Antique engines

[Howe]

Hi,

Thought you guys might like to see some classic engines in old boats.

BTW, as Digger's brother, I am happy to say he is doing well and wishes all of you well.

Howe

[MOP]

Hi Scotty always enjoy your posts, I grabbed a bunch of old engine shots up at the Alex shows. They have some real beauties they interest the hell out of me (old wrench), Last fall while at a buddies (Vintage boats) I go to meet a fellow that restores the real old big engines. An old friend Gene Bianco works with him, he was telling me what they go through to have the no longer to be found items made. Quite interesting just where the stuff comes from but that upon his request is kind of secret. When he does an old 12 over they can and do run 70K to 100K, I said god that steep he said can't build them quick enough tons of buyers out there.

Phil

[gcarter]

Let me guess;
1) Curtis D-12
2) Hispano V-8
3) Packard, either +/_1300 CI or 2500 CI, I'm not sure which.
4) Your Packard Gold Cup.

How did I do?

PS; We miss Digger too!

[The Hedgehog]

Thanks for the pics.

[Howe]

Hi George!

Your guesses are pretty good.

1) The Curtiss is actually a V-1570 "Conqueror", a later version of the D-12.
<www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/engines/eng17.htm>
2) The Hisso guess is right on the money
3) This one is tricky since the valve covers lead you to thinking they are Packards, when they are actually RR Meteor V-12 engines with customized valve covers to make them look like Packard V-12s. The owner did that as the boat itself is a replica of Miss America VII and she raced with Packard V-12s, of the 2500cid variety.
4) Right on, my Gold Cup engine before a run.

Believe it or not, it isn't too hard finding people to work on the engines, but there does seem to be a lot of secrecy from many people. They are afraid to share as they think it will harm them in some way. Crazy. If you dig deep enough, you can find out anything they know, just start 'googling' and keep at it. It does take time but it's not too bad. The sleuthing is part of the fun.

I have to admit the prices have jumped over the years, these things can be hard to find and it seems there is a market for them. If I had to start over again (I've been at it for almost 20 years now) I couldn't swing it.

Scotty will run at the Wolfeboro race boat regatta in September
<www.vintageraceboatshop.com/NHVintageRegatta2005.htm>
as well as the Detroit Gold Cup Race in July. We'll probably launch her in June to start tuning her up.

Take care.
Howe

[gcarter]

Pretty interesting!
Your right, the RR is tricky! Actually, if I remember correctly the Meteor is a tank engine (about 900HP) based on the Merlin. Wow, that was a great idea. The owner ends up with a much more dependable engine with lots more parts available.
You know, it doesn't surprise me there's a lot of parts available. If you study the history of these things, they were built in very "low tech" ways as the demand was literally in the ones and twos, except for the RR. I suppose there would be costs in casting patterns and that a lot of parts would be machined from billet.
Hmmmmm, this is something Jamie could do!