anybody ever seen one of these things?? were they used on cars? seems to me that would hinder performance. at the very least you would drive down the street tooting as you go. I don't have it... just something I saw perusing the interweb.
Ever since man made the internal combustion engine tinkerers have looked for ways to extract silly noises out of it.
My dad has one on his A. We called it the chicken whistle, it sounds best at low RPMs and high load like climbing a hill or taking off from a stop.
Supposed to have a lever and on/off valve. Looks like they brazed over where it was. That's a shame because that is a very early one. they go for good money depending on the plug thread, some thread sizes are rare. 18mm,14mm, as well as pipe threads
Probably not very good I remember it on the motor once and remember it on his workbench for years Hes had the car since 75. I was like 5 when he got the whistle so memory is a bit fuzzy
Imagine, if you will, a flathead engine with dual plug heads, ... ... but with just one set of plugs. In the other plug holes are a collection of valve operated whistles of different pitches, and some means by which to sound them each individually. If they were properly tuned, you could play them like a musical instrument; an 8-note internal combustion calliope, if you will. Good idea? Bad idea? You be the judge.
I could have bid on an air compressor last week made from a Willys 4-cylinder engine - two cylinders ran, two compressed air. So apparently you could run an engine with one of these in it at least enough to scare folks.
The Jalopy Journal
