Technical Souping up a Model A

I want to improve the performance of my model A coupe but I am on a budget. I have purchased a used Webber carb and manifold and a electronic distributor with centrifugal advance and a lightened flywheel.

What can I economically do to the engine to improve the performance such as porting the intake and exhaust, headers, smithy muffler etc?

If anyone has any parts and or information please contact me a t goodallh@bellsouth.net or answer the post.

 

How about some information about what engine you have. Stock banger, hemi, sbc?

 

High compression head. Cheap and very available new. But remember that upgrades soon reach the limit of the stock crank and main bearings.

 

Snyder's has a 5.5 to 1 and a 6.0 to one head for less than $400 which is one of the biggest improvements you can make, added to the parts you have it will really pep up the performance. Had a Hopped up B motor in my 30 pickup and it was fun to drive but still a 50-60 mph vehicle, the bangers don't like high rpms. With a 3:78 rearend they are turning around 2800 at 60 which is winding them fairly tight.

 

You've got two postings with exactly the same question with basically the same heading, Why not lose one?

 

Windfield Head, Intake and Cam and 97 Carb or 2 and straight thru muffler.

 

if you only do one thing, increasing the compression is it. Get a high compression head. All other upgrades come after that. 7:1 Lion Speed in my avatar

 

A lot of the reading I've done says 6:1 compression for babbitted engines, I don't remember the compression on the Winfield I had on the B engine in my 30 pickup but knocked the babbitt out of rods twice. That could poor workmanship on the babbitt, a problem with the crank or too much running it hard. The engine in the Roadster Pickup is a fresh rebuild so I decided to stay under 6:1 since it's babbitted and not balanced.

 

I have babbit bearings and stock crank so I went for a 5.5 "police" head.

"A" motors are severely limited on RPM range so best mod ever for a 4 banger is an overdrive. Make that torque usable.

 

What most people fail to consider is when they get the engine souped up to make the car go 75 MPH the front fenders will become like airplane wings taking weight off of the front end and the car will be unsafe to drive. A slight gust from a passing semi truck will cause you to change lanes.

Charlie Stephens

 

Good advice, but it doesn't have to be about going fast. Being quick is a lot of fun as well.