Re: [AMC-list] Nash 234.8 OHV six

[Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>]

When Charles Nash left GM he hired Erik Wahlberg away from Oakland as the new Nash Motors Chief Engineer. Wahlberg designed a clean-sheet six (apparently with input from Charles Nash) for the 1918 Nash model 680. Wahlberg had also been involved with the design of the early teens Buick OHV six, from which the Nash engine borrowed some features. That was the basis for later Nash sixes, not the Ajax six... but then it IS in a way...

Nash didn't buy Ajax, Nash *created* Ajax Motors Co. 27 Jun. 1924 to build a low priced car based on the more expensive Nash using the facilities of the old Mitchell Motors Co. in Racine, which Nash purchased 27 Feb. 1924. The Ajax engine is  a smaller bore and stroke version of the 1918-1925 Nash six. That engine had three mains. In 1926 it was radically updated with a seven main block and different bore and stroke -- basically a new engine. The Ajax version kept the old bore and stroke though. Later in '26 the Ajax was renamed "Nash Light Six"

Most pre-WWII Nash cars used a Nash built three speed transmission, with B-Ws coming in in the late 30s and early 40s. By 41 the old Nash design had been dropped in favor of B-W models across the board. 

The 1952 TSM clearly shows Borg-Warner T-86 and T-96 trannys. The 41-48 TSM is less clear, but after comparing the illustrations between those two TSMs it's obvious that the 41-48 trannys are T-86 and T-96 as well. The 36-38 TSM shows the T-86 as being used with an OD unit (called "Automatic Cruising Gear") and an N-1 and N-2 transmission, also with OD units (B-W R-6 on the N-1 and N-2 trans). The 36-38 manual doesn't go into any detail on the trannys themselves, just shifting and the OD units. That indicates to me that there was probably a B-W repair manual for the T-86 and the N-1 and N-2 were old enough that they were covered in earlier manuals. I'd say the T-86 was just coming into use around 38, but would have to consult with some Nash experts to find out for sure. 

----------------
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:08:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)

" From: "William 'Chip' Lamb" <chip@xxxxxxxxxx>
" 
"and its design may have roots as far back as the '25 special 6.
" 
" Yes, that was the Ajax engine acquired by Nash when they bought Ajax 
" in '25. So it goes back even further. It was the "Light Six".

so - it was the ancestor of both the 234.8 and the straight 8?  egge
info - now not entirely trustable - suggests it.


if i recall frank's nash 6 history, the 234.8 got a lot of
improvement, especially in compression, from the '30s to the '50s.  a
comparably set up 322 8 should be good for 200-odd hp.  and iirc the
late '40s ambassador - whence the cab - was a prewar carryover, so it
has the hood for the 8.

do you know what transmissions nash was using in this period?  i'd
guess by the '50s they were probably using warners, and that the truck
probably had a t18, only because it's a warner truck tranny.

--
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
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