Antique Engines Powering Equipment

[Guest Silverghost]

How many of you have ever seen old antique auto engines later converted to power farm or shop equipment ?

About 4-5 years ago a Real Estate Developer friend called me to come look at an unusual water pump set-up powered by a Rolls~Royce engine in an old Philadelphia Main Line area mansion.

When I arrived I was stunned to see a Rolls~Royce Silver Ghost engine set-up to drive the mansion estate's water tower pump.

The entire front of a 1914 R~R Silver Ghost chassis had been cut-off and installed, where a steam engine was once used, to power a large ancient water pump !

The famous R~R radiator was still on the chassis connected to this engine .

The mansion had a stone tower that was higher than the upper most floor of the mansion. Inside the tower was a large copper/monel water tank used to supply water at head pressure to this home.

I suspect the engine & Pump was fired-up at night to refill the water tower tank !

One can only guess that the Grand old family car was retired and the engine found a new life in that pump house.

I purchased the 1914 Rolls~Royce Silver Ghost engine and 1/3 chassis/radiator set-up before the old pump house was torn down to make way for a new home ! The mansion still stands today ; only now connected to the municipal water supply lines .

Edited October 5, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[ply33]

About 20 years ago the Ski Sunrise ski area north of Los Angeles was still using a flathead Ford V8 engine to run a rope tow. Don't know the current status, I've heard the area was sold a while back.

The Dodge Ridge ski area has a beginner area with a rope tow that, at least through last year, has Model A wheels for idler pulleys. I haven't looked to see what they use for powering the setup.

[Bill Stoneberg]

I have seen a Buick Straight 8 powering a sawmill up in Canada.

[Bhigdog]

Actually straight 8 Buicks were a preferred engine for saw mills around PA. I saw a RR Merlin engine still in cosmoline and crated at an abandoned nickle mine. I think they were using them to power pumps..........Bob

[Rusty_OToole]

Continental Red Seal 4 cylinder engines out of Star cars were a favorite. They powered many buck saws for cutting firewood, before the chain saw came in. Model A engines were popular too if you wanted something a little bigger.

Have also seen home made welding outfits and small tractors, built in the fifties and sixties, powered by 4 cylinder OHV engines out of English Austins.

I have a pump powered by a Chrysler flathead industrial engine, and was told about a water pump on a local golf course powered by a Chrysler hemi.

In Holland after the war, Merlin engines were used to power the water pumps that drained the polders. These replaced the windmills, and were in turn replaced by diesels. I expect in these "green" times, they are going back to windmills.

Edited October 6, 2010 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[durant frank]

Hi All...

Got to agree with Rusty. The W-4 and W-5 Durant and Star motors lasted longer than the cars. These Continental motors where excellent because they lasted forever and in the Star & Durant there was no bell housing to contend with. The transmission was separate from the motor by a short drive shaft. Made it easy to attach a flat belt pulley.

Many where used in stationary applications. I have rescued ones that powered saw mills, farm equipment, oil wells etc. There was also a marine conversion for these motors (still looking for one of those).

Here is a picture of a Star welding machine at our meet in Canada. The other is a oil well pump motor that came off an oil patch in north western Pennsylvania.

Frank

[Layden B]

Not very many years ago there was a Stutz engine in L.A. that had been converted into an air compressor. It is now in a 1915 Bearcat and you can bet the owner doesn't know or want to hear of the true pedigree of his car!

[Guest Silverghost]

Boat Marine Engine conversion kits were very popular from the teens and well up to the 1970s !

Companys like OSCO Barr Marine, Stokes, Lehman and others produced marine watercooled exhaust manifolds & complete marine conversion kits for almost any car engine you could think of !

I have a buddy that has lots of NOS Ford "T" & "A" marine conversion manifolds & kit parts !

I myself have a fully marined Ford V8 60 sitting in my storage garage !

It was built by Lehman.

The V8 60 marine engine needs a new home !

[Guest cben09]

Pennsylvania,,the town that had the Westinghouse air brake plant,,,there was a garage that specialized in radiator repair,,had a WALL painting,,on end of building,,of a 6cyl engine purging a car,,INSIDE was the real thing,,,, wow,,, It was a 48 Hp Locomobile, a tube through the intake manifold to let air only into the center jug,,Still in use,,,this I saw on way back from Detroit Classic tour [boston-Detroit] w/Rod Blood and Larry Yont,,1955,,'25 Packard and '27 P1 R-R Lonsdale,,were our tour cars,,wonder where the P-1 is,,S154pm,,Did someone rescue the Loco,,,aaah ,,memories,,Ben

[Guest Oldengineer]

Back in the late 60's I was working in a manufacturing plant that was under construction. Two new fire pumps showed up to be installed. I was surprised to see that the pumps were powered by two brand new Ford flat head V8 engines.

Regards:

Oldengineer

[Ivan Saxton]

I have two good engines that came out of boats. Both are the same displacement, and both put out very similar BHP about the same year. One is a detacheable head 4 cylinder Stutz T-head, and the other a Tipo 8 ohv 8 cylinder Isotta Fraschini. The Stutz is much lighter but more strongly built. The Isotta is from a much heavier car. Which is the best engineered?

