail by the Hot Rod Network magazine, but I don’t want to waste my time on it precisely because I have a very low personal opinion of this car. I don’t think he deserves more than an honorable mention in the context of this article.
Or, for example, this Corvette, about which absolutely nothing is known, except for a piece of paper under the windshield, assuring that everything is working. Someone just modestly and quietly built this dragon. It looks a little better than the GTO due to the air filter body painted in the color of the car.
Anyway, when I accidentally came across Ratenstein, I was literally overjoyed. Still, one supercharger on top of another is such a rarity that I couldn’t even hope to see a car that could accommodate such a thing without sacrificing its style. And Mad Max fans will surely be happy with the fact that Ratenstein is a rat rod.
Ratenstein: beautiful and works
The story of this car is as follows: it is a Chevy sedan from the year 35, owned by Bill Nelson, which for a long time was the most ordinary, fully finished and working rat-rod with an unremarkable small block. A friend of Nelson’s named Rick had been trying to install a dual supercharger on a Ford pickup truck for a decade, but eventually abandoned the idea. However, Rick has already made a custom plate that allows you to screw one soup onto another.
“Projects like this become a reality when you have too many spare parts and too much alcohol in your garage at the same time-at least that’s how I explain it to everyone.”
And one day it just happened. Something clicked in Comrade Nelson, and he realized: it’s time to build a monster. His garage had a large 8.8-liter Merlin III unit with aluminum Dart heads, as well as two superchargers: Mooneyham 6-71 and Weiand 8-71. One call to a friend confirmed that Rick still had that double-supercharged plate, and off he went.
At the end of that fateful day, Nelson assembled the engine and the two superchargers together. The biggest problem was the length of the belt: apparently, no one produced eight-millimeter belts with a length of 188 centimeters. But after experimenting with different sizes of crankshaft rollers and pulleys, Bill was able to use the available 198-centimeter belt. And while this belt was driving to Nelson, he took out a small block, ordered a new radiator for a new power plant, as well as exhaust manifolds in the so-called “lake” style. In general, including the waiting time for spare parts, the assembly and installation of the large unit took a week.
The original article does not mention any difficulties that might arise when installing such a system, such as supplying fuel to the carburetor – I dare say that over the past ten years Rick has managed to think through possible difficulties and stock up on everything necessary to eliminate them. But the roof of the hot rod is mentioned: in the video you can see that there is a hole in it, which is sealed in the photos. And yes, it was sealed according to all the canons of the rat-rod – Bill bought ten spruce boards at the nearest hardware store, for a dollar each. For comparison, the surfboard displayed on the roof of the car cost fifty.
And yes, it would be unfair not to mention that two superchargers are often not a very practical solution, and therefore such installations are rare. A typical engine will have more than enough air from one 8-71; plus, do not forget that each classic Roots eats up a little horsepower due to the belt driven directly by the engine. And yet, sometimes the rules of coolness are above all else. After all, Nelson himself says so:
“Building this car and taking it to the show are some of the best moments of my life. I don’t think I’ll ever have so much fun again.”
Wasn’t it worth it?
https://www.rodauthority.com/news/ratenstein-bill-nelsons-double-blown-35-chevy/ https://hotrod.staging.enthusiastnetwork.com/articles/hppp-0702-1970-pontiac-gto-pro-street/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jowtl2nSpE
