Looking for an 9A cylinder head from 1922. this is longer and wider than the 9LA head of 1925 or a complete engine .

Where Are You From? South Australia

Do You own a car built by Durant? No, but I have a 1929 six cylinder 9LA ? , although I now find a casting date of 1925.

Some years back a late 30's truck collector was talking on this forum about Continental engines and I talked to him off forum. He had all sorts of Continental books as to what engine was used by what vehicle. No I didn't keep his email or emails.

Most of the engine types matched our Durant and Star vehicles except three.
His book said 20L was in Star, 14U was in Durant, and 9L was also Star. I said not that we knew of. Not surprising as books of the time, and later, are not always correct with info.

I've since discovered two. 14U was used on our Flint model B60, and 9L was Flint model Z18, also known as Flint Junior. Z18 was introduced 1926 which seems to match your casting date. All Flint production stopped in 1927.

What the A means on engines I don't know, except all our Continental engines have the A after them. W4A, W5A, etc, and where it already has an A its doubled so 22A and 32A have 22AA and 32AA. So your 9L has the 9LA casting.

No idea what your A9 or 9A engine fits but doesn't appear to be any of our cars / trucks / makes 1921 - 1934. Our 1922 Star used W4 flat head four cyl and Durant used A22 four cyl or B22 six cyl overhead valve.

Where Are You From? Ottawa Ont

Do You own a car built by Durant? Dominion built 1932 614 Sedan

I have a Continental Engine Cross Reference by Car, Make and Model Chart that Special-Interest Autos published in Jan-Feb. 1977 that lists all the engine numbers. The only 9A model listed applies to a 1923-24 Paige Model 6-70. In addition, as Norm said, no 9A's were used on DMAC models. Hope that helps. Phil

Where Are You From? portland, OR

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1929 Model 60

That's cool Phil. Often someone will ask about engines and what's it fit.

That Special-Interest Autos was by Hemmings Google search says.

In 1970, Hemmings introduced a "companion" magazine, Special Interest Autos, to meet the growing needs of car-collecting enthusiasts. As the only publication in the car-collecting field which regularly road tested cars from the 1920s to the 1980s and accurately examined all aspects of their history and development, SIA entertained and informed its loyal following of automotive enthusiasts and historians while expanding its content to reach a broader audience.

And that Jan / Feb 1977 number 38 can be bought for $19.98 and flat fee of $6.00 US postage, 5 available, at

http://backissues.com/issue/(Jan.-Feb.-1977)-Special-Interest-Autos-Number-38


Ok what does your listing say for the 20L the other lad told me was Star in his Conny books ? Closest we seem to have is 20E in the Durant 70. Star used 14L.

Where Are You From? Ottawa Ont

Do You own a car built by Durant? Dominion built 1932 614 Sedan

Norm-they show a 20L used in a 1928-29 Model 55 Durant and a 1927 Model 93 Davis. Phil

Where Are You From? portland, OR

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1929 Model 60

Interesting, thanks Phil. I thought I saw somewhere buried in DMAC site mention of a 20L used on some Durant. Lad I mentioned said the Conny books said Star. Who ever provided the info for DMAC might have also seen this 20L mentioned and provided that info right or wrong. Errors are everywhere as we are finding out, in the books of the time and in the 60 / 70's write ups.

The model 55 was Jan 1st 1928 to Sept 30 1928 production wise but using Durant's model year as next year after Aug 1st might account for your 1928 / 29 info.

Our research on the 55 for the Registry, Steve is keeping, shows the 55 as having a 14L. All presently known vehicles, world wide,from Oakland, Eliz and Leaside, all have 14L. 55 was basically a continuation of the Star R that was dropped and used the 14L. By April 1st 1928 all Star's were dropped, with Durant only name to 1932 and end of Durant cars. CEO Kirby of Dominion Motors, pulled the plug on Durant's in 1932, saying it was a long dead co months before, and continued the Frontenac only.

Chilton repro Interchange also indicates the 14L. Our aftermarkets also back up the 14L. The model 60 also used the 14L and we have lots listed for model year 1928, 29, and 30.

Ah more reference under Special Interest about the new 1928 Durant's

The cylinder dimensions of the engine on the Durant 55 are
2 ¾ by 4 ¾ in., which will be recognized as the same as those
of the old Star Six, which this model succeeds. The
mechanical specifications are much the same all through,
except that Bendix four-wheel brakes are fitted, but the bodies
are entirely new.

This article was originally published in the January 12th, 1928
edition of “Motor Age” an industry trade publication. While
this is just speculation on my part, it appears that the factory
found a clever way to use up its supply of leftover Star six
cylinder engines by introducing the Model 55. It’s interesting
to note that both the 169 and 185 cubic inch engines were
referred to as 14L. – Rick Botti

Nothing new there as early 60's had one cubic inch and later another. Not that it has any bearing on the topic but De Vaux, Continental - De Vaux, and Ace all used same blocks. The last two had the Hall name ground off but casting info are all 40A with dates in 1931. Assumption that there were too many left over blocks / heads from the 1931 De Vaux so they were used in the 1932 Conny - DeVaux and 1933 ACE, to get rid of them. Again info in the Registry of existing cars prove that.

So where this 20L having something to do with Billy's cars I can't seem to fit, if it even was.

-------------------------------

Interesting about Davis car .. and we think such things are new technology to park a car sideways. Very little new things that haven't been tried in the past.

By 1911, proper touring cars were made, using 4-cylinder Continental engines, with 6-cylinder Continental units added three years later. A 12-cylinder engine was promised, but this never materialized. The local Richmond newspaper reported that Davis was unhappy about the weight of the 12-cylinder engine. Thus, after the fours were dropped from the lineup in 1916, all Davis cars bore a six cylinder engine. It was not until 1927 that an 8-cylinder engine arrived.

Many Davises were exported, and a Davis placed first in a hill climb in Madrid, Spain in 1917. Also in 1917, the growing Davis company expanded by taking over the former Westcott factory in town. The Davis was an assembled car, meaning that it used components from various outside manufacturers, with little or none of the components made in-house. Davises were well known for their two-tone paint schemes and poetic model names, such as Fleetaway, Man o' War and Mountaineer.

The Davis served as the basis for two badge-engineered cars sold in Canada in the 1920s - the Winnipeg and the Derby.

The fortunes of the Davis company waned later in the 1920s. Later Davises were obsolete, and sales began to slip from the peak sales of the early 1920s. In February 1928, the company was acquired by the Automotive Corporation of America, led by Villor P. Williams. Williams was interested in gaining an automobile on which to install his Parkmobile device. The Parkmobile was a device which hydraulically raised the car up via a set of smaller wheels inboard of the standard ones. This allowed the vehicle to be rolled sideways into a parallel parking space. It operated "through the regular gearshift lever in conjunction with an extra lever operated from the transmission." The six-cylinder Davis was now renamed the New York Six, while the 8-cylinder model remained a Davis. Both of these were to get the Parkmobile device, only a few did, however. Any 1929 models were simply ones built using leftover 1928 parts.

Where Are You From? Ottawa Ont

Do You own a car built by Durant? Dominion built 1932 614 Sedan