Hot Rods need info on dual flatheads

has anyone ever tried running two v8 flatheads in line...successfully? and hows it done?

like a solid, beefy n short drive shaft behind the first one, and entails another question, hows it connected to front of other motor? ( now i know, you follow the crank) but hows it done, engineering wise. is it treated like the twin engine dragsters like back in the day, post pictures please, close ups of the connections, mechanical drawings would really help, as im trying to brainstorm with my pencil, but im currently lost.

 

http://flatheadjack.com/raceengine.html#

 

If you can machine some of your own parts and don't want them perfectly in line there are some "rubber" or "polyurathane" electric motor couplers that can take a hell of a lot of torque. A spline at the nose of engine #2 could make the uncouple for testing, etc. Fatheadjacks stuff is real nice. Many many years ago I saw it done with a double row chain with a sprocket on each engine. Special sprockets and chain no doubt. Good Luck

 

There was a 30-31 Ford pickup on the cover of Hot Rod July 1949 that ran two. Bob

 

why would you ?
what are you trying to achieve ?
how would you measure the term successful ?

 

Why did the Chicken cross the road??
What came first, the Chicken or the Egg??
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it fall, does it make a sound??

 

I can't answer for the chicken....... - as to why he chose to cross the road

 

.cause i feel like it
.nothing
.that they look and function good

 

brilliant info, thanks

 

ooo, chain and sprocket. got my wheels turning.

 

Go on to tractor pulling sites. Many of them run multiple engines. There are guys there with decades of knowledge on various configurations ( even at 90 degrees to each other) keeping thousands of horsepower together. The experts are there, and two flatties should be a breeze. There is a build thread on Here called"evil twin" that has great info to get your design going.

 

They hook the same as dual overheads. Why would they be different?

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-stump-puller-otherwise-known-as-the-odd-rod.988007/

 

I could see doing it to run in a certain vintage engine cl*** at Bonneville or the dry lakes but it doesn't spin my wheels on the street as it comes off as a "look at me I got two engines and they only have one" thing. The tanktop wearing mouthbeathers will love it though and call it a "cool rat rod"

 

There was a long thread on connecting 2 engines this way. You would do flatheads the same as any engine. The old way was to put a sprocket on the front of one engine and the rear of the other, mount them together and wrap a piece of double row chain around the sprockets. This connected them together effectively but allowed a little movement. Now there are more sophisticated couplers available.

 

My question exactly. ^^^^


If you used a shaft with external splines like a transmission input shaft you could clutch the front engine and use the rear engine to fire the front engine. That way you wouldn't have to push start or use a remote starter.

 

I'm having enough issues getting one flathead in a row running.

 

LOL normally I would say, "Hire a mechanic" but I got an idea that you are probably a pretty fair mechanic yourself.

Anytime you start adding extra pieces you start adding extra headaches. One cylinder motors were easy certainly easier than 2 and way less complicated than 8. Single points have half the headaches of twin points, certainly way less than twin distributers (think Pierce Arrow here) one carb is easier than two and way less trouble than 6 or 8. One motor less headaches that two, I could go on but I think that if you read all this you get the point right?

Not Pierce Arrow 12 cylinder Daimler double 6 sorry for the screw up.

 

The only twin engine car I ever had hands on used a Mark Williams coupler. About 2 inches dia. Male and female splines. Front one went to flywheel bolts, rear went on double keyed crank snout. Pretty simple deal.

 

Its not rocket science but I suppose you could make it as complicated as you wanted to.

 

we use the chain sprocket couplers on Diesel /pump drives ad they can handle a fair amount of torque and HP as some of our pumps we use are near the 1000 Hp mark ( 12" line)

 

Kenz & Leslie streamliner ran 2 flatheads in 1950. Went to three in mid '50s

 

we use the chain couplers on high torque /Hp diesel pumps ( nearing 1000 hp -12" discharge ) that can take a beating but you have to keep them aligned or otherwise they will snap ,so the motors will have to be hard mounted , as for lovejoys ( rubber spline couplers ) they are more sensitive to pulsations and alignment .

 

They were running twins before the streamliner, they originally ran twins in a pickup truck.

@stimpy I have seen twin engines couples with double row chain, like a primary chain on a bike or the chain drive on a combine. A spud bolted to the back of the front crank and a spud bolted to the front of the back crank east with a sprocket and the chain wrapped tight around them for a coupler. Like this image I found on google.

 

yep them are like the ones we use we use up to 4-6 links wide on the super high torque apps , and you have to use a device we called the cat paw/ claws to pull them together to drop in the master pin/link , the links ussually do not wear but the rollers and sprockets do and you still have to grease them . I have seen them come apart and its rather violent but one should not try to push a 6" rock thru a positive displacement style pump .

on the tugs we use a fine spline gear mesh coupler ( looks like this on steroids) it handles 3000hp -17,000 ft pounds of torque and its a variable speed ( 3-900 rpm )

 

I got a cats paw and I used to use a triple row on a twin engine Harley I tuned back in the '70s.

I can't find it but some place I got a pic of a twin flathead Harley drag bike that I was going to post for twin flatheads. It has a skinny scraggly haired red headed germ straddling it. LOL

 

This rolls was built with left over restoration parts and ran two straight sixes beside each other. Sounded awesome at Barrett Jackson a couple years ago.
In the right build, dual engines could be awesome. I had visions of a luxury 30s car that would have had a straight eight and build it like a large version of a 32 roadster, stripped down, open sides, exposed exhaust etc. Twin scott blown flatheads would be awesome. In the long nose.

 

Sorry, couldn't get the pic to load

 

Should be there now

 

And the hamb answers! Thanks fellas, seeing how one flattie weighs about 550lbs. That's over 1000 lbs in one spot. I am solid muting the two together , be like riding a heavy *** hard tailed harley... anyway, I'm not yet ready to release the build. But I will tell you it's for street use and no its not for show, to be able to tune and maintain one flathead is enjoyable, two will keep me on my toes. Plus both will be receiving race treatments, and up to 3 carbs per flathead.... god, once I type it out. I realize I'm nuts. So does the wife