Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 1919-1923 Essex F Head 4 cylinder

I picked this up yesterday and have no idea what it is. I got it from the owner of the Virginia Truckee Railroad. It sat for years inside the V&T depot in Gold Hill, Nevada. It was recently moved to the rail road yard in Virginia City. Because of it's railroad connection I suspect it powered some kind of motor car either hauling passengers or repair tools and workers.

It is a 4 cylinder overhead valve gas engine. It has a 3 speed transmission with clutch and brake pedals mounted from the bell housing. The crankcase is cast aluminum. The cylinders and head are cast iron and the timing cover and oil pan are stamped steel. Although there are numbers stamped all over it I have not found a name or logo anywhere. The distributer/mag?, starter, and generator all have stamped sheet aluminum Delco ID plates. Dates on the distributer range from 1917 to 1919. The carb is a brass side draft with a slide. The mounts are part of the crankcase casting. The distributer, generator, and fuel pump are gear driven from inside the main casting on the front lower right side. The head has four exhaust ports, one intake port and four water ports. There are four pop-off breathers on the valve cover and what looks like what was a glass cylinder with a float to show the oil level. ANY IDEAS?

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You may have to start tearing in to it to look for other clues that can be cross referenced. You may be able to google the serial numbers on the carb or distributor. Sometimes, even a rod or main bearing will have a part number or even the "Ford" name, or "Moline" name stamped into it for instance to identify the engine brand, if it's not fully babbited. I'm sure if you found a 1930's parts book, it would reach back that far with part number referencing if you can find an actual brass era parts book.

Hi Beater . . . nice find.

The design smacks of Charlie Nash . . . the pedal/shifter layout suggests some sort of dozer or mule application. The dates on that dizzy are patents. Could have been used practically into 30's.

I have never seen anything like it.

stock49

Thanks guys, I am searching old engine sites but with nothing to go on it's slow. I didn't have time today to do much. I had a little 2 hour plumbing job that took 10. I just finished and had to already fix a small leak.

I have not unloaded it yet. When I do I'll go over it and get numbers and dates if there are any. I'll check the carb for a name. There is some caked on grease and dirt on the sides. Something may be hiding under it. It sure has some interesting features.

I probably could show some pics of it to Corky's dad and he could ID it. He has over a dozen brass era Stanley Steamers fully restored and he is really up on stuff from that era.

Any help or ideas are welcome. I'll try to check it out today or tomorrow and get some detailed pictures, The new counter tops are being installed today and I have to go to town to get the rest of the plumbing and hardware. I want to check the shift lever to see if it could have been turned around or bent for a secondary application. I need to get it covered up as we have rain in the forecast. I'd hate for it to go to hell on my watch.

I got some numbers. I got a hit from a British obsolete auto parts site but the page is no longer there. It was for the starter number. Here's what I found.
1. Starter: Stamped in case 161-4237 Patent dates 1916-1917
2. Generator: Stampen on case 1333567 patent dates 1912-1916
3. Distributer: Stamped in case D1 80 800 ID plate says DELCO Starting Lighting & Ignition System patent dates 1914-1918
4. Exhaust manifold cast A-50047 with a square G under it.
5. Cast into side of transmission F59-1
6. Cast on top left of crankcase/bell housing BH BF4-4 19 ( maybe a casting date like April 4, 1919) Under that a large B
7. Cast on top between back of block and bell housing 4 80009
8. Stamped on raised oval boss on left front mount leg of main casting 14 955
There is nothing on the carb. There was a top plate held with 4 screws that is missing and probably had all the info on it.

1923 Essex
'23 Essex Raceabout Roadster

Yep, you were right on that one. It had everything on it you would have needed to ID it. Cool score.

I posted on the Smokestak site and a guy there knew what it was. I could have hunted for a long time. It was a stout engine for the time 1919 to 1923 with 178-181 ci (from different sources) and 55hp. It won the Pikes Peak race in '23. There is a '23 race car In Reno at the car museum. I'm going up to take a look.

