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Post by stuboyle on Sept 1, 2009 11:52:29 GMT -5
I have recently obtained a 400mb AVI from an old ABC Wide World of Sports telecast of the 1967 USAC race from Riverside. All I can say is WOW! I just watched the first few minutes of the race but it was great. All the greats were in it, Gurney, Gordo, AJ and couple other guys by the name of Clark and Surtees! The broadcast references this as one of the first races they ever held on a road course. I seem to think that Gurney was running his F1 car. I know it definitely was Weslake engine he was running. The broadcast commented how some of the cars had asymetric suspension for ovals which was a disadvantage to a road cource which had primarily right hand corners! Also, it is showed AJ trying to wedge himself into a car that was made for someone much slimmer than he was.
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Post by stuboyle on Sept 1, 2009 15:07:59 GMT -5
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Post by clm1545 on Sept 1, 2009 19:51:41 GMT -5
That was not a F1 Eagle, Gurney quit F1 with the Eagle at the end of the 67 season. What you saw was a stock block ford with Gurney Westlake heads. Back then you could buy those heads from a Mercury dealer.
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Post by stuboyle on Sept 2, 2009 22:23:41 GMT -5
That was not a F1 Eagle, Gurney quit F1 with the Eagle at the end of the 67 season. What you saw was a stock block ford with Gurney Westlake heads. Back then you could buy those heads from a Mercury dealer. Its "Weslake", not "Westlake"  Roger Ward and Chris Economacie were the announcers. Near the beginning of the telecast, Roger Ward refers to the car as an "Eagle Weslake Ford". Later in the broadcast Economacie refers to the car as an Eagle Weslake. Then later in the broadcast they interviewed Gurney about the engine who said: "It's a single cam pushrod engine just like an ordinary street engine. We do have fuel injection, we are using the same sort of bottom end as the the Vorcam Indy Ford engine. A lot of the parts are interchangable with a standard 302 engine you might find in a Fairlane, Mustang, Cougar and so forth." I think the F1 Weslake motor was a V12, while this was a V8 motor. Though maybe Weslake made some custom heads for Gurney to sit on this motor. If so, then a Weslake-Ford might be a relatively accurate description of the motor. |
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Post by Calvin on Sept 3, 2009 1:00:58 GMT -5
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Post by clm1545 on Sept 4, 2009 19:21:03 GMT -5
You are correct Stu, it is Weslake, I need to proof read my posts before I send them.
Weslake was a small engine designer and builder in England. Gurney hired him to build the Eagle V12 F1 engine. He and Dan also came up with the idea to build a 3 valve head for the small block Ford V8. Jochen Rindt ran one in the 67 500, and Dan used that engine in the 68 and 69 500's. He finished second both times. At different times the valve covers said "Gurney Weslake" Eagle Weslake" and Gurney Eagle". Dan dropped the program for several reasons ( another story ) and switched to the Turbo Offy in 1970.
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Post by stuboyle on Sept 4, 2009 20:37:32 GMT -5
You are correct Stu, it is Weslake, I need to proof read my posts before I send them. Weslake was a small engine designer and builder in England. Gurney hired him to build the Eagle V12 F1 engine. He and Dan also came up with the idea to build a 3 valve head for the small block Ford V8. Jochen Rindt ran one in the 67 500, and Dan used that engine in the 68 and 69 500's. He finished second both times. At different times the valve covers said "Gurney Weslake" Eagle Weslake" and Gurney Eagle". Dan dropped the program for several reasons ( another story ) and switched to the Turbo Offy in 1970. Interesting. Was Denny Hulme's Indy car in 68 run the F1 Weslake 3 liter motor or something different? |
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Post by clm1545 on Sept 4, 2009 21:15:12 GMT -5
Denny's car in the 68 500 was a 4 cam Ford. The MPC 68 Eagle kit will build either car and has both engines. You can also buy Norm's conversion kit and build Bobby Unser's Turbo Offy winner.
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Post by eagle36 on Sept 5, 2009 12:05:27 GMT -5
The three valve engine never raced. Gurney ran a 305' Ford stock block with various versions of the Weslake two valve heads starting with Riverside '67 through 1969.
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Post by clm1545 on Sept 5, 2009 19:04:21 GMT -5
I know that the MK 3 and 4 heads were 2 valve, but for some reason I thought the original prototype heads were 3 valve. My book also says that the 69 Indy engine was 320 cubic inches. Is that correct with your information.
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