History Super Find!! Joe Gemsa head still in box after 30 plus years...Pictures

..If i recall right, there was a nice spread on Gemsa in a Rod and Custom in the early to mid '70's. It was a cover shot of Joe and ,I belive, his daughter with his T roadster.

 

I found some internet info and more pics on this car.

HISTORY of the ENGINE: Joe Gemsa kept meticulous records on every head he made. Each one had a special serial number engraved into the head UNDER the valve cover. This head is # 5 of only six OHV rocker arm conversions. The side plate and intake manifold are Gemsa castings as is the rocker arm cover also. A sister engine with rocker arms turned 125 mph with a 10.94 ET on gasoline in the 1/4 mile, as reported in Hot Rod Magazine and Rod and Custom. BLOCK: Ford four cylinder Model B (1932-1934) 233 cu. in. block that runs extremely strong with a ton of torque. Race car guys of the "4-Banger" era say just bolting this head onto your block adds 150 hp!! The exhaust system is custom built. The headers are stainless with an Aero turbine stainless muffler and stainless steel exhaust pipe exiting in front of the right rear wheel. HEAD: Four port cross flow. (Four intake valves on the left with four exhaust valves on the right.) The valves are rocker arm actuated. IGNITION: Fired by a Fairbanks-Morris Magneto. 12 volt system with an alternator. CARBURETION: Dual Stromberg 97's modified for this particular engine. The gasoline should be 93 octane or better. OIL SYSTEM: Full flow with a remote screw-off filter. Uses a WIX racing filter. FRAME: This car is a complete body-off the frame detailed restoration. It has been driven 160 careful miles since completion, just enough for the fine tuning. The frame is powder coated black. It has never been cut or modified and has a dropped chrome axle. TRANSMISSION: Has Lincoln Zephyr gearing. BRAKES: All brakes and brake lines are new with a new chrome master cylinder.

​

Figured you want to know...

 

What a super find!! I am just beginning my work on my 61 panel and I hope that maybe someday I could be half as lucky...probably not...but we will see.

 

Finding a crate like that makes opening the Ark of the Covenant look lame.
Very cool.

 

I bought this head from Joe in 1985

 

love it...any more...

 

What a find!!!!! A new Gemsa 4 banger OHV head NIB As mentioned; get the last issue of R&C 09, which mention's H&H re-poping the Gemsa head. Great writeup on Joe Gimsa as well.

 

i also have a head suposedly built by joe gempsa every part is numbered ie each inlet port is also numbered on the inlet manifold

 

Besides spotting the Gemsa powered A roadster at the Boerne, TX swap meet in my post above with pics, I've been a Hudson fan. There are Google references to Joe Gemsa running in NASCAR with a Hudson Hornet. Possibly the car was owned by his brother. The Hudsons of course were another flathead with all kinds of huge potential if they had an overhead conversion.

This leads to the question that begs to be asked: Does anyone know if Joe Gemsa ever did any development work for an overhead conversion for the Hudson Six / Hudson Hornets? It would just seem to be a natural thing for Joe to do!

Pictures are of Joe at Oakland Speedway on the bank and behind the wheel of the Hornet.

 

The wife and I also attended the Boerne Key to the Hills event and I have about the same pictures you took. Thats the first one I have ever seen and owning a 1928 with a 34 4 cyl had an immediate want for one. One nice looking 4 banger.

 

Any info as to the owners name,ph#,or address of this car, or is he a Hamb member would be appreciated........please PM me so i can talk to this guy.

Thanks...........Cruzr

 

Congrats on the find, very cool.

And that black roadster is slick.

 

can any one explain the exact differences between joe gempsas head and the rutherford heador were no two of gempsas heads the same

 

I was almost afraid to open this thread. Did I really what to see some decapitated guys head that had been in a box for 30 years?

 

NCIS Bulletin-Head found in box!!!

 

That's awesome. And in Hawaii no less. Aloha.

 

Bobby Green is probably too humble to mention it ... but be sure to checkout Bobby's post in Lucky Burton's "Old Crow breaks two records" thread ... last week, Bobby (and the H&H Flatheads / Old Crow Speed Shop team) set two new Bonneville records with their turbo-charged GEMSA SOHC 4-banger powered belly tank:

* Vintage Four-cylinder Blown Gas Lakester (V4/BGL) ... with a 2-way average of 137.289 MPH
* Vintage Four-cylinder Blown Fuel Lakester (V4/BFL) ... with a 2-way average of 146.819 MPH

 

Sent you a PM

 

That is so kool
I new Joe when I was 4 years old
He sold my Father a Sprint car gack in 1950
I have some old picts of Joe and his Gilmore Specials

 

Art, can you post them here so we can all enjoy them???

 

Hey, 32gal;

Would you please post some nice shots of the combustion chamber, n I&E ports? & some dimensions, too, *please" ?

Seems almost no-one posts pics of the CC n Ports,[which for me, are the most interesting] only the tops... .

TIA.

Marcus...

 

Just found this old thread, so...

Back in the early 1970’s when we were restoring a lot of pre-war sprints & midgets (38 of them), My Dad, Joe Gertler Sr., who had been building or modifying them since 1938, got in touch with Joe Gemsa about some other engines. (You could find photos of the super-rare 6 cyl air cooled radial Sprint car engine Gemsa had in “The Radial Express” on the Vintage sprint car thread, about a year ago..) Gemsa said he still had some of the old casting patterns for some of the old racing engines, and he sold us these, including Gemsa’s Original casting patterns. We had a local aluminum foundry cast us some, a few times a year, from these patterns and sold about 8-12 a year, in addition to any we used ourselves. These are for the four-banger blocks, with and without overhead racing set-ups. Just laying on the shelves here

 

Hello,
New member here, love the HAMB Drags near Joplin! Hey, I have an old B block (engine)built by Joe Gemsa in the late 60's, maybe early 70's. Trying to get it repaired and back on the street but just got word from my repairman in KC that it had been stitched back together too many times and he would not repair the last crack. It has good bearings, is all there with 4 inch Olds pistons but it is time to put it out to pasture. It hasn't run since the mid 70's but is quite clean, good crank bearings and all just not repairable in the valve area. I may part out the parts or may sell the whole thing except for the Winfield head. A little new paint and slab of glass and it would make an interesting coffee table. I do have all the hand written paperwork from Joe on what he did to the engine. If anyone is interested or has suggestions let me know.
Thanks,
Autojoe

 

Just found this thread. Know a little of Joe Gemsa he was my late father-in-law Hank Becker, mentor.

After a very trying tumultuous period, after Hank had passed, 5 months prior to Hanks wife passing. We gave Hanks "Fox Lady" to "Jerry" we haven't seen the car since, I know it was supposedly cleaned up and Jerry shows it. Would be interesting to see what it looks like now. It does have a gemsa head in it or it did.. I know Hank would be happy that it's out there in this world, being shown shown, still.
Hanks two Grandson and now two Great Grandson, would be a great photo for this thread and our family. We still have a few Gemsa items around, I would never part with them. We all miss my father-in-laws bih heart! Hank The Greatest pain in the @$$ a Son-Law could have. He was great to his family.. his name is even in the surfboard Hall of Fame. LOL.

Sent from my SM-G970U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

foxy

Sent from my SM-G970U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

We raced against Joe's dragster in the very early 60's at Fontana. As I recall, his son did the driving and the 4-banger ran in the 11s at about 110-115.

 

Super rad, were there ever any made for A engines with an oil tube?