Projects 1917/1928/1938 American Lafrance Plymouth V12 Speedster

Washed The Beast of The Valley for the first time ever today and reapplied a fresh coat of wd-40. Then went for several spirtied cruises in town. Hit 54mph and could have done more but I pulled back as the car started to dance a bit.

The car feels solid and I'm optimistic I'm on the home stretch for testing. I'm going to take it to a few events this year and if all goes well I'll be running it through the paint shop in the winter.

 

Very nice. A custom exhaust with individual tubes into a collector or something along those lines would really finish it off.

 

Took The Beast out on the track at Vintage Torque Fest! Absolute blast!

 

Very cool!!!

 

What a smile!
Nice of them to knock the dust down for ya!
Or was that to prevent breaking an axle, cause you'd have to try hard in that!

 

It rained this am. Tommorow the track should be in good shape

 

Way cool!

 

It looked like a blast, no slight intended. Just that it looked 'slick as snot' out there!
Will you get another go today?

 

Yeah I'm planning to get out there after the tuff mudder

 

Hey @animal8324
I have been really enjoying watching all of the progress on this very cool project.
Just to be clear, and since it really hasn't been clearly stated as far as seeing the actual words about the engine identification, my question is this.

I do see the words American laFrance on the intake manifolds, so was that just for the intake manifolds, or the whole engine?

To my eye it sure looks like a "Seagraves" engine, but was it an engine that was built by American LaFrance, or built for them ?

So cool that there are ALF gauges and that the radiator badge is ALF.

I know the cool build that @Drmalacarne did a couple of years ago, used a Seagraves V-12, but on the engine it clearly showed the "Seagraves" script, so I am now thinking that this engine was built for ALF.
Any information that clears up my question would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks from Dennis

 

This is an American Lafrance 527 ci junior v12

 

Thank you for that, now I can go look up that engine and learn a bit more about it.
It takes guts and patience to use that cool unique engine for your project.
I too am a huge fan of Mark Walker and that
"1905 Darracq" that he races at Goodwood.

 

Hey @animal8324
After a little research, thanks to your information, I leaned that the engine was made by Lycoming, which also made these engines for Auburn Automobiles.

I knew that at one time, but had forgotten that fact.
Lycoming was part of the world of E.L. Cord of aviation fame.
As stated, its so very cool that your "Beast of the Valley"is powered by such a piece of history.
Thanks from Dennis.

 

Today was one of the funnest I've ever had! I went full send in the dirt with The Beast of The Valley and loved every minute of it!
On my second to last lap i dug hard to the right floored the gas amd the axle decided to fail for the 4th time but when ya beat on shit ya gotta accept when it breaks.
I built this car to rip on, I appreciate every compliment it gets but I'm not one to sit at car shows and just talk about it all day, I want to SHOW it!

 

Atta boy!!
I appreciate the fact that you're out there "chasing the weak spot"
I'm with you, you can't coddle them, they were meant to be used!

 

Time for another pair!

 

"It takes leather balls to play Rugby, and it takes stout, properly machined axles, to endure the torque of the Beast of the Valley"
"Everyone else's results may vary greatly"

 

I've had a blast with it and will be working on analyzing the damage and getting one piece axles built but it is for sale. I'd love 25k but am open to any and all offers. Shoot me a dm.

 

Pulled the Axle on the Beast today. Best case scenario happened. It snapped on the weld. Now I gotta plan for 1 piece axles. If anyone wants to undertake the task let me know.

 

I recommend Quick Performance axles in Ames Iowa. (515) 232-0216

 

Video from last week.

 

Finally getting axles machined!

 

Lathe work is done. Off to the mill for the splines!

 

Here's hoping they hold up for you. Any thoughts on heat treating, surface hardening or etching a line to monitor twist?

 

The material is 4140 pre hardened. They build big drills out of it. A line to check for twist is a good idea though

 

I know race gears are softer than street gears. Softer to be able to handle shock loading. Just curious what you'd worked out for this application. I haven't gone deep into custom axles myself.

 

Axles are done and they are gorgeous!

 

Wow!!
That, is impressive!!!

 

Finally got legit axles in The Beast of The Valley! Shout out to Workshift Machine LLC for machining them!
Let's see what kinda trouble we can get into now!

 

I anticipate big trouble!