. Can anyone identify this Chevy? (first photo) Most striking is the grille that appears to be an early copper cooled. (Second photo) I don't see any cooling fins under to hood so I guess it's water cooled. I don't see any vacuum tank yet the carburetor is too high for gravity feed from an under seat tank. The cam appears to be on the left side where as the water cooled, Copper Cooled, FA, Buick, Nash, Olds and Delco 4 cylinder engines of that period had the cam on the right. Since the license plate says 1919, I assume the body is 1919 Chevy 490. The front springs are quarter elliptic like the 490 and not the FA. The third photo is a copper cooled prototype with ignition distributor and generator gear driven on the Left. It has a hand E-brake making it newer than 1922. The frame has tubular cross members rather than channel. 4th photo is a Delco lighting unit. . I am guessing it's a GM prototype. What's your guess? Lou . . .
Straight front fenders down to the running boards, and head light bar between the head lights last appeared on the 1919 model. The radiator is fitted with a winter screen to assist in cold weather running, to get the engine up to temperature quicker. I haven’t seen a 490 one before.The enging is conventual overhead valve engine.
The head engineer at Chevy designed a copper air cooled engine. It is produced in 1923. It failed miserably and cost him his job and devastated his career! The His name was Charles Kettering. In fact I believe GM had to buy back the cars from the dealers, very few were sold.
As I recall, there are only 2 that exist. One is in a private collection and the other was owned by Henery Ford who refused to turn it in for a new car.
Steve '25 Superior "K", '79 Corvette , '72 Corvette LT-1 & 1965 Corvette Coupe
It's interesting that they had the centrifugal fan concept back then. I suppose the airplane was on the rise so the airfoil concept would have been thought up. I wonder what the plan was for all the air that the blade was going to throw off, and where the intake air was to come in on the block?
Charles Kettering was an engineering genius, and under his guidance at what became DELCO, he pioneered the first electric starter. Among many achievements and recognitions, he has a University named after him. I'm sure most members would be aware of that. ..........Joe........
. Hi Jack, Thanks for enlightenment on straight verses "S" curve front fenders. The "winter screen" (AKA: radiator cover) is a fabric to reduce the cooling air at low temperatures. Picture of 1937 that attaches to grille and 1939 accessory book ad. The louvers in the photo appear to be stamped in the metal radiator shell. Maybe to keep the larger stones out of the radiator. . . Hi Mike, Thanks for pointing out the vacuum tank location. I was looking for it on the firewall. . Hi andsome07, I noticed the push rods and cam location on the left instead of right. . . Hi Chevgoat, I don't notice any cooling fins or shroud that would indicate an air cooled engine. . Hi SSG26K, The 2 existing Copper Cooled (CC) coupes are at the Dearborn and Harrah's (Reno) museums. I hope to write an article about the CC and asked both places for information about their cars. Harrah's was gracious enough to allow me to crawl under and around their car provided I didn't touch. They even showed me their literature on file. Dearborn hasn't responded to any requests. Harrah's has a Franklin for comparison. Everything on the CC chassis is different from the water cooled except the 103" WB bodies. It's not an engine swap. Picture of CC left side of engine would not allow for water cooled chassis. . . Thank you all for your input. . Lou . .
Although that engine failed in the cars; it was successful as a stationary power unit. I guess the vibration of the car bouncing around on rough unpaved roads caused the copper fins to separate from the cylinder jackets. An old friend of mine told me he had a copper cooled engine at one time that he sold for $200 about 15 years ago. He was into collecting antique farm equipment and things of that nature. If I only knew.....
Steve '25 Superior "K", '79 Corvette , '72 Corvette LT-1 & 1965 Corvette Coupe
When you say: "Although that engine failed in the cars; it was successful as a stationary power unit", are you referring to the 4 cylinder Delco light plant? If so, although they had air cooling in common, they were NOT the same engine.
Dad's family had one of those Delco plants in the basement of the house we live in on the farm. It was installed when they built the house in 1927, and wasn't remove until the power line came through in 1951. It was however supplemented with a WinCharger during the 1940's. According to Dad, even that Delco was a little finicky.
Just wondered, as Kettering was involved in both the design of the Copper Cooled Chev and with Delco, which apparently was bought by GM in 1918 and was the foundation of the GM Research Department, which Kettering would have likely been with when he designed the Copper Cooled. 🙂
