[SEL] olds - now dating them

[Judge Tommy Turner]

Michael,
	Good info on the Olds dating.  However, there are some "screwy" things 
that happen when trying to pinpoint a date for an Olds (or other engines 
for that matter).  The sale or delivery date of the old iron often 
doesn't match the construction date.  My 6 HP Gearless is a good 
example.  The Gearless production ended sometime around the turn of the 
century.  I have the original sales receipt, delivery ticket (from the 
depot) and even the original order placed for the engine.  It is dated 
April 1906.  The Type A engines were in production then.  My Gearless 
was sold by the Lunt Moss Company.  Discussing this with others, we 
determined that possibly when the switch over was made from the gearless 
to the other models, there was possibly a good supply of the gearless 
engines warehoused.  They were possibly shipped to the jobbers such as 
Lunt Moss, with the Type A's going to the regular Olds 
suppliers/dealers.  I don't know much about my 10 HP Type G and the date 
on it.  It has quite a bit of similarity to the Gearless engines however.

Tommy Turner
Magnolia, KY




Michael Young wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> the following might help with dating Olds engines.  The letter prefix on an
> Olds type A serial no. - as stamped on the name plate/tag - can tell you
> more about the engine than the number itself.  The following is what I have
> figured out after a few years of recording serial numbers and engine
> details, not to mention Olds catalogues, books etc.  There is a bit a guess
> work, but the following gives a guide at least.
> 
> 
> No Letter:  Some really early Type A engines did not have a letter prefix.
> These were the engines with the Olds Gas Engine Works tag.  The engines had
> an earlier carb design quite different to the trumpet like intake and
> suction design most usually associated with Type A engines.  Some early
> engines also had a bolt on head.  The serial numbers of these engines may
> have continued on from the gearless Olds (Type E).  The Type G and the later
> Gearless were also made with the Olds Gas Engine Works tag.  Type A engines
> with this tag would have been made in 1904/05.
>