Gallivan

Images and comments by Wes Clover

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This engine was started in the sixties with four good friends: Ellis Gray, senior Edison Co. trouble shooter and engineer plus fine engine builder;  Milt Uhler, shop foreman of the Lockheed Skunkworks, the finest machinist I have ever known; Chris Egsgaard, who knew more people in the racing game and found more great old equipment than anyone else;  and yours truly,  who has built a few in the last sixty years: some that went, some that bent. Sometime in the fifties Chris found two original, never-machined,  cast iron heads: a RAJO Model BB and a twin-cam Gallivan.  Ellis purchased both and did most of the work, with me offering some ideas from my "experience" (another word for mistakes) and Milt advising the both of us on just how to properly get it done with the machinery we had.  The RAJO was finished and ran very well at the Shell Hill Climb and the Gallivan was left about three-quarters finished by the mid seventies and abandoned. I acquired both engines subsequent to Ellis' untimely death in the early nineties and they just sat in my shop asking to be worked on.  Last year I had the time to start work on the Gallivan and it is now getting closer to completion all the time.  As the pictures show, this is a quality project and not something I take lightly;  kind of like my most sophisticated engine yet.  I have another Gallivan in my sprint car that has worked nicely, so do feel comfortable with the whole affair.  Many of the original ideas in its design are mine but I give full credit to my three lost friends - Ellis, Milt and Chris -  for their contributions, without which there would not be this rare Gallivan.  I want those three friends now at the great race track in the sky to see our project finished successfully.

This is how it looked with the 4-speed aluminum close-ratio Saginaw bolted on.  It has a flathead flywheel and clutch, highly modified T crankcase, B rear pan section, B flywheel cover and BB bell housing.  The crank is B, counter balanced and drilled.  #2 and #3 main webs were cut out and replaced with new ones with enough meat for the larger bearings.  I have replaced the original 14 to 1 pistons with Ross units that can run on gas.  The starter with its rear support bearing has been installed since the picture was taken as well as the completed rear motor mounts.

Left:  Rear Main Seal

Right: I have found to my surprise that cups run dry, even while being splattered all over with oil during use.  It took me awhile to really believe this, but it really happens.  To fix, I cut an annular groove about half-way down the cup bore with a keyway cutter and drilled two holes from the top into them, then milled out eyebrows to collect the splatterings and direct them to the holes.  It always works and the little dears live happily ever-after.  Here is a snap to show.

Page 2 - click here-

Page 3 - progress on the car -click here-