MTFCA Forum

I came across these ads today in "Ford Dealer and Service Field". The first one is from the March 1927 issue. Sorry about the quality of that one. The other two are from April and June of '27. No ads for Zenith appear in any issues prior to March. By November of '27 they weren't advertised. I've never seen one of these heads or remember seeing anything about them on the forum. I wonder if they actually ever reached production. Have any of you seen one of these or have any knowledge of them? It's hard to see, but the first ad makes a claim of 120 miles per hour!

120 MPH might well be do-able if you had the whole kit and caboodle... head, cam, crankshaft, transmission, gearing , and all, and had a very well designed speedster type chassis.

I believe years back hearing a story about why they were short-lived, no real proof but from my understanding, they got in trouble over using Chevrolet rocker arms, shafts, etc, without permission. They look a lot like them in the photos. Also something about a modified head casting.

Hank

Looks a lot like a Roof 8 / Laurel model 40!!
I have one on a engine.

I believe Les is correct, private labeled ROOF stuff.

I agree on the Roof head, except on that particular model head the single intake port flange on the opposite side projects slightly above the top surface of the head casting, and I don't see that feature in the picture? Any ideas on that???

I acquired this one in the ‘70’s and had it on a 4 door in the 80’s It came with a adapter to install a stock T carb.
I got lucky and found this carb.

Probably eliminated in the printing process. Those rag books were printed with type blocks and all up to the printer. JMHO , though. Good catch, Dan.
Matco ( magneto corporation of America) cross drive front plates were private labeled with other names on them, too. So many different water pumps were made in the Richmond , Indiana area, and I’ve seen identical ones with different names, too.

Thread drift, but T related. I grew up nearby an old time printing shop. The couple still used Linotype machines and wood print blocks. They printed anything that you could possibly think of, and did it well. They were in business long past being obsolete, and they had high hopes of selling the business for decades. I treasure the fact that I visited and used them enough to know and understand the technology. If you never saw a Linotype machine in operation, I feel sorry for you. American ingenuity at its best!
All of the old books we treasure for T history were printed on this type of machinery, and somewhere are drawers and drawers full of wooden blocks with these reverse lead Images on them. Every printed picture you see in these old books required an actual object to make the print, and not numbers floating in the air. More than likely, the lead has been melted and the wood burned by now.
I still have a row of type with my name on it in my workbench. I saw it spit out of the Linotype machine. Google Linotype sometime, you will be amazed at almost forgotten history.

As long as we are adrift here. Way back when in college, we were required to take a graphics class and part of that course was learning how to set and lock up type, mount it in a letter press and crank out some printed material. That experience was a ton of fun, and something that I never regretted. If ya think Model T's are neat, watching an old letter press operate with your hands and fingers going into the press to feed and remove sheets is an order of magnitude worse than cranking a T with the spark advanced too far.

When I was a kid, the local paper had 2 Linotype machines and a huge black mechanical press the size of 2 pickup trucks. It was driven by a big electric motor and a huge v-belt drive with about 7 belts. There was a pit in the floor to accomodate the huge pulley on the press. I figure the electric motor and drive was a latter-day replacement for a gas engine. I have a few pieces of lead type and a small lead plate with a short article or advertisement on it from that press. The headline-size type had a word or two in a single bar or piece and some kind of lugs on the back. That press was probably junked or shipped to Mexico. If the latter, I'd guess it is still operating. Photos reproduced in the paper consisted of a bunch of little dots. I'm sure they had a teletype and a means of getting AP wirephotos.

It certainly is a rebadged Laurel. Thank you everyone for your answers.