Need Help - What's This Engine?

[OldNYJim]

Can't quite figure out what this is meant to be...any ideas, guys?

It's from the Lindberg Vintage Dirt Modified kit

I'd quite like to do some wiring on this but it's pretty crudely moulded - any pointers anyone?

 

PS: hope this is in the right place!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Well, it's not a smallblock Chebby. The oil filter and starter locations are reversed. With the distributor in the back and the shape of the oil pan. it looks vaguely GM. The exhaust-port spacing (in the first photo) and oil-filter / starter locations are right for a Pontiac, but the square-cornered valve covers aren't. They look more like Caddy, but the Caddy has the starter on the passenger side, like the Chebby.

I'm going to go with Oldsmobile first-generation OHV V8. Introduced in 1949 and built through '63, it came in 303-324-371-394 cubic inch versions. It was immensely strong and was a favorite of the drag guys before the Hemis took over. The original Stone-Woods-Cook Willys Swindler really put that engine on the map.

   

And though the Olds oil filter typically is mounted differently than your model engine has it, it's entirely possible to use an adapter to change the direction it hangs at. At least it's on the correct side for an Olds.

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Shafter44]

I had the same question last year when I built one of the DTR reissues of that kit. I decided it was the engine that came in the kit and just kinda went with because I personally don't think an accurate representation of anything other than the engine from the Lindberg modified. You can always make up some story about a racer in Somewhere, USA who decided to build his own motor and that's why they kitted that car instead of the thousands of others that existed at the time, makes a better story than the designers were just lazy.

[OldNYJim]

Bill, thank you SO much!  That's a huge help!  Thank you very much!

Shafter, I suspect you could also right, it may not be based on anything in real life - but I needed a little help figuring out where the heck to put the wires on this thing

 

[GMCMAN52]

I thought the it was a Caddy motor, like the ones that Monogram put in their 60's kits

[Ace-Garageguy]

  On 7/16/2016 at 2:36 AM, GMCMAN52 said:

I thought the it was a Caddy motor, like the ones that Monogram put in their 60's kits

Starter's on the wrong side. Read the second post from the top for a full explanation.

You'll find the starter is on the passenger side on the first generation Caddy OHV engines from 1949-1962. Like zo. 

From 1963 on, the distributor was in the front of the engine.

[GMCMAN52]

thanks for the updated info on my caddy post

[my80malibu]

Looks like a Pontiac motor to me

[Ace-Garageguy]

  On 7/17/2016 at 3:59 AM, my80malibu said:

Looks like a Pontiac motor to me

Already touched on that one above. Pontiac valve covers in the series this would represent have rounder corners...

  

However, after seeing a full-on rear shot of the engine in question on the OP's actual build thread, I see it lacks the characteristic block extension of an Olds engine.

The OP engine does have the starter and oil filter configured about right for a Pontiac, and the backside of the block is similar. The shape of the valve covers is wrong, and there's no timing cover or water pump to make a better identification. The mounts bolt to the center of a Pontiac block, while the OP engine shows mounts at the extreme front of the block. The front of a Pontiac oil pan has a completely unique shape, different from any other engine. The front of a Pontiac engine of the right vintage turns down at about a 30 degree angle where it bolts to the timing cover, and this feature is missing from the OP engine. 

 

Conclusion: the OP's engine in question is a generic V8 with similarities to several specific engines, but not a particularly accurate model of ANY of them. 

 

Edited July 17, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Mark]

Lindberg cribbed parts from other manufacturers' kits in those days.  The block looks an awful lot like the Pontiac from a Monogram '34 Ford (or possibly an AMT '36).  They might have copied valve covers from some other kit, just so the engine as a whole wouldn't look like a straight copy of any one kit.

[my80malibu]

  On 7/17/2016 at 4:20 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Already touched on that one above. Pontiac valve covers in the series this would represent have rounder corners...

  

However, after seeing a full-on rear shot of the engine in question on the OP's actual build thread, I see it lacks the characteristic block extension of an Olds engine.

The OP engine does have the starter and oil filter configured about right for a Pontiac, and the backside of the block is similar. The shape of the valve covers is wrong, and there's no timing cover or water pump to make a better identification. The mounts bolt to the center of a Pontiac block, while the OP engine shows mounts at the extreme front of the block. The front of a Pontiac oil pan has a completely unique shape, different from any other engine. The front of a Pontiac engine of the right vintage turns down at about a 30 degree angle where it bolts to the timing cover, and this feature is missing from the OP engine. 

 

Conclusion: the OP's engine in question is a generic V8 with similarities to several specific engines, but not a particularly accurate model of ANY of them. 

 

maybe it has the wrong valve covers

[Reegs]

You guys a putting way too much thought into this. It's a Lindberg V-8. The original kit went for like 99¢ back in the '60s so you shouldn't expect much in the way of scale accuracy. It's a generic V-8.