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Ebay Judson Supercharged Sprite

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that is very nice, but I would have gone with a different interior. the red is nice, but it doesn't suit the body color that well. I hope he sells it. IMO I would have just kept it. whats the point in doing all that to a car and then getting rid of it?
 
Wow, that's really a nice Sprite, $20,000.00 worth of nice? well not for me. Still it should go like the dickens.
 
adam770: Maybe he's just into restoration and once finished it's on to another project! Looks great to me but
I'm deferring to you experts out there. Is the Judson
supercharger a real plus.......??? At $20M "buy it now" you have to wonder.
 
That is an insanely beautiful car. I like it very much but I don't think I could ever bring myself to pay that much for a sprite. Not yet anyway, I just don't think they are rare enough. I guess if he finds the right person anything can be sold at a high price. I'm struggling with the whole 33,000 in expenditures deal. Did he not do anything himself? I don't think I will ever get my Midget in that kind of shape but I don't plan on spending even a third of that kind of money. And yes I will do a "rottiserie restoration". Just my $.02
JC
 
Well, parts do add up quickly. I'm not doing a "rottiserie restoration" on my '77 Midget, and other than the paint and engine machine work, I'm doing all the work myself. To date, I've got about $5,500 and 5 months into this project and we're talking a car with absolutely no rust anywhere in it.
 
Interesting and beautiful, but.....it is only a replica of something. If it had a racing history or something else going for it it might be worth more than any other 69 Sprite with mods. The Judson is a unique period piece, rare but still available every once and a while. I wouldn't want it on my Bug. Way too finicky from what I have read. I hope it has REALLY great brakes, for the power that unit puts out.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Is the Judson supercharger a real plus.......??? At $20M "buy it now" you have to wonder.

[/ QUOTE ]
The Judson was a sliding vane type pump. It had four paddle wheels, vanes, that slid against the inside of the housing as the off center belt driven rotor turned. It required external oil injection into it to lubricate the vanes as they rubbed on the housing & in the rotor slots. Oil injection reduces the effective octane rating of the fuel, in a situation where increased octane was actually needed.

The manifolding was quite restrictive & gave uneven fuel distribution to the cylinders.

Boost pressure was limited to around 7 psi. This boost pressure when combined with the large heating effect of the vane friction gave a net air density increase of around 18%. Since air density increase is what creates horsepower increase, the net gain would be around 18% or 12 horsepower, assuming the original engine was rated at 65 HP.

The Judson was high maintenance due to the need to frequently replace the vanes & drive belt as they wore. The external oil supply had to be topped up frequently.

I spent a long time trying to get something out of a friends Judson supercharged Sprite in the early 60's. Never was worth the trouble since more power could be had with the conventional methods.

A real plus? Not very practical, not much power gain, an interesting curiosity from a bygone time. Some folks would love to show such a curiosity. You would have to be the judge. I know that the seller claims 100 HP, but it is wildly optomistic.
D
 
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