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Here's one I bet you've never seen


knuckleharley

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592ccbafae75f_BrassDodge.jpg.e25887581f912d0e63095f0df8d4587b.jpg

Ever seen a flat 6 race engine with a BRASS head?

I'm guessing the builder used brass to reduce the corrosion problem race boat engines have to deal with.

A friend of mine that knows I love flat inline engines sent me this.

Anyone else ever seen one?

Edited by knuckleharley
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Knuckle.............THAT wins the prize from me............lol............have never seen a brass head...........would love to know the background re making this, who did it, cast it, etc..........the closest as far as a boat race motor goes was in the mid 70's, a local car dealership had an older clinker timber hulled speedboat that had a mopar flathead 6 in it with triple Webers or Dellortos, can't recall which but three of the side draft twin choke buggars......had only ever seen them on Jaguar and other 6 port engines and no one at the dealership knew anything about this setup or who did it, they were just selling it............but a brass head..........WOW!!..............lol........and interestingly the carbys are mounted sideways on what looks like a proper boat intake, tho' the middle carbs not connected..............yep............will get the prize out today............lol...........wow...........its not just brass paint is it?.........lol..............andyd    

Edited by Andydodge
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That is certainly a new one on me.    For years I have been servicing a  Chrysler Crown in a Shepherd runabout.  This one looks like it may be an Ace (23 inch) but it has some interesting variations not the least of which is the head and its spark plug spacing.  Also different is the manifold and the location of the cooling lines.  Magneto ignition with a vacuum chamber which is not really needed on a marine .engine .  Fascinating and worthy of further study.  Thanks for posting it.

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Wonder why center carb isn't hooked up? No fuel line. Also anyone know what the brass angle fitting coming out of the base of the carbs?   

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The brass angle fitting that you can see on the front and back carbs looks like an externally-adjustable main jet; I had a similar setup during my disastrous experiment with Stromberg 97 carbs.

It is interesting that it appears that the center carb is a dummy!

Marty

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Knuckle..........don't suppose your friend knows where this engine is located as those carbys look familiar, ie, they look like Oz single barrel Strombergs as used by GM's Holden 6 from the 50's thru to the mid 70's........the adjustable main jet that Martybose mentions reminded me that the Strombergs I had used on the mocked up engine as shown also had this feature, note the style/shape of the top part of the carbys in my pic seems similar and the spot where the fuel inlet is seems the same.........curious..........andyd   

IMG_1386.JPG

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8 hours ago, P15-D24 said:

Wonder why center carb isn't hooked up? No fuel line. Also anyone know what the brass angle fitting coming out of the base of the carbs?   

It probably was at one time. The engine has been sitting around,so some of the linkage may have been robbed to put on another engine.

Or the owner may have just been running 2 carbs after discovering it was overcarbed with 3 2 barrel carbs.

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5 hours ago, Andydodge said:

Knuckle..........don't suppose your friend knows where this engine is located as those carbys look familiar, ie, they look like Oz single barrel Strombergs as used by GM's Holden 6 from the 50's thru to the mid 70's........the adjustable main jet that Martybose mentions reminded me that the Strombergs I had used on the mocked up engine as shown also had this feature, note the style/shape of the top part of the carbys in my pic seems similar and the spot where the fuel inlet is seems the same.........curious..........andyd   

IMG_1386.JPG

Australia or New Zealand. Can't remember which for sure now,and I have already deleted his email to me. I suspect since you live in Australia all you would have to do is mention the name on the head and you will find out right away.

BTW,what kind of water pump is on your engine?

Edited by knuckleharley
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That head and carb setup looks very nice - would be a great engine for some sort of "open hood" hot rod.

I am jealous of the old school boat guys.  Every Mopar flathead I have ever owned (land vehicles) were not reliable when wet.  Unless I went very slow, the the engines start to miss like crazy or totally die while trying to go through low water crossings or during driving rain (lots of water on the road splashing up).  I would have to stop, get out a dry rag and the WD-40 to dry inside the distributor cap, the points and the plugs to get it going again.  I have always been impressed that someone figured out how to keep Mopar flatheads running in a boat without running a military style, waterproof ignition.  I am convinced if I owned a boat with a Mopar flathead, I would be the guy in the lake with the non-running engine, trying to get it dry enough to get me back to land.

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   Now, that (a brass engine head) IS something I’ve never heard of, much less seen!!! I noticed a parting-line in it—do you think is a two-piece arrangement??? And, if it is, why??? Anyway, it’d take a super-large can of Brasso to keep that big hunk of brass shiny, not to mention the amount of elbow grease it’d require. That’s equals way more work than I’m willing to invest. But, as for the cool factor—I agree that it’s way off of the coolness scale . . .

