I had brought the subject up in 2007, and no bites. then for some reason I got to thinkin bout it again, so what the heck, I,ll try again, see if the right guys are awake? Well it didnt take long and boy got pix and more info than I expected. Yea only on the HAMB. Now the thing about this engine, it was a private enterprise by a couple of business men and had nothing to do with Ford Motor co. Also San Bernardino wasnt exactly motor city, although it was home to the Santa Fe RR shops, so plenty of mechanics around locally. The design looks good to me, and looks similar to Cadillac, Lasalle, flathead designs, not at all like the 1932 Ford engine.Hambers came to the rescue.
about 8 posts down from the first post of this thread, is an article in a SB paper telling about the motors local history. Ford sent some guys to see the engine and then said Ford was'nt interested, and implied they better not try to produce it.
heres the article about Tomans Machine shop. Re: first model T V8 <hr style="color: rgb(229, 229, 229); background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229);" size="1"> Quote: <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td cl***="alt2" style="border: 1px inset;"> Originally Posted by 39cent who knows info about a V8 made for the model T back in the 20,s. I once stumbled over an engine in the back room of a san Bernardino wrecking yard. It was hooked up to a model T transmission, and it looked like it was made for the T. The block was not like fords later flathead, but more like 2 T blocks in a V! It didnt look like an adaptation. I asked the guy there and he said there were several made, and were used in Taxicabs in town. I had never heard of it and have asked many people but they hadnt heard or seen one. Then about ten years ago a buddy showed me a pic of it in the model T club magazine! ?? </td> </tr> </tbody></table> I sent this post to the HAMB at the end of 2007, and finally found some info in google about the mysterious V8 Model T built in in San Bernardino. [FONT="]One of the more interesting tales of the Gentry Ford era was his development of an eight-cylinder engine for the Model T. Earl E. Buie wrote about it in his They Tell Me column in the September 5, 1960, issue of the San Bernardino Evening Telegram. Some of the particulars differ from later recounts of the same events, but since Buies story was written while Gentry was still alive and active, it is ***umed to be more accurate.[/FONT] [FONT="]Ford Motor Company brought out a V8 engine for their 1932 Model B, quite an improvement over the four-cylinder engines common at the time. This is considered Henry Fords last major innovation, and it put his company ahead of the compe***ion for the next 20 years. However, according to Buie, Gentry had the company beat by 15 years, for it was in 1917 that he and Martin Lewis, who was active in the automobile industry in Los Angeles, joined to produce their own V8 engine. They modified the Model T four-cylinder engine using parts manufactured and ***embled in San Bernardino. In other words, both Detroit and San Bernardino were manufacturing car engines during World War I. Judging from this description by Buie, the Gentry-Lewis engine was a great innovation[/FONT][FONT="]:[/FONT] [FONT="]The eight-cylinder block was fitted onto the Ford Model T engine crankcase, and used the same crankshaft, camshaft and carburetor. It could be installed in a matter of hours and converted the comparatively rough running four-cylinder motor into a powerful motor of smooth performance and high efficiency. And the cost? A mere $175.[/FONT] [FONT="]Hanford Foundry cast the block, head and manifold, and Charles Linderoths Machine Works at Rialto and I Streets bored the cylinders. (The foundry is now gone. However, the machine shop building still exists, but most of its tools and other equipment have been removed and it is no longer an active business. Most recently it has been known as Tomans Machine Works.) The engines were ***embled by Gentrys expert mechanics, four of whom Buie identified by name: W. E. (Slim) Vardy, John Wallace, Johnny Kennedy, and Walter Mapstead.[/FONT] [FONT="]Twenty or 30 engines were built over a period of about one year. When Ford representatives heard about the Gentry-Lewis engine, they came to inspect it, and were not pleased. They told Gentry that their dealers must limit activities to selling their Fords, and that he must desist from further sales of his engine, which he did. Gentry kept his first engine in storage for about 40 years before loaning it to a Gentry Ford successor, Garner-Muth Ford. Garner put it on display for a while, but it eventually was sent to the Ford Museum in Michigan. [/FONT] __________________
HELLO are you still there- I just posted some material about Linderoth machine shop. My grandfather was carl (not charles) Linderoth. Included is old photo of shop, an old news article about a race, and grandpa in his shop. Would like to hear from you.
I was going to say the same thing. As of a few months ago, it was still there. I forget the details on it, but there is a sign next to it explaining the background/history of that particular engine.
As for basic similarities with Cad/LaSalle V8s (intake/exh on top, etc.) don't forget Henry Ford was CEO of the Cadillac company before the board ousted him. Fascinating story. Interesting how he designed his own Ford V8...exhaust thru the block, instead of up thru the heat risers.....
Do you mean Ron Fawcett? He was a Pierce Arrow collector, old time mechanic and vintage car dealer on the north side of Whitby since the fifties. Over the years he had a lot of amazing cars and parts. At his death I believe he had over 100 cars, many of them they kept for rentals to the movies and TV. A Model T V8 would have been right up his alley but how it got from San Bernardino to Whitby is a mystery.
Here's a link to that thread. Thanks for posting it, I had never heard of this engine before! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=794377
Interesting thread. I worked as a development engineer in the Engine Performance Development Group at Ford in Dearborn. Several years ago somebody set up a display of early prototype Ford engines in the lobby of the Dynamometer Laboratory building at the R & E Center. The story I heard was that the engines were in storage at a warehouse of The Henry Ford (formerly Greenfield Village / Henry Ford Museum) for several years before being loaned to the Dyno Lab. The display included many novel engines - an overhead cam T engine driven by a shaft drive with bevel gears, the afore mentioned "X" motor, a 4-valve T engine, a "Caliopy" 427 Le Mans 3-valve V8, and the T V8. Eventually the engines were removed to God-knows-where. I was very tempted to violate the "no cameras" rule at R & D and photograph the lot. Fun times / fun job.
Awesome thread! I wish I could hear one run now, somebody get jay Leno on it! Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
The main point on this find is that this engine was Financed,designed,machined,built, by private individuals, [not Ford Motor Co.] around 1917. Its the same thing as the Many different heads, and other modifications we have seen for Model T's as long as they didnt put Fords name on the parts [then they could pull his franchise]. it should not matter to Ford, It could be said it is a great example of early hot rodding. I didn,t know of the older article in the San Bernardino newspaper about the "Model T V8" has been already posted here on the HAMB but here it is anyway. http://www.sbhistoricalsociety.com/storage/Library News Feb 2011.pdf [sorry but had to make a correction of the article address]
well looks like someone took out the neat pics of the engine from this forum. you can see it on the model T club mag discussion goup. They must be more traditional. google this ---- http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/260210.html
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