Zenith Carburetor (later the Fuel Devices Division of

Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...

) was an American manufacturer of gasoline engine management systems and components, chiefly

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...

s and filters. It was founded in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

in 1911 as a subsidiary of the French . Carburetors in most cases were replaced by fuel injection systems, also provided by Bendix, during the 1970s.

Anthony Messina

The design of the Zenith was perfected around 1889-1903 by Anthony Messina of

Rhinelander, Wisconsin Rhinelander is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Wisconsin, Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,285 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The area that eventually became the city of Rhine ...

. The carburetor had two jets, one for rich

mixture In chemistry, a mixture is a material made up of two or more different chemical substances which are not chemically bonded. A mixture is the physical combination of two or more substances in which the identities are retained and are mixed in the ...

, one for lean. The mixture was then combined in the right proportions for the engine's speed and load. The Zenith design won first prize in a competition with 14 others organized by the Royal Prussian War Ministry in 1903.

Ford

Zenith's product was one of a small number of different carburetors used on the

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

. It was also fitted to most of the 4.8 million Ford Model A cars built from 1927 to 1931"The Ford Model A: A Brief History,"
August 23, 2018, BluePrint Engines, retrieved November 7, 2022) -- reportedly 3.5 million of them. An enhanced Zenith carburetor was supplied for the Ford Model B, but also popular as a retrofit for the Ford Model A engine."Other Carbs" / "Model B Carburetor"
Model-A.org, retrieved November 30, 2022

Harley-Davidson

Their big twin motorcycles were fitted with Zenith carburetors.

Farm tractors

Zenith carburetors were also standard equipment on some

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

Farmall Farmall was a model name and later a brand name for tractors manufactured by International Harvester (IH), an American truck, tractor, and construction equipment company. The Farmall name was usually presented as McCormick-Deering Farmall and l ...

tractors, such as the Zenith 161X7 on the Farmall Super A. They were also found on farm and heavy machinery applications from Allis-Chalmers and others.Guy Fay, Andy Kraushaar, ''Original Allis-Chalmers, 1933-1957'', MBI, Osceola, 2000

Other applications

Zenith carburetors were also found on aircraft and marine engines.

Notes

External links

Classic Aeroengines: Types, Systems, Carburetion, Magnetos
Manufacturing companies based in Detroit 1911 establishments in Michigan Carburetor manufacturers Bendix Corporation {{US-company-stub