I am in the process of rebuilding a Continental 15U inline 6 cylinder engine belonging to a 1928 D75 Durant. I have been recently studying the vibration dampener which was disassembled before I owned it and looks like some parts are missing. Does anyone have some drawings or photos of the assembly that could be made available? The parts I have include the belt pulley casting which is held on the crankshaft by the handcrank nut, the heavy dampener ring itself, 2 clutch discs that go one on either side of the dampener ring, and a thin plate the size of the discs that appears to hold the assembly together by 4 bolts. In the box of parts is also a bag of about 5 or 6 springs, about 1 inch long, labeled for the assembly. I am thinking their should be some sort of spring tension held against the discs to allow it to dampen properly. Am I missing some sort of ring shaped unit that holds these springs? Photos of this assembly would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 D75

It sounds like you have parts of a classical Lanchester damper. The Rolls Royce collectors have done a lot of work on this subject, and I'll leave it to you to find it.



It looks like you should have two plates separated by springs, but somehow pinned so they don't rotate relative to each other. There should be two friction discs as you can see. However some shortcuts could have been taken in the design for this application.

Do You own a car built by Durant? yes

Thanks for the reply and the drawing. The drawing is of great help in figuring out how it works. So, where did the drawing and information come from? I would like to get a copy of any information that is relevent to my engine and vehicle.

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 D75