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By YellowWing - 13 Years Ago
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I love old cars. It doesn't matter the year or the make, some cars just speak to me. Modified or original they all have a character. Unfortunately the over use of the SBC, and to a lesser degree the use of newer engines like the 302 in say a 55 Ford or a Mod motor in a 32 have eliminated some of that great character the old cars have. Older engine designs often have as much character as the cars they served in. My favorite is of course the Y, but others were great too. They had style, were identifiable at a glance and were often damn good engines. Here are a couple of my favorites. How about yours?  
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By 57FordPU - 13 Years Ago
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Y-Blocks will always be #1, but I love FEs. A strange little motor that has always got my attention was the Buick Stage II V6, although 1987 it isn't that old. This is the 258 in the Brick and a 406 clone that Tim has put together for me. 
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By 46yblock - 13 Years Ago
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I luv old engines too! The Y is number one. Having a light hot rod with a stroked Buick 215 all aluminum engine would be nice too. When looking at an old car it seems the engine is always my first and most interest. Last year at a rat rod gathering a young man had a Ford I-6 setup with dual Holley 5210s. Really cool. It is surprising that some of the owners of old vehicles are involved in their car/truck, but their engine is of seemingly less interest to them. A couple friends have beautiful streetrods, and they wont and dont touch their engines for anything more than plug and oil change. Other required service is outsourced. The MELs intrigue me too. Here is a pic of an MEL in a '59 Lincoln. During the day that I owned it my imagination was having fun. 
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By mctim64 - 13 Years Ago
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Of course I love old engines!! One day when all the stars are aligned I will have a shop that builds nothing but engines for classic cars and old Hot Rods. I love the Y but there are certainly others, as mentioned before the 215 Buick/Olds comes to mind I have built a few of those including a 267ci Olds with a 300 crank ment to go inverted into a Wittman Tailwind. I like the 348-409 scrubs too, nothing against the sbc except that I connect them with the "Bumpkins" and the stereo type for the most part is true as I see them come into the shop quite often.  I'm still a big fan of the Flathead Ford V8 and although the term "Flathead seems to be connected to that particular engine there are many other flatheads that are neat also.
This is a video of the Olds powered Wittman that I wanted to build, listen to that thing rev! My engine eventually ended up in a Corvair, I decided I didn't want an airplane with a car engine in it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsH-j4pF4fE Here it is in the Corvair. 
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By mctim64 - 13 Years Ago
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Look at and listen to this one, not bad for a scrub! (Stovebolt)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dPT1j1OLfk
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By aussiebill - 13 Years Ago
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I guess its the mechanical wonder of it all thats grabs us, i can allways remember where it started for me when at 14 yrs old, i worked on w/ends at neighbors scrap yard and was given a bunch of tools and told to pull that engine apart and put all the aluminum parts in a pile, it was a rolls royce merlin aircraft engine. 
This pic is a mates 29 dodge roadster and he firmly believes in dodge and chrysler flathead 6,s, he also has 50 chev sedan delivery or panel van with similar engine as his everyday driver.
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By aussiebill - 13 Years Ago
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Most of you would be aware of american musuem of speed that has some great engine designs etc but this is one of my favourites, flathead ford v8 with A/M conversion. the mind boggles. 
Argentinian Bucci DOHC Y BLOCK , there were quite a few variations of y blocks for the argy formula race car s including our most desired Weslake design.
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By 46yblock - 13 Years Ago
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Tim, VERY nice looking engine in the Corvair. I had all the parts and duplicates to go into my 266, including ground 300 crank. Finally decided it was not wise to get into it further with limited means. I sold the crankshaft to a man in Crescent City, CA who was building a Bonneville Streamliner and needed the light weight V-8.
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By crenwelge - 13 Years Ago
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I have a love affair with 2 distinctly different engines.. The Y block and GMC 6 cylinders. I drove a 1950 GMC pickup and a 1956 Ford 50 years ago and I guess I've never grown up. Which do I like better? It depends on which one I happen to be tinkering with.
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By MoonShadow - 13 Years Ago
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My first race involvement was with a Hudson powered dirt track stock car in the late 50's. I love the sound of a well tuned modified Hudson 6 at RPM on the straight stretch. You could hear them above everything else. Of course having over 300 cubes in an inline 6 didn't hurt. Chuck in NH  
Stock twin carb 308 type H NASCAR modified, blown 308
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By PWH42 - 13 Years Ago
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Moonshadow,you sure struck a note with me.My first stock car was a 52 Hornet with Twin H-power.It was a 17,000 mile perfect car that I bought at an estate sale for $6.25 and butchered it up into a stock car.Over the following 35 or so years,I drove all kinds of dirt cars,but I had more fun and more success with that Hudson than anything else I ever drove.I still love flathead sixes and straight eights,but not quite as much as Y-blocks.
