Richard "Dick" Keinath, 82, Engineer put muscle in Chevys, The mind behind many legendary Chevrolet engines
Hoodoo
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100710/OPINION03/7100326/1263/obituaries/Engineer-put-muscle-in-Chevys
Richard "Dick" Keinath
Engineer put muscle in Chevys
Most Detroiters would never be able to pick Richard Keinath out of a
lineup. Most don't even recognize his name, which rarely appears in
automotive history books.
But they've likely been passed by his handiwork on the highway.
And along Woodward Avenue this weekend, there will be memorials
rumbling, burbling and ticking their valves powerfully in memoriam to
Richard "Dick" Keinath, who lived for years in Rochester Hills. The mind
behind many legendary Chevrolet engines died Wednesday after a long
battle with cancer. He was 82. He is survived by his wife, Maureen, and
other family members.
Keinath, like hundreds of thousands of General Motors Co. employees, was
the sweat behind the company logo and part of the machine that was once
a dominating force in the automotive industry. His career spanned 1950
to 1983; he rose through the ranks to chief engine engineer in 1971.
For 33 years, he toiled behind the scenes, working on the first V-8 to
go into a Corvette -- in 1955. He may not have garnered much credit
(those jobs require the contributions of many), but he deserves some.
His career touched so many great and important vehicles that it's hard
to overlook.
"People need to know the achievements of Dick Keinath," said Dave
Kimble, a longtime friend and fellow engineer. "He is the man, the
creator of 20 years of classic cars."
Keinath's work powered Chevrolet for decades and is the base for many
classic cars still on the road.
His contributions to the Corvette helped land him on Zora Arkus-Duntov's
team as the engine man and later project manager. His first project:
Turn the 283-cubic-inch engine into the Chevy 302-cubic-inch V-8 and the
327-cubic-inch V-8. Both became the muscle behind a new 1967 sports
coupe called the Camaro.
He also played a significant role in creating the "W" engines, the first
engines completed at the new Technical Center in Warren after it opened
in 1956.
Mark DeSantis, who met Keinath in 2000, said he had heard of him decades
earlier.
"When I was a kid, I wrote to GM to ask about their engines, and they
sent me the copy of a Society of Automotive Engineers article written by
Dick Keinath," said DeSantis, a radiologist. "Then, when a friend asked
me if I could help out his friend, Dick Keinath, I remembered the
article, which I still have."
DeSantis befriended Keinath, in part, because of their mutual love for
Chevrolet.
DeSantis and others say Keinath's crowning achievement came in 1963 when
he modified a 409-cubic-inch engine and created the Big Block 427.
The massive engine, the equivalent to a 7-liter V-8 today, allowed
legendary racer Junior Johnson to rip a 166 miles-per-hour hole in
NASCAR -- 5 mph faster than anyone else.
The Daytona Mystery engine was born. Keinath had designed the engine's
final pieces in just a few days, Kimble said.
"Every year back then in NASCAR, the engines just kept getting bigger,
so while most of the engine was done, he had to wait for NASCAR to
announce what the legal displacement would be for the coming race
season," Kimble said. "When they did, he went home and designed the
final pieces over the weekend."
Keinath likely became an engineer long before graduating from Michigan
State University in 1950, he recalled in his book "Fast Chevys."
Keinath, a Michigan farm boy, said, "We did our own mechanical work back
then. I was rebuilding engines when I was about 14 or 15 years old."
During his career, Keinath worked alongside many well-known names at GM,
such as Arkus-Duntov, the father of the Corvette, and Donald McPherson,
who would later become vice president of all North American operations.
When one friend left GM and headed to Dearborn in the late 1970s to work
with Ford Motor Co., he tried to recruit Keinath, who was preparing to
retire.
DeSantis recounts the story: "Dick couldn't do it, even though he would
have been a lot better off in the long run. He asked him, 'How can I
work at Ford? I'm a Chevy man.' "
--
Trout Mask Replica
KFJC.org, WFMU.org, WMSE.org, or WUSB.org;
because the pigoenholed programming of music channels
on Sirius Satellite, and its internet radio player, suck