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Early Continental engine information needed.


alsfarms

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I was able to get permission from the owner of this project car that will allow me to post a couple of pictures of the engine to identify. I think the engine is a Continental and probably about 35 hp. The car is a 1912 Gabriel and is a typical assembled automobile. Please take a look and help me determine which engine, HP and also bore and stroke. I desire to learn about the car before I consider a purchase.

Al[ATTACH=CONFIG]257114[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]257115[/ATTACH]

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Hello, My search continues for information regarding the engine in a potential project car (pictures of engine above). The owner was able to inspect the front of the engine and has found the following motor/model number: RB 600. Can anyone add information about a Continental RB 600 engine? Bore, stroke, HP, vintage?

Alan

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Hello Wheatbaron, Yes, the Gabriel is an obscure make. What I am trying to do is learn about the engine before I pursue a potential purchase of the project. Continental engines are much more common than the automobile listed. For some reason, I am not learning much about the early Continental Automobile engines.

Al

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I am no expert on the topic by any stretch of the imagination, but none of my old books or internet searches show a Continental motor with the RB 600 designation. For that matter, I'm not finding anything on the Gabriel cars either. Are you sure they used a Continental?

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Hello WB and Seldonguy, I am near positive that the Gabriel did use a Continental engine. I just can't learn much about the early offerings from Continental. The owner has already exhausted the HCCA library. I am probably going to try the AACA library. I have had good luck with another early and obscure make I am tinkering with.

Al

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  • 1 year later...
Guest Hudson33

also trying to get info on Continental motor of the 1910 - 1914 era.

Can you send some pics?

Mine is a AB 600 with cast aluminium base and 4 cyl mono block

Can send pics if You want more info on mine.

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I missed this one in 2014---I have no RB600 or AB600 for Cont'ls either, not that that means much...my own guess--repeat, guess-- is that theyr'e casting numbers rather than engine model designations...

There was an early Cont'l "A", a 4cyl 4" bore, and an early Cont'l "R", 4 cyl 41/4 bore (those listings, in a 1917 ring catalog with dates ranging from 09 to 1917, gives no dates for the Cont'l engines), which could easily be coincidences...

I have no listings for Gabriel cars as such; a couple of period catalogs list several Gabriel trucks 1919-21 with Buda engines (Buda had no AB/RB600 engines I know of), but an interesting point came up...

My only other Gabriel listing is in a 1917 ring catalog, which lists Gabriel trucks 1910-17; Std Cat says cars produces 1910-12, that n 1913 prod switched to trucks...both Mroz and Georgano (truck ref books) list Gabriel trucks 1913-1920 and 1912-19, respectively, which raises the question: are the 1910-11 and maybe 1912 listings actually the cars???

ALSFARMS: If you're still there, did you ever ID your engine???

HUDSON33: D'you know what your engine came out of??

Will try to do a little more digging...

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Contact at Monte's is Garrad (Gerry/Jerry) Moon...they've reportedly moved out to northwest of chicago but emails same:

garradmoon@montes@flash.net

montesequipment.com

Others have remarked Monte's has little if any tech ID info prior to 1920--or was it 1930??---but by all means do call...you can also try P A Ross Machinery in Dallas, sometimes mentioned as helpful with old Cont'ls, and I do recall one post saying they were helpful with an engine Monte's couldn't ID...parossmachinery.com)

More to the point, has anyone:

(1) contacted Richard Rosenthal, Tucson, 520-977-1771, listed as contact (seller/?buyer?) on the HCCA report of sale of the sole ?? 1912 Gabriel car on 8-20-14, to see what engine is in it??

(2) checked Richard Wager's book "Golden Wheels" (Cleveland/NE Ohio auto m'f'r's 1892-1932)???

Everyone loves a mystery...

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Library has responded---Golden Wheels has no specs/engine info; does say 32 cars entered in the Cleveland News Reliability Run of July 1910, and, as reported, the Gabriel did finish with a perfect score---but so did 17 others of the starters...

No mention of what the grading curve  was...

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The "Reliability Run" mentioned was sponsored by the then Cleveland News, and was in the last few days of July 1910...Googling the reliability run brings up a Plain Dealer newspaper archive that lists several such pieces but requires subscription...

Apparently everyone and his cousin were organizing reliability runs to sell cars etc, so no way to tell if "our" Gabriel run included and, if so, whether any specs on cars entered listed...

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