Camden Superchargers?

[Whizbang]

I have been toying with the idea of getting a supercharger on a rotary for awhile and the Camden kits from Atkins interest me. But to be honest i am not sure what size to run with. the 7" seems to be of a "ready to go" kit, but i have no idea why the EFI one is 1300 more....then there is the 9 and 12 inch superchargers...

But at any rate i want to either run one on my 13B four port project toy, or even maybe my stock port turbo II as a replacement for the stock turbo setup. Mostly for giggles and shits since i have never seen it done to a turbo II.

If anyone has knowledge of the 13b supercharged, let me know.

Also, looking for information on the durability of the units themselves...

[jtbshaw]

I had one on my last 1983 RX7. That was the second stage that I built that car. I went with the 7" Camden on my large street ported 13B (carb).

First, the good:

The sound is awesome of a supercharged rotary. It provided the low end grunt that most rotaries lack. I first had it installed with a RB lightweight steel flywheel and had to change it back to a stock flywheel to get traction. It would break the rear loose even in 4th. The fitment was great, although I would recommend you replace the 4 intake manifold bolts with studs for ease of install. The serpentine pulley/belt setup is fantastic...far better than a dual belt pulley.

The bad: THE HEAT! At the time I had the Camden, I lived in South East Alabama...about 80 miles north of the coast. The summer days are brutally hot with temps and humidity being almost the same. I ran a brand new OEM radiator, new (not reman) water pump, and dual 10" pusher e-fans and it would still want to get hot. Water wetter made little difference. Thermostat, no thermostat, hollowed out thermostat....all made no difference. The Camden breathes the hot air from the engine compartment, compresses that (creating a hotter intake charge) so the heat was a constant that I had to watch. Cooler times of the year were never a problem. The only other thing is that the Camden seemed to run out of steam above 7000-7500 rpms. It felt as though it was being over revved, which rendered it inefficient. Just grab another gear and that was solved. The aggressive porting that I had on that engine really pulled hard till 8500-9000 though.

All in all, I think the Camden is a great product. As with any major power adder, many things need to be addressed. I already had my fuel system (fuel cell, Aeromotive A1000 pump, -10 supply lines and -8 return lines, Mallory 4309 regulator), so that was of no concern. My ignition was ready with dual Crane HI-6s and LX92 coils, RB wires, no ignitors (the ignition was hot). I ran a cooler plug due to the ignition being so hot, but it didn't seem to matter. Summer, I was just about watching the temp gauge more than the road.

Let me know if you want to know more.

[PercentSevenC]

I've had the good fortune of experiencing several rotaries with Camdens: an RX-4 wagon, a REPU (haven't had a ride in that one yet), two FBs, and a Datsun 510. They're well-made units and are a lot of fun, and very easy to install. I haven't seen any overheating problems on any of the aforementioned vehicles (though the 510 has an aluminum radiator and e-fan). Personally, I'd go with the 7".

Some vids of one of the SC'd FBs:

[jtbshaw]

By all means, don't take any of that as the Camdens are of poor quality. They are nicely built units. The heat issue I would strongly suggest that it was due to the raging heat that SE Alabama can have in the summer. The vehicle never overheated, just stayed too high to be comfortable.

As % stated, I would also suggest the 7".

[Whizbang]

i have been tinkering with idea of using it as a replacement for my failing stock turbo on my Turbo II. But the price tag makes the wallet hurt.

[RotorDad]

well in camden's defense they are great units i have had the 7" system on my car for over 10 yrs grant it the car only has 70k on the clock with only 8k on the motor and the first owner had it on there for some time. i have since then changed a few things.
1. not carb'ed it's FI using a big bore 4 barrel style throttle body similar to holley projection.
2. proper hood venting for heat release & air intake
3. smallest blower pulley they could find & i had a custom enlarged main pulley made to overdrive the blower, thus more power
4. had Mr. Enforcer of Austraila build me a custom sandwhich plate style water to air aftercooler.
5 got rid of the clutch fan, running electric now
by the way i am using this set up on S5 13bt, large street port, built with S3 GSL-SE 9.4:1 rotors & other goodies. a haltech F9 & twin MSD 6AL's are part of the equation. makes for a fun ride no problems with heat

[JShiz]

So even in the summer your temp doesn't rise? I heard these are good, but hot.

[PercentSevenC]

Since my previous post I've been running a Camden 7" at 9 PSI in my FB for a while. No change in water temp, and only a slight increase in oil temp. That's just with a stock radiator and clutch fan, and no fan shroud, even. I've got an electric fan and three-row radiator ready to go in, but it hasn't been necessary yet.

I love the increase in low-RPM power. Downshifting is rarely needed in around-town driving anymore. The Edelbrock carb I've been using has issues, though, so I'm going to try a Holley. Jeff20B also recently installed a 5" in his GLC. With a smaller pulley that thing is going to be downright scary.

[JShiz]

How hot and humid does it get in WA?

It's common to see 100+ temps and 75%+ Humidity here on the Gulf Coast

[PercentSevenC]

It usually doesn't get higher than low 90s here, and on those days the humidity isn't too bad. I don't know how the Camden setups do in hotter areas, but my cooling system leaves a lot to be desired. With a decent radiator and electric fan, you'd probably be fine.