Partial quote Terry Phillips:
100s of thousands of V-8s with 180 deg crankshafts have been successfully built.
I doubt that 100s of thousands of 180 degree crank shafted engines have been built as Cadillac developed the 90 degree crankshaft V8 about 1923 There is a claim that 50,000 Hispano-Suiza engines were built but none of them were 90 degree crankshaft. If 100,000 180 degree crankshaft engines were built from the time that Levavasseur built the first V-8 engines in about 1903 I might go along with that, but 200,000 I find extremely unlikely.
Eventually Birkigt and company worked out the details.
Birkigt never did workout the shake and vibrations of his V-8 unless one calls the substitutions of the V-12 a solution of the problems of a V-8 with a 180 degree crankshaft with both Primary and Secondary Shake a solution. He never did even solve the Primary Shake that Wolseley did and none of them solved the Secondary Shake until Wright wanted to do in 1921 or so.
As to the 180 degree crankshaft engines built since 1923 Oakland-Pontiac built about 3,900 of that engine but this was with a full set of Primary Counterweights plus a Secondary Horizontal Shake Dampener. This was in 1930-31-32. After 1932 the amount of 180 degree crankshaft engines built is very small. I believe the 1939 Mercedes V-8 for the Tripoli race were 90 degree crankshaft.
Yours, M.L. Anderson
