Bud Tierney

As with the 7R above, your 7W, while it's listed by itself in a 30 McCord gasket catalog, is also listed as being used in some 50 other makes, altho there's no telling from that list how many (if any) used your starter or one that could fit and work correctly in yours... Clubs to try are Auburn (Auburn #39 1818-19) Moon (6-30, 6-43, 6-45 1916-18) Overland (#85 1917-19) Velie (22, 28, 38 1916-19) All from that catalog; not 100% reliable, but a place to start... You might also contact cb36t above to find out what were dead ends and/or promising leads in his search.... I recall, from my misspent youth, someone replacing the starter on a 32 or 33 Chrysler product with a much later Chrysler product starter that seemed to fit and match well...but that thing SHRIEKED when it started; you could hear it a block away---no, you couldn't avoid hearing it a block away-- he swore he found no evidence of excessive wear, but I think he sold it quickly...

As mentioned several times above, always do easiest/cheapest things first before major dismantling... AS already mentioned, get a fairly flexible soft wire and poke around INSIDE the petcock hole in all directions, while water running out, to see what you can dislodge...the thick muddy consistency, if more than just a few second, may also be thru all your water passages... Your block should have freeze plugs; you can pull one of them to see whats piled up behind it... Last, but not least, on cars that've been sitting, after dark shine a light THRU the radiator, to make sure old spider webs or insect nests haven't blocked off a good part of the airflow the fan tries to pull thru the radiator...

Mroz's Ency US Trks/Comm'l Veh states Stutz Fire Engine Co, Ind'pls, IN 1919-1940 "...was only related through Harry Stutz to Stutz Motor Car Co..."... Quite successful in their day, (Mroz referred to the car co as a "sister" company), Harry Stutz lost control in a 1932 reorganization. Referred to by Mroz as specializing in Fire Apparatus, there's no listing in my 1919 and 1920 Power Wagon issues, implying they built only Fire equipment.. Using Wisconsin engines until 1926, when it began using its own 175 HP six, the brief thumbnail has no mention of other outside parts sources. If you're close to a decent pub lib, they may have a copy of Georgano's World Trucks book (the big one, not the little one with just names and adds's) which might have more info. You should also try the fire truck sites; spaamfaa, or something like that, is the only one that comes to mind..oh, there's alfowners, too..many of the members/followers have a variety of equipment

While I know nothing of Brit racing history, it's not surprising... The Brits have a long history of remarkable women who freely and enthusiastically wandered around the world and engaged in typically male pursuits.. Like many of our own remarkable women, they got little publicity or acknowledgment... It works the other way, too...Amelia Earhart was, reportedly, a poor pilot, but was Medis's darling...

Please see this post in the General forum. Many thxx!!! Bud T.

Bought a copy of Standard Catalog V8s 1906-2002---next to useless for early V8s (should've been titled "Std Cat Mainline V8s".. Does have 8 (count 'em, 8) pgs out of 287 covering "minor makes", naming 29 makes, and I've already got more than twice that number on my list, altho some never got into production and spme are still questionable...... Just ran across a V8 spoken of as if in existence by Continental Engine Co of the Fisher Bldg, later of Kingsbury and Huron streets in Chicago circa 1908 (this is the "imitation " Continental, NOT the world famous Autocar/Continental later of Muskegon etc) but I have no info it actually produced... Does anyone know if there's another book covering early V8s,(1900s to 20s or so) especially in orphan cars, or a general engine history book that's good on produced or even proposed early V8s???Any comments appreciated. many thxx Bud T

John N of the Velie Register very graciously replied to my admittedly inconsequential inquiry, but, alas! had no additional information to offer re' Velie's motivation. It would appear, though, that there was no obscure Mr Biltwel/Biltwell , So many questions...so little time... Again, many thanks to all for comments and sympathy...