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By MoonShadow - 13 Years Ago
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Even then Y-Blocks were my passion. The car we ran was a tube chassis with a model A 2 dr sedan body that was cut off at the back of the doors. Then the rear half was split and narrowed so there was just enough room for the cage and driver. Along with a highly modified Hudson flathead it ran an in/out box and quick change rear. Quite an advanced car for the late 50's. We ran in modified until the overhead V8's came in and they created the sportsman class for the flatheads and 6 or 8 cylinder inlines. Those were real race cars and real racing. No cookie cutter engines and bodies. Everything was homemade designs and modified by the seat of our pants. We raced the same tracks with the Weld family (later became Weld wheels) and were friends with them. They were among the fastest modified drivers in USAC when it was first formed. I remember the debate as to whether the local tracks would be independant or go with USAC or another new outfit called NASCAR. We didn't think those asphalt boys would give us a fair shake and besides they were all from the southeast. We ran at Olympic stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Riverside in Riverside, Kansas, Marshall, Mo. and other small tracks in the area. Back then you could race 5 nights in a week if you wanted to. Lots of little 1/8th mile tracks scattered around and a few 1/2 mile. Riverside was the same track that had a TV series a couple years ago about late model dirt racing. In the 60's they paved the track and went asphalt racing. A few years ago someone saw the light, dug up the pavement and went back to dirt. They are going strong again. Olympic was turned into a junk yard and most of the other small tracks just faded away. Those were the days of first drink, first drunk, first girl, first race and first just about everything else! What a great time I dearly miss it. The closest track that runs modifieds and sprints on dirt up here is two hours away. I just dont feel like driving that far spending the evening at the track and driving back late at night. Too much hassle at my age. I'd love to get back on a pit crew but would have to be on a local track. Problem is we don't have one! Oh well my wife hated being a race track widow anyway. That kind of thing will take up all of your time if you let it. Chuck in NH Found this UTube shot. At the begining the second car, number 36 is our Hudson in its early 1960 trim. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKlvdWwV88Y&feature=player_embedded
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By aussiebill - 13 Years Ago
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Chuck, you did it, part of the pathway we left growing up and as you said" rightly miss it". would be good to go back a bit and do some more of the things we loved a little bit longer. We can all still enjoy our past daydreaming. its good for us! plus thats all i can still remember. ha,ha.
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By YellowWing - 13 Years Ago
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Reading this thread has been fun. The GM inline six was used in boats for years and was always my favorite, it was soooo smooth, hated it when they replaced it with the 3.8 V6. Tim the old flatheads appeal to me more and more especially the inline 6 and 8s, guess I just love the simplicity of them and the smoothness of their operation.
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By YellowWing - 13 Years Ago
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I envy those of you that got to see the golden age of racing. I was born a little late but was further hampered by growing up on Guam (a little island in the middle of the pacific) and later Flagstaff where the closest racing was 150 miles away in Phoenix ( I understand there used to be a track in Winslow but I never made it there). Any way it's great to hear about some of the old tracks on here as well as from friends that grew up in Southern California.
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By yalincoln - 13 Years Ago
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 52 lincoln on ebay, edmunds intake and valve covers.
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By yalincoln - 13 Years Ago
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 58 mercury super maurader.
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By aussiebill - 13 Years Ago
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Never having seen the fabulous merc setup and aircleaner before, i came across one at hershey/carlisle swap in 1990 and was attracted by it but not sure so passed by it, after some thinking i went back to buy it but could never find it! it may have sold but have regretted that day since, it was $500.00 and now realise how scarce they are.
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By PWH42 - 13 Years Ago
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Moonshadow.......It sounds like you and I went about the same route back then.I started in stocks with the Hudson and two years later got into super modifieds and sprints.This was 59 when there was about every kind of engine you could think of being used.Many straight eight Buicks and Hudson sixes,Desoto hemis,Cadillac,Olds and Studebaker V-8s and of course Y-blocks.I ran Y-blocks until about 62 when the weight advantage of the SBC just became too much to overcome.Like you we could run 5-6 days a week,living in east central Illinois.We ran Champaign,Danville,Charleston and Macon Illinois and Terre Haute and Boswell Indiana. After moving to Missouri in 76,we ran late models and sportsman cars mostly at Sedalia,the half and the mile,and at Adrian,Holts Summit and Warrensburg.I finally gave it up about ten years ago when the costs just got completely out of hand and all my family started telling me I was too old to be racing anymore.It had gotten so it wasn't as much fun any more anyway. You hit the nail on the head.Those early days were absolutely some of the best days of my life.Lots of fun,beer,girls and racing friends. Dirt's for racing.......Pavement is for getting there!!!!!!
