Not long after I bought the fairground racer that has grown into “The Gin Runner” my ’26 Gowjob T i found a picture here on the HAMB of the late Gary Le Fever’s twin engined model T. I was totally smitten by it, I have always wanted a vintage straight eight race style car but know that I could never afford to buy one…. so I tracked down a phone number and called him at his home in Wichita and we spoke for a while about his car and how he put it together. I started to hatch a plan to build a TwinT using a matched pair of ’26T motors chain wrapped together and set up to run as a straight eight. The standard Ford “bent coat hanger” cranks have been a concern since day one, but I reckon if I can build the motors individually with good balance and use a floating transmission shaft as well as the chain wobble joint, it should be able to work together without tearing itself apart. I started gathering the parts for this about 10 years ago. I now have two fresh built T short blocks, one with alloy pistons the other with iron ( i plan to change them to alloy ones before I check everything for balance. I have 3 or 4 crankcase/oil pans and have decided to use a mixture of a 3 dip rear pan and the front section of a 4 dip one which will be held together and in line using a pair of 6”x1/4” side plates which will have cross plates welded in and a 1”x1/4’ lip to welded along the tops picking up the lock to crankcase mounting bolts, this will form a “girdle” to hold both motors in line and stop them slumping in the middle. The complete 5’6” power plant will bolt into a stock 100” wheelbase 1926 T Chassis that I have bought and the stock two speed trans will drive a shortened drive shaft thru a shortened torque tube to a stock T rear axle. Cooling will be as Henry designed with a re-cored stock T radiator Ignition will be initially supplied via battery and a Rover V8 distributer run by bicycle chain from the rear motors camshaft nose but I may change to a magneto setup at a later date. Bodywork will be from the Noel Bullock’s Tin Lizzie School with a minimal alloy cowl and two staggered bucket seats I started to put the two motors together just before Christmas and so far I have made up the chain joint using two chainwheels the front drilled to suit the rear crank flange of the front engine’s crank and bolted to it using countersunk set screws, the rear drilled to suit the nose of the rear engine’s crank which is pinned through the starter dog’s bolt hole. I will also be cutting a keyway and fitting a woodruff key. The next stage is to make up the “girdle” so the motors can be held in line. I have a good ’26 T chassis and axles currently in storage at a friends place and all of the transmission, suspension and steering parts in had as well as a set of 4 good 21” T wire wheels and hubs to suit. This is a slow burner build as I have plenty to do with a house renovation, The Gin Runner, the ChevyT special and a full time job… but it will all come together
Way cool. I'm in for the ride. The best part is, you know it's been done before, so the reference "should" help you.... hopefully. Sent from my thinks it's smarter than me smart phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yeah, best bit is it will be all 1926 Ford apart from the adapters and whatever bodywork i end up using. A plywood speedster tub i bought already is most likely. I already have a ‘26 chassis with title/v5 doc and both motors are ‘26. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
When it comes to projects it's always good to stretch yourself, it can double your capabilities! I'm following along too...
You are so right! I also found that with my old Indians, and working on the T one idea leads to another then you have to figure out how to do what you have imagined, the design process and just trying parts together sometimes lead you down a completely different path from what you first had in mind
Yep that's why we do this stuff, always thinking about and making stuff means I've never been bored in my life, can't understand people who are.
That really depends on the balance and the timing of both motors. If both cranks are carefully balanced and timed at 90º to each other the theory is that they are not fighting each other but acting as one crankshaft. The front one just helping the rear one on when it is not firing. ... Only one way to find out! If it works out ... great! If it goes nice then goes bang, there's always the SCAT crank route. If it runs shit , i can try four big bang timing or just go back to 4 cylinder
Just when I’m starting to get my head around 4 bangers this thread comes along, looking forward to watching this grow. Loved the GinRunner build, following this for sure.
I had a little bit of time in the barn this morning, so started the process of trimming and drilling to fit the folded steel under pan to the rearmost T oil pan, i used countersunk set screws to pull the two pans together and keep it all straight. Once it is all drilled and bolted together, I plan to braze the two together then follow the same process for the front oil pan and then form a sump under the chain joint to give the front motor a reasonable oil capacity.
The biggest threat to the spaghetti cranks is torsional vibration. If you adapted modern dampers to both ends of the forward engine and the front of the rear engine they might have a chance of surviving.
Very cool indeed!......You do know that we're going to need to see some videos of it running don't you?
That will be a pleasure, i hope to get it going on a test stand first so i can sort out any issues before putting a rolling chassis together. Ive got most of the running gear and a chassis stashed in various places for that time Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Some time around 1952 I was visiting Don Ross in his home garage in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mr Ross was a machinest at Stanolind (Standard of Indiana) Research Center and the coach of the Boy Scout rifle team I was on. My older brother and I were installing a 322 Buick in a 1934 Ford. He told me about his hot rod from his youth (circa 1925 - 30?). Twin Chevy fours with Olds heads in a Studebaker Light Six chassis. No body other than a cowl and two bucket seats. He said the local police (somewhere in Colorado, I don't recall the small town) were unable to catch him when he and his friends were racing! Police had an "American Underslung" as a chase car.
That would be some machine! I have two ‘28 Chevy 4’s and one Olds head but they are for another project. I have been thinking about using the ohv Chev heads on the TwinT though, once i have the basic setup running well. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Hay! two 28 chevy 4's end to end, Wow! Naw, I've got so many irons in the fire now that my time is spend packing firewood!
I have been thinking about that set up, in a stretched Gerber style T based chassis Same here, most of my spare time is spent putting winter feed out for the horses or fixing fences Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Nice, gotta love an inline eight (I'm biased!). Technically you balance but only when the firing order is spread out across the cylinders, I would think? I'll leave that discussion up to the people who know better! Watching with interest. Phil
Greetings from south jersey, (USA of course!)..... gonna be an interesting build!!... since straight 8 engines have been around for quite a few years and balance apparently isn't a huge problem you most likely won't encounter any issues either.....however a couple of years ago I read a very interesting story about joining two 9 cylinder Pratt & Witney radial aircraft engines to form the two bank 18 cylinder engine necessary for bigger bombers like the B29 and the great lengths necessary to,keep harmonics and vibrations under control....good luck!
Ive had loads of different opinions, Gary LeFever who built the burgundy car at the start of the thread found that by running both cranks in 4 time (4 big bangs) it ran ok with both cranks balanced individually and the chain wobble joint in between. Others have run with straight 8 of V8 timing and a wobble joint and have had success. I guess its a suck 'n' see situation, certainly is from my perspective as my backyard engineering skills don't stretch to harmonics .. it'll either go or go bang! My gut feeling is that by having the second motor set 90º to the first both cranks should work together and run more evenly, so that is what I plan to do first.
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