In the 1940's they built the engine from a veteran Silver Ghost Rolls Royce into a fire-fighting pump at the Engineers shop of the family sawmill. Nobody knows what happened to it, but I have the CAV generator. I have 10 years of my father's diaries from 1917 to 1927. In an early one he notes having used the engine from a very early car from a neighbour to run the sawmill they built on grandfather's selection. There is no record of what it was. About the same time they pooled their money and bought a very early T Ford as their first car. I could tell from a photo after it had lost its body that it was a very early one, which is also what you would expect from the name they gave it. It was the Tomato. By 1921 they were becoming quite mechanical, and installed a pelton wheel which powered a generator on the creek, which provided DC powered lights for the house at night.

[ex98thdrill]

We've got a Model 'A' air compressor, and we also have a Model 'A' / Toro golf course tractor.

[McDar]

The welding shop in the Iowa farm area I grew up in had a flathead Ford engine that did EVERYTHING. The building was an old Quonset with the engine mounted on a shelf outside near the top. A shaft ran the length of the building with flat belts hanging down to be "slapped" onto pulleys on the lathe, mill, drill press, etc. A generator was hooked to it for electricity, a water pump, and an airplane propeller to circulate air. This was just after WWII and I was quite young so I can't remember the hook-up details but he used it until the mid fifties when the REA reached his area.

[Jim Rohn]

not antique when this picture was taken, but these early 50's HEMIS certainly say something ... !!!!

[nzcarnerd]

You may remember the TV series that Robbie Coltrane made when he drove his 1951(?) Cadillac across the US. He visited Don Garlits in Florida and amongst his collection was a siren powered by an industrial Chrysler hemi.

An aquaintance of mine purchased a redundant airport runway sweeper many years ago - that was powered by a Chrysler V8 of some sort - maybe a 273?? - I don't know.

You may have heard of the 1906 Darracq GP car that has been recreated here in NZ. The four cylinder (180mm bore by 140mm stroke - 14.25litres) engine in that was used as a stand-by generator at a local newpaper for many years. I have no idea how often it was run. It still had its original low tension ignition system when found more than 40 years ago.

Many old car engines were used to power saw benches which has led to restorations beginning with the front half of a chassis. I know of a 1906 two cylinder Talbot which the current owner's father bought in 1915. It served as the family car and farm truck until 1928 when it was replaced by a newer model car. The Talbot was dismantled, the engine powered a saw bench, the rear half of the chassis became a farm trailer. The major parts were all kept and the car has only recently been reconstructed.

[Ivan Saxton]

It was very interesting and impressive to see that Darracq special running with modern cars on the Phillip Island racing track which is used for motorcycle Grand Prix. The Victorian Historic Racing Register Program was not as good or informative as usual, but it was obvious that most of the car was of very much later origin: Also there was no prepared sign with the car where it was on display behind the pit garages that might have informed people of the creation. The exposed push rods and rockers were fascinating. No doubt the riding mechanics of race cars of those days would be intended to oil them.

It is very important to have rare and historic engines like this running in public so people can understand an appreciate them; but we must always be quite clear that no-one has attempted to create provenance.

[R Walling]

Yup! Its got a Hemi!

Complete with sound!

VictorySiren.com - Chrysler Air Raid Siren - Sound

:):)

[Dandy Dave]

We had a few farms around here that used those irragation pumps years back. if I remember right, The industrial units had a different, longer stroke, crank. I would hate to have to feed them gasoline at today's prices. Dandy Dave!

[Guest Dr. Strangelove]

The magnificent Lockheed SR-71, probably the finest aircraft engineering achievement in our lifetimes would not get in the air if it were not for their AG-330 Start Carts that were powered by Buick 'nailhead' engines initially. The first two photos depicted here show the AG-330 Start Cart restored and painted OD green. It is on display at Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale, California. In real life they were painted the customary AGE yellow, black (to match the Blackbird) or in later years camouflage. The original start carts were Buick wildcat 401 cubic inch V-8 engines developing 400 horsepower. There were two Buick engines mounted tandem side by side with automatic transmissions. They were coupled together to drive a vertical shaft that was inserted into the starter mechanism on the bottom of the SR-71's engine. On engine launch there was one AG-330 Buick for each SR engine. For the first time observer of an SR-71 launch, the engine starts in themselves were almost indescribable. For one thing there was no mufflers on the Buick engines. As the Buick RPM was advanced, Flames almost three feet long erupted from the side of the start cart. It truly sounded like the beginning of the Indianapolis 500. Combine that sound with the steady increase of SR-71 RPM to engine TEB (TriEthylBorane) ignition at 3,200 RPM and then idle aircraft engine speed as the Blackbird comes to life. Then it all starts all over again with #1 engine.