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By MoonShadow - 13 Years Ago
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We used to run the Sedalia state fair meet in the late 50's early 60's. It was neat seeing other competitors from around the midwest. Even made it to the Knoxville Nationals one year. Chuck
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By montana ford man - 13 Years Ago
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I think the geatest engine of all time is the good old ford flathead. loved them as a kid,and they 're still powering a lot of cars,trucks and lord knows how many other pieces of equipment. they were[and are] tough,reliable,and easy to work on. I'm a y guy but still love the flattie!
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By jonnireb - 13 Years Ago
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I've been a Y block guy since the mid fifties, but at the same time I had a little bit of a thing for Buick nailheads, what with their pent roof combustion chamber, and ever notice their deep skirt crankcase, making them technically a Y block.
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By mctim64 - 13 Years Ago
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jonnireb (2/11/2011)
I had a little bit of a thing for Buick nailheads, ever notice their deep skirt crankcase, making them technically a Y block. Probably why I've always liked them too. There is a reason I made my FED engine a 322. (4" x 3.2")
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By glrbird - 13 Years Ago
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This was my Dad with his Hudson Hornet, brand new, changed cam to a hotter factory grind, taped up the headlights and went racing, Won more money the first three races than the car cost!
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By Poly318 - 13 Years Ago
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Wow, I wish I'd seen this thread before now--it's a subject near and dear to my heart! I grew up on a farm and we had all kinds of motorized vehicles. I developed an interest in engines (motors?) early on. Even when I was a little kid, I could generally distinguish different engines and even the sounds of starters (Fords & Chevies both had very distinctive sounding starters and were a cinch to tell apart, for instance). OK, so here are some of my favorites (though like other people on this thread, I generally like all old vehicles and engines). In no particular order: I love inline sixes. The Hudson Hornet's monster 308 CID flathead w/ Twin-H Power was extremely impressive. But my favorite was the very rugged Rambler/AMC 7-main bearing six that started out as a 232 in 1964. There were 199 and 258 CID versions in the U.S. market as well. In other markets, there was apparently a 282 CID version as well. And of course there's the more modern 4.0L version that was used in Jeeps starting in 1987. The Mopar "poly" V8 engines were always fascinating to me. Those "scalloped" valve covers were real eye-catchers. I still contend that the older "poly" 318 had more power than the later "wedge" 318 that replaced it. This comes from lots of experience with both engines over the decades. Wish I could add some more here but I'm in kind of a hurry--lots & lots to do. I'll try to post more later. 
On edit: I have to admit that Olds V8s have a wonderful sounding exhaust note. They make a very distinctive sound. I used to have a '72 98 and I put duals & glass packs on it. What a great sound! I've always been a fan of the '"385" series FoMoCo V8s too. Drove a '71 Marquis Brougham with a 429 2V for a number of years. That was a sweet ride, and it had lots of punch in spite of breathing through the 2V carb.
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By John Mummert - 13 Years Ago
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As far as automobile engines go it has to be the Y-Block. My first 3 cars had Y-Blocks. I remember family get togethers when ever car there was either a 55 or 56 Ford. Grand parents, aunts, uncles. My brother's first 4 cars had Y-Blocks. My parents ordered 2 Fords from the factory, both with Y-Blocks, 59 Galaxie and 62 F-100 Unibody. The first time I saw a 265 scrubrolet disassembled it looked like a tinker toy to me. They still do. I guess my first love in engines were motorcycles. From British thumpers to the great sound of the twins. 650 Bonnevilles and 750 Nortons. How different a British twin with a 360 degree crankshaft sounds than the banshee wail of a 305 Honda Hawk with a 180 degree crank. Honda was always trying new ideas on production bikes, torsion bar valve springs, double row straight cut gears that in theory were as quiet as helical with less power loss. The first money I ever made was maintaining a couple of Honda 90's at age 14. Owned many 2 stroke dirt bikes, Spanish and Japanese, even a Greeves and a couple of Huskys. I love to see the way different countries do things. Desmo valve trains in the Ducati's and all the different 2 strokes with piston port, reed valves, rotary valves. I like to look at old transmissions to see how they synchonized the gears. Many follow the same method but once in a while I see one that is totally different. Recently found a old La Salle trans disassembled and pick it up just because of the way it was made. Old machinery is a trip to look at, some of it looks like it would take genius just to operate. I'm facinated by any kind of machinery, that doesn't have a bowtie on it.
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By aussiebill - 13 Years Ago
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John, i,d have to echo similar thoughts, if its mechanical and can run, doesnt matter what it is. i,m fascinated by it. Prior to closing down my car restoration business and moving to the coast i had collection of vintage farm tractors, fordsons, 6 internatiol mccormacks, case, oliver 70, field marshall single cyl cartridge start tractor and collection of stationary engines and some small marine put put boat engines, single chapman, twin chapman and unusual one pictured; i still have 2 vintage seagull outboard motors. As i started back into cars , time became the issue and i,ve sold off everything in dribs and drabs except the outboards, the 7 cars and y block collection take up my time now. 
