FA 10 has a new home

[fbref5269]

hi all,

i just took delivery on a restored a looper from ted miller. FA 10 now has a new home. this will be displayed as often as i can this winter. i will be looking for shows to go to. the best part is that davey augustine has found his dads ols a looper and we will be running them next race season. davey's number is in the 160's so it has more improvements than the fa 10. the engine was originally purchased by jack schmittel in the early 60's does anyone have any info on jack? let me know if you do.

the picture i've posted shows the engine with gen 3 stacks, they are from my fc 52 engine. the fa 10 has gen 1 stacks and boy what a difference.

the other picture i've posted is of the carb. ted miller seems to think it was converted to gas, but i'm not sure. the tube on the other side of the intake looks like a return tube. can anyone help me on this. the engine is ready to fire up and i'm picking up a hydro from the period may by the bowman's and want to fire it up.

any help will be greatly appreciated.

frank

[fbref5269]

hi all,

i have a question about cooling system on the loopers.... i see on this looper how the water gets from the lower unit to the powerhead. it has lots of tubing..... now for the stupid question..... where does it exit???? the only place i can see are 2 small holes above cyl number 1. is that where all the water exits????

frank

[Frank Volker]

Frank,

The engine, as shown in your photo, has gen 2 pipes. Most likely, it was originally shipped with gen 1 pipes.

I'm not sure what the other carb tube is for. It's too high for a fuel-level standpipe overflow as the alky engines used.

There should be a water exit hole drilled in each exhaust pipe flange. The hole is drilled from the cylinder side to line up with the upper cylinder water jacket and "aimed" to spray the exit water stream on the pipe at--or just past--the elbow section. Without these holes, the pipe temps will be much too high.

Frank V.

[fbref5269]

frank,

thanks for the info. those holes are small and i thought they would be larger. there are also 2 holes above cyl 1 on the head that looks like it's an exit.

the engine came with the gen 1 stacks but i put on the gen 2s for the picture. there was quite a difference between the gen 1 s and gen 2s.

i'll post a picture of fa 10 with the gen 1 stacks soon.

as always it's great to hear from you frank.

frank (the other)

[Gene East]

Hey Frank Volker,

Norma and I will be at the German festival in Marthasville Sunday. Hop on the Harley and come join us. I'll buy you a brat.

If you can make it, I'll have my cell phone with me. 217 430 0432

[fbref5269]

hi all,

the other day davie augustine and i along with big dave agustine woke up fa 10. there are some problems that will be addressed but it was sure nice to hear the roar. some of the problems are.... fuel pump pumps from the tank but not the the carb. the carb is gas but the engine may be timed for fuel. gonna check that out. we has flames coming out of both stacks and the carb.

we did manage to scare the pants off several lanscapers working across the street from davie's house.

updates will follow....

frank

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

I was testing a class F Quincy Flathead here a few years ago wearing ear protection, face shield, a Kevlar jacket and body armor using gas carbs and racing gas and I had some of the same effects your referring to while setting up the carbs. The engine sure started easy enough, no flames out of the 4 pipes just a nice rich clean first pull start. Everyone on the docks on eiher side of me ran away frightened in a big hurry when it started too! Some cars on the highway across the river veered all over the road as if shot at! What the flame was that I saw staring through the upper carb turned out to be a bad intake port and cylinder wall that was scratched where the repair made to it was giving way, going bad again and allowing flame to travel down the cylinder wall into the crankcase enough to be seen through a wide open carb while the engine was reving maxed in the water with a flat faced test wheel. She gradually went from an even roar to a miss and shudder on one cylinder the other 3 still working fine. I Shut her off in a big hurry. A teardown the next day confirmed the port and cylinder wall problem. The engine got a whole new liners and NOS oversized pistons/w/L-rings. From there it ran beautifully a year afterward and I was again threatened with arrest! :)

[Seanp3]

Frank,

The engine, as shown in your photo, has gen 2 pipes. Most likely, it was originally shipped with gen 1 pipes.

I'm not sure what the other carb tube is for. It's too high for a fuel-level standpipe overflow as the alky engines used.

There should be a water exit hole drilled in each exhaust pipe flange. The hole is drilled from the cylinder side to line up with the upper cylinder water jacket and "aimed" to spray the exit water stream on the pipe at--or just past--the elbow section. Without these holes, the pipe temps will be much too high.

Frank V.

I'd like to see some more pictures. Very cool. What kind of speeds did they used to get with these engines?

[fbref5269]

sean,

not sure what speeds the a's did back in their day. i've been told they were about what the 125cc's are getting now. but you've come to the right place to ask any looper questions. it would be cool to see what all the different classes were doing back then.

fa10'a new ride is a bezoat made in the 70's. it's a pickle fork and should be a nice ride. i'll get a picture of it soon.

i have picked up a ride for the c loopers(posted under another thread). found an old marchetti in need of repair to put it mildly. it has no top decks and had been coverted to an all wood deck, the plan is to restore it with the cloth deck.

ok everyone sean and i would like to hear if speeds the loopers were getting.

have a very merry christmas everyone and a healthy new year,

frank