My newest replica car project

oldgascar

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My project car,

I have been working on reverse engineering the Olds Pirate Racer replica (photo of original car enclosed. Orig car no longer exist) for some time now. Mostly on my computer to generate measurements for building a full scale replica.

I visited the GM Heritage Center in Detroit this summer and measured the replica on display there.
That car has a 1 cylinder engine & the car is a 3/4 scale replica.

I was fortunate enough to find 4 wire spoked wheels last year which were originally made in the early 1900's for the car. The rims are bad and spokes will need to be replaced also but they are exactly like the wheels on the orig. Pirate Racer.

I recently purchased an engine for the car. It arrived about 3 weeks ago. It is a 1904 Brennan 2 cylinder engine.(photo enclosed) It hasen't run for 40+ years. It is missing a carburator and a flywheel.

I have been looking for a 2 speed planetary transmission for it (with no luck so far). I included an old Brennan engine catalog page. Mine is most like the engine on the top right. The engine on the top left shows a planetary transmission (like the one I need) attached to the left side of the engine in the drawing.

Just thought I would tell about my newest "old car" project.

Bob Ferry





DSC05021.JPGPirate 1.jpgFullscreen-capture-3262011-120816-PM_bmp.jpg

Pirate 1.jpg DSC05021.JPG Fullscreen-capture-3262011-120816-PM_bmp.jpg
 
amazing. . . how do you find stuff you need? a transmission for a 100 plus year old engine ? carb ? even a picture of the carb I would think would be next to impossible. I admire your perserverence (sp) and dedication to such a project.
what are the "torpedo tubes" for ? fuel ?
 
The carb is easy, I should be able to hand over my wallet (200-300 dollars) at Hershey Penn Antique car show in the fall and get one. The tranny is a bigger problem, but if I can't find one, I beleive I know where one is in talledaga , Alabama that I can make rubber molds of the gears and completely reverse engineer the tranny. But I would rather find an original.
The bullet tanks are for water and gas. I had a radiator man quote an orig style radiator fro the car at 10,000 - 15,000 dollars SOOOOOO i will be building my own at the cost of about $800 dollars max.

Bob
 
DO be careful!! That car looks like it could be dangerous at much racing speed!!
 
DO be careful!! That car looks like it could be dangerous at much racing speed!!

I made a 50/50 mixture of acetone and automatic transmission fluid to soafk the engine in to loosen everything to disassemble the engine. I started to dismantle the engine yesterday and to my surprise everything came apart very easily. The top of the cast iron engine housing is missing and I need to decide on the best plan of attack to make a rebuild/ repair of this area. I will take the cylinders to be magnafluxed soon. Hopefully they will not have any major ploblems, or at least any that can't be repaired. I am lucky to have a local specialty machine shop that works on engines from early 1900's & newer to check out the cylinders. I will need to make new brass bushings and I wil, make cad drawings of all the parts of the engine as I rebuild it. This ngine is strange in that the cylinders are opposite each other but are not offset from each other . The manufacturer decided to offset the connecting rods instead. To me this is very strange. Working on an engine which is over 100 years old is a real treat.
 
I made a 50/50 mixture of acetone and automatic transmission fluid to soak the engine in to loosen everything to disassemble the engine. I started to dismantle the engine yesterday and to my surprise everything came apart very easily. The top of the cast iron engine housing is missing and I need to decide on the best plan of attack to make a rebuild/ repair of this area. I will take the cylinders to be magnafluxed soon. Hopefully they will not have any major problems, or at least any that can't be repaired. I am lucky to have a local specialty machine shop that works on engines from early 1900's & newer to check out the cylinders. I will need to make new brass bushings and I will, make cad drawings of all the parts of the engine as I rebuild it.

This engine is strange in that the cylinders are opposite each other but are not offset from each other. The manufacturer decided to offset the connecting rods instead. To me this is very strange. Working on an engine which is over 100 years old is a real treat.

I'd like to see this. If you get a chance to take a pic or two of this setup that would be great!

What other engines have you drawn?
 
Dan-In-MN

I am, sorry it has taken me so long to answer. Here are some pics of the engine showing the offset connecting rods. I am in the process of repairing the cylinders now. I will post extra pics as the project as I make progress.





IMG_0073.JPGIMG_0164.JPGIMG_0169.JPGIMG_0170.JPG

IMG_0073.JPG IMG_0164.JPG IMG_0165.JPG IMG_0169.JPG IMG_0170.JPG
 
beautiful project. help me with some details. . . dual camshafts ? no cam shafts ? valve train anywhere in those photos ? and what were these engines used for along with the transmissions like your trying to find ? its like a in depth mystery novel. who done it and for what reason . . . .
so very interesting. . . thanks for sharing.
 
davidh

I will need to post some different pics to show the cams (one on each side, driven by the gears you see on each side of the engine. The cams are on the outside of the crankcase) the pushrods are on the outside of the engine also. This engine is a lost oil engine. The crank etc. Are lubricated by old time drip oilers, when the oil drips on the moving parts of the engine, the oil then drops down & sits in he bottom of the crankcase. There is no oil pump on his type of engine. I am sure the EPA would not like his engine. This engne was manufactured only for a short time period. Brennan later went into manufacturing marine engines and a few truck engines. The company was located in Syracuse, New York until the early 70's. But there is very little info available. I found a 24 page book about my engine last month and paid a small fortune for it. I chose this engine because it is the closest thing to the orig 2 cylinder opposed engine like Ransom Olds used in the original Pirate Racer.
This sure has been a learning experience over the past couple of years. Hopefully I wll find a transmission soon ( at a reasonable price) and I can then start building the frame of the car.

I will try to post some pics showing the cams soon.

Bob
 
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