That is one cool vehicle. Motor is as sweet as a nut.
Great that you got a quick ID on it. What a wonderous thing the internet is.

regards,Rod.

Good detective work Beater.

Don't you just wonder how it ended up where you got it and what its previous life included?

Yes a wonder and a cool find. I'm a happy guy. The reversal or bending of the shift lever along with where it came from makes me think along the lines of what Stock 49 suggested. I bet part of it's life was on some rail work vehicle. I'll have to look through a bunch of V&T photos. I'll start looking for the missing pieces. Lester Harris probably has it all. Oh, By the way it is an F head. I could have seen that if I payed attention.

It looks like a vintage speedster may come after the roadster. Actually that will help with some conflicting issues I'm having with the roadster of incorporating details from two different eras.

I changed this topic's name because now we know what it is and we can keep the Essex 4 banger stuff here. I am learning a lot and will share some of it here.

Lifted from another site.(Remarkablecars.com)

1919 - Hudson introduced the Essex as a seperate brand.

The first generation 1919 Essex was known for its superior performance. The F-head four-cylinder engine turned out 55 horsepower. The car's angular body lines also contributed to its performance.

Many staged demonstrations proved that the Essex was a hot little car. In 1919 an Essex completed a 50-hour, 3,037.4 miles endurance test in Cincinnati, Ohio, at an average speed of 60.75 miles per hour.

One of the most famous races took place in August 1920 and featured four Essex cars. Two started from the East Coast and two from the West Coast. Each carried a mail pouch and, like the Pony Express riders of old, relief drivers were sworn in as letter carriers. The average time for the quartet was 4 days, 21 hours and 32 minutes. The race generated tons of publicity.

The early Essex cars also captured many hill climb records. In a special Essex race car, Glen Shultz won the 1923 Pike's Peak Hill Climb in 18 minutes, 47.4 seconds. This broke the previous record set by Ralph Mulford in a 1916 Hudson.

Essex Model A Instruction Book

1922 Essex Build

It's definately a cool find. Are you thinking of a build for it in one of your cars? Or are you going to look for something to put it in?

beater, I have an early Essex front beam axle. It is yours for the taking if you want it for a future project.

A couple of my friends are excited about helping to build a vintage racer. They are both very skilled rodders and we could probably build it and the roadster at the same time so when things slowed on one we could move the other, They both like prodding me into action. Flyer we'll have to look int getting that axle here. The more Essex parts the better.

I finally got the Essex engine unloaded and under cover. I noticed a couple of bent and broken things I had missed before. It will not turn. I pulled the plugs they had been put in only hand tight. I blew air into the cylinders and a lot more crap came out than I am comfortable with. I poured in some Marvel Mystery Oil. I guess I need to pull the head and look in there before I make a lot of plans. I also need to get down to Lester Harris's and see how he's fixed for Essex parts.

Well now we know where the Marvel comes from in the Mystery Oil's name. The Essex will turn over now.
I got a little more info and I have a book coming from Australia, It is not a '23 it is earlier. One fellow told me a 1919 or 1920. It seems that in an attempt to improve the intake flow in '22 they moved the spark plugs from the left to right side. I guess the engine I saw had the wrong year on it. They also lowered the compression and went to a timing chain instead of a gear. The older engine is supposed to be the better design, The Essex splash oil system is said to be a very good system and in some ways better than the older full pressure systems.

Beater:
Thanks for the updates on this engine. A cool find for sure. Looking forward to more info... Start the damned thing!!!!

Paul

I'm excited about it too. I need to find a few things and I want to look inside before I break something trying to start it. So far it is looking like the more junk you haul home the better your chances are for finding something cool.

"So far it is looking like the more junk you haul home the better your chances are for finding something cool"

Well spoken sir!!!

