From: hotrod@dixie.com (The Hotrod List)
Subject: Engines of Yore #5
Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 22:54:24 GMT
Organization: Dixie Communications Public Access.  The Mouth of the South.
To: hotrod@dixie.com
Reply-To: hotrod@dixie.com
Posted-Date: Thursday, Jan 07 17:54:21
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note:  I did some of these early last year and posted them in
       rec.motorcycles, as they pertained to motorcycle engines.
       If our esteemed moderator wishes I can repost them here.

[Absolutely!  JGD]

note 2: Yeah, I could post them in r.a.t., who'd notice among the
        Slick 50 and flywheel car drivel?


                         Engines of Yore:  Part 5.
             Buick 8-80 and 8-90.     created 06 January 1993
             by Dave Williams   dave.williams@chaos.lrk.ar.us

 Flipping through my 1943 Edition of Dykes' Automotive Encyclopedia,
we find a set of photos and some text on the Buick 8-80 and 8-90 of
late 1930s design.  This is an overhead valve straight-eight engine
of moderate displacement.  The block and crankcase are cast in one
piece of iron, and the cylinder head is another piece of iron.  This
was by no means a given in the 1930s, where some engines used multiple
cylinder heads or barrels.

 Buick used a crankshaft of 8 throws spaced 90 degrees apart, rather
than the 45 degrees you might expect.  Five very wide main bearings
support the shaft, which has a front bearing, cylinders 1 and 2,
another bearing, cylinders 3 and 4, etc.  Thrust appears to be on the
center bearing.  Several throws have bolt-on counterweights, another
feature often seen on very old motors.  This allowed simpler casting
and machining and posed no particular durability problem given the
low RPMs typically used.  Of particular interest is the harmonic
balancer, an unusual piece for the 1930s.  It consists of a two piece
cast iron ring bolted around the rear crank cheek of #1 throw, well
inside the cylinder block.  The origin of the flexible material is
not given in my sources, but I expect either oilproof rubber or
leather.

 Oiling is full pressure, with a gear driven pump attached to the
center main cap.  An oil filter was used, but it was of the "bypass"
type, treating only part of the oil.  Interestingly, the filtered oil
was fed to the rocker shaft.  The main bearings oil through a tubing
manifold which attaches to the bottom of the main caps.  The connecting
rods oil through drillings in the crankshaft, as per modern practice.
The wristpins are oiled by crankcase oil mist, also as per modern
practice.  Each connecting rod also had a "squirt hole" to provide
extra lubrication to the cylinder walls.

 The oiling system also includes a "temperature regulator", which
we would now call an oil cooler.  The Buick's was very sophisticated -
the first hot water available from the engine went to the oil heat
exchanger to warm the engine oil.  This brought the oil up to
operating temperature rapidly in order to boil out fuel and water
contamination.  Old-timey oil wasn't real good stuff, and the Buick
tried to take good care of it.  When the oil got warm enough, the
radiator water was used to cool the oil.  The system Jaguar is so
proud of on their V12 is a slightly less sophisticated arrangement.
The coolant circulated continuously with no conventional thermostat.
Temperature control was via thermostatically operated shutters on the
radiator.

 The camshaft is set low on the right side of the block and driven
by helical gears from the crankshaft.  Conventional cylindrical cam
followers are used, with roller tips against the cam, something
Detroit dropped and then picked back up on in the late '80s.  An extra
spring is incorporated within the follower body to function as a
peculiar sort of rev kit; the spring keeps the valvetrain together if
the engine is revved high enough for valve float.  Pushrods are solid,
with the rockers mounted on and oiled through a shaft.  The valves
used normal-looking split keepers and dual valve springs.

 The water pump, generator, and distributor are gear-driven from the
front of the engine.  The fan belt turns only the fan.  The flange
between the water pump and generator contains an oil drilling to provide
full pressure lubrication to the front generator bearing.  This
arrangement was undoubtedly more reliable than a forest of V-belts,
particularly considering the state of the art for V-belts in the 1930s.

 Connecting rods were very long, with conventional caps and through
bolts.  The piston pins were taper bored at the ends for lightness.
The clutch used dual discs and a coil spring pressure plate. Carburetion
was a two barrel updraft device, nowadays seen only on stationary or
farm engines.  Though thoroughly obsolete by modern standards, the
updraft carburetor ensured only vaporized fuel entered the intake
manifold; any cold droplets would fall back into the carb.  Updraft
carbs were particularly famed for smooth idling and low RPM operation.

=======================================================================
can you help me...help me get out of this place?...slow sedation...
ain't my style, ain't my pace...giving me a number...NINE, SEVEN, EIGHT
(Nazareth)               XJ900 TURBO at 15psi          DoD# 978  KotFAQ
=======================================================================
                                                                   

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Posted by: emory!chaos.lrk.ar.us!dave.williams (Dave Williams)
Newsgroups: alt.hotrod,wiz.hotrod