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 13 Years Ago
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When I was a pre-teen, I rode in my uncle's boat, a small boat with a single cylinder inboard engine. I don't know what make it was. You started it by hand spinning the flywheel, much like an early John Deere tractor. If you wanted to back the boat, you shut off the engine and cranked it backwards. Fascinating!
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By mctim64 - 13 Years Ago
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I found this one this weekend. Not quite sure what it is, Studebaker I think. Can anyone confirm?   
I found this also, John M. might like. 
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By John Mummert - 13 Years Ago
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Bill, "low tech" comes to mind looking at that engine. The chain driven magneto and the rocker arm are too cool. Tim, I don't know what the twin is, AJS or Ariel??? John, 2 strokes will run forward or back, just reset the timing. Golf carts have 2 sets of points and in reverse the engine runs backwards off the 2nd set of points. If the timing is set close to TDC they will run either way. That has made for some embarassing moments on the starting line when the clutch is let out.
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By mctim64 - 13 Years Ago
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It's a Royal Enfield. The guy also had a couple of Ariel Square Fours and a bunch of old Indian stuff but the one no one could identify was the cast iron single. Here's a couple of pix. Anyone?    
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By pegleg - 13 Years Ago
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Tim, no clue. Sorta looks British, but the iron head throws me.
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By charliemccraney - 13 Years Ago
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The layout of the head looks a lot like a '65 Harley Sprint we have here at the shop. The Sprint is a joint venture between Harley and Aermacchi, which is Italian.
The Moto Guzzi Falcone Sport has a similar arrangement, too.
Lino Tonti was involved with the design of the Aermacchi Sprint and he was later involved with Moto Guzzi but I'm not sure if he was involved during the time of the Falcone. My vote is Italian. However, both the Aermacchi and Falcone have aluminum engines. If the one pictured has any relation, it very likely came before those two, maybe 1930s or 40s.
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By Grizzly - 13 Years Ago
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Being a big guzzi nut I don't think it's Moto Guzzi as all of the 500 singles were horizontally mounted. The fins are aligned for upright running. Although they did other engines and some dramatically different from the horizontal single they were know for. I add to the chorus and say that there is a lot of interesting technology with old engines. As there were a lot more companies and a lot more ideas to get things done. Today there is very little variation from the norm. I used to love going to field days with my Father in law who grew up on a farm. He talked his father into buying the first tractor in the Waikato region in New Zealand. The passion was still there and knowledge of farm machinery immence. My first love is motorcycles and I've owned a collection of the usual jap bikes but also Husqvarna, a racing early 60's yamaha TD250 I still own a several Moto Guzzis including a a V7 sport and a Sport 1100 (one of 1700 caburated made) I also have a 1927 "N" model triumph which needs to be rebuilt. Harry Ricardo worked for Triumph in the 20's and there is a relation here with the design of the Y block but I've never established what.
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By Doug T - 13 Years Ago
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Hi Tim, Is there any possibility that the Cyl barrel in your pics is radial aircraft? That cutout in the fins might nest with an adjacent cyl.
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By mctim64 - 13 Years Ago
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Doug, the cut out in the fins is where the tube for the push rods would go. it would thread into the head. This guy was into old motorcycles anyway.
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By 46yblock - 13 Years Ago
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Here is a '75 picture of my Harley with Flathead 80 cu. in., 1941 if remembered correctly. Really neat. At the same time there was a new rebuilt 1934 VL Flathead 74 cu. in. in the basement. 
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By aussiebill - 13 Years Ago
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46yblock (3/3/2011)
Here is a '75 picture of my Harley with Flathead 80 cu. in., 1941 if remembered correctly. Really neat. At the same time there was a new rebuilt 1934 VL Flathead 74 cu. in. in the basement.
Mike, just love the pants! i think we all looked like that in the 70,s, good times.
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By mctim64 - 13 Years Ago
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aussiebill (3/3/2011)
Mike, just love the pants! Beat me to it.
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By glrbird - 13 Years Ago
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I had a blue and white pair like that, wish I could still fit in them!!!!!
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By aussiebill - 13 Years Ago
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glrbird (3/3/2011)
I had a blue and white pair like that, wish I could still fit in them!!!!!Gary, mine were brown with yellow stripes.  Tim, sorry! gives us a warm buzz to relive part of growing up. love the easy rider style of bike.
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By Moz - 13 Years Ago
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haha mine were grey with black & white stripes
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By pegleg - 13 Years Ago
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Moz (3/4/2011)
haha mine were grey with black & white stripesMoz, Sounds like Jail issue pants!!
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By 46yblock - 13 Years Ago
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It sounds like the pants were definitely and international phenom  .
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