[Bob Kerr]

Hi all, I just bought a 23 Olds 1 ton grain truck. Not sure if anyone here knows much on these, but my question is about the northway 4 cyl engine. It is casting number 43950. I know the head is Olds only, but does anything in the block the same as Say a Chevy or Olds car? The truck runs good, but would like to scrounge up spares if possible.

[c.johnson]

Olds from this period used the Northway engine, but not Chev.

Northway engines were used in Olds, Oakland, Scripps Booth, Cole, Jackson, and a few others I forgot about - from the late teens 'til the early 20's. When the outsourcing from Northway stopped. They were used in GMC trucks around 1925, 'til when, I don't know.

I believe Chev used the Saginaw engine, noted by the cloverleaf with "SPC" in the leaf pattern. I have a Northway engine from my '20 Oakland, and a Saginaw from my '23 Oakland. They are very different.

What kind of spare parts are you looking for? If starter, dist, carb parts & so on, these were probably other manufacturers..

[Bob Kerr]

Well I got the 23 Olds truck home from California and compared it to the engine in my 28 Chevy truck. I did find out the engine used in the Olds is a Mason design and not Northway. That said they are very simillar but the starters are on opposite sides and the Olds block has a cast, bolt on extension just above the oil pan. I also found out the Olds has 227 cid 40HP and the Chevy has 171cid 35HP. The Olds has a Zenith carb, autolight starter, autolight generator with the distributor on the back and an oil pump driven off the front. All in all it looks very close to the Chevy engine, but Olds used this type 4cyl since 1914. The Olds I got runs , but was sucking air in with the oil intake on the pump and sounds like it has a slight knock so I may be scraping bearings soon. It drives nice but the clutch is dragging and is hard to shift, and the radiator/ block is full of rust from sitting so much. Best part is it looks great!

[rocketraider]

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http://www.barris.com/gallery_cars/T...llshotrod.html

[Bob Kerr]

Just to update, Been working on the truck all summer. The radiator clogging problem was due to the water pump packing falling apart and flowing with the water to clog the tubes and some mouse debris which may be in the block,but is slowwly clearing up. The oil pan was cleaned out and pressure is better but still around 5-6 lbs and should be at 10 or so. The knock noise was the crank pulley a bit loose on the crank and may need a speedy sleeve added to make the fit better. The truck ran ok but had to have the choke pulled out slightly, That was fixed by cleaning out all the jets in the zenith carb which had green corrosion from the crappy California oxygenated fuel. Tha trans was filled with a more correct 600wt gear oil and acts better but the clutch does slip some on occasion. I will try a cleaning on that before replacing it incase there is oil or dust causing it.The rear end is a bizarre double reductuion type with a ring and pinion and external axel shafts mounted to a I beam. It was made by the Torbensen axel company and was treated to fresh 600 WT gear oil also. The valves were adjusted and now she really goes! I hope to take it to the Newport Antique Auto Hillclimb in Newport Indiana in Oct which is a blast even to go watch!

[Bob Kerr]

This engine also has the clover leaf pattern on the exhaust manifold.