Thread: Building a replica Offenhauser style engine.

Contact Steve Truchan on his web site Gary bridge&iron co.He restores old indy.cars ,engines&bodies.and other old race cars. He belongs to the miller car club and has access to many of the older engine parts prints &assemblies and will be able to help. If nothing else his web site is worth a look and he has a link to the miller race car site.
WWW.Gary bridge&iron co.com
google the site

Originally Posted by walt37

Contact Steve Truchan on his web site Gary bridge&iron co.He restores old indy.cars ,engines&bodies.and other old race cars. He belongs to the miller car club and has access to many of the older engine parts prints &assemblies and will be able to help. If nothing else his web site is worth a look and he has a link to the miller race car site.
WWW.Gary bridge&iron co.com
google the site

Here's a link.

Gary Bridge & Iron Co.

Interesting thread.
A fellow PM member and myself discussed this a few years ago. My initial brain fart was that V-EE twin motorcycles were getting pretty boring, and Indian inline fours (and Hendersons) were SO MUCH MORE SMOOTH.......do it'd be about time for a "revolution" here in the 2-zero-zero-zero-eights or so.......another inline motor to make the scene.

And I thought.....Offy.......YEA! Offy........the stuff legends are made of....in a .....motorcycle.
Just the name.....sells.......and sounds COOL and rightly so....
Why not in a bike?

And.......so it goes.....

We went to Michigan....and studied the Offys....

I am STILL IMPRESSED!

What about the Torque Reaction when Throttle is appled?
Fun watching right Front Wheel of a 4 Wheel Car lift of Ground on hard Launch. Not as much fun with only one Rear Wheel V Twin or Standard Sideways design Lifts Front Wheel without the Snake Effect....

Add the Bike Frame Rise/Drop on Ring and Pinion on Accell/Decell on Tight Corners, and maybe you see why Old Straight Line Engine Tech remains OLD Low Performance/Touring Only..... NEW BMW's INCLUDED...

Don't see many Shaft drive INLINE bikes in any Winners Circles... They Do work Good in the Desert....

Ancient Chain Drive (Or Belt) Tech offers faster Gearing changes ..

Back on Topic kinda...

I do have a couple 270 GMC Engines around here.

Just need to Mill up some DOHC heads ...

Shirley you jest.....

I do have a couple 270 GMC Engines around here.

Just need to Mill up some DOHC heads ...

Didn't a guy named Wayne Horning beat you to it back in the 1950's? Actually I don't think his GMC heads were DOHC, they were 12 port cross flow and worked pretty good.

In spite of some of the drawbacks you posted, I think an Offy powered cruiser or even a heavy touring bike would be a great hobby project and of course you're not going to go MotoGP racing with it. As far as being a marketable and profitable product, most bike buyers today are too young to remember the Offy's. And the cost of putting a new motorcycle into production would set even Bill Gates back on his heels.

But still, an interesting idea and a great project.

As far as being a marketable and profitable product, most bike buyers today are too young to remember the Offy's.

Oh BOB.......I could remind them in a heartbeat.......
And over again.....
And over again.....

U get the idea.....

Oh BOB.......I could remind them in a heartbeat.......and do it over again for cheap! And do it over again....

Well, don't let me stop you Let's get it done

Seriously, about my comments about it being too expensive to produce a new bike and the potential market for an Offy powered bike being small - if I knew much about making money I woulda been rich a long time ago.

All I kan doo at dis point is "offer" art werk:




DAMN.........this picture STILL makes the hair on the back of my ....neck...stand UP.
Is this a thing of beauty or WHAT?
Imagine this in a two wheel vehicle.......!

You guys have any idea how bad an offy vibrates? If you put one in a bike your hands,feet and butt would be buzzing so bad in about 3 miles that you would not be able to ride it!!!

Originally Posted by moonlight machine

You guys have any idea how bad an offy vibrates? If you put one in a bike your hands,feet and butt would be buzzing so bad in about 3 miles that you would not be able to ride it!!!

Yeah, but your gf would be in an altered state.

I don't think dkmc is talking about an absolutely exact 1930's Offy clone - this is 2008 and the vibration issues can be resolved.

I don't think dkmc is talking about an absolutely exact 1930's Offy clone - this is 2008 and the vibration issues can be resolved.

"Modern" version would be best.....but the marketing potential may be surprising......maybe not.
Maybe the name is too far forgotten by now?

Maybe the name is too far forgotten by now?

Oh BOB.......I could remind them in a heartbeat.......
And over again.....
And over again.....



Only one way to find out...

Just an update:

My father loaned me some blueprints the other day. I haven't gotten through them all yet due to the fact I am cataloging each one and the condition. I haven't found a whole lot that are of this engine yet, but what I have gone through are amazing. Quick change rear ends, Offy four cyl prints, even carburator prints!

Does anyone know of a good place to have blueprints scanned? I would like to do this so I don't have to handle them too much.

Oh, and here is a pic of the engine. Mind you, it is in the process of being cleaned up to be put on display in an exhibit.



Thanks,

Josh

I don't care if they do vibrate, I'd still take a spin in one of those.

Anyone notice, why the heck do they have a pressurized water
fire extinguisher by those cars?? Seems like the definition of a BAD
idea.

Jim

one word....Methanol...the preferred fuel for the Offy...water puts it out very well..

Just came across this thread TDC, and noticed you're from Eastern WI.
I would guess your dad crossed paths and bent some metal with guys like Lou Fegers and
Bill Siercks back in his day. I still race with and am pretty good friends with one of Bill's sons, and Bill's still at the track every week.
At any rate, this is an interesting project, and I have an automotive machine shop at my disposal and could help you out with some of it once you're to the point of building parts.

Upon reading about your 6 cylinder Offenhauser motor and having read the Gordon White book "Offenhauser" and finding no referrence to a 6 cylinder offy, I wrote Gordon White. I'm including his response: That must have been the Joe Lencki engine. See my article this month in Vintage Oval Track magazine.
Joe Lencki had Leo Goossen design a 6-cylinder engine very much like the Offy, but Joe'd killed you if you had called it a 6-cylinder Offenhauser. There were both hemispherical (2-valve) and pent-roof (4-valve) versions of the engine. Only a couple were built. He ran it at Indy, but not terribly successfully. Since Lencki paid for the design, it is properly a "Lencki," not an Offy, though Fred Offenhauser manufactured it.
- Gordon

Here's a link:

http://fabulousracers.com/joe_lencki.html

At the risk of starting another 'snake oil' debacle, He was also the developer of what evolved into "Zmax", and one of the very few FAA approved oil additives, Avblend.

Get out your electrom microscopes, guys.

Very nice 6 cyl Midget engine, it does resemble the Lencki 6 except the cam cover hold-downs aren't evenly spaced. The Lencki engine was only built in 270 and 255 sizes at Offenhauser's shop, so if that engine is only 91 cubes it's obviously an original, and a real beauty at that.

The picture above is my Novi-clone engine, which I built the hard way, no CNC. These antique engines can be constructed, but dependng on the level of complexity some of these take a long time to build.