Why would someone do this?

[SofaKing]

I drove out to Bonneville yesterday and among the many curiosities was this one. Any idea what's going on with the cylinder heads and intake? It's half a flathead, sort of.

[bgarrett]

those people will try anything

[Andy]

Trying to make a class. 4 cyl streamliner? Saw a rig once with a spark plug mounted on the firewall. Disconnected one cylinger to fit in a class.

[scooder]

Yup,
Four cylinder record. If you look, the intake only goes to the hemi head, the "flathead" side is just a blanking plate. The plugs are installed in this dead side to "waste" the spark. Just pulling plug leads would have sparks doing al sorts of trouble in the ignition.
Interesting setup.
What speed it run?
Martin.

[Tim Ayers]

Dang, I don't know all the reasons, but hats off for some outside of the box thinking. What class did that car run in and any idea on it's speed/time?

[39topless]

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I wonder if this would have run better had they set it up to run two cylinders from each side rather than four from one side. Then, the question of which two from each side. Seems like you would have a smooth running V4 rather than an in-line four with gaps.

[jack orchard]

You are correct. This is SofaKing weird.

[Jason in TX]

Probably no rods or pistons on the blank side.... Very interesting.

We've all seen the video of a flathead running with one head off. Kind of the same idea here.

[moefuzz]

Jason/TX, Wouldn't eliminating a complete side bank of pistons and rods cause balancing nightmares?
I suppose anything can be fixed with enough bob weights and/or holes/relieving.
But I still have to imagine there would be major hurdles to overcome in balancing only one bank of an engine..

[Jason in TX]

I would think keeping 8 pistons and 8 rods and having 8 working spark plugs would classify you as an 8 cylinder.

If the spark plugs were not firing, I would think you would be fighting the compression of 4 dead cylinders.

The crank may have been reworked to have a similar balance as a Model A/B 4 cylinder.... with the other 4 holes just handing out there. I'm not sure though as I'm just looking at this photo with no other info.

Originally Posted by moefuzz

Jason/TX, Wouldn't eliminating a complete side bank of pistons and rods cause balancing nightmares?
I suppose anything can be fixed with enough bob weights and/or holes/relieving.
But I still have to imagine there would be major hurdles to overcome in balancing only one bank of an engine..

[Ross F-1]

I wouldn't assume it's a flathead block. Very likely has a custom crank.

[scooder]

Don't look like a Flathead block, it's all different. Ignition placement, shape of the back of the block, head bolt pattern, all different.

The sparking plugs in the blank side I'd think do spark, but nothing in there to burn. No rods or pistons in that side. Just some plugs firing into a blind hole in the plate, thats how I think I'd do it.
If it has a flat crank (180 degree) it'll run like a four cylinder inline, with both heads on and a full set of pistons and rods, it'll run like two four cylinder inline engines.
If it has a 90 degree crank, it won't be a smooth engine no doubt, but it's the level of trying for two completely different class records with one car and one engine.
Martin.

[Jason in TX]

Originally Posted by scooder

Don't look like a Flathead block, it's all different. Ignition placement, shape of the back of the block, head bolt pattern, all different.

Ah. Good call. I'm thinking Hemi

[mercman from oz]

Very unusual. Doesn't look very balanced?

[Ross F-1]

Originally Posted by scooder

Don't look like a Flathead block, it's all different. Ignition placement, shape of the back of the block, head bolt pattern, all different.

The sparking plugs in the blank side I'd think do spark, but nothing in there to burn. No rods or pistons in that side. Just some plugs firing into a blind hole in the plate, thats how I think I'd do it.....
Martin.

Could it be a 337 flatty?

I wouldn't think it is a good idea to spark into an open cylinder, what with crankcase fumes being potentially explosive, especially if they are running on "fuel"!

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by Ross F-1

Could it be a 337 flatty?

What makes you think it is a flathead of any type, looks like a hemi to me.

[Barlea]

196 IH four cyl was one bank of the 392 V8. Didn't run any rougher than any big four. 4 cyl Pontiac was also one side of the 389.

[VeryTangled]

Why would someone do this?

So he could brag about it to some other fella?

[JSeery]

To meet class requirements and still be able to use available high performance equipment. A local guy cuts Chevy V8s in half (ends up a v4) to use in midgets and you can bolt on all the Chevy HP stuff.

[Capt Kirk]

I'm with JSeary...it's not a flathead. Although the head on the right is pretty flat Magnito in the back of the block and obviously 4 exhaust pipes coming out of the left head.