Bob

I think the Offy had a one piece cast iron cylinder and head assembly (Head gaskets weren't too good back then), then they would sandwich that big piece of cast iron between an aluminum crankcase and bolt on aluminum cam towers combined with big aluminum side covers for the water jackets to make the it look like an aluminum engine. The valve stem on the exhaust valve on a lot of them were 1/2" and were drilled and filled with sodium to aid cooling.

Boreing and sleaving and valve jobs were a pain in the neck requiring special tools. Won't see any Serdi cut seats on an Offy. The old Crosley was actually a low buck knock off of that old Offy.

My dad owned an automotive machine shop that did a lot of performance work back years ago,and I can still hear him cussing both those engines. My favorite Offy was the 270 cid it's nick name was "the widow maker" I think it was outlawed because it was just plain "Bad A$$" back then.

Honest Dad himself

Now that I think about it, the last new block I saw was at Watson's, and it was cast iron, I've got a few Offy parts, all from AJ, did a lot of Crosley work also, most midget stuff was Ford, and Offy. Bob

Bob

If we knew just half of what we forgot we would be pretty darned smart wouldn't we. I write stuff down and once the hard drives get to spinning I say no that ain't right

The old Offy was king because of its ability to out breathe other engines of the day and it fell of of it's throne because newer engines designs could out breathe them. There was really no comparison between the 110 and the V8 60 but the 60 was just so much cheaper to own.

We are still faced with the same problem today. Now however just money wont buy you a winning power plant, now you must also have the right connections in order to get the right package. When racers see that they have no chance to win in a particular class of racing they will just drop that class and find one that they feel they can be competitive in.

Honest Dad himself

Allowing Aluminum blocks is a shot at the Toyota's. No Aluminum Toyota blocks that have ever heard of.

I suspect it is to accommodate the Chevy LS series engines, but I'm just guessing.

steiny

That would be cool! If USAC did have a motivation to try to lower the costs to get more cars in their series, if it is, I think this is a great move!

And maybe it is a shot at the Toyota's?

We'll understand Andy's decision I guess at a later date. At first I thought it was a really bad idea, but what do I know....