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DM
I could be mistaken, but nitrous was not really in wide use in hot-rodding until the early 70's. Before then, they were custom built, clandestine, race spec units. Nitrous was used in Allied aircraft back in WWII, but after the war's end, it was shelved with little or no R&D work at all for the next few decades. You might just have to fabricate a fictional race guru who does the tuning on the Merc.
Superchargers, on the other hand, have been around a long time. It is entirely feasible to have a supercharged engine in the Merc during the 60's. Here is a page on a '49 Merc custom project that might just be what you have in mind. It appears that the stock engine was a flathead V-8, a very tough, long-running engine.
I asked my cousin, who is a complete gearhead, your question about the vintage Merc. He replied, "I believe a common soup job would have been aftermarket heads and headers like Fenton and a multiple carb intake topped with 3 or more Stromberg 97's. But he needs to come over and talk to my buddies who are a little more up on the early stuff."
So, while you are in town this weekend, we might have to make a trip out there to talk to his buddies. I have spent some time at their shop and they are true old-school hot-rodders, they should know. |
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thanks, grant