12 spark plugs on the head? Plugs look too close together might have two plugs per cyl. As to value ? A auction is the one venue where it will be accurately values as to what it is worth at that very moment & place to actual purchasers who will put their money where their mouth is.
Those are Pierce-Arrow engines adapted to Seagrave fire equipment. I watched an old boy I used to work for make a pair of head gaskets for one of them out of copper sheet & a roll of asbestos. When he was finished, I told him about the gent in Canada who sold Pierce-Arrow parts ....
24 spark plugs? That's wild! Where does the exhaust come out? What a wild speedster this would make. I kinda doubt it'll sell for much, who else would want it? Wouldnt' be surprised if it goes for $500 or less. Would be cool to get, even just to display until the right use for it comes along.
Our local VFD had a hand me down Seagraves fire truck. they were set up with dual ignition systems so if there was an ignition problem it would still run. A NIGHTMARE to tune up!! You should buy it Mike, it would look great stuffed in that Olds in your ba*****t!!
You can also buy a kit to adapt it to a Chevy v8 transmision. http://www.transmissionadapters.com/Seagrave & LaFrance V12 adapter kit.htm
I believe the case to be dual ignition As fire trucks need to idle for extended lengths of time during that situation a magneto ignition is used While under driving operation a points style ignition is engaged This operation is switched by the operator As to value it takes two to tango so if only one bidder then the dance is low but two or more the tango can get rough Good luck MrPhat40 Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Looks like it is of the 531 ci variety. Seagrave bought the tools and molds from Pierce Arrow after Pierce stopped production in 1938. There is also a 906 ci. V12 that is an absolute monster as well. As far as value: I think it would be tough to find someone who would be willing to pay more than $50 or $100 over it's value in s**** iron. That motor is not for the faint of heart or wallet. If you think Hemi's and Flathead Fords are expensive to rebuild, that thing will **** your checkbook dry in a hurry. These engines were designed to sit at a fire and run under full load at WOT (normally around 2500 rpms) for hours on end while moving stupid amounts of water.
I had a '48 Seagrave pumper with an engine like this. Mine was 468 ci. The truck had 2300 original miles, so it was in pristine shape. The dual ignitions are not a real problem if you understand them. There are two dual point distributors and four coils. If you look at them as 4 separate 6 cylinder systems, they start to make sense. When I got my truck, one of the systems was not operational. It took a while to figure it out, but when I understood how it worked, it was easy to get it going again. The distributors are made by Delco, and I believe the points are the same as '46-'48 Chevrolet. Each set of points are for one of the coils and are not interconnected. Actually it is a pretty clever setup. As to value, if the internal parts are good, you may be surprised what a guy restoring a Pierce-Arrow with a bad or missing engine might be willing to pay. These are also becoming increasingly popular with hot-rodders as well. Bengston's makes an adapter to mate one of these to a 350 turbo-hydro. That has to add to the desirability.
Fire trucks usually don't have much mileage no matter how old they are. They mostly go short distances. What kills them is pump hours. I had a good friend that bought a 1940 4 wheel drive Ford cab over fire truck with only 9,000 miles on it and the original motor was shot. It came from Alpine, California, a small foothill town in San Diego county. It would travel 2 to 5 miles to a fire but spend 5 to 10 pump hours fighting the fire. When was the last time you saw somebody driving a fire truck on a 3000 mile vacation?
I went to a auction and there was a complete 347 Pontiac engine and transmission. It had the tri power intake correct carbs and air cleaner I had the bid at $400 and the auctioneer was gonna drop the hammer. The guy bidding against me asked his wife if he could go more. Being a smart *** I quipped if you gotta ask the wife the answer is always no. That musta got his goat. Because he went to bidding. I bid up to $625 and he bought it for $650. I think I could have kept punching to a grand and he wouldn't have stopped. And the buyers wife gave me that ***** shriveling look that women have.
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