Projects In need of help, Jenkins OHV B motor parts

Hello all i have a 32 b motor with a Jenkins OHV conversion. I starting noticing some issues a bit before and during the Flabob TROG. Pulled her down when i got back and found some broken and bad parts. I didnt built this motor, i got her running/driving at the time and didnt investigate further. I pulled the motor and its at my builder. So we are trying to find some parts/help

The bad
#4 intake pushrod broken in half.
#1-3 pushrods all rubbing and close to breaking also
The rocker arm adjusters were hand tight and mismatched.
A head gasket and spacer (for clearance)?
#4 piston sits .60 thousands higher then the other 3.
1-3 pistons sit almost flush
Aluminum Fan pulley cracked

If anyone has an idea on a replacement head gasket part number/brand

Replacement pushrods or where i could get them made?

Thanks all for any help or leads.
And why they mig ht of used a spacer and headgasket.

 

Smith Brothers Pushrods, Redmond OR. https://www.pushrods.net/
Can’t offer any other help but sympathy.. Time for a tear down.

 

If yur gonna scrap the Jenkins head… I’ll happily give you the $2.00 per pound scrap rate! They are strong running heads and are well worth the effort to dial in. Yours probably suffers from amateur assembly as many old motors do.

The piston height difference is probably from a mismatched set of rods. This motor probably lost a rod bearing once upon a time, and the long rod is from a different batch. Talk with a reputable babbit pourer and order up a rod with a length to match the rest. Look up Rocker Arms Unlimited in Redding CA

 

The Jenkins heads were a project of Dan Iandola for quite a few years. Max McClain has a pretty strong running
Jenkins on a B block in his roadster. Pretty sure that Pat Gary did a lot of the machine work on Max's engine. Pat is in Paso Robles if you want to discuss your issues with him.

 

Were these the Jenkins heads that Andy Jenkins in Australia made in the 80's?

 

Outback- yes, my understanding was that Dan Iandola purchased the patterns from Andy Jenkins and brought them to the US. I don't know any exact details. I'll check with Pat on that and report back. Pat was pretty good friends with Dan.

 

Would a Roof or Riley head gasket work? https://www.secretsofspeed.com/gaskets

 

Thanks all for the info

HotrodA- thanks im just trying to get my engine builder in touch with them now

Kevin- thats what my engine builder was thinking he was tearing it further apart to verify this past week.

Dan from oakland- thanks for the info i have tried to gwt ahold of pat gary but the number from google is disconnected .

Alchemy- it looks like the roof headgasket will fit i just need to confirm bore size before i order.

Thanks all for the help and knowledge hoping to get her back together and be stronger for the next trog drags. Doug

 

Doug- send me an e-mail an I'll give you Pats number. Dan
dmcgears@yahoo.com

 

So i got some more info from my builder, good and bad.
The lower end is in good shape, it still has babbit bearings, but has a c model counterbalanced crank with wilson inscribed. The b motor block has don davis inscribed on it. And a jim brierly cam shaft. The pistons/cylinders are in great shape .60 over. He found issues with the rear main and had to modify/add shims to fix the leak. Looks like the #4 cylinder blew out the original headgasket as well.
Just trying now to source the pushrods. I not finding an off the shelf length and going to need custom ones made. It looks like the roof headgasket will work. Hoping to get it all back together foe the next Trog. Also planning to switch out the 2 stromberg 81s for 2 97s.

Also was able to talk to Max Mclain about his awesome jenkins set up and his builder Pat Gary.

 

Glad you got some positive answers

 

Glad you got some good answers. I was also thinking the Riley or Roof gasket might work maybe some pushrods from a Riley too? Maybe contact Max at H&H Antique? I'm doing a Riley 4 Port and I'm using this plugs on the block for the pushrods to go through.

 

Thanks 51 merc i will try and call them. Also i had seen those vavle guides and was asking my builder his thoughts.

 

You're welcome!Keep us posted.

 

There's a shop here in Minnesota that will cut custom head gaskets but you would need a file.We have used him for the custom heads we machine

 

I'm not a 32 /Jenkins owner or builder, but this thread is kind of amazing.

The knowledge and expertise displayed here.....and generosity of sharing it with members is top notch.

Well done guys !

 

Just curious?Any updates?

 

Thanks again for the advice.

Yes some progess. Sorry been busy. So i was able to talk to Max and pick his brain on his fancy jenkins and also the engine builder Pat. Both are full of valuable knowledge.
So my builder was able to get the bottom end buttoned up and all put back together. The babbit bearing and crank all still looked really good. My builder added a couple shims to seal the rear main that were MIA at first Causing my oil leak. The previous builder ran into an issue when bolting the jenkins head on as the pistons were hitting the head. So he made a .125 thick spacer. This spacer has become an issue as its now a weak point and helped the headgasket fail at cylinder #4. After talking with both builders it is agreed to maching the head to accommodate the pistons and remove the spacer. Also it was found that i have the incorrect rocker arms and thats why the pushrods were rubbing the block. So at this point she isnt making it to the trog this weekend. But ill be picking up the motor from my builder in SLC and taking it to Pat in Paso to do the machine work to the head and get it back together. Really looking forward to seeing what she can do with 4 cylinders running.

 

If it were my engine and my head I'd rather get another set of pistons than machine the head. Pistons are easy to replace but a rare head not so much. Just my 2 cents.

 

Would be interesting to hear the thought process, because it's harder to put material back in a head...

 

Crower made the push rods for my CRAGAR head on a B engine.

 

I wonder if you could cut a solid copper gasket if you had access to a laser cutter. if only there were some way to scan the surface and make the file from the scanned head, or old head gasket.

 

Thats what they do. Need a file to program to.

 

Just curious but wouldn't just machining the head change the combustion chamber cc ? I know when we machined our heads there was a certain number we tried to achieve to make it make the right kind of power. Just curious as it seems like the lesser of two evils to make it work but having the right pistons would help the head to do what it was supposed to do. Hope John N can chime in with his expertise.

 

Thanks for the ride along, absolutely fascinating.
I agree with Burl, milling piston tops seems like the better option with a piston/head issue.
One item I haven't heard about the remedy for - the one piston having .060" positive deck height versus the others. One opined that it might be a mismatched set of rods. Either way, the rod length can be corrected. What's been done to correct that issue?

 

@johnneilson

 

This is not Pat's 1st rodeo. He is perfectly capable of finding a solid solution to head - piston- combustion chamber issues without taking unnecessary risks. Sounds like the initial build might not have been quite up to par.

 

Thanks you guys have some good points about milling the head and pistons. Ill give an update once i drop off the motor to pat and he physically has it in his hands he can come up with the best solution.

 

So a little update, I dropped the motor off with Pat Gary and man he knows his model A/B motors, tons of knowledge and cool stuff everywhere. he even makes his own upgraded parts for these motors. so my little jenkins is in good hands. Also found out from him that mine is a later Los Angeles cast version. Thanks Doug

 

Given their Aussie heritage I'm quite interested in these heads, thanks for keeping us in the loop