AMC 209 CI project

[Indyote]

I think the history of stock blocks at IMS, and other events, is interesting. Lots of politics going on in the background, from what I understand. Dan Gurney and his folks seemed to be the real driving force, along with the Buick folks as time went on. The thing about the displacement is interesting because when they make stock blocks legal, they didn't want to make them equal (speaking about N/A engines, but I think it also applies to supercharged engines). 320 cid wasn't quite enough to get the job done, but at the time I guess it was better than nothing. When they raised the limit to 355 cid was when things started happening.

Anyway, from what I've pieced together, that's how it seemed to me. Be interesting to get C/K's spin on it...

A short overview on the history of stock blocks at Indy: http://forix.autosport.com/8w/penske...ockblocks.html
It's part of an introduction on another subject so it leaves room for improvement for someone who is really into this subject.


Indyote

[CamKing]

There was no Chevy V6 car in the race, but Pete Halsmer drove an Arciero-Eagle with turbocharged Chevy V8, a 209 CI.
Camking, could Halsmer's engine be a continuation of the champion funded engine used by Tom Klausler the year before?

Yes, that was my dad's engine in Halsmer's car also.

[Indyote]

Yes, that was my dad's engine in Halsmer's car also.

Thank you Camking. Much appreciated


Indyote

[CamKing]

Thank you Camking. Much appreciated


Indyote

I still don't bring up Pete Halsmer's name infront of my brother.
My dad had worked out a deal for my brother to do his USAC licence test in a Mini-Indy(Super-Vee ?) car. Halsmer was out practicing in the car, and my brother was going to do his test after he was done. Pete crashed the car. This must have spooked my dad, because he never offered to get my brother in another car.

[Indyote]

Well, my dad worked for Champion Spark Plug co, The engine made more HP then any engine it ran against, but was so heavy, it couldn't get thru the corners. .

Camking,

My apologies to bother you again with a comment you make about the AMC.
I wondered: what do you mean with that statement above? Is it that the engine was so heavy that the car was tail happy because of a bad weight distribution? Or being more heavy then other cars in general and because of that understeering with a tendency to go to the wal because of higher centrifugal forces?
I can think about some interpretations of your statement but what is actually the best one?

Again, sorry for bothering you another time but I hope it also shows the interest for the topic as well as the matters that are related with it. Thanks.

Greetings,

Indyote

[CamKing]

I believe it was tail heavy.
The chassis were designed around the much lighter Cosworth engine. The increased engine weight and length threw the balance way off.
The buick V6's had the same problem.

[Indyote]

I believe it was tail heavy.
The chassis were designed around the much lighter Cosworth engine. The increased engine weight and length threw the balance way off.
The buick V6's had the same problem.

So that was the reason why King Motorsports and Menard ordered those bespoke Lola's for the Buick engines in 1992? An Menard again in 1993 and in 1995.
And why those cars did so much better then the elder cars converted to Buick power? Those 1992 cars of King were dynamite that year.

Indyote

[CamKing]

So that was the reason why King Motorsports and Menard ordered those bespoke Lola's for the Buick engines in 1992? An Menard again in 1993 and in 1995.
And why those cars did so much better then the elder cars converted to Buick power? Those 1992 cars of King were dynamite that year.

Indyote

Yep. If you go back and look at the corner speeds, the difference was night and day.

[javelin_gt]

This is my first post on this board but know a little something about AMC's effort. First off the F5000 had a different engine. Basically it was a T/A 305 which was produced from de-stroking a 360. The Indy engine was a special 304 block that was stroked down to 209ci.

I actually own an AMC Indy block, aluminum heads, and valve covers.
You can see pictures here.....

http://s180.beta.photobucket.com/use...63737550721329

From May 76 Hot Rod Magazine

Quoting the article: "As for the heads, they're about as trick as Achie's 'turlet'. And only an o-ringing and rudimentary porting and a minimal amount of surfacing and milling would separate them from their box-stock brothers."

Roller lifters, rockers, pushrods, guide bars, cam and rocker stud girdle were all fabricated at the shop. The crank was turned from billet 4340 steel. It was a "flat" 180 degree crank. That made the engine run as if it were two four cylinder engines on a common crank. It was a shaker, but the benefits were that the design eliminated exhaust contamination and reduced fuel delivery problems. The article actually says "carburetion problems", but goes on to say there was a custom made fuel injection system based on Enderle injectors. A pair of AiResearch TO4 turbos were used, static compression was 7.8:1.

[rrrr]

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for adding to the thread.

[dcpduke]

I don't know if this is true or not I met an X Gurney team member in 87 who prepared engines for Mike Mosley in 81. He said for some reason I don't remember why, they just throw a basturd motor in the car for the race because they were still working on a new race motor. He said the race motor they wanted to use for the 500 was used for the Milwaukee race in which Mosley won.