Thousands of sbc, sbf, fe, rat block, flathead, Mopar hemi, inline 6, stovebolt 6, bangers, nailheads, rockets, caddies, V-12 flatties, Packard 6 and 8, Mopar flathead inlines, etc. that have been innovatively tweaked, beefed, bamboozled and blown on this H.A.M.B., but we all go absolutely nutz for a doubled up Crosley. Oh, yeah, we appreciate the rhythm of marching to a different drum! MORE of this.
Yankee-Crosley-Parts is another good source for parts If not listed give Ted a call he'll probably have it. Looking good! I'm building a Crosley but nothing like your's lol.
For the sake of argument let's ass-ume both engines make identical HP and torque. The HP would be the same as a single engine. BUT two should yield twice the torque....right?! To use the increased torque you could "gear-it-up" to move faster because of the added torque. Sorta like comparing a 450 HP SBF.....and a 450 BBF. Big block is gonna have more torque and can "pull" a taller gear. Am I on the right track here?! 6sally6
OK Lets think about how we calculate horse power. We multiply torque times RPMs. Then divide by 5252 and get Horse power So, how can we double the torque numbers without doubling the HP?
Rich Fox, in his post #97 above, provides a succinct and mathematically correct answer. But think about this....if each cylinder produces a certain amount of power, how could eight identical cylinders NOT produce more horsepower than only four? If your rationale were true, an engine would only produce the same total horsepower as one cylinder produced, no matter how many cylinders were added. Even more basic......two live horses harnessed together to pull a load will provide twice the horsepower as only one of them would have provided.
PS For those of you who read dyno charts and don't already know. The 5252 number is a constant and is why the torque and HP graph always crosses at 5252 RPM
What an inspiration! Beautiful work! Craftsmanship deluxe! Love the Crosley, of course. Ours can be seen to the left.....
Well in addition to the straight 8 and V8’s shown here, there is a DOHC 4 at the Speedway Museum. It was built by Jan Gilmer in Minnesota and very successfully raced in a TQ midget I believe in the 70’s or 60’s.
Some people just have too much talent, damn I'd love to have that skillset. I love it and can't wait to see your contribution. Don't forget to post more photos, did I mention that we love photos!
I finally got a chance to work on the Crosley again. I started working on the left side tail piece. It’s still very rough and needs a ton of work. This panel is a preliminary piece so I can see if I like the shape of the tail. It’s not always easy to get a feel for how the wireform is flowing but once you put sheet metal on it all the bugaboos jump out. Once I’m happy with it I’ll make a Flexible Shape Pattern (FSP) of it. That will allow me to shape the final panel and the right half much faster than reading the wires. The FSP might not make much sense now but I’ll explain/show when the time comes. On a side note, I bought a new English wheel from Wray Schelin (Pro Shaper Sheet Metal). He builds top notch metal shaping tools right at his shop in Charlton MA. I’m so happy to finally have one of these, it’s been a long time coming. Thanks for looking. Chris Instagram: @39_deluxe
Chris, have been lurking on your thread with a pretty big smile. When I was 11 my grandfather bought me a Crosley with a homemade boattail body-crude in some respects for sure but cool for a young kid nevertheless. Still have it and great memories of driving it at my grandfather's place of business in 62-66ish. It was like a small racetrack and one time my brother took a turn too fast and damaged the tail when he hit a roadgrader tire. We fashioned a piece on the back and voila it became a bob tail I suppose. The car you are building is flat out cool IMO. Love your english wheel as well. I worked for 5 months with Ron Fournier and since then have really appreciated wheeling and the guys that do it. Keep up the good work. Jim Here is me with my grandfather on the day when he taught me to drive a 3 speed manual-still remember the thrill.
That’s fantastic! Thank you for sharing the story and picture. I can only imagine how thrilled you were to race around in that thing. Ron Fournier was quite the craftsman. That’s nice that you got to work with him for that long. I’m sure you learned a ton. Do you still do metal shaping ? It’s really a huge passion for me. It’s a big challenge but extremely rewarding as you see yourself progress and get better. I’m always trying to advance my skills and get better and better. Thanks for the interest. Chris Instagram: @39_deluxe
Chris, it was great working with Ron and we were friends up to his passing. For most of the 5 months. I had my own work to do on the car we were doing so I did not get to do metal work all day long but a bit to have an appreciation for it. At the time he was also building his little V6 hot rod/track style car and I painted his chrome moly chassis and helped hold the large panels when he wheeled them. All aluminum and he would remove the protective covering while wheeling and then put it back on afterwards-awesome work for sure. It makes you up your game on whatever you do. I have the equipment to an extent but do not do as much shaping as I did in the 80s. I had a really great english wheel I made with parts I bought from Ron but sold it when money was tight-still have another jack sleeve and three anvil wheels and a large upper wheel I bought from Ron. Still have my planishing hammer and deep throat shrinker that I bought thru him in the 80s. In the real near future I have to fabricate some fenders for a 1903 Cadillac but they are not too complex but still fun all in all. Your work looks great-keep up the good work. Jim
Jimdillon - Love your Crosley special; sort of a scaled down domestic version of the contemporary Lotus 7. You didn't mention that the transmission was non-synchromesh, quite an accomplishment for an 11 year old to master. Is it still operational? A restoration on the "to do" list?
It is non-operational and on a long list but no big deal. The car puts a smile on my face every time I see it. My grandfather was a collector and I drove quite a few cars with no synchros when I was a kid but luckily the Crosley special had a pretty smooth 3 speed manual. My dad had a 23 Stutz with a trans axle and 5 foot long shifting rods and no synchros and although it was anything but a joy to drive, I even drove it to work when I was 16. With 2 wheel mechanical brakes it made panic stops a real joy (especially when it was almost impossible to downshift on a panic stop). Here is a picture of it a few years ago with my dogs checking it out when I brought it home from being in cheap storage-you can see the boat tail is only a memory.
Several Italian mfrs of small sports/racers in the early 50s used Crosley engines, some of which had DOHC valve arrangements. Since the factory Crosleys had integral heads, these engines also had special cylinder blocks that bolted to the Crosley crankcase.
Very cool. Maybe one day you can get it running. I bet it would still be a blast to scoot around in. Instagram: @39_deluxe
Progress has been slow. I did push my old jalopy out of the garage bay next to the Crosley so I could look at a side profile of the tail. As soon as I looked at it from a distance it hit me. The tail is too short. I took a few side profile pictures and sent them off to Bob (owner of the car). We talked and agreed that it needed to be longer. He also said he would rather have it come more to a point at the end. So my next task is to lengthen the tail about six inches and make it more pointy. Then I’ll have Bob come over and sign off on the wireform before bashing anymore sheet metal. Thankfully the panel I made was a prelim to check the flow. I’ll rework it to check the flow on the version two tail once that’s ready. As a side note, Bob did like the slenderness of the tail as viewed from the top. So that’s a plus. The car must have a sleek and slippery look to fit it’s small stature. Instagram: @39_deluxe
The Jalopy Journal
