Hey, Dan; You might want to look into metal-spraying. I can't do it, nor do I have the tools(yet - drool... ;( ), but from what I've read, it's possible to have a base-metal built-up & then machined again. Incl cast-iron. W/o the hardening effects of welded-nickle-rod, etc. It's a very neat process. Does give me all kinds of (questionably bad) ideas to "fix" mftr-shortcomings by adding material where it'd do more good - like thin port walls, etc. ... Gotta stop while I'm merely way-behind... Marcus...
Metal spraying is an interesting idea, but it sounds expensive. Probably cheaper to find another head. I read somewhere that the 28 head flows as much as the three port, but I have never seen any data. It would make an interesting comparison on a flow bench. I do think the three port would look a lot cooler than the 28 head with one of those Fronty headers bolted to it and an aluminum Fronty valve cover. Just looking at the pics, it looks like they took a three port head, milled off the rocker bosses, and added the 28 rocker arms. I wonder if any of the Fronty heads for a Chevy exists anywhere. There was a Roof head on eBay several years ago, but I was too dumb to buy it.
I'm going to repost this here. I think this is a 28 chevy block with a three port head, but cannot zoom in enough to tell.
I tore into the 27 engine today. 28 style pistons, no shims, and a worn out cam/lifters. Haven't checked close for cracks yet. I have a good engine so this will be a spare. I am curious though, has anyone had any luck putting mushroom style lifters in these, aka Model A Ford? Or are they too big on the ends? If I ever get spare time, I have a hand turned boring bar and I want to see if I can bore one to Model A piston bore without ruining it. I have a few extra Model A cranks laying around too ....
Making a whippet grill from quarter panels chunks off a rusted set of 54 Chevy four-door fenders, I think it will work..
Scored a crank from a great guy with insert main bearings? Does anyone know who made these originally the crank came with rods with Babbitt in them, time across drill or what?
Does anyone know where I can find a usable driver side 27 /28 coupe quarter panel??? I'm going to 3D print some dies to modify a piece for front cowl to make the "Z" ! Making the rest of the mods to the cow is straightforward.
That's a regular Chevy 4 crank. The mains had inserts, the rods were babbitt. The original mains were sold as rough finish shells. The procedure was to line bore them after installation. No one has original main inserts, they are generally replaced with high tin babbitt.
Shell & body work is cool! Reminds me of the thread where the guy made a Duce roadster from a VW. The curves are out there.
Dan thanks for the input, now I'm heartbroken. I thought there was some golden source of main bearings. Now it's time to bust out the Babbitt. I think a laser cut some tooling to make sure that the cam center line matches the crankshaft journal placement. We have great Babbitt places around here, but only for large production equipment. Have a guy in Grants Pass Oregon says he can do the rods. He's digging up his tooling as we speak, hope he can find it. Shipping cylinder blocks around seems a little nuts to me. It's been over 30 years since I poured Babbitt in an engine, I was really shocked about the price. Guess the price of Tin went crazy. I'll have to make my own boring bar too.
I wish there was a source for main bearing shells, that would be nice. Years ago I bought a genuine Kent-Moore Chevrolet line boring bar for fours and sixes. My idea was to convert it to bore Model T mains but if I remember right the bar is too big for that. I haven't looked at it in a long time, but I believe it uses preset cutters. I don't think they are adjustable for undersized cranks. I am sure it could be reworked. Back in the day you just walked over to the parts bin and got a new crank.
FWIW, obsolete engine builders from all over the world ship blocks and rods to: Strong Engine 5005 N Harvard Rd Otis Orchards, WA 99027 509-891-646 Rick is recognized as one of the last, best babbit guys. Get yours in line, as he talks of retiring. jack vines
I have seen a 4 banger block bored to 3 7/8" for Model 'A' pistons, this was done by Andrew McCann (see post 1927 on this thread) -not sure if there were any pictures of the finished block on here, but there was very little metal between the cylinder bores using Model 'A' pistons. Getting and keeping a seal with a conventional head gasket looked like it might be difficult.
I didn't think about head gasket issues. No point in building something that won't stay together. If I were gonna go in straight lines 13 seconds at a time, might be ok ... But I am gonna want to drive it.
I have just read this thread cover to cover, so much amazing info. We almost need a contents page for the info & discussion's! One conversation around the block being bored for model A pistons was to offset the cylinders to gain the extra between 1&2 3&4 to give a greater gasket surface.
I have asked a lot of questions, and will no doubt ask a lot more. I am curious what some of you are doing to get more from your Chevy 4 engines. Cam grind, compression?, Stroker crank?
A wealth of information for sure. It is time for me to read it all again and to roundup all my parts, mark them, & stash them together.
I have been feeling the same way lately @Six Ball! Are we getting old, or is it just the weather? Are you getting any of that hurricane yet?
I went to a friends memorial Friday and I was at the last weekend of another friend's estate sale yesterday. His family has been struggling with the collections of mostly parts & projects for over a year. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Today was to be the last day before they call in the scrapper. There is so much good stuff left but no way to find who needs or wants it. I don't want to put my family through that. I'm not giving up but I need to thin out the excess and organize the rest. I don't have a way to dig a big enough hole. But to answer your question, I'm going with getting old.
Sorry guys- school started again (Aug 1 in Georgia) and this year's 6th graders are a fun crew, but an absolute handful at times Dan, nice find on the '25 parts... you know that the '25 engine block is the strongest of the bunch and the one to find- only year with the "modern" transmission, but without the cam-driven distributor (so no hole running through the center main)!!!
It's sad when you hear of treasures being scrapped. But it's not like they haven't tried... Chatting to an old fella yesterday about that.
True, They worked hard and found homes for more than a dozen 30s -50s GM trucks and Pickups. A couple of ''48 Plymouth coupes. Tons of Harley stuff. Tools & parts. There is just so much left. Just sad to know someone could use a lot of it.
I feel the same as you Six Ball! Last week I rounded up my paint pin and got a 261 crank and cam marked and put aside. I just need to keep the pin and some sharpies handy and continue. It seems like I get side tracked though. Neither my son or sun in law are old car people, so if it isn't marked they will be clueless.
My children like old cars but are not interested in building any. If something happens to me, I have given them some names of trustworthy people to call, but I fear a lot of it will end up in a dumpster. We have a couple of younger members in one of the clubs I belong to. One of them asked me a while back if I would fix his car and tune it out. I told him no, that if he is going to own it, he needs to learn to do it himself and that I would answer all his questions if I could. He is trying and learning a lot. I think he will stay with the hobby as he is feeling good about fixing his car himself. My father did the same with me, he wouldn't fix my car for me but would offer advice and the benefit of his experience.
I told my boys that if they paid for the parts I would put them on, if I paid for the parts they had to install them. Since they couldn't afford the parts they were forced into learning how to work on their own cars.
GG2 said" It seems like I get side tracked though." Is there another track? It seems like any track beats none. Like the old joke: When they were passing out brains he thought they said trains. He said, " No thanks, I don't need any. I don't have any track!"
The Jalopy Journal
