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Update: A BangShifter Is Rebuilding A Duesenberg Engine In His Home Garage – Cleaning And Rebuilding Have Begun!


Update: A BangShifter Is Rebuilding A Duesenberg Engine In His Home Garage – Cleaning And Rebuilding Have Begun!

(Photos by Joel Nystrom) – BangShifter, hot rodder, drag racer, and all around good guy Joel Nystrom is rebuilding the irreplaceable 420ci inline eight engine that powers his 1929 Duesenberg in his home shop. This is the most BangShifty thing ever and it is totally awesome that he’s brining us along for the ride. Nystrom fired up a thread in our forum section to follow the rebuilding and the photos of the engine are flipping awesome. Being able to see the guts of a mill like this is a rare treat.

In the event that you have been living under a rock for your entire automotive life and have no idea what a Duesenberg is, many consider them the greatest American cars of all time. They were huge and powerful and on par (or better) than anything else being made in the world. The Depression killed the company but before it went under there were some amazing things happening there. Just consider the engine that you are going see being rebuilt here. It is an inline eight cylinder that measures to 420ci. It had 5.5:1 compression stock, dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, aluminum rods, and a four foot long crankshaft that weighs more than 120lbs. In short, it was amazingly advanced for its era of construction and it lead the way for many advancements in the industry.

Joel is rightly treating this engine as if it is a precious gemstone but he’s doing all the work (outside of boring it) himself. He ripped it out of the car, he built a special rig on his engine stand to hold the thing, and he took it all apart and will reassemble the whole works. This is a fascinating look at the most “real guy” Duesenberg rebuild ever. Joel is a very talented and skilled wrench, he’s going to do this old girl proud. Follow along with the project here.

UPDATE: After competing at Hot Rod Magazine Drag Week and doing lots of regular life stuff, Joel is back at with with the Duesenberg rebuild. You will see lots of cool photos and parts as he has been prepping the crank for reinstall and going through other parts of the engine (oil pump, etc) to make sure that they will be happy he he starts to reassemble it all. Pickup the thread from the beginning at the link  below or click it and jump to later pages for the most recent information:

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE HOME REBUILD OF THIS DUESENBERG 420CI INLINE 8

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5 thoughts on “Update: A BangShifter Is Rebuilding A Duesenberg Engine In His Home Garage – Cleaning And Rebuilding Have Begun!

  1. Dan Stokes

    I’m SO glad you put this on the front page. I can’t tell you how special this is to me having gotten turned on to the Duesenberg brothers (Fred and August) back in HS – that’s like 1963 or so. The brothers and their designer Leo Goosen were SO far ahead of their time that it’s beyond description. Sad that the kind of client who could afford this level of perfection died out with the Depression.

    I’d be a happy man to just lay a hand on this engine and the car it lives in. HUGE thanks to Joel for taking us on the journey.

    Dan

  2. sbg

    Brian, you missed the best part of the build – he’s building the motor for a race… yes, sir, it is being modified.

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