Bud Tierney

There're several very good manifold repairers/rebuilders/fabricators mentioned in the the old-tractor/ag machinery sites... Seems those manifolds are particularly affected by the on=off seasonal usage and the highly corrosive effects of mouse urine---they love to nest in manifolds... Don't recall any speeific names but a batch should come up Googling vintage manifold repair or similar...

Have old Thompson, your numbers listed, but no time to two-finger type reply until later PM; will advise then in not ID'd in meantime

I've read comments that m'f'r's track warranty vehicles 24/7 ti determine if warranty claims result of abusive operating... And same for rental outfits to determine rental operated within normal guidelines.... Same for insurance companies ...don't know if any or all of this is correct or just conspiracy theory stuff...

Might as well add a couple more... My brother worked for a GM dealer, maybe Pontiac, as a mechanic late 60s/early 70s?? When shipment came in (RR then) ALL the mechanics went down to the yards with the drivers, because they had to work on, sometimes add parts in back seat or trunk, to get them running... Even worse was when living in Riverside, 60s, wife went to work for co that'd gotten a military contract to build one of the early AA rockets. Put her in assembly section where off-the-street people were "assembling": finely machined parts with whatever force necessary...transferred her to another section where people painting greyish round things black. Had no idea what they were (all hush-hush, need to know, no instruction other than told her put this on that etc) until one rolled off table and everyone freaked...she quit the next day.

I know the decisions been made, and on a dollar invested basis the Stude was simply too good a deal to pass up...all or pretty well done versus a lot of probably expensive unknowns....... And yet...my heart says Kaiser... I wouldn't care if it didn't blitz away from stoplights, didn't have superb factory air and AT, didn't feel like driving your living room down the freeways (all of which I've enjoyed)...it just has, to me, such beautiful lines... PS: Yes, beauty is, often, in the eye of the beholder....and, when acquired, often expensive to maintain...

Well, that's as likely an explanation as any...while the two gaskets are similar there're also considerable differences, but nothing else has come up any closer... While that catalog (the only one of mine that has such a listing) does cover the LaFayette V8 period, it has no listing for the LaFayette 8; it has the questionable listing, plus listings for the later mid-30s Nash LaFayette, which would seem to agree with wrong-gasket fore the V8 theory... After using these old catalogs for engine ID I've gained a great deal more sympathy for the parts counter people accused of bringing out the wrong parts...

I guess the Nash people are all on vacation... Mitchell doesn't qualify; CCDB shows a 288.6 l-head... allpar.com Nash engine piece strongly implies completely new Nash's own design, but doesn't state why switched to side valve...reportedly cheaper than OHV, but Ajax supposedly wasn't pinched on quality otherwise... Maybe quicker to get into prod if Ajax project was a priority??? Was Nash already looking into L-heads for their straight 8s etc that came on in 31 or so??

Generally speaking, for parts, advice, help and/or sympathy, depending upon your particular engine, the place to start is Montes in--oops--NW of Chicago Try Garrad (Jerry/Gerry/Gerald) Moon---garradmoom@montes@flash.net or monteseuipment.com

This is interesting, altho I'm sure there's a Nash history (or several) that cover this... Cursory Googling brings up Nash bought bkrpt Mitchell, who reportedly built own engines, and LaFayette, who I'm unfamiliar with... The first 26 Ajax came with your 169.9 L hd (classiccardatabase, Wiki) but I didn't think to compare with Mitchell (the Ajax/Nash Light Six was built in Mitchells Racine plant)..next time I'm in classiscardatabase I'll see what engine Mitchell had when it died... Ajax reportedly was a Nash-quality product, so it's possible an entirely new engine was designed; seven mains is quality production. Hopefully some of the Nash historians will relieve our curiosity...

Interesting question---checked a 1930 McCord gasket catalog, and found no match of the Nash/Ajax head gasket with any Cont'l therein---did note the flathead part numbers were different from the OHV part numbers---much lower 5-number sets---you'd think if a new Nash engine the part numbers'd be higher, but... Also checked Grahams out of curiosity; again found no matches, but Graham supposedly used own heads..

Dept of inconsequential questions... Re' a question of the color of an original Cont'l engine in a particular car, Cont'l was famous/infamous for tweaking existing engines for new customers... Does anyone here know of a particular Cont'l engine being different original colors in different makes, or if any particular engine was the same color whatever it went into??? Don't have access to the Cont'l book, so don't know if this covered; some Cont'l car engines were virtually single-make models, while the 6Y, for example, went into at least 8 and probably more.. Any comments appreciated,and, yes, I'll try to get a life!

One of Cont'ls recipes for success was happily tweaking an off-the-shelf engine for a customer, or making up a new one---I don't know if the tweaking included colors, but why not??? Hence your inquiry might get more accurate answers from existing Peerless owners by also posting in the Peerless forum here... Sheesh!! I hate these forums---now I'm wondering if Cont'l actually did paint the same engine different colors for different m'f'r's...now I have to see what else, if anything, got the 17S...