The original design was conceived by two Lockheed Skunk Works engineers who had prior race car engine knowledge. In the mid-1970's, the engines of the start carts was changed to Chevrolet LS-7 454's. The Chevrolet big block engines developed 465 horsepower each. Even so, for many years they were still referred to as the Buick's.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Dr. Strangelove (see edit history)

[Guest 36chev]

For years, the front part (radiator including shell, engine, hood, firewall, and transmission on cutoff frame) from a 1929 Willys-Knight sat on our farm. My cousin had inherited from his great uncle--the story goes that the car was wrecked in the 1930's and the remains used to power a sawmill. My cousin sold it about 20 years ago.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Loved it, Roger! Thanks.

Ben

[jrbartlett]

In northeast Texas a Duesenberg Model J engine was used to power a saw at a sawmill as late as the 1960s before someone came in and bought the engine. A number of local car collectors had known about the engine, and they used to drive over from Dallas to look at it. The remains of the old sawmill still exist, but are crumbling into the dust. Also, a Duesenberg collector in central Texas located a Model J engine powering a shrimp boat in Panama, I think also during the 1960s. He purchased the engine and restored it as a spare. Upon his death, the engine was donated to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum, where it is on display today.

Edited March 22, 2011 by jrbartlett (see edit history)

[Amphicar BUYER]

When the Amphicar factory was shut down 16k cars short of the planned 20k units, many of the the remaining engines (1147cc, Triumph Herald) were shipped to Iran to power water pumps in the desert where I understand many are still operational. Amazing little engines with 43HP and about as simple as it gets.

[Guest DaveCorbin]

The Colorado Railway Museum in Golden, Co. has a narrow gauge railroad vehicle that was made up many years ago as a vehicle for inspections and use by the superintendent and for small runs. The body is from a ca. 1923 Pierce Arrow and the powerplant is a 1930 Buick model 67 6 cylinder.

It runs well. Stop and support the museum and see it!

Regards, Dave Corbin

[Bill Boudway]

Our 1919 Packard Twin Six Packard was claimed from a pasture in Texas where it powered a Papec grain hammermill. I couldn't resist the temptation to "adopt" it, so that began the journey in April of 1971.

Years later I discovered a Springfield Rolls chassis that was serving as a hay wagon. Wire wheels and all. It went to a fellow in Texas.

[Rusty_OToole]

Was told years ago about a 1937 Cord cut down to make a buck rake (for loading hay) on a local farm but never saw it.

[Guest 1hooligan]

I grew up in Southern California, Redlands to be exact. In the 50-60's, ther were thousands and thousands of acres of citris groves. When it got close to freezing, once or twice a year.

On went the wind machines, most powered by ford flatheads, the grovers had lots of back up in the origninal ford factory crates. In the late seventies, they started to convert to electric power. We could buy new and very low use flatheads for $10. each I got ten, and used them over the years. Fun times.

[Guest Backyardmechanic]

Good Reading:

About 10 years ago we got a call from a friend that had a 4 cylinder Dodge Brothers engine that he had just taken off a water pump service wanted to know if I was interenst of course I was. So he loaded it on his pick up and deliverd it.This engine is complete with mag ingnition and crank for starting, no holes drilled to mount a waterpump nor is there a hole for the gear houseing that the water pump bolts too. The flywheel is set up as a heavy pully.

Vern

Edited March 27, 2011 by Backyardmechanic (see edit history)

[JFranklin]

I have a Willys Knight 4 cyl. engine, trans., front frame radiator with shell, and gauges set up as a power device most likely for a saw. It came with my 1924 Knight I am restoring.

[Landman]

When I had my Model A, a relative gave me a spare engine. It was mounted in an angle iron frome and was hooked up to a winch. The man told me it was used by a float plane operator to pull his planes out of the water.

Also my dad had made a welder (similar to the one above) with a Whippet engine. That was its third life as the Whippet had been converted to an autotrac for a while as well.

[John_Maine]

My uncle sold Chevies in Hanover, NH for many years. In 1961, he brought a '56 Chevy 210 4 door hardtop with 15,000 miles on it for another uncle (his brother) to try out. Said uncle bought the Chevy and traded his '54 Pontiac Chieftain. At that point, my grandfather (father to the uncles) decided he wanted the '54, so he traded his '49 Pontiac 2 door sedan for it. Thus, my uncle made 2 trades and drove the '49 back to New Hampshire. Sometime later, I was visiting my uncle in NH - probably late 60's - and we stopped at one of his neighbors who had a saw mill in his back forty. My uncle took me out to the saw mill and said the engine running the mill was the straight 8 out of my grandfather's '49.

In early '62, my uncle brought a '58 Bel Air on a visit. Uncle that bought the '56 traded for the '58, his brother, uncle #3, traded his '55 Bel Air for the '56. In early '63, uncle #2 bought a '62 Olds Super 88 and sold uncle #3 the '58 and uncle #3 sold the '56 to my grandfather. My grandfather sold the '54 Pontiac to a neighbor for $75. That was the last of my uncles and grandfather trading cars with each other.

By the way, another happenstance - my uncles, at one point during their ownership, discovered that the keys to the '54 Pontiac and the '55 Bel Air were interchangeable.

[Guest maudsley]

waukesha 4 cyl flat head powers the pump on my truck. Look a avatar.

[Guest longman]

I bought a 4 cyl whippet motor off a guy who had used it to power a saw bench.