Just A Car Guy: offenhauser

Showing posts with label offenhauser. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

There are Street Rods and there are Hot Rods,

“Street Rods have a Chevy up front and a can of wax in the back. Hot Rods have a Flathead up front and tools in the back.”

Fred Offenhauser

https://www.geekbobber.com/2017/10/offenhauser.html

Monday, April 29, 2019

It's got an Offy, and 3 straight wins at Pikes Peak, and is coming to auction, the 1952 Kurtis Kraft 4000 that Bobby Unser himself won in could be yours on May 18th

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/04/25/bobby-unsers-1952-kurtis-kraft-uphill-battle

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Someone seriously loves the old stuff, the trailer is an Airfloat, and the track racer is Offy powered

https://www.facebook.com/vintagecampertrailers/photos/a.180438708664406.34656.128986567142954/1527280187313578/

Sunday, February 12, 2017

an exact replica of the 1959 Indy 500–winning AJ Watson Indy roadster built to race at Bonneville.

Wendt wanted something different for Bonneville and got geeked about the Indy class. The record is 176 mph, but Wendt wanted to get into the 200 MPH Club. The rules say you must start with a race car configured from the era it represents, so no later engines or swoopy bodywork are allowed. In fact, anything out of the norm must be proved to the SCTA rules committee to have existed back in the day.

The hurdle for Wendt at every turn (no pun intended) was to find examples Watson built with wind-cheating features, then present photographic proof to the rules committee. What better way to sift through the 10 or so years of Indy roadsters and Champ cars than to enlist the maestro; Watson himself was still residing in Indianapolis and, once approached, became an enthusiastic participant.

Per the rules, the engine must be from the era, so it was Wendt’s job to find the largest Indy engine he could find, which was a 270ci Offenhauser. These four-cylinder, racing-only beasts were the de facto choice for all Indy cars throughout most of the 1950s and into the 1970s, and were available as both a 255ci and taller-deck 270ci versions. The cast-iron block integrated the head like a Harley engine. Today, finding a complete engine not already in a museum piece is rare, and even individual parts are impossible to find; when found, they are usually damaged take-outs from back in the day. Wendt was fortunate to piece together a complete engine through Offy expert Jim Himmelsbach in Cincinnati. Other than the pistons and rings, every engine component needed massaging or a rebuild to be serviceable in Wendt’s roadster. Don Enriquez rebuilt the mechanical Hilborn fuel injection, while Himmelsbach handled the rest of the build.

The gauge panel, instruments, steering wheel, seat, and interior are all correct to 1959. The exhaust is actually off of a vintage Indy roadster, so authenticity is assured. The paint scheme and every decal is correct and in its proper location to the winning car.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/bill-wendts-replication-1959-indy-500-winner-meant-bonneville/

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Tony sells some cool vintage racing stickers on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/sch/tchop77/m.html?item=381460801911&ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Lewis and Martin helping with an Offy

Found on https://www.facebook.com/indianaracingmemorialassociation?fref=nf

Monday, August 31, 2015

the Offy is a rip off of a Puegot? Say it ain't so!

A historically significant early racing star, Bob Burman, poses in his Peugeot in Oklahoma City, in 1915. (he won)

Bob had just received the car back from Harry Miller, who had rebuilt it's blown engine.

Miller copied the Puegot for his own very successful engines, which in turn, became the famous Offy engine that dominated American open wheel racing for decades.

Found on https://www.facebook.com/indianaracingmemorialassociation?fref=nf

Thursday, April 16, 2015

master machinist Ron Bement's 1/3rd scale Offy, Ardun head, and flathead engines

All of his engines are machined on a Bridgeport, a state-of-the-art Fadal CNC machine, a CNC lathe, and an EDM (electrical discharge machine). Before he got interested in mini engines, he ran his own company; RB Enterprises, started in 1965.

I remembered those Offenhauser engines in midget race cars that ran at Lakeside Speedway during the 1950’s. I loved the sound of them and decided an Offenhauser might be a fun build.

As a machinist, he made parts for world famous Jolly Rancher Candies in Denver, Colorado as well as many other small projects. During those early years of his business, Ron got interested in golf and developed a set of investment cast golf (stainless steel) clubs for a former Nugget basketball player and a set for the CEO of Squirt Bottling Company. Two hundred sets were built and sold.

After the Offy, Ron decided he wanted to build the remarkable Ardun engine. He talked a friend out of his genuine 59AB Ford bare-block. It took 4 months to measure the block and enter that information into the computer program. Same with very special valve covers – once entered into the computer, the CNC turned out one Ardun valve cover in sixty-five hours.

http://www.enginelabs.com/engine-tech/engine/master-machinist-ron-bements-13-scale-offy-flathead-and-ardun/