Paul

Here's an interesting Essex four. It was listed as a 1919 but I don't think so. The spark plugs are on the exhaust side and I don;t think the distributer is a Delco. That could be part of the modifications though. It has headers and duel exhaust, The generator appears to have been swapped out for an alternator. It has what looks like 4 oilers on on top of the rocker cover. I thought mine were little spring actuated breathers. Maybe they lube the rockers? Check out the oil can on the firewall.

I just pressed the "like" button.
Great pic Beater.

Did I post the Pike's Peak Special? Also does any one have a copy of the brochure pictured. There is a copy of it on eBay but I can not spend what they want for it. It has 24 pages and is mostly about the 4 cars that crossed the US in an attempt to influence the government and get mail contracts. All 4 cars finshed with an average of 4 days 21 hours and 32 minutes.

I have located an Essex chassis, at least a frame. It sounded like it was a roller.There may also be some sheet metal. All I need is a hood and cowl. I don't know what year. I'm hoping for '19-'23 but I can make a later one work. One of our members has it. I have to arrange to look at it. I also bought a radiator shell that should arrive any day now. It looked good in the pictures. Another pile.

Yeah, but its a cool pile.

Here are some pictures of the inside of one of these. Pretty interesting combustion chamber. I wish I could find a picture of the bottom of the head.

I found a rotor but still need a distributer cap. My camera quit on me. I'll post pictures of the rotor and radiator shell when I get it fixed.

Just run to AutoZone, I'm sure they'll have a couple!

That's not as bad of an Idea as you might think. A friend who used to deal in old parts claimed to have helped the founder of Auto Zone get into the business selling NOS parts. I don't know if it is true. When I sold parts a Car Quest the last computer system we had was connected to almost every Car Quest in the country. I found parts that I never would have expected to locate and that was only about 10 years ago. There are still a lot of old parts on shelves but finding the right shelf is getting tougher.

We used to be a CarQuest store. The hard part is finding the number, once that's found it's alot easier to locate! We always kept old catalogs because they would have numbers that new ones wouldn't, I suppose trying to save ink.

I still have some old CarQuest books mostly brakes and ignition and many of the part numbers can be helpful. Although Studrbaker has fallen out of the books many of the parts are still on the shelf. It seems like computers should have made this easier but most computer programmers are not car guys so the parts are not grouped the way they should be.

I just got an old, not a reprint, Delco Ignition System Instruction booklet (27 pages). It covers Delco ignition from 1912 to 1916. The patents dates on the Essex electrical components range from 1912 to 1918. The booklet is not car specific and has no part numbers but it fully describes the different systems. Another cool find.

I love how the old books were written to explain everything. Everything used to be serviceable... now even things that are able to be serviced can't be because no one will sell you the components!

Mitch, I agree about the old books. Update: I bought a reprint parts manual that had some good text information but the illustrations were just dark blobs. I picked up a frame from an Inliner friend that is a four cylinder frame in great condition. A guy from another site sent me a lot of reprinted and scanned material that I received today. His dad had an Essex touring and a speedster. His brothers still have the cars and he is trying to get more info from them. What he sent covers a lot from valve spring seat pressure, valve timing, bearing sizes, ignition and carb adjustments and much more. Another local Inliner friend who also belongs to a speedster club is interested in the Essex and is offering help and parts. This could turn out to be fun.

Here are the latest additions to the Essex pile. The control knobs work the cooling louvers on the radiator shell, the choke, and carb adjustment. The checkered ones are original

In four months youve gathered together a third of the car. At this rate itll fire up in September.

Did you get a front axle? I've still got one you can have.

gbauer, Gathering junk is what I do best.....well I'm pretty good at BSing about my piles of junk. A rusty roller by September?

Flyer, I've kept that in mind. Does it have spindles? There were 2 Essex axles on eBay with springs and wheels but pick up only. What do you think shipping would be? It looks like The springs are very close to 20s Chevy. I could use Chevy springs and axle then I could use my 19" Chevy wheels. We'll see.