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The Official Eleanor Roosevelt (And Anything Else Non-Topical) Thread

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Posted by Modelcar on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 6:01 PM

....Sorry, I overlooked the brand "Colt" in your original post on subject....and of course my S&W would not qualify.

But....Dick Tracy...I certainly remember him.  2-way wrist watch, radio and all....But I don't happen to have a great interest in guns, and evidently didn't put that image to memory....

Wouldn't it be fun to see a couple of the old comics back, at least for a short run....Might include Smilin Jack....too...Was it Joy he looked for, for the longest time.......

Trivia:  Another one {originator}, that can get the details right is in the Crankshaft comic.  Some time ago someone was in the "Late Great Pennsylvania Station", in NYC with it's details in the background.

That really caught my eye....I experienced a trip in and out of that great facility decades ago......

Quentin

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Posted by Firelock76 on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 5:34 PM

Modelcar

.....Interesting....I wonder if mine might be anyway close to the model she had...S&W Pearl handle and chrome.  6- shot....38 special.  With leather holster.  On the other hand....I believe this model would have been too big for her to carry.

Handed down in the family...Understand originally from the Spanish / American War...s/n 233886...

Remember the classic snub-nose that Dick Tracy carried in the old days?  That's the one, the original Colt Detective Special.   Dick Tracy's originator Chester Gould was pretty good at getting the details right.

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Posted by Firelock76 on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 5:30 PM

I've never really cared for pump-action or semi-auto shotguns.  I always preferred a classic side-by-side.  Hey, if it's good enough for Elmer Fudd it's good enough for me!

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Posted by Victrola1 on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 7:46 AM

Nothing beats a 12 gauge, pump action shotgun its magazine brimming with 00 buck. The problem is, a Model 12 or 97  Winchester does not fit on your belt.

 

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 9:48 PM

.....Interesting....I wonder if mine might be anyway close to the model she had...S&W Pearl handle and chrome.  6- shot....38 special.  With leather holster.  On the other hand....I believe this model would have been too big for her to carry.

Handed down in the family...Understand originally from the Spanish / American War...s/n 233886...

Quentin

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Posted by Firelock76 on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 7:24 PM

Juniatha

>>

Eleanor's quote of the day:

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."

Eleanor Roosevelt <<

At the risk of sounding snobby :  I sign that any time !

= J =

Ah yes, a grand lady was Eleanor Roosevelt.  She had to be, she had a New York State concealed carry permit,and the nicest looking Colt "Detective Special"  .38  you've ever seen.  I know, I saw both at  the Hyde Park museum in 1986!   Great taste in firearms! 

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Posted by Juniatha on Monday, April 2, 2012 3:43 PM

>>

Eleanor's quote of the day:

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."

Eleanor Roosevelt <<

At the risk of sounding snobby :  I sign that any time !

= J =

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Sunday, April 1, 2012 9:02 PM

erikem
[snipped - PDN] Packard also referred to their V-12 as a Twin Six, . . .

  My father's neighbor had a Packard with a V-12, and let my Dad drive it to the high school prom and similar events.  He said it was very smooth running - almost no vibration at all, even under power. 

Which may be one reason why in 1969 he bought a then-almost-unknown car here in the US - a new BMW 2500 with a 4-speed.  It's 6-cyl. engine produced 168 HP gross out of 153 Cu. In. - yes, that's right, better than 1 HP / Cu. In., actually about 1.1 HP/ Cu. In. - see:  http://www.automobile-catalog.com/car/1969/132035/bmw_2500.html   

- Paul North. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, March 31, 2012 9:38 PM

Murray

Here is some pretty fancy truck shifting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-aDqAWkZHQ

 

 

Too fancy for me; I much prefer a three-speed. I did , on one occasion, drive a truck with a double-low (known as "grandma" by my high school friends) gear. I do not recall just what gearing a large truck that my company rented for a time (and I had to drive it around the Salt Lake Valley) had. It certainly was not as fancy as the one in the video; I survived in one piece for me and one piece for the truck despite limited vision to the rear.

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 31, 2012 7:37 PM

Here is some pretty fancy truck shifting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-aDqAWkZHQ

 

 

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, March 31, 2012 5:20 PM

Both American LaFrance and Seagrave (of fire engine fame) built their own V-12s.  Seagrave's may have ranged from around 560cid to upwards of 900cid.

Some sources say Seagrave's may have been based on a Continental or Pierce model, but that's an issue for another day.

The big engines were superceded by the beginning of common use of Diesels in fire trucks.

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, March 31, 2012 1:40 PM

Eleanor's quote of the day:

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."

Eleanor Roosevelt

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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 10:00 PM

.....Every time I see a photo of a '57 like this one you showed, Murray...I wonder if it possibly might be the one I had, and restored currently....??  There were not too many produced in '57...believe something like 4,000 plus units.

