After nearly 75 years of Flatheads powering every type of vehicle, it's refreshing when companies like Magnuson Products still work hard to breathe new life into the venerable Ford engine. Starting with one of their compact high-efficiency Roots-style supercharger units, Magnuson Products combined efforts with Tom Roberts Designs to develop a package that would easily bolt reliable horsepower onto almost any Ford or Mercury Flathead.
Utilizing Tom Roberts' extensive knowledge of manifold design, the platform to which the Magnuson supercharger mounts is a two-piece intake with advanced runner design to produce maximum power in a compact package. Additional pieces designed for the Magnuson Products Flathead supercharger kit include a complete serpentine belt system. To make the serpentine system work with the widest variety of Flathead engines (59A & 8BA), a special aluminum front cover is used that relocates the distributor to upright mounting as on the earlier 59A-style engines. New water pumps fitted with pulleys for the serpentine belt system are also available for most popular applications.
Once the Magnuson Flathead supercharger kit gets bolted on, the real excitement begins! In the case of Jerry Magnuson's personal Flathead-powered '29 Model A roadster pickup, the finished product pumped out final numbers of 170 hp and 250 lb-ft of torque. We were privy to the installation of the Magnuson Products supercharger kit on Jerry's ride, so follow along as we present the highlights step-by-step.