blower question
 

I need some information from the supercharger experts. In one of my shop classes we're building a hotrod minibike. We are starting with a 5 horse Briggs and Stratton engine and using an air injection (smog) pump for a blower. My question is, what is a simple way to measure the amount of boost the pump delivers. How does a boost gauge measure the increased pressure. I don't think a simple air pressure gauge will work for this purpose. Am I wrong?

I would think a simple air pressure gauge would work fine for this. They work by measuring a pressure difference (i.e. the pressure difference of the outside atmosphere compared to the charged air inside).

One concern I would have is what kind of pressure increase you are expecting to see with a smop pump. I wouldn't think a smog pump would provide enough pressure to really help out anything, but I am not sure. Maybe someone else can chime in on this issue.....

I think it sounds facinating! I'd like to hear how it comes out.
I don't know how what CFM a smog pump puts out, but remember a little one cylinder engine isn't gonna require anywhere near what V6 or V8 does.
As for the boost guage, i'd say just a very low pressure air guage. You'll probably be working with very low pressures so obviously you aren't gonna be able to read 5 or 10 PSI if you have a 2000 PSI guage, so just get a guage with a very low full scale reading, like 0 to 25 PSI or so. Let us know how it turns out :D