Quote:
Originally Posted by Offy 220
Hi Rick,
Great question! I know some of Gemsa's cylinder heads were stamped but I am not sure if it they were serial numbered and dated. Maybe someone on here or on the HAMB would know. Yes, as Jim B. stated, his heads were cast at a foundry or may have been machined from a solid block or billet.
I remember he had a large milling machine [may have been a Bridgeport or something similar], a large surfacer and in the back he had a 'clean' area to assemble engines. I know he assembled at least one 270 Offenhauser which was done for Bob Anderson and his A pickup and also he put together a 255 or 270 for Louie Senter and his T track roadster. How many modified "A" four bangers I don't know. Hopefully someone would know an answer or details. As I stated earler, I used to sit next to him at our WRA meetings at the Burbank airport bunker once a month and I never thought to ask him questions about his heads or machine work. I remember he was arguing about using Gasoline instead of Methanol and also disconnecting front brakes on our sprint cars because some of the drivers would stand on the pedal deep into the corners and rely on their front brakes to slow them down while they pitched 'em sideways! I am wondering if his daughter is still with us - maybe she could answer our questions!
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Hey Bruce,
All of the Gemsa heads that I've ever seen (flathead/OHV) were marked something like: experimental head / #*** / and date made.
The coupe that I've shown above has that type stamping.
I've often wondered upon seeing the words 'experimental head', if he only made one off or whether they all were experimental
!
Almost bought a Gemsa head/intake last year(from Ohio?) that ran at Bonneville two years ago. It was similarly stamped. I think that I have pics somewhere in this new fangled machine. He, the racer, said that with the injector setup on this crossflow, that 'they' could only get near 140...and that wasn't good enough. Gemsa seemed to be a prolific producer of stuff.