Engine Builds Often Start With Radiator Resoration
Keeping Your Cool About This Hot Topic Engine builders who work on older collector cars are always interested in sources of vintage radiators – after all, you can’t run a liquid-cooled engine for any length of time without a good radiator. Of course, There have always been shops that fix radiators, but the judging standards
S & S Brings Know-How and Nostalgia to V-Twin Engines
As a maker of high-performance motorcycle engines, S&S can be linked to the industrial history of Wisconsin. However, the S&S story actually starts in Blue Island, IL, right after World War II. That’s when George J. Smith returned to his home in Blue Island and began tinkering with the engine on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Smith
Indy 500 Car Engines
Each May since 1911, thousands of auto racing fans have gathered to watch the most famous and talented drivers compete in the Indianapolis 500-mile race – better known as just the Indy 500. Winning the Indy 500 has been the goal of racing professionals for more than 100 years. Taking the checkered flag at the
A History Lesson in Pontiac V8 Power
From 1935 until 1954, you could get a Pontiac with a flathead six or a flathead straight eight. The company was a bit slow in following other manufacturers in adopting the overhead-valve V8.
Most Versatile Tool and Die Shop in Wisconsin
Metal Crafters, Inc., of Stevens Point, WI, claims to be the “most versatile tool and die shop in Wisconsin.” Joe Thorn’s business does parts design and production, metal and machinery repair of all kinds.
Pontiac Museum Curates Pontiac Excitement
Pontiac Excitement! used to be a company slogan and Pontiac engines caused a lot of the hubbub. The first Pontiac in 1926 was called the Chief of the Sixes. It had a split-head six that was advertised as costing only pennies less a day than a four.
Rockets, Vikings and Your Old Man
From 1916 through 1922, the only Oldsmobile V8 was a 246.7 cid L-head of Model 47 with a 233.7 cid V8 that made 60 hp. This was the only engine offered in 1923, when the Model 47 continued alone.
Powerhouse Pinto Engine Makes 3.26 Ponies Per Cube
Doug “Burton” Brown of Fremont, WI, raced stock cars for more than 30 years before he got into land speed racing at Bonneville and other venues. In 2010, he set a record with a Datsun Z-car, and about a year later he found a Bonneville Streamliner on eBay and purchased the engine-less car for somewhere
Waupaca’s “Time Machine” Machine Shop
The readers of Engine Builder include thousands of skilled machinists who are also car enthusiasts. Over the years, there have been countless stories printed in this magazine about vintage cars. Rarely, if ever, do you read a story like this one about a vintage machine shop that’s been miraculously preserved by just a handful of
Your Mission: Find Engine Parts For the AMX-Javelin
Having just returned from the American Motors Owners Assoc. (AMONational.com) 2016 convention, it’s hard not to be impressed by this Wisconsin automaker’s sporty AMX and Javelin models. When the car show awards were given out on Saturday night, they went to one or the other of these “pony cars” for at least a steady half
Making New and Improved Vintage Motorcycle Engines
Bruce G. Argetsinger of Branford, CT, is a tool and die maker who found a niche manufacturing racing engine parts for vintage Harley and Indian motorcycles. His motivation for manufacturing such items grew out of his own motorcycle-racing career and explains the trade name that Bruce uses – EnfieldRacing.com. He operates Enfield as a division
Don’t Throw Those Old Mustang Parts Away
Don’t throw those old Mustang parts away. That’s what Bob Perkins of Perkins Restoration (www.perkinsrestoration.com) in Juneau, WI told many Ford dealers back in the 1970s. Perkins somehow came up with a list of every Ford dealer in the country and whenever he traveled around, he would visit them and try to buy up their