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millers and offys, oh my

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by silent rick, Mar 16, 2011.

  1. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    my story begins 5 or 6 years ago. a fellow member of this little biker fraternity i belong to stopped by my garage and was surprised to find out i was into old cars also. he started talking about the machine shop he worked at. original sprint and indy type cars, millers and offys, casting and machining parts to rebuild these engines, visiting the basement of the museum down in indy to pick up an original set of tires and other stories. he went on and on. it's not that i didn't believe him, it's just that come on, this place was just 15-20 minutes away from my house. how come i hadn't heard about it.
    since then i inquired about the place. very few had heard of it, most hadn't. i was on a mission to find out all i could. then 2 years ago i met a guy at a local cruise night with an offy powered model A. some of you might remember my post. cas(spendingtheirinheritance) verified the stories. he's also good friends with the owner.
    well a month ago, i finally got the opportunity to tour the place. steve, the owner is ok with me posting pics. i hope cas comes on this thread to help explain the stuff i saw. the lighting wasn't the best. in an attempt not to provide any mis-information, i'll leave most of the fact telling to cas. enjoy the pics.

    some of the guys hadn't heard an offy run, so steve fired this one up for us
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    i love the brakes on it. steve says as far as he knows, they're off of some WWII era aircraft.
    [​IMG]
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    an original miller
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    this one was my favorite. it was steve's dad car. i think he said it was raced at jungle park. supercharged
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    Last edited: Feb 4, 2015
  2. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    just got back in from the garage. here's some more
    [​IMG]
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    some other cars that were there
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    i didn't take any pics of the stacks of wheels around the shop. these will have to do.
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    it's amazing what he had stuffed in the nooks and crannies. i spotted this out of the corner of my eye
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    i think there was 3 or 4 of these in this stack
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2011
    kidcampbell71, T-roaster and wicarnut like this.
  3. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    steve then took us back and explained the inner workings of an offy, how the crank gets loaded in from the end, not dropped out of the bottom of the crankcase.
    [​IMG]
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    here's a crank ready to be loaded
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    these pieces the bolt the crank in the cases tend to break. steve is machining his own. much stronger than stock.
    [​IMG]


    stock piece on the left, steve's design on the right
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    more parts steve casts
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    this is what a rod looks like. i think he said they're tubular. it felt light.
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    here's one on the dyno
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    my tach goes to 16,000, of course i need to run two 8,000 tachs in series
    [​IMG]


    yet another getting machined
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    what's that doing in here?
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    that's about all i have. half way between this shop and my house is ray nichels old shop. more history there too. wasn't ray the only person to have a car on the pole at both daytona and indy in the same year?
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2011
  4. Buz
    Joined: May 18, 2007
    Posts: 139

    Buz
    Member

    Wow, thanks for sharing the pics.
     

  5. koth
    Joined: Apr 30, 2007
    Posts: 161

    koth
    Member

    That sounds like a gold mine! Thanks for sharing the pics of the place!
     
  6. Gasr57
    Joined: Sep 3, 2007
    Posts: 236

    Gasr57
    Member
    from Ohio

    Cool pics and story. There is is a place in Cincy that does the same type of work. They had a car on display at the Cavelcade a couple years ago.
     
  7. Stu D Baker
    Joined: Mar 4, 2005
    Posts: 2,755

    Stu D Baker
    Member
    from Illinois

    Very cool Rick. Stu
     
    31 Thunderbird likes this.
  8. did anyone else notice that that is a model a trans behind the 16 valve black car
    wow
     
  9. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    Yes, and chances are real good it has a cut down early 1928 Ford multi disk flywheel & clutch, they were the standard setup well into the early 1950's. Lots of clutch surface and more foot room for the driver. Thanks to the original poster for sharing the photos!:D
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2011
    Carter and kidcampbell71 like this.
  10. big bad john
    Joined: Aug 11, 2010
    Posts: 4,727

    big bad john
    Member

    ....Thanks for sharing.......great pictures.....never seen one in person,but maybe one day......I bet it sounded nice when he started it up....
     
  11. like...wow....cool they were saved....
     
  12. I was too lazy to read the story but the pix were cool.
     
  13. killbilly
    Joined: Mar 29, 2009
    Posts: 283

    killbilly
    Member

    I was there the day the pics were taken,Steve was a great host,one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time!What a collection!:)
     
  14. aircap
    Joined: Mar 10, 2011
    Posts: 1,748

    aircap
    Member

    Awesome pix of awesome machinery!
     
    jetman likes this.
  15. Offy 220
    Joined: Sep 29, 2009
    Posts: 255

    Offy 220
    Member

    Thanks for posting the pics. :)
     
  16. JEM
    Joined: Feb 6, 2007
    Posts: 1,040

    JEM
    Member

    How much does your friend have to pay to work there? :D
     
  17. torino_Joe
    Joined: Mar 11, 2011
    Posts: 102

    torino_Joe
    Member

    simply amazing.......what i wouldn't give 2 hear those things fire up!!!
     
  18. Dave K
    Joined: Jan 31, 2006
    Posts: 344

    Dave K
    Member

    Holy Crap!!!!!!

    Thanks for posting
     
  19. Beautiful stuff there for sure. Thanks for posting.
     
  20. erlomd
    Joined: Apr 26, 2008
    Posts: 1,212

    erlomd
    Member

    wish we could hear them runnin'
     
  21. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,627

    The37Kid
    Member

    Just how big is this lathe??????????[​IMG]
     
    VANDENPLAS likes this.
  22. harpo1313
    Joined: Jan 4, 2008
    Posts: 2,584

    harpo1313
    Member
    from wareham,ma

    A working museum,Im impressed.thanks for posting.
     
  23. hiboy32
    Joined: Nov 7, 2001
    Posts: 2,796

    hiboy32
    Member
    from Omaha, NE

    thanks for posting. auto motive porn....
     
  24. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    i liked the simplicity of this car, my favorite. clutch pedal was mounted directly to the clutch release cross shaft. the gas pedal was on the other side of the in/out box. no front brakes. the rears were actuacted by hand outside the body by the fuel pump. this car was just all kinds beautiful.


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  25. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    i'd hazard a guess and say it was big:)
     
    kidcampbell71 likes this.
  26. rob lee
    Joined: Jul 30, 2006
    Posts: 1,331

    rob lee
    Member
    from omaha,ne

    Great post,thanks!
     
  27. stealthcruiser
    Joined: Dec 24, 2002
    Posts: 3,748

    stealthcruiser
    Member

    Slobber, slobber...........Drool!!!!!!
    Thanks for the tour!!!!!
     
  28. oj
    Joined: Jul 27, 2008
    Posts: 6,454

    oj
    Member

    Wow, theres a lifetime of memories in that room. I have seen one of those engines in an indy roadster and it was massive! I can only imagine what a room full of them would be like. How big was that turbo?
     
  29. treb11
    Joined: Jan 21, 2006
    Posts: 3,948

    treb11
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    NEW Offys being made ! Sweet!!
     
    kidcampbell71 likes this.

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