   As for water issues with our ’46 Plymouth—the water coming thru the hood’s center seam underneath the chrome trim was problematic, in that I’d have six puddles, rusting, making removing the spark plugs somewhat of a challenge. Putting anti-seize on the plugs prior to installation alleviated that problem, and fabricating the trough that goes under the hood seam (sloping slightly downwards towards the firewall) took care of the six puddles. I go thru any significant standing water real slowly (as I worry about the brakes going ‘MIA’ on me), so I’ve never had any engine problems.

 

 

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PA & Doc.........I missed that 2 part casting line.....duh!.........lol.........Knuckle, those carbys on the brass head engine are single barrels,  made by Bendix Technico here in Oz and appear to be the single barrel Stromberg, I'm unsure if they were based on a US Stromberg........where is the name you mention on the head?........and the water pump on my engine is from one of those Holden 6 engines I mentioned, the PO of my engine had made the round adaptor shown to fit the Holden water pump which here in Oz was much easier & cheaper to find and possibly more efficient than the mopar one............and I've posted on an Oz hotrodders site for any info regarding this engine..............gidday dav...........lol...........andyd 

IMG_1391.JPG

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54 minutes ago, Andydodge said:

PA & Doc.........I missed that 2 part casting line.....duh!.........lol.........Knuckle, those carbys on the brass head engine are single barrels,  made by Bendix Technico here in Oz and appear to be the single barrel Stromberg, I'm unsure if they were based on a US Stromberg........where is the name you mention on the head?........

I'm sorry,  I should have posted the original EBAY post that shows the ID of the seller and has close ups of the engine. The head was cast by the Lewis Brothers,as you can see in the one photo if you go to the link.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/lewis-brothers-ski-boat-motor-dodge-flathead-six-with-brass-head-/282490235772?roken=KaxmPm

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Too bad it is across the pond...  That engine looks so awesome!  It definitely would be a great conversation piece.  I wonder how well the head heat transfers?  I have never seen a cylinder head made of that material.

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13 minutes ago, classiccarjack said:

Too bad it is across the pond...  That engine looks so awesome!  It definitely would be a great conversation piece.  I wonder how well the head heat transfers?  I have never seen a cylinder head made of that material.

yea I agree but for over $2200 bucks? Which in the ad it says the motor has a broke ring, so all you can count on getting is the carb setup and the head...

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Just got off the phone to Dave the guy selling this engine, he originally thought it was brass but in hindsight it maybe bronze...... it blows a bit of smoke yet has good compression which is why he thinks a ring maybe broke however he has not removed the head.............the boat was built in 1961 and the engine which was original to the 1961 build has an engine number beginning with D40, a 1951/52 Oz Dodge number indicating a 218.6 engine, 25" long......Dave has removed the complete engine assembly and would like to sell the assembly in one lot........he intends to install a 318 LA series engine.........he has taken the boat out for a couple of runs but felt he needed a bit more oomph hence the engine swap........I advised Dave that it would be a shame to scrap the engine and he definitely has no intention of doing that.........he maybe interested in offers so........it does include the special intake & exhaust manifolds, 10litre sump, etc...........he is in Victoria, 15 hours ahead of New York time.............if I win lotto you'll have to be quick as its mine................lol.................Andyd    

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10 hours ago, Flatie46 said:

yea I agree but for over $2200 bucks? Which in the ad it says the motor has a broke ring, so all you can count on getting is the carb setup and the head...

If it's negotiable, the head and intake arrangement would be neat to have.  Shipping would over price the deal for myself.  If I had deep pockets, I would buy it.  But I don't....  Sigh

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1 minute ago, classiccarjack said:

If it's negotiable, the head and intake arrangement would be neat to have.  Shipping would over price the deal for myself.  If I had deep pockets, I would buy it.  But I don't....  Sigh

Yea I'm a cheapskate. Would be really cool to have. 

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15 hours ago, Desotodav said:

Those old MOPAR boat engines sure are an interesting setup. There was a guy selling one just around the corner from my place a while back...

MOPAR boat motor.JPG

I like the looks of that engine. I have no idea how they work on a flathead Mopar but IMO SU carbs are the best carb ever for a Harley..

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55 minutes ago, MackTheFinger said:

I like the looks of that engine. I have no idea how they work on a flathead Mopar but IMO SU carbs are the best carb ever for a Harley..

Yeah, the Knuckles, and Pans should have had these SU carbs from the factory! The Shovelhead and Evolution engines love the CV Carbs...  

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6 hours ago, classiccarjack said:

If it's negotiable, the head and intake arrangement would be neat to have.  Shipping would over price the deal for myself.  If I had deep pockets, I would buy it.  But I don't....  Sigh

If I had deep pockets I would be inviting you all to come see it and the rest of my collection at the Houston Astro Dome,and the satellite buildings.

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