No real help, but can't resist remembering the 50 Commodore 8 my gone-to-his-reward-if-any brother had; I was in southern NM, he was in El Paso, and we spent many sweet hours in that thing on the open roads. A lovely, comfortable road car, they were quite popular in the wide-open-spaces states. It's a car you sit in, rather (driving position) sit on---but the seat can always be picked up if that seems claustrophobic. If you have a long commute on the freeway they love to get out and run!

OK, uou'll need to prostrate yourself before the font of all wisdom re' obsolete Cont'ls---Garrad (Gerry/Jerry/Gerald) Moon at Monte's Eqpmt NW of Chicago, obsolete Cont'l dealers. Seriously, he's always helpful or sympathetic... A 36 engine parts catalog lists the R800 as using the same piston ass/bly as the Cont'ls 14S, 15S, 16S, 18S and 21S, and that set of specs perfectly matches specs for same ass/bly for Reo 8-21, 8-25 31-32... R800 valves are by themselves but match the Reo valves perfectly... Unfortunately no bearings are listed for Cont'l R800 I don't doubt that 977 is actual serial #... So take off all other stamped/embossed letters, numbers and email with tag info garradmoom@montes@flash.net or montesequipment.com...but don't expect any parts to be available; those 8Cyl Ss were in stuff like upscale Jordans, Moons (no relation) Stuts, etc, desperatety sought after by restorers......

Very Embarrassing---going thru some scribbled Cont'l notes, found I already had the answers---trade pub article and various ads describe both the two and early 4 cyls as all verticals, the various illus obviously water cooled... Now I'm hung up on why the 1905/06 model "0" 45HP engine is referred to in online Cont'l histories as an aircraft engine (Cont'l aviation engine histories usually say their first aviation engine was 1929) when 06/07 ads that illus the "0" clearly show auto-marine type water cooled engine,presumably much too heavy for aircraft of the day

Replied under the post in the Reo forum---I don't have anything on the R800 at hand, but will dig around a little and advise...

Looks like you both may be right, at least partly... While Std Cat doesn't mention Continental under the Reo 8s, it's not really an engine manual... The R800 was one of Cont'ls oddly designated engines---most of the period followed cylinder number and displacement or the passenger car 15E, 16E, 6Y, 7U type designations... There were a few "even hundred number" engines---A400, C600, K600, your R800, S800 etc...(why, I don't know)... A 1933 Perfect Circle ring catalog does list a Cont (but without any Cont'l designation) for Reo 8-21 and 8-25 models 1931-32, with models 31 and 35 using their own 8cyl.. It may well be Cont'l provided their R800 tweaked to Reo specs...I'll dig around a little and advise...

Ahhhhh...let's have a quiet moment for all the unfairly hollered at parts people, coming up with wrong parts... Jeffs post came on while I was slowly typing, and something didn't match my old catalogs (he lists12K,13K,17S).. 30 McCord gasket---"Straight 8 1929 (would be model 120 per Std cat)), Master/Custom 1930..Cont'l 14K 33/8x41/2 (12K thru 15K was a more widely used 8 series) (1930 catalog so doesn't show 1931).. 38 Victor gasket---Standard 8 30-31 Cont'l 15S 3x41/2.....8-125 1929 (doesn't appear in Std Cat), Master/Custom 30-32 Cont'l 12K 33/8x41/2 These could be because of factory changes after info acquired by catalog co, by Cont'l for some reason substituting sister engine, engineering dept change, just confusion in the numbers in the various series. Engine parts catalogs don't even agree which engines have which bore/stroke!!!

With all things Continental, in your period, the place to start for parts, advice and/or sympathy (most likely in your case) is Monte's, fmly in Chicago but now NW of Chicago, obsolete Cont'l parts dealers.; try Garrad (Gerry/Jerry) Moon garradmoon@montes@flash.net or montesequipment.com... P A Ross Machinery in Dallas, longtime Cont'l dealers, have been mentioned as helpful with obsoletes parossmachinery.com In researching some old Cont'ls noticed Lakeside--or is it Lakeshore??-- Museum in Muskegon has a web page listing old Cont'l records including repair manuals and such available to researchers, but don't know if they make copies of what they have... I'm sure EM above is correct re' scarcity, plus these being used in upgrade vehicles, hence not only eagerly sought but understandably hoarded when found...and by all means follow his and others advice to locate consult with others with experience with Cont'l 8s in case they have tricky idiosyncrasies... Some Cont'ls share parts with many variations of the particular basic engine; unfortunately, yours does not seem to, altho it's hard to tell as the 8s have very skimpy listings in my replacement parts catalogs (a bad sign for finding parts)......if you do decide to email around, just in case some NOS/NORS has been recently unearthed, justoldtrucks has a fair list of profe$$ional obsolete parts dealers in their Vendors And Restoration Services section

A possible additional confusion (as if you needed any) for your project---it's my understanding that at least some states registered (licensed) trucks as models of the year first registered, not models of the year actually produced--- This could skew totals both for near end of year production (being "registered" in the immediately following year) and in cases where inventory was tied up in liquidation litigation, bankruptcy and such (prevalent in the Depression years)... Yes, R L Polk & Co was considered a very reliable source in their years; I recall they published books of pass cars registered by state; don't recall if there were comparable truck books, and no longer recall exactly what info they showed...