Makes one wonder.  This is a very nice restoration from what I can see in the photos.  It is identical to the one I had, but it appears it might of had just the one top.  I had both tops.  The removable hard top  was great for Winter.  It seemed like a different car with the hardtop  in place....Reduced the dash shake to almost nothing.  It really wasn't bad with just the convertible top in place though....

Very nice.

Quentin

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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 8:38 PM
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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, March 19, 2012 12:17 PM

....Noting "Hemi" engines in our conversations here....And when we do, we're referring to Chrysler Corp.  Pushrod...2 overhead valves / cyl.  Always meaning from Chrysler.

I wonder why the 4.2L straight 6 cyl. of GM's used in the Trailblazer....can't, didn't, carry some reference to performance I D via "Hemispherical head design". 

I believe If one takes a look at that engine's combustion chamber we find the angled valves, and "Hemi" shaped combustion chamber.  I've never heard that term associated with that engine.  It did produce a good HP and torque rating for it's size.

Some where in the area of 3L  {V-6}, in my opinion, is a pretty good "fit" for an automobile power plant now with the size of many vehicles and the modern engines being effecient and producing good power.

Further back when our cars where much more heavier...My choice then, {liking GM stuff}, was the "Rat" motor series.  Lots of torque available to move a heavy car off dead center.....Just a  My 2 Cents thought.

Quentin

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Posted by WSOR 3801 on Monday, March 19, 2012 12:26 AM

Ford recently made some V12s off the modular engine platform,  One a 90 degree V, in the GT90, and a 60 degree V, for Aston Martin.  Ford had the 90 Degree V8 for a while,and added some cylinders.  The 60 degree V was pretty much 2 V6s stuck together. 

For automobile engines, if the power output is the same between V8 and V12, the fewer moving parts of the V8 would probably win out in the long haul.  Easier to maintain, 4 fewer spark plugs, plug wires, etc.  Keeping the longer engine in the proper temperature range would be more of an issue as well, might be hot in the front, but colder in the back, with expansion-contraction difficulties, gasket sealing issues, etc.  Usually I feel simpler is better, less to break, and sometimes easier to fix.

As for EMD locomotive engines, V12 and V16 have the same angle.  The V12s seem to vibrate more, especially at idle.  EMD uses a fabricated crankcase, and similar manifolding and such in the engine family.

Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com

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Posted by erikem on Monday, March 19, 2012 12:08 AM

"Hemi" is short for hemi-spherical (half spherical) head. This was thought to give better combustion than a flat type head and the angled valves arguably gave better breathing - less restriction for the intake of fuel-mixture and less restriction to let the exhaust gases out. One more or less undisputed advantage was that the sparkplug was in the center of the head, thus shortening the path for the flame front after ignition.

Chrysler made hemi V-8's from the early 1950's to 1970, with the last engines being the dual quad 426 CID street hemi's (1966 - 1970). This engine was credited with ~430 HP, though actual power output was higher.  There has been some discussion that the wedge head used on the high output 440's was more effective, primarily because the squish area created more turbulence in the combustion chamber, which increased flame speed and a bit more power.

A similar effect goes on in diesel engines where the top of the piston is shaped to promote turbulence right before injection, which improves mixing of the fuel spray with the air in the cylinder. Poor mixing leads to incomplete combustion and smoke.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:30 PM

     Since this thread gets to be off-topic, and it's populated by automotive / engineering types,  I have an off-topic, automotive / engineering question.  Can someone explain just what it means, when they say that Chryslers have "hemi" engines?

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by erikem on Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:28 PM

Quentin,

I checked the PopSci collection on Google, the article was in the September 1959 issue, starting on page 94.  The "twin -six" was credited with a 702 CID, being two 351 CID blocks put together. Quoted power was 275HP at 2400 RPM. The other displacements for the V-6 were 305 cu in (got that one right) and 401 cu in. Getting back to the V-12, it also used two intake manifolds, 4 exhaust manifolds and the throttles on the two carburetors were synchronized.

The first I heard (well read) about the GMC V-6 was in an early 60's auto shop textbook that was surplussed by my high school in the '71 or '72 time frame. The book did say that the engine was designed to be made into a V-12. Next reference that caught my eye was a 20 years ago piece in Four Wheeler magazine, mentioning test driving a V-6 powered Suburban. I did see a couple of GMC V-6 engines in the OERM boneyard maybe 16 - 18 years ago. By the time I got my license in 1970, the GMC V-6's were history (along with the Corvair's, Pontiac SOHC in-line 6, etc.).

Packard also referred to their V-12 as a Twin Six, but the GMC really was twin sixes, albeit V-6's instead of inline sixes. Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, the only inline six sold by the Big 3 is the Cummins engine in the Dodge trucks.

