History Need Help Identifing Vintage Midget Racer And Engine

Hi guys, i have been lurking on here for about 6 years, and i finally think i have enough computer skills to join in. I am 60 years old and have been around cars and race cars all of my life. My dad and i own a auto repair business,about 12 mi north of Pittsburgh that he started in 1960. He p***ed away in May and i really miss him. He is a Hall Of Fame Dirt Tracker with 520 feature wins in a 35yr career. I raced late models and big block modifieds for 20yr. I started messing around with hot rods & vintage race cars about 20yrs ago. I have a gl*** deuce 3 window with a 354 industrial hemi,could not find a steel body at the time. I also have 2 vintage sprint cars & 2 midgets . Ill try to post some pictures of them latter. The midget i just bought about 2 months ago is a mystery,I bought the car in Cleveland from a guy, who bought it in a estate sale in Toledo with 5 other race cars. He knows nothing about this car other than he thought it has a early Willys engine. My good friend Jim Etter went with me to buy it, and he was amazed at all the neat features on it. Such as 12" lock ring knockoff wheels, handmade front axle, front drive bosch magneto. The grille looks like a miniature Atls Chrome Spl. Jim thinks it is a early car 1934-36 vintage & probably built in California. We have searched in the Jack Fox book, Ron Pollacks book, All of Crocky Wrights Books, The Floyd Dreyer Book, NoLuck can not find any pictures , or info. ALSO it is NOT a Willys engine. Jim & i have searched the web for pictures of old 4 cylinder flatheads. We are pretty sure its out of a little car because of the matching 3 speed transmission. it matches up perfect, no adaptors, has a clutch pedal on side of the bellhousing. It is NOT a Willys, Austin Bantem, Star, Saxon, Plymouth, Ferguson, Citroen, We are stumped, and anybody who knows Jim , You know he knows his stuff. I follow the Sprint car, Midget, & Racing History Threads and am amazed how knowedgable you guys are. So have at it and see if you can identify anything. I really need to find out what engine is in it because i need a few parts. Thanks in advance Deek

 

Wow, Deek, What a beauty. I'll do some lookin around and see what I can come up with. Tell Jim I say Hi.

 

I have absolutely no idea what kind of car this is or what kind of engine it has. But I just gotta say that this thing is cuter than a bug's ear!

Oh, and I'd sure like to hear it bark thru that big chrome tailpipe! Be sure to keep us posted when you find any new info about this little gem.

 

Wow! What piece of history. You sure that's not a narrowed Franklin front axle?

Neal

 

That thing is too cool for words!!!

 

Would this be the famous Deek Scott from Herb Scott Automotive?

Tony

 

Hi Tony, Never considered myself famous, but my Dad sure is

 

OK. Time for my semi-annual education.

What are we looking at hear for ignition? Crank driven distributor run off a shaft thru the radiator? A magneto? None of the pics are at the exact right angle to see what's going on at that end of the engine. Is that still part of the stock distributor sticking out of the side of the block?

 

Have you checked on Continental or Hercules, any evidence of a data tag on the motor? Any casting #'s on motor or tran's?
Possibly from a small truck? More pic's of motor needed. Regardless, a great piece of history.

 

I'm sorry that I can not add anything knowledgable, but I have to tell you...That thing is a beautiful piece of art. Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

Hi, Yes the bosch magneto runs off of the front of the crankshaft, thru the radiator. this was added on by who ever built the car. There is a hole in the head near the carb where i think the stock distributor goes. that is a oil fill tube on the side of the block. It also has a external belt driven water pump, Thanks Deek

 

Hello, I have looked at both Continental & Hercules engines on the web. The ones i have seen have the intake & exhaust on the left side, of co**** they each make alot of different engines & its possible i have not seen all the options, there is NOT a number or a letter anywhere on the engine or transmission. In fact almost every engine we have looked at has the intake & exhaust on the left side Thanks Deek

 

i believe in the early 30s there was a pretty small car called the beacon. these cars supplied many of the early midget race cars with running gear parts. if i amnot mistaken they used some sort of continental 4 cylinder engines. mike

 

I was going to guess continental. Lots of old generators and welders used them too. Got me curious now. Gonna snoop.

 

Mike B., Georgano's book on almost everything lists a Beacon as a British cycle engined car of the teen's. Perhaps you have a similar name in mind.

 

deuce, you could put some pic's up on >smokstac. com<, that crowd covers a wide range of interest, like here.

 

no a beacon i remember from a picture looked sort of like a 31-32 plymouth 2dr sedan.mike

 

Deek,
I was very sorry to hear about your Dad's p***ing from my mother-in-law. It was always fun chatting with him at church functions & the SAE car show.

You might want to check Jack Fox's The Mighty Midgets book for info on your car. I think Speedway Motors sell the reprint. In the back he has a complete list [circa 1976] of every motor he ever do***ented as bein in a midget.

It is great to see such a fine example of early midget craftsmanship. For all the chromed out Kurtis-Offy & Kurtis-V8 60s at shows you would never know there was midget racing before 1946.

Chuck Schultz
Winfield, Illinois
[Wexford PA 1996 to 2004]

 

Thanx Deuce. After looking again at where I though the distributor went, it started to look more like an oil fill and maybe crankcase vent tube. I figured that the hole coming up thru the top of the head was a coolant p***age, seeing the way it lined up with the upper radiator hose.

Now if I was a guessin' man (and I often am ) I'd say that the stock distributor went where that cover plate is mounted down low on the right side of the block. It looks like that's where the cam runs and I'd bet that the drive gear is just under that cover.

 

Crosley fours were popular in midgits. Did they make a flat 4???

 

Crosley fours were popular in midgits. Did they make a flat 4???

 

I Googled Beacon and came up with a little info. They called the car a Beacon-Contiental, they used a contiental Red Seal engine, the only picture i came up with looks similar but not it.I also found a picture of a midget with a Beacon Contiental engine and it has the exhaust & intake on the left side. so there must be alot of different variations of these engines. Plus this engine has NO provision for a starter, on the engine or transmission. Possibly it was started by a crank. Im sure it was rope pulled when it raced, because there is NO rear bumper or push bar, or any signs that there was.Thanks Deek

 

Hello, The distributor goes in a hole by the carb, beside the water outlet, the plate on the side is where the fuel pump goes[witch i dont have], there a lobe on the cam under that cover plate

 

Hi Chuck, Thanks for the concern of my dad , He had a great life, I have the Fox book, and Jim & I have looked at all of the flathead possibuilties , and have not come up with anything yet, Im not going to restore this car , it is too cool the way, and condition that is in . Are you going to the Winchester Old Timers weekend?, I was there last year with my sprint car and had a great time. What a great bunch of guys. Im taking this car there this year, maybe someone can identify if. If you are going, look me up and we can bench race a little Deek

 

Kind of looks like a Willys to me.

 

Wish I could help too, but thanks for posting all those shots, what a find!

 

Looks similar, except all of the willys i have looked at has the intake & exhaust ports on the left side, mine is on the right Thanks Deek

 

I have been looking the pictures over and I keep focusing on the head. Is that head cracked? Kinda looks like a parting line all the way around the head, but is is jagged like a crack. Or is the head a 2 piece head?

 

You have A good eye, yes as far as i can tell , that is a crack, i have not taken it off yet. It is one of the parts i need, also a oil pan, oil pump, & a fuel pump, thanks Deek

 

By the way, there is a thread en***led "auto racing 1894 to 1944", and there are some real historians posting on it, not only would they love to see this survivor, but may have some info also.