Your terminology is both confusing and worrying... Shimmy is a term generally used in describing front wheel vibration (generally quite pronounced) at speed on straight driving, anywhere from low speeds to 50-60... Your clacking on turns, presumably on low speed city street turns, is classic CV joint wear, or, as mentioned above but unfortunately less common, contamination by dirt/debris... If what you're calling shimmy is a feeling the front wheels aren't tracking smoothly in low speed city street turns, that's sometimes described as wheel or tire squirm,,, If you have the feeling of something "locking up",an actual sense of deceleration/slowing instances, that generally means pieces of something are rattling around where they shouldn't be--- get it into a shop PDQ, before a locked wheel pulls you into the opposite lane. with unfortunate, possibly fatal, consequences......

Many thanks to all for leads and comments... No luck so far on whether the Cont'l Eng Co V8 actually existed---they also advertised and had written up marine engines, so I'll try Richard Durgee over at oldmarineengine.com (if it existed he'll have something on it!!) It's always been my impression multi-cylinder development in marine engines was considerably ahead of in auto/truck engines...

Please see my appeals for help with the two---TWO---Continental engine builders in the Continental forum here. Many thxx!! Bud t

Continental Engine Co, usually showing adds of the Fisher Bldg, or at corner of Kingsbury and Huron, both in Chicago, sometimes with "works at Dallas City, IL " but later referring to factory/shops (plural) at the Kingsbury/Huron location, advertised a full line of engines, some of which were written up in trade magazines of the period (1905-08 especially)... Many of the ads stated "our book shows all", presumably referring to a brochure... Engines mentioned in ads included air and water cooled, with some models available either way, from 1 Cyl vertical marine to 150 HP Producer Gas engine going into a dredge, light air cooleds for aircraft use to vertical 4s water cooleds very similar, but discernibly different, per ad illus, to Cont'l Mtr Mfg Co of Muskegon/Detroit 4s, and even a V8 which my never've gotten into production, altho article said was one of line they "built" (not "intended to build" or "available" or some such qualifying language)... Probable high points of the Continental" confusions were (1) Horseless Age apologizing to readers for accidentally putting Cont Eng Co illus in Cont Mtr mfg Co ad, or was it vice versa??... (2) trade magazine issue containing 1/2 page ads by each of the two companies, ON THE SAME PAGE...I had copy, but've mislaid it, and maybe issue of mag they were in... ANYWAY, does any literature collector here maybe have a Cont;l ENGINE CO brochure mixed in with Autocar Eqpmt Co/Contl MTR MFG CO literature??? Any comments appreciated... Bud T

Online Continental Mtr Mfg Co (Muskegon/Detroit) histories say their first engine, shown by the founders, Judson and Tobin, at the 1903 Chicago Auto Show was 2 Cyl---but don't mention if hor-opp or vertical, air or water cooled...and that they got numerous orders (for the 2 Cyl or 4s under development??)...this 2 Cyl was reportedly based on a (the?) Mercedes of the period, but don't say if it was flat or vertical... Going thru some 1903 car desc's I was surprised to see more 2 Cyl verticals than opposed, at least in those that described motors, along with several 4 cyl verticals from 37/8x4 to 4x6... Those histories say Judson and Tobin decided to concentrate on engines in 1904, naming the business Autocar Eqpmt Co... In December 04 (and perhaps earlier) Autocar Eqpmt Co, 240-244 Lake, Chicago, was advertising "Continental" 4 Cyl verticals in "power equipments" consisting of their 4 Cyl, their thansmission, clutch and carb with the note to "beware of imitations" (a reference to Continental Engine Co of the Fisher Bldg, Chicago, works at Dallas City,IL. approx 1899??-1913/14?? which was ALSO advertising "Continental" engines, including inline 4s) Their (Autocars) first fours must've been good size, as a later account of Cont'ls new "Baby Cont'l 31/2x5" states it was the smallest Cont'l built... The ads I've been able to bring up 1904-05 had no size info, simply becoming Cont'l Mtr Mfg Co, fmly Autocar Eqpmt Co ads... Does anyone here know of a better online history that might have this info, or if you have the Continental Book are these engines mentioned or described??? I knoe the Lakeside Museum probably has this info, but it doesn't appear to be online... Any comments appreciated... Bud T ...