![american lafrance v12 engine specs american lafrance v12 engine specs](https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/292911053712_/1936-Jr-V12-Lycoming-American-LaFrance-I.jpg)
If it does not, advance 2 degrees, until it does, and then retard until it stops. If it does, retard timing 2 degrees at a time, until it stops. If Both RPM exceeds 700, do it all over again! After all that, take the truck up the tallest hill in town, and see if the engine 'pings' or knocks. Engine speed set at 700 RPM, shut off fuel to one carb, adjust second to give 500 RPM at best fuel mixture setting, do same for other bank, and then run both. Once all timings are synced, then the carbs have to be set up. Each distributer controls 12 plugs, 6 on left bank, 6 on the right, and there are 2 plugs per cylinder! Then all have to be synchronized with the timing marks on the flywheel. Each point set has to be gapped, and then set with a dwell meter. The engine has 2 independant distributers, each with dual point systems. When our '48 was tuned, I was told the factory reps took 2 days to completely tune the engine. The major drawbacks - low speed (under 4500 RPM), High maintainance (last one I tuned took 12 Hours. I believe ALF began building them in 1924 or so, as a 190 HP single carb engine, The township of Dover NJ, the town next to ours, has just completed a restoration of their 1925, and it's a beaut! I am just about finished with a 1948 ALF Quad - 4, with the 527/215 engine (a V-12 identical to the one I just got), for my fire dept (RBFD) Our truck was one of 4 built that year, and it is also a prototype, as it was the first ever built by ALF with a front suction as per our FD specs(in company records it is called 'Rockaway Option'), and was put into the factory option listing in 1949! The V 12 engine was built into the 1960s, with little change. The ALF built V-12 is a direct descendant of the Auburn V-12 of the 1920s. All copper and brass, this monster weighs about 300 pounds itself! The engine itself is 5 feet long, 3 feet tall, and about 2'6" wide.
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It also has twin Zenith downdraft carbs, dual intake and exhaust manifolds, and a radiater that is 3 feet wide, and about 5 feet tall. Believe it or not, there is over 120 feet of High tension wire, supplying spark to this engine.
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2 plugs per cylinder, dual point, dual distributers (one driven off the engine cam, the other off the chain driven generater!), dual generaters, and 4 ignition coils. I just retrieved this engine, and it must weigh in at nearly 1000 pounds! here are some details: 527 CID, bore 3.375, stroke around 4, 215 HP RPM, aprox.400 pounds torque 12 cylinders at a 30 degree bank (if you look quick, it looks like a DOHC in line 6). I have a gasket source, but does anyone have a source for engine parts themselves I am looking for the copper braided oil cooling hoses, the electric choke motors (the part that looks like a selenoid), and some fuel system valves, as well as some other parts. The engine is all there, but needs some help. I have a new play toy to work on It is a 1951 ALF 527 CID V-12, out of a Cities Service Pumper.