Seeing these old Frontenac engines reminds me of a Mecum auction I attended at Milwaukee in 2011 (Miller Meet). I was interested in a set of Rudge-Whitworth wheels and bid them up to around $5000 I believe. I dropped off because it seemed there were several buyers. The bidding went higher than they were worth unless they were exactly the size for your particular project, I suppose. They were not the right size for my project but new ones at the time cost $6000. When I dropped off I decided to bid on one of the Frontenac engines hoping to steal one at the right price-no such luck. The prices were a bit steep and I bid unsuccessfully on a twin cam. It was entertaining when the Miller 91 came up (marine setup) that went for $150,000 if I remember correctly. Still some pretty cool motors out there. Here are some pics I took with the date stamp (which I believe may be correct-had the date on by mistake).
Fordors...thanks for the articles, I thought I'd seen some of that yrs ago and remembered the Old Car Illustrated magazine......I had a couple of issues but it was great to read the complete article many thanks.......and Jimdillon, thanks for the pics from the auction...........I recognised the Alfa engine in the last pic as I had one I installed in a track roadster hotrod I was building in the late 70's, it was as close as I could find to something like the engines going for serious money at that auction...........great thread, thanks guys..........andyd
Hosterman SOHC Model A Ford conversion. Claimed H.P. increase 75-100%, top speed increase 20-25 mph. Could order special cam, dual carburetor intake manifold and special magneto bracket.
I believe khead47 may have a point. It does not resemble the pictures I have seen of the 303 V-16. It does resemble the 308 V-8 that was used in the Four Wheel Drive cars. I had thought that one of those V-8s had survived and was in California a number of years ago.
I just looked to see if the Museum of American Speed (Speedway Motors) has this engine and I found that they do have a 308-V-8. Here is a picture of their engine (may be the same engine) without the mags etc.
Bottom end of a Bentley W12 And the middle bit. Found a cut up cylinder head - Can't remember what it was off! Garpo
The Novi, 181.5 cu. in. of raw horsepower, the article is from a British publication so they gave the displacement in CC.
Wilbee V-8 patent 1919. 13 degree offset of the bores, 8 lobe camshaft, overhead valves, aluminum block, head and rods.
The first thing which springs to mind is the long line of Lancia narrow-angle V engines. Here's a Fulvia V4: Almost-square cylinder head: Note angle-topped pistons. Lancia made narrow-angle V4s from 1922 to 1976. The first was the Lambda, with strange porting at the back of the head: It's significant that the Wilbee had a 13° V angle, as the first Lambda had the same angle.
Gallivan DOHC Model T Ford Conversion. It used 2 inch valves, gear driven cams, custom large crankshaft with tubular connecting rods machined from billet steal.
The Jalopy Journal
