History Offy 270 engine on Bring a Trailer

Not mine, just thought I'd share something cool from another spot I spend a lot of my time....currently at $10,500.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/offenhauser-270-ci-engine/

 

10.5K?That's a lot for an engine with a huge crankcase repair and no guarantee of any "innards".

 

The ultimate 4 banger IMO, cool cool cool
Dan

 

Anybody out there who can come up with some information about "Offy" serial numbers? This one has #20 on a cam cover, but the "Offy" by Gordon White book says that number was on an 88" Midget motor, which this one most certainly is NOT! Based on the notes on the port covers & the serial number, this one should be from the mid 1930s, but That's all I have... Aside from having a bad case of "WANT", & no "Trust Fund"... LOL!!

 

I’d run it

 

The crankcase breathers are wrong, they were made much later than the engine. They appear to be from the Offenhauser Sales Corporation, not Offenhauser Engineering. The name was sanded off and they were re-polished.


Offenhauser Engineering introduced the 270 in 1936 and over the years they used a number of different breathers, none of which look like the ones on that engine.
Here are the breathers used by Offenhauser Engineering, some went on the crankcase and others the top end of the engine.

Over the decades it’s impossible to know what happened and what was changed with this engine, but still, the bones are there for a proper restoration.

 

Congratulations BobMc38. He owns it for $22K.

I am in no shape to pay that much for a treasure like that, so I just dolled up my old Ford with accoutrements to evoke memories of the Offy era of racing dominance.