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Test Your Gearhead Knowledge: Yesterday’s Ancient Behemoth And Today’s Weirdo Component


Test Your Gearhead Knowledge: Yesterday’s Ancient Behemoth And Today’s Weirdo Component

I went full on weirdo with yesterday’s engine because I was hoping to cause the BS readership to throw up a goose egg in the guess department, but no, you went ahead and nailed it. The engine shown was a 935ci T-headed monster from an American LaFrance fire truck that dated back to the pre-WW1 era. The guys at Valley Head Service restored it for a customer and said it was one of their most challenging projects more because of finding components than anything else. You don’t hear much talk about T-headed design engines any more and that’s because by about 1920 they were outdated. The intake valve is on one side of the bore and the exhaust is on the other side. They were very tough to package in anything other than big trucks like the fire truck that one was going in and frankly, they sucked with respect to making power. The world was still a long way off from overhead valves for the masses, but the T-head was dunzo before Woodrow Wilson left office.

Now on to today’s challenge! Instead of a whole engine, we’re giving you one piece. A connecting rod. Tell us what this bizarro rod fits!

 


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11 thoughts on “Test Your Gearhead Knowledge: Yesterday’s Ancient Behemoth And Today’s Weirdo Component

  1. floating doc

    I was thinking radial engine as well, but the drawing in the background looks more like Robert M’s comment.

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