1911 - 1913 Ford "Special" Racer: New Pictures from Detroit

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2013: 1911 - 1913 Ford "Special" Racer: New Pictures from Detroit
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Heyen - Nebraska on Thursday, May 09, 2013 - 06:01 pm:

Glenn Miller photographed the Ford "Special" racer at "The Henry Ford" a few years ago. I've incorporated his photographs into a paper about the Model T racers that were "tearing up tracks" beating the fastest and largest racers in the world between 1910 through 1912.

Below are examples of a couple pages. There are over twenty pages of color photographs along with some history, so it may take a while to download from "dropbox".

If you pull them down, enjoy. Special thanks to Glenn.

Rob

Link to Dropbox"

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w8srclrk6amalyi/The%20Ford%20%22Special%22%20Racers.pdf








Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John W. Oder - Houston, Texas on Thursday, May 09, 2013 - 08:28 pm:

Noodling cause I like math. 2.32375 times the displacement, so the cube root of that is near 1.3245, making an up-size factor. The 4.875 X 5.5 is a mod of that factor, as the straight factor times the "T" bore and stroke gets you 4.967 X 5.298 (which of course also get you 410.64 CID)

Any way, other factor based numbers could be just right

4.125 bore spacing (1-2 and 3-4) becomes 5.4637
5.3125 bore spacing (2-3) gets you 7.0366.
10.250 deck height becomes 13.5765
Mains and crank pins go from 1.250 to 1.6557
1/2" main bolts go to .662"
1.5" valves become 1.987

And so on.....


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Thursday, May 09, 2013 - 08:59 pm:

Neat Stuff Rob and John, Thanks!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Heyen - Nebraska on Thursday, May 09, 2013 - 11:40 pm:

John, interesting. I had no idea how the "math" worked (you should see my carpentry work :-( ).

Jay, thanks, glad you liked it. I find it fascinating how much effort and success Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company put into racing. After reading news accounts, I can see why the "free advertising" paid off, as Henry Ford was considered one of the foremost race car engineers AND DRIVERS of the early automotive industry.

Rob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mark herdman on Friday, May 10, 2013 - 06:45 am:

Great photo of engine Rob! Thanks Glenn! Going by the fine webs in the lower flange of the cylinders, they look like they are cast in aluminium. Wonder what the head was cast in. Looks Bronze and bronze heads have been cast up into the 40's I know of. The bronze colour could be deceiving though. Most likely not cast iron. Note the water outlet on top of the head is very similar in style to a water pump engine with longer tube. Makes you wonder how long the engine was being developed before it went into racing.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mark herdman on Friday, May 10, 2013 - 06:57 am:

Even the water inlet appears to be coming from the front of the block like in a water pump engine. The pump could be on the front of the side drive gear housing with pipework going back down to the base of the radiator. Note the fire wall brackets are more NRS than Model T Style. The twin Magneto must be at the end of the long shaft and under the aluminium cover next to the driver. Would be interesting to see the spark plugs on the other side of the head. The engine runs 2 lots of plugs and there is a huge distance across the head between the plugs like on a T head engine but i double there are valves on each side of the engine.

I think the head is aluminium also with some preseritive on it.

Be nice to see inside the engine.

Mark


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By George_Cherry Hill NJ on Friday, May 10, 2013 - 08:16 am:

Rob,

Great work...persistance prevailed! Fascinating!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seth from NC on Friday, May 10, 2013 - 08:26 am:

Question - what is the shaft that runs from front to back just over the carb? I guess it's a shaft, it might be a tube. Any guesses?

We need a picture of the other side!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Friday, May 10, 2013 - 08:34 am:

I bet it's the magneto drive. The spark source is obviously aft of the firewall.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rob Heyen - Nebraska on Friday, May 10, 2013 - 08:54 am:

Thanks guys. An amazing "relic". Glenn told me "The Henry Ford" is coming up with a racing exhibit. If any of you have contact with anyone at THF, it would be good to request this racer and the Model K racer be included.

I've often thought the "aft" portion is the magneto (makes sense). In fact, I think it's a dual ignition, maybe even a Bosch.

It would also be good to measure the stroke to make sure this is the 410 cu. inch engine and not the 230 inch that is shown in one of the clips (just the specs, that racer came in 2nd in it's class).

I never realized what an impact Ford had on racing (and vice versa). I think in his later years (and his autobiography) Henry Ford spent more time spinning his legacy around the production success of the Model T (black Ts) and not as much around the incredible racing history between 1901 and 1913.

Rob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mark herdman on Sunday, May 12, 2013 - 09:02 pm:

Great reading, great job, thanks Rob & Glenn. Lots to take in


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