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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, March 18, 2012 8:42 PM

.....Murray, enjoyed the Nash info....

Trivia:  Believe Nash was the first US mass produced automobile, of "unit construction"....Not a separate frame / body.  Believe around 1939.

By the way....their "weather-eye" was an early improvement on auto heaters for inside comfort.

Quentin

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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, March 18, 2012 8:06 PM

Erik:

Interesting subject.  Just went thru a long, long list of GM {and some others; used}, engines. 

I actually did find a V-12 called "twin six"....and used in some trucks in the early 60's.  It listed it as 10.4L...Boy...?????  It was kind of murky from which V-6 it originated...but it was listed.  Not much info about it.

I know GM has experimented with various V-12 designs....and I mean since back in the 30s, etc.....

And there is some in design, proto form running now from what I can learn.  Interesting.

Anyway, Erik...thanks for the response.

Edit:  just found a figure of 637 cid for it.  Guess that's: {2} roughly 318 cid units married together.

Quentin

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Posted by erikem on Sunday, March 18, 2012 4:24 PM

Quentin,

GMC made a 60 degree V-6 from 1959 to somewhere in the mid-1960's. The V-6's were available in either 305 or 350 CID (may be worng on the second figure) with vague recollection of a third size. The V-12, IIRC, was somewhere around 700 CID. There was an article on the engine series in a 1959 issue of Popular Science - which is available on Google Books.

The 305 CID V-6 was an option for the GMC pickups and Suburban - remember this was back in the days that the various divisions had their own engines.

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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, March 18, 2012 1:56 PM

A V-12 GMC truck engine {gas}, must have been a rare bird...I have never seen one.

Which GM V-6 was used to do that.....?  Don't remember a 60 degree V-6 back then....

Quentin

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Posted by erikem on Sunday, March 18, 2012 1:32 PM

Hi Juniatha,

The GMC division of GM made a V-12 truck engine at the end of the 1950's and early 1960's. It was the equivalent of two of their V-6 blocks cast as one, and used two pairs of the V-6 cylinder heads. I'm not sure how many trucks actually used the V-12, however the trucks made to haul the Minutemen missiles to the silos were powered by the GMC V-12's.

The V-6's were 60 degree engines, so naturally the V12's were also 60 degree engines.

- Erik

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Posted by Firelock76 on Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:03 AM

Murray, thanks for posting the link to the Nash automobile.  I got a kick out of the reference to the old "Superman" TV show.  When I was in high school circa 1971 all the kids called the big, blocky cars from the early 50's "Superman Cars"  as we all grew up watching the show in re-runs.  Some of us (not me, though) drove "Superman Cars", although it goes without saying they were just "bombs" at the time and not the classics they were going to be.  No doubt a lot of the kids of the time wish they still had those cars now!

As a corollary, the girls used to call womens fashions of the early 50's "Lois Lane Outfits".  AND remembering the "more powerful than a locomotive" voice-over during the show's opening, some of us called the old cab units "Superman Diesels". 

I'll tell you, that show really captured the imaginations of a lot of us, maybe more than we realized.  And  God bless George Reeves, the perfect Superman!

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Posted by Modelcar on Sunday, March 18, 2012 9:03 AM

With the mentioning of the GM "rat" motor, 8.2L engine going out of production recently, is kind of sad.  Very much liked that series of engines.

Perhaps they really got started with the "W" series engines when they needed a larger and heavier torque engine for truck use.  I speak of the 348 cid engine which advanced to the 409, etc....

Z-11 {performance verison},  of series too...Then we get into the "Rat" motor semi-hemi series of valve arrangements.

I liked the performance of these engines.  Brutal torque ability allowed them to move out a rather heavy automobile....

Had two versions of it:  A 402 and a 427 cid.  

I too thought the Rat motor has gone out of production, but I'm not sure it might be still available as a "crate" engine....?? 

Quentin

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Posted by Juniatha on Sunday, March 18, 2012 7:25 AM

Hi Firelock

Ok , sure the V12 wasn't exactly an unknown engine - yet it remained tolerably rare in the late 1930s when it appeared as a 'non-plus-ultra' in top-class models .   All auto makers dropped it though and by coming of the 1950s the concept of a V8 with one centrally positioned camshaft actuating valves via push rods had become universally accepted for powerful car engines in American car production with a slant six as an economy engine alterrnative in most cases and a 'four banger' for compact cars , too .   Just becasue of experiences with the early V12 - which were not too bright it would seem - in fact the industry was unanimous in rejecting another V12 venture .

Exactly that is my idea :  If in this situation you succeed in building an engine all others shrink of risking again you are singular , you have placed your company above the others .   As long as there was no V12 V8 were top . As soon as there would have been a well designed large V12 all V8 would have been secondary to it .  

