Model T Engine

Jack Innes

Jack Innes

Well-known member
Here are pictures of an engine that might be of interest. I removed this from dead storage yesterday after about a 40 year period. These were made by the St Laurence Engine Co. in Brockville, Ontario using a T short block. The block says Made In Canada but no Ford name. There is no engine number stamped in the block as well. The brass plate has a St Laurence engine no. (5992). It has a marine cylinder head & manifold, a gear type water pump & an oil pump driven off a cam lobe. The oil pump moves oil from the low point to the now front - flywheel end of a dipper tray arrangement. The round gauge is a flow indicator that would mount on the dash to show that oil was being pumped. Some of these units had a transmission that shared the oil pan/engine frame but this one appears to have had a separate transmission. Oddly it has a generator but no starter. There is not a spur on the crank shaft for a crank either. It may have been started by wrapping a long, flat leather belt around the flywheel & using it like a pull cord from above. Maybe someone can shed more light on that.
 

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Thats a Jim -Dandy marinized motor ya got there Jack... . In marine parlance thats an FF (fly wheel forward) model. The main reason behind that with the shaft driven off the front, the angle of hull penetratation can be kept at a lower angle and less motor, lower and length into the inside of the boat. I cant tell about oiling per se, but that distributor driven pump is a sea water pump, passing raw water throught the block, then the exhaust manifold, and out the back. Theres generally some type of diverter to keep the exhaust water seperated and flowing back towards the transom exhaust fitting to keep the plumbing (usually a hose link) cooled and the main volume in the manifold to keep that cooled.
Going out on a limb, Id guess it had a T twister near the flywheel that after it fired it would merely land in your hand and get stowed. Are those primer cups, compression releases, or maybe even air injection starting fittings in the head? Air injection starting was possible but being timed etc was pretty complicated for a model T engine.
The four block mounts landed on the engine frame stringers built in as part of the frame of the boat. USCG required all up draft carbs to have a drip pan for the gas and a backfire flame arrester for the carb intakes, and are still in effect to this day! ws.
 
Great links Bill.

The fittings on the head are primer cups & can be used for compression release for cold turn over. This would be a fresh water engine & did use raw water for cooling. Usually inboards around here just had the return water fed into a pipe welded at a good angle facing down the exhaust pipe & below the level of the manifold. I have had several occasions where the exhaust became loud so you knew the water pump had quit. The only muffler is the water in the exhaust pipe. They tell me that with careful positioning, proper throttle manipulation & a well worn engine you can thouroughly coat someone who needs it on shore with quite warm, oily, sooty, fuel laden water.

This engine may have had a crank but there is no sign of a spur or drive of any kind on the flywheel. The few I have found pictures of have a ring gear & starter.
 
After doing some research tonight (!) Ive come to find that some were actually belt drive starters. I know as a kid we had a 15 HP wheelhorse tractor with a belt drive generator that would also motor as a starter, but I have my doubts with a 4 banger model T motor.
Id also ask if there were "barring over holes" in the flywheel, but if that ******* fired and didnt throw the bar out it sure could rip a nice slot in the bottom of the boat LOL. Any chance of a 1 cylinder "pony motor" being mounted on the wheel? The generator also looks suspisciously like a starter motor but I doubt the gear reduction (and material strength) would handle the torque.
Back to the boats... my 36 with 454s is RW cooled, with a dedicated circuit for the exhaust manifolds, and a bypass on the T stat to keep the 12 foot long hoses wet. The 65 Hatteras with the 12-71 Detroits is fresh water cooled i.e. heat exchangers with T stats and a dedicated circuit for the pipes. Both these boats now have Jabsco rubber impeller pumps that if run dry for a few seconds burn up which spells trouble! The 36 originally had gear type water pumps on 283s which could run dry but were ALWAYS stuck A$$hole tite in the spring. It wasnt uncommon to burn belts! That T motor of yours looks gear driven so mind the siezed pump! Especially with die cast gears!! ws
 
Getcherself a stack of 280 sandpaper and begin sanding in the fall and by spring youll be ready for paint and varnish... every year! If youre lucky, itll be on a trailer and your barn will be well lit and heated. My boats have to be tarped, and propane heated AND are an hour drive away!!
Dont forget all the woodworking tools and love and devotion PLUS the abilty to make wood stuff that only comes with experience. I got a D in woodshop in high school and ol' Mr. Kral would be amazed at what I taught myself in the last 40+ years! ws
 
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