We like throwing the weird ones at you and yesterday’s challenge certainly qualifies as that. The guys at Valley Head Service in Northridge, California sent us that photo which is a disassembled….1953 Seagrave V12 from a fire truck. Shockingly as few of you nailed it, so congrats on that! Lots of you were probably thinking Lincoln seeing the flathead style heads and 12 cylinder configuration but it is a Seagrave. These engines had a long run and displaced anywhere from 460 to 900ci over the course of production. We’ve read in different places that the V-12 was originally sourced or at least derived from a Pierce-Arrow V12, but others say it was Seagrave’s own design. Either way, it is a big engine that grunts out enough power to lug the fire truck around and spin the pumps! Guys have jammed them in hot rods, the Blastolene Brothers have used them for motor-vation in some of their outlandish projects, and we’ve actually seen one in an old fire truck, idling smoothly at 350RPM. They’re obsolete and very cool!
Ok, today’s challenge is below. This is another one from Valley Head Service and you’ll need to tell us what block this is and why it is special!
REMEMBER, IF YOU’VE GOT A MACHINE SHOP OR COOL OLD ENGINES LYING AROUND, ZAP A PHOTO AND EMAIL IT TO [email protected] — TITLE LINE THE E-MAIL – GEARHEAD KNOWLEDGE
Looks like a Lamar Walden/World Product 409 block.
Definitely a Chevrolet “W” series block. It is special because it is one of the original Z11 427’s.
Odd… I don’t remember any original W-series blocks with 4-bolt mains, let alone splayed 4-bolt mains. Looks a lot like a Walden block to me.
GM 409 409 hp 4sp with conversion to splayed mains.
GM 409 ! The mains have been altered !