As very kindly suggested above, this AM emailed John the Velie Guru; will post any reply (unless my email arrives at a bad time, and out of exasperation he shoots back "Get A Life!!)... Again, many thxx for all replies

Many thxx for interest, and my apologies for being obscure... I've been making up, just for fun, a list of the US car/truck makes using the US Continental Motor Mfg Co, Muskegan etc engines as listed in my old parts catalogs and as listed in some of the old auto periodicals that published specs for a certain years vehicles... Going thru a Dec 1916 Automobile Journal (Googlebooks) I noticed Velie for 1917 was listed as Velie-Biltwell Checking classiscardatabase I saw they listed just the 1915-17 Velie models as Velie-Biltwell, before and after that just Velie... Standard Catalog US Cars 1805-1942 (Std Cat) under Velie doesn't mention Biltwell, nor does Mroz's Ency US Trucks(Mroz---Velie built trucks for awhile) and a Wikipedia Velie entry (very brief) doesn't either... I hoped someone might have a book including a Velie history that might mention Biltwell, which sounds like a marketing slogan tried out and dropped...

Barnes Mfg, Sandusky, Ohio, built two cars in 1907---the Barnes and the Servitor (Std Cat)... Under the Barnes thumbnail the engines for both cars are described as fours, air cooled... Lou Phillips (Cars) lists the Servitor with a six cyl air cooled Continental...my time'd run out so I couldn't see what he said about the Barnes... Did Continental (Autocar/Cont'l of Muskegon etc, THE Cont'l) build air cooled fours (could be opp or vert) for cars??? I'm wondering if this could be the "imitation" Cont'l (Continental Engine Co of the Fisher Bldg and later corner of Kingsbury and Huron streets in Chicago, works allegedly in Dallas City, IL) A Gas Engine article on Cont'l Engine Co in Jan 1905 includes mention of their "A", a 4 or 6 vert in pairs, their "B", a 4 vert, their "D" a 3 or 4 air cooled, both 31/2 x 41/2, as well as double opposed and small marine types...other ads refer to their engines, or at least some of them, available as either water or air cooled...

Going thru some old specs to update my Cont'l-makes list and noticed Velie used just "Velie" up to 1914...1915-17 it apparently used name Velie-Biltwell, reverting to "Velie" in 1918... Standard Cat/Mroz/Wiki etc (on cursory Googling) don't mention. Anyone have a Velie history that mentions this temporary change???

"Owner had car running but never registered it"---if that meant it wasn't driven, or that the engine run for only a few minutes at a time, that the car mostly sat, you might ALSO shine a light thru the radiator, at night, to see if radiator partially blocked by insect nests, spider web caught debris etc...

Disconnect??? You really sure you want to do that??? You don't think that when the signal stops a computer somewhere will look for accident/wrecking reports etc, and if it finds no valid termination of the vehicle will note it in "suspicious vehicles"?? To intelligence people, if you disconnect you obviously have something to hide...it's like putting lots of bars on your windows: everyone wonders what valuables you're protecting...and your insurance company may well have questions...as well as probably immediately cancelling any factory guarantees as they can't tell you're not abusing the vehicle Welcome to the land of the paranoid (even if you're paranoid it doesn't mean they aren't really watching/listening...

Am I the only Hudson fan who'd never heard of the MIT professor who built and sold steam cars (1926-42 per Auto M'f'r's WWide Registry, 1948 per Wiki) using largely Hudson components (chassis, bodies, etc)??? I knew about the Railtonand Brough cars, the exports to the UK etc and the Safari wagons, but this one was new to me.

If you're asking haw many different designs, the above is correct... If you're asking how many different MODELS of their Highwheeler, Std Cat lists several... G---the basic vehicle H---plus fenders and top J---fenders, top and runningboards K---the "J" but with "cushion tires" L---the "K" with pneumatic tires M (1911) was only described as having as having a "cozy coupe top" The car was supposedly successful except for the minor problem that Sears was losing money on each sale... I'd always understood the Allstate was a rebadged Henry J... Allstate was Sears longtime brand name for it's auto parts and accessories...I've still got an "Allstate" 6V battery mouldering in the basement, should have a grease can or two, and just saw two-three Allstate Auto Parts catalogs upstairs.

Sorry, cain't help... Aren't you attacking this from the wrong end??? You have dimensions of your Chev rods---or if all gone the Chev forum here, or any Chev site, should be able to give you exact dimensions needed, then you can find someone or some parts co with a rod catalog to see if there's a match available. Thursday note: I don't follow mainlines (Chev, Ford etc) so didn't think ---Chev 4s only seem to've used two rods; as many of these as must be around, I'm really surprised that everything to rebuild these, from the basic block on up, isn't being fab'd. by someone or several somones....

