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Peerless 6.81 Engine Spares


petemick

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In case anyone out there has spare Parts for a 1929 Peerless 6-81 engine---this is quite the deal. Pete is offering a nice-looking, complete Peerless engine (built by Continental, used in the 1929 Six-61) in return for a few engine parts. There's an earlier post of his with 3 color photos.

O.K., I should add that the Peerless engine is in South Africa. Without question, the 1929 6-61 is the most numerous of the Peerless cars, of the 1/3 of 1% which have survived.

Edited by jeff_a (see edit history)
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  • 1 year later...

I finally managed to have a new set of gears made here in South Africa, a new Morse chain ,the same as the old one but a different pitch came from UK.

We also replaced the valves , springs and cotters , a Ford DS800 set fitted nicely.

I was lucky to find new pistons in the USA.

The respray is great ,two tones of grey with maroon wheels and maroon pin stripe, its booked into a show in May so will have to be finished by then

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I have two complete engines, engine numbers are 8U-13485 and 18C-2194. I have a 1928 boatail coupe project. Which one of these engines would be correct? It looks like the 18C came out of the car, but hard to tell. Thanks for your time and help. Brian Coffee

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I have two complete engines, engine numbers are 8U-13485 and 18C-2194. I have a 1928 boatail coupe project. Which one of these engines would be correct? It looks like the 18C came out of the car, but hard to tell. Thanks for your time and help. Brian Coffee
The engine in my 29,saloon is fitted with an 18C engine which is certainly the original, I have just finished the rebuild on my engine (in South Africa) good luck with the spares if you need advice just send a message regards Peter Micklewright
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Hello Brian,

Thank you for your inquiry. Technically, the 8U should go in your Peerless boattail coupe. I don't have much to go on...........but I think you have a 1928 Six-80 "Roadster Coupe". I have some photos of the car before you got it, taken in a storage unit. Theoretically, a '28 Peerless boattail could be a 6-60, 6-80, 6-91, or 8-69: all quite different cars. I'm leaning toward it being a 6-80, if you think one of these engines goes with it.

It would help to have the wheelbase, the info from the body plate (on the L.S. or driver's side of the firewall), and the number from the top of one of the doors. Unlike some automakers, whose archives still survive, documenting individual Peerless cars from factory records is impossible. There are a few things I've come up with from reading original ads, owners' manuals, magazines, etc. Here on the Peerless Forum, you can look at Philippe Mordant's thread "How to Identify your Peerless -- Body and Engine serial numbers"(older thread most recently posted on 1/26/08) and see the serial # runs for each model. Using the KPAIE Google Drive spreadsheet I gave you access to a few weeks ago may also help.

The 6-60s and 6-80s both have a 116" w.b. The 6-91 has a 120" w.b. Information conflicts on the 8-69 coupe( possibly 128", 126", or 133"). I think boattails were only built by Peerless from 1926 through 1928. Based on everything I have read, all the 1926-1928 6-80s had 230 Cu. In. "8U" Continental engines. These have evenly-spaced spark plugs. For 1929(actual manufacturing started August, 1928) the 1928 6-80s evolved into 1929 6-81s. These are supposed to have 248 Cu. In. engines whose spark plugs are not evenly-spaced...although they look similar otherwise (with the big flaring exhaust manifold on the L.S. of the engine sending exhaust gasses back-to-front & then down*). After I got my 1928 6-80 boattail coupe, I wondered why my engine didn't look right. It doesn't have evenly-spaced plugs, but the body plate says: "B802 335"**. While obviously a Continental six, the brass engine plate that should be on the R.S. of the crankcase is missing. My guess is that either someone needed to replace the motor in my car and substituted a one-year-newer one(1929 18-C instead of a 1928 8U); or Peerless made some "running changes" in the 6-80. I guess it's possible that they could have introduced the improved engine before 6-80 production ended. My 6-80 is one of the last of some 14,000 built, with a serial# 1,200 from end-of-production. My ser.#s are: BODY: B802 335 / ENGINE: none / DOOR: L-Six 2C 1216. For comparison, someone else has a car on the Known Peerless Automobiles In Existence list(a 1928 6-80 5-Passenger Sedan) with these ser.#s: BODY: B802 470 / ENGINE: 8U 13771 / DOOR: L-Six 5S 11530.

I think the 18C-2194 engine you have is the same vintage as Petemick's 18C-2159, a 1929.

When you first got your Peerlesses, you wrote that you thought this was an 8-69. What changed your mind?

---------Jeff

* Just like that on a Pierce-Arrow Series 80 L-Head Six

**Meaning it's a 6-80, but from the second series(B)(about 3,500 built), mostly 1928. About 11,500 first series(A) were built, mostly 1926s and 1927s.

Edited by jeff_a
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Thanks Jeff. Huge help, I promise I will get photos one of these days. There were two boattails in the collection I bought. The 8-69 boatail coupe has a 133" wheelbase and was in running condition. He had not planned on selling, but had a change of heart. The other green bodied boattail is a project. We just started work on this car.Thanks Brian

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