Building a good V12 wasn't trivial - mind Jaguar ventured to double number of cylinders from their usual slant six to a V12 top engine in the early 80s and what a variety of trouble they experienced !   Fuel consumption was forbiddingly high , oil consumption was at least remarkable and electronic ignition didn't always play it 100 % straight plus some odd mechanical trouble , too .

 

Erik

V12 at 60° and at 120° are equally good concerning eveness of spreading ignition over crank turns , you need to adapt setting of crank throws however .   While in a diesel loco frame and body space is high in relation to width so a big engine will rather have the narrow angle , in a full size US sedan front bay space is lower than wide - for that and in view of keeping centre of mass lower above ground ( for better handling ) and for better arrangement of intake and exhaus mamifolds I would prefer a 120° setting , the engine itself also builds significantly lower than the 'standing' 60° type . If you are prepared to accept a little compromize in overall smoothness of engine running you might as well use a 90° setting since banks at right angle are optimum for balancing of the two conrods per single crank and six cylinders in line on each bank are self-euilibrating with the proper crank setting down the crankshaft .

45° in a V12 , let alone V8 don't make sense to me , small wonder they had trouble with proper frequency vibration , probably having caused fatique cracks .   Someone possibly wanted to standardize bank angle for making a family of engines with various number of cylinders of standard d x s dimensions which might have made sense with large engines having a built up motor block that you could simply adapt to having various numbers mof cylinders .   Yet , as my saying goes :

Nothing gained for free

in engineered technology !

 

Murray

oops !   interesting link - I guess that was a try to hovercraft-style a car's gown , was it ?

 

Regards

= J =

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, March 18, 2012 2:00 AM
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Posted by erikem on Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:57 PM

Juniatha

To go V12 *would* have been what I *would* have suggested to Chrysler when they decided to stop making their 392 Hemi on account of extra production costs .  

"and what about extra costs for a V12 engine ?" you might ask .

Sure - yet instead of hemisperical heads you would have had that exclusive number of cylinders which has a technical 'raison d'être' since it combines full self-equilibration of a six-in-line with easing of the reciprocating / rotating mass balancing problem ( calibrating balancing in counterweights on crank shaft ) in a V-type block .   Hence twelve cylinders in 60 or - preferably - 120° V are about perfect - a V16 can't do better , V10 isn't good enough although providing an interesting sound , somewhat in between - small wonder at first glance yet somewhat surprising on second thought  - a V8 and a V12 .   I just like the idea had Chrysler offered a V12 - concept providing both performance and smoothness - they would have placed their cars above those of the other companies .   A top class model had an image promoting effect on more decent models , too , this is well established sales policy today .  

Chrysler's hemi engines were inspired by their making radial air cooled aircraft engines, where cooling requirements dictated that the exhaust valves be angled out, with the intake valves angled out for symmetry. There was some advantage to the cross-flow arrangement of the valves, but the hemi head apparently had little advantage over the wedge head with the squish zones (for inducing turbulence in the fuel air mixture). Doing the angled valves with pushrods was complicated, but still simpler than the pushrod actuated 4 valves per cylinder design on the Duramax engine in my truck.

I would think that a 60 degree V-12 would be preferable to a 120, since the power impulses come naturally at 60 degree intervals. IIRC, American locomotive V-12's are usually 45 degree bank angles to make the engine narrow enough to fit in a carbody and leave walking space on each side. Presumably the crankshafts are relatively beefier than on the 45 degree Liberty V-12, which was notorious for torsional vibration problems.

A 45 degree 4 cycle V-6 or V-8 is out of the question, hence Caterpillar and GE using the in-line configuration for their 6 and 8 cylinder engines. The downside of the in-line configuration is that the weight isn't much less than a Vee with double the number of cylinders. In-line 8's were pretty common in American automotive practice up to the early 1950's - a better fit to the long, narrow hoods that were common in that era. Packard was probably the last holdout, going to a V-8 in either '54 or '55.

As for V-10's, I recall that Ford also had a V-10 for truck use in the mid-1990's to compete with Chrysler's detuned V-10, where GM simply came out with an 8.2 liter V-8 (which went out of production a few months ago).

- Erik

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Posted by Modelcar on Saturday, March 17, 2012 9:52 PM

.....The owner of the Drug Store in the very small home town of mine back in Pennsylvania, had a maroon Lincoln Zephyr...Believe it was a 1937 model....and it was a classy appearing vehicle....Extremely clean lines.

And along comes the Continental right before the War....with it's V-12 engine.  Reading the history of that engine....and in several years it varied in C I size....it had more than it's share of problems.

It certainly was smooth, but believe it was one Ford Motor Co. might have been glad to get rid of....believe about 1948.

Quentin

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