Insufficient data---no forging numbers?? How about pin length and how secured--anchored, floating-oscillating, full floating??? How precise is your measuring?? Catalogs list 7 or 8 engines for Star, a couple show pin diam of .859 (55/64=.859375) (Sigh) Catalogs that show pin data have bearing sections, but no journal diameters...do have some bearing catalogs to check after have rest of pin data....

Forgot to ask a question about these dist's I've always wondered about... 658s seem to be on 8s; my little Shurhit catalog shows 658-C, J, U, V, W, Z (Kissel not in may catalog)... All take the same Shurhit points EXC one Stude All take same Shurhit roror EXC Cord... All take same Shurhit condenser... The six dist's are paired with 4 different coils... It's understood Shurhit parts may be NOT EXACTLY same as original, but "universal" enough to fit several distributors... QUESTION: are these 658s basically the same distributor, probably with different drive shafts for the different engines, that could be interchanged with replacement of points etc mounting plate or such???:

If you're eventually reduced to contacting the profe$$ional obsolete parts dealers for parts, there's a fair list on justoldtrucks in their Vendors & Restoration Services section; engine parts are way down on the page If you start down that list let me know; I may be able to add a couple more...

Per Shurhit catalog #81 658-U came on Stutz Blackhawk 29-31 8Cyl... Unfortunately cannot comment on Caddies as Cadillac section begins 1928... Various other 658s were on Marmon/Roosevelt and various other Studes of the period, all 8s... Little catalog doesn't cover proprietary engines so can't comment on those...

Got mired today in my Cont'l file, looking for something I couldn't find; noticed a page i'd run for someone on 6Y, 7U and 10U engines... Familiar names with Clubs include Auburn (6Y and 7U), Davis? (both), Elcar (7U), Henney (Ambulances, Hearses 7U) Moon (both) Roamer? (7U) and your own Star (6Y and 7U in 22-24 period)... These old catalogs are seldom complete and sometimes erroneous, but it's a place to start. Several of the listings imply the 7U superseded the 6Y. It's also possible your rear main setup may be similar to those or the W5...

You do seem to've lucked out, in one sense; whether you have the 7K or 7W---a 36 engine parts catalog lists: Rod and main bearings shared by 7K, 7W and 8W.; same for piston assembly (piston, pin, lock, bushing) Valves are different therein but valves can be made from blanks....... While a 1930 McCord gasket catalog implies the 7K may've been unique to the 1917-19 10B Liberty, that catalog lists the 7W in nearly 50 makes, and those listings are never complete (tho sometimes erroneous)....it's possible they're basically the same engine... The 8W seems to be a bit of a mystery as far as cars/trucks, but may've been primarily industrial, not coveerd by my older stuff... 7W users with likely Clubs to contact re' parts and/or overhaul advice include Auburn, Elcar, Jordan, Moon, Overland and velie...

FIRST, a suggestion you edit your heading to read "Liberty AUTO engine", as a lot of readers, like myself, will automatically assume it's concerning the WWI "Liberty" truck engine... A couple catalogs say the 10B came with the Cont'l 7W, while others say the 7W was in the 10A, the 10B having the 7K solid head (no removable cyl head). I'm unfamiliar with these older engines so'm not sure which from the pix, altho I'd guess 7K headless.... Both are 31/4 x 41/2, both listed by themselves (separately) in a 1930 gasket catalog. As with all things obsolete Cont'l, try Garrad (Gerry/Jerry) Moon at Montes garradmoon@montes@flash.net, or montesequipment.com (obsolete Cont'l parts dealers) P A Ross Machinery in Dallas's been helpful with older Cont'ls---parossmachinery.com (longtime Cont'l dealer)... Have no actual specs but might be able to find if shares some parts with other Cont'ls; will advise......

See replies under this post in Continental Motors forum here

Reviewed some other period piston and/or ring catalogs; those that list Star and/or the W4 only list one piston and/or ring set...that Thompson catalog does list the outlined engine as "Cont'l Special", which should be the W4, and it may well've been Special as several period catalogs only show it on some 28-29 Gleaner Combines (my catalogs are primarily over the road trucks and mid-30s cars with a few tractors and combines; i have very ;little on const etc eqpmt---it wasn't unosual to discount end of production run engines to Ag, Const, Ind'l etc)... I wonder if the short and long skirt pistons were formed to be actually same weight, to be interchangeable???