13 replies to this topic

[Tomas Karlsson]

In Scandinavian post-war racing there were some guys who built cars with old Ford 4-cylinder engines. They were usually spiced with OHV cylinder-heads called "Record". I think they came from France and I have seen the name "Silvano" in connection with Record (or Reccord).
Is there anyone who knows anything about these cylinder heads?

[Don Radbruch]

Yes. I know a bit about Record cylinder heads for the A-B Ford. They were apparently made in Los Angeles. I have a poor photo of one that shows this. I have a friend in California who has recently acquired a Record engine. They must not have been very popular in the US as I have never seen one in a race car. I too thought they were made in Europe

Tomas. It has been forever since we've been touch! I hope all is well with you. I'm still busy chasing and writing about racing history. I don't know how to post photos to the group but I'd be happy to send you what I have directly. Contact me at radbruch@sandpoint.net

[Cris]

Tomas, are you the person who found one of these heads and wrote about it in Secrets of Speed a few years back? I have also been trying to find information on Record heads. I have heard/read once or twice that they may have had something to do with Harry Ricardo but have never seen evidence that backs this up. I do have present day photos of a Record-equiped engine.

Don, email me the photos and I can post them here.

Thanks.

Cris

cris@dabica.com

[Tomas Karlsson]

No, it's not me. I haven't even seen a picture of one. Just interviewed drivers who have raced in cars with Record heads.

[Cris]

Don's photos:







The rocker cover is different than the one I have seen...the "W.E." at the front is very interesting. I will post photos of the one I have seen later.

Thanks Don for sending the photos.

Tomas, I will see if I have the issues of Secrets of Speed here. They were mainly technical articles showing measurements, no info on the actual company.

Cris

[Tomas Karlsson]

Just to confuse everything: there seem to have been a French "Record" head after all. At least for French cars.

http://gazoline.net/...?id_article=730

[Allan Lupton]

Originally posted by Tomas Karlsson
Just to confuse everything: there seem to have been a French "Record" head after all. At least for French cars.

http://gazoline.net/...?id_article=730

My French isn't up to much, but I am sure it's only a go-faster rocker box, not a 'head. The one illustrated seems to be for a Peugeot 403/404

[Cris]

The SoS article was written by Chris Chilberg of Sweden. What little info he was able to unearth led him to believe the head was produced in Italy. I'll scan the article and forward it along to anyone who is interested.

Cris

[Tomas Karlsson]

I am of couse interested (look in your mailbox for adress).
Did the article mention the name "Silvano" perhaps?

[doc knutsen]

Originally posted by Cris
The SoS article was written by Chris Chilberg of Sweden. What little info he was able to unearth led him to believe the head was produced in Italy. I'll scan the article and forward it along to anyone who is interested.

Cris

Just had a word with my father about Record cylinder heads for A-model and B-model Fords. He remembers Thirties Norwegian ace Arvid Johansen buying three of them from Italy early in the Thirties. The final recorded use that I am aware of, in this country, was on Edward Gjoelberg's 1954
very contemporary-looking coupe, the Masse-rart-i (" Lots of funny ingredients") which was quite successful in ice races in the middle Fifties. (my father designed and built the car, except for the alloy bodywork, it was based around pre-war Ford bits but had the front and rear axles re-located above the tubular ladder chassis side members.)
My father seems to recall the cylinder heads being made in Italy or France, but at close to 89 years of age, his memory may not be correct on this. But he does remember three similar cylinder heads being cast and machined in Oslo, using Buick valves and rockers off a Fifties American car the make of which he does not recall. Also, he did a one-off bronze cylinder head which was also cast and machined in Oslo, but this kept the side-valve layout.
He claims that the late-Thirties Model B Fords used for racing, with the Record cylinder heads, would do 90 km/h in 1st, whereas a standard Model B would have a top speed of about 85 km/h.
While the std B motor would develop around 40BHP, similar engines but fitted with a Record head would develop some 65 horsepower - again according to senior.

[Cris]

Doc, thanks for the info.
Tomas, I just scanned the article. I'll email it to you tonight.

Cris

[Tomas Karlsson]

My father seems to recall the cylinder heads being made in Italy or France, but at close to 89 years of age, his memory may not be correct on this. But he does remember three similar cylinder heads being cast and machined in Oslo, using Buick valves and rockers off a Fifties American car the make of which he does not recall. Also, he did a one-off bronze cylinder head which was also cast and machined in Oslo, but this kept the side-valve layout.

Wow, is your father Birger Knutsen?!?
He was one of the first race car builders in Scandinavia after the war. As far as I know he was involved in building Johansen's special before the war. That car was very important for the whole racing scene up here after the war. And he also built a car for himself in '46 (the one with the bronze head). Ask him what happened with that.

The Record heads seem to have been popular in the early fifties. Olle Bennström had a Record head on his car when he won at Rämen in '32.
Can anyone explaine the Italian origin?

[doc knutsen]

Originally posted by Tomas Karlsson


Wow, is your father Birger Knutsen?!?
He was one of the first race car builders in Scandinavia after the war. As far as I know he was involved in building Johansen's special before the war. That car was very important for the whole racing scene up here after the war. And he also built a car for himself in '46 (the one with the bronze head). Ask him what happened with that.

Birger is indeed my father, and as well as doing the Johansen machine,he did build three post-war specials, the last one was the Gjoelberg machine in 1954. His first effort, with the bronze cylinder head, had to be sold after his bride-to-be crashed her father-in-law's car while being taught how to drive ;) There is an interesting book done by Teknologisk Forlag (Bertheau) which deals with the home-built Norwegian racing cars of the Thirties, Forties and Fifties, do you have that book? If you do not, I would be very happy to look for a copy. I will visit him in a few days, and bring a video cam to record what he might remember from that era. His great friend, Greger Stroem, sadly passed away a few years ago, I suppose you are familiar with the Stroem specials? They collaborated on building the Nordisk Special for ex-RAF pilot Jac Stousland, building the car in a living room in a house that was not occupied at the time....when the car was finished, they had to tear a wall down entirely, in order to extract the car!

[karlcars]

Just a comment that the Record head depicted was of particularly clever design in that the stands or pylons holding the rocker-arm shafts were between the valves of each combustion chamber. This was an enlightned arrangement in that it gave the maximum rigidity for the valve train.