Count the number of valve springs, it is a BUICK SIX if there were eight valves it would be a BUICK FOUR cylinder. My guess is the original shock ****ped out and the 1930 era shock was added at some time.
did you see the image I posted above of the 1920 Buick engine? If not, here it is again...along with the mystery engine. Notice the two tall side covers, and the cooling p***age between them...that is something you won't see on any other engine that I know of.
Jim's right it's a Buick. Look at the boss on top of the bellhousing, the water neck in the middle of the side of the block and the belt tensioner arm on the front of the block. Little ****** fluid and acetone in the cyls and she's good as new. LOL.
Well, a**** other reasons, I had a 1930 Buick Six engine about 30 years ago and am somewhat familiar with that engine model. The chambers for the lifter access, and the chamber above that, are 'giveaways'. I still have the side covers from that engine, "wall art".........with the old style Buick script name. Ray
Thanks to all, especially Jim, Ray, lippy, and The 37Kid. Getting closer. Is the shock in the foreground a Lovejoy? Based on the shock's arm design, the car could be as early as 1927, but because of the Buick Six, no later than 1930.
Ya know, in my first post commentary about the shock absorber, I had written "that shock is probably a Delco-Lovejoy".......then I thought......maybe that's not correct.....I am not absolutely certain of that"....and I deleted that part of the post. Dang! Ray
Ray, you know what they say about first impressions ... So it's a 1927 to 1930 Buick. Any way to narrow it down further? Could you tell the body style by the frame? Does the sheet metal behind the block to the left tell anything?
The sheet metal behind the frame looks like the firewall. One thing about those old cars...the ch***is really tells you nothing at all about what body it might have had. That includes the firewall.
Year and model would be closer. Where are the numbers located on the block? Where can I find out how to decode them?
quick google: 1914 - 1922 Six cylinder engine - die-stamped on the upper left side of the engine at the number one cylinder. 1923 - 1925 - Stamped on the upper left side of the engine near the carburetor. 1926 - 1928 - Stamped on the upper left side of the engine in front of the rear breather tube. 1929 - Stamped on the right upper rear side of the engine to the rear of the starter motor. 1930 - All except Marquette are stamped on the right rear side of the upper crankcase at the rear of the starter motor. 1930 Marquette is stamped on a boss on the cylinder block located at the upper left front corner.
Not to be a nossie mofo, but why do you need it to closer? Are you ordering a rotation kit or in frame rebuild kit? [emoji6][emoji41] That's a odd looking motor, was they any good? Or where they just a DD lost in every day of yesteryears? Or was they treasured dry lake mills pushed out by the flathead, never to return again?
Just curious. I'd like to know more about prewar Buicks in general, and this car in my backyard in particular. Thanks for the engine code locations Jim! I did some research, and only the 1928, 1929 and 1930 Buicks had both Lovejoy shock absorbers and six-cylinder engines, so the car in the woods would most likely be one of those three years. Further, Buick used different systems all three years, so just seeing the engine code might give away the car's year. In 1928, the engine codes are just sequential numbers. (I can't find an example of a 1928 number. Do they match the 1928 frame numbers?) The 1929 Buicks were the first styled by Harley Earl, and added the series number (116, 121, or 129, for the wheelbase in inches) before a hyphen. For example: • 116-22225361 (starting) • 121-2340300 (starting) • 129-2340300 (same as Series 121) In 1930, Buick changed both the series numbers and wheelbases. The series-hyphen system was gone, but the sequential numbers might still tell what series it is. • Series 40 (118" wheelbase): range from 2439593-2568138 • Series 50 (124" wheelbase): 2334956-2613337 • Series 60 (132" wheelbase): 2334956-2613337 (same as Series 50) • Marquette (114" wheelbase): 10000-48450 (this car is one year only) I might also be able to find a serial number on the right side of the frame, behind the front fender opening on all three years: • 1928: 1901476-2137872 (Standard Six, Series 115, 114.5" wheelbase), 1911026-2169650 (Master Six, Series 120 or 128, 120" or 128" wheelbase) • 1929: 2123926-2313805 • 1930: 2313806-2459715 (Series 40), 2334956-2460543 (Series 50 and 60), 10000-48450 (Marquette, 114" wheelbase) Did the 1930 Series 50 and 60, and the Marquette, use the same numbers for engine and frame, but not the Series 40? Fellas, let me know if any of this isn't correct. Based on the time period and the remoteness of the location, my guess is this car was abandoned by rumrunners during Prohibition.
They could have been German spies that got lost and stuck in a snowstorm and they perished nearby, look for nazi helmets....
All right, so no one cares. But think about the clues. The engine block is a six-cylinder Buick. The suspension part is a Lovejoy shock absorber. There are only three years Buicks had both six cylinders and Lovejoy shocks: 1928, 1929 and 1930. Add that to the car's location. Out in the woods, miles from any road or building, and especially far from the then-new main state road of Route 6 (constructed 1926). But close to a new hotel and yacht club, and close to the old county road that went to a big town north, with its new throngs of summer tourists, and very close to the beach, on the shore of a channel made by the delta of a river, hidden just inside the treeline. Back then the trees may have been just brush, but no matter. They would have served the same purpose just as well.
Speaking of Germans and WW2, and Cape Cod M***.... and intrigue ..... There is supposed to be a "never built" very big, heavily armed U-boat a few miles off Chatham..it surfaced in 1944 , in broad daylight, in shallow water. Supposedly it was communicating with the US gov higher-ups when it was sunk by a routine air patrol. Some info says sunk by US Navy blimp. One private small plane pilot reported seeing it clearly in 1962 or so, in shallow water. One report says ex german royalty living in Canada, were vacationing in Chatham that week, and left for home in Canada as soon as the sinking was reported. Some guys company got the rights to salvage, and he claims it is the type that records say were planned, but never built, but the story ends there.
Ok, here's what really happened. The car was left there by two Japanese spies in 1940. Mr. Wong and Mr. Fong They had been sent to take pictures of U.S. military bases. After they left the car they hitch-hiked to Seattle where the boarded a freighter bound for Japan with a stop in Hawaii where they took more photos. That's It. Mystery solved.
The early six, like Squirrel shows had a starter. The later six had a starter generator on the same side. Carb was on the other side.
If you call it a 29 you won't be far wrong (1 year at the most). I like your rum runner theory. Or maybe someone cut the back off and used it as a truck to haul fire wood, but it broke down and they abandoned it. Or Machine Gun Kelley's gang stole it, used it in a heinous bank robbery that killed several victims, they abandoned it in the woods and drove off in another car they had stashed. Or maybe someone went camping and got eaten by a bear.
You would have to dig in the pine needles to see if it has a starer like Squirrels picture. My buddy's '24 has a starter generator. The armature runs as soon as the key is turned on, but starter switch engages it to start.
noboD, did your buddy's '24 have a removable cylinder head? I'm wondering if the 1923-'30 Buick Six had both a removable head and a starter-generator, and the 1914-1916 Buick Series 50 and the 1916-1923 Buick Series 40 had the valves in the block and starters. Does the mystery motor appear to have a removable head?
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