reply to Jeff re Tucker cars

From: MR RICHARD T TRENK SR (GDWF22A(at)prodigy.com)
Date: Mon Oct 06 1997 - 22:22:21 CDT


Jeff, the cooling fins were deleted when the cylinder block was cast.
A water jacket was fabricated to enclose the cyl and head areas and
internal coolant routing was built in. I was not involved in testing
the engines but understood that Franklin had the coolant flows well
controlled and the engine made reliable hp without any hot spots or
problems . Had this car made it to mass production I am CERTAIN there
would have been a host of service problems in virtually every part of
the car .
The radiator was at the front (as I recall) and pipes conducted
coolant to the engine at the rear.
This flat six engine was about 334 cu in and rated at about 166 hp
but I was told it actually made nearly 200 hp and they downplayed
that hp so as not to scare insurance co's.
The actual gearbox was from the 36-37 Cord and when used units could
not be found in sufficient numbers Tucker made his own version and
called it the Y-1 .
Thos of you who know little about this advanced car, should obtain
some book about it and you would enjoy learning about this car which
was too advanced for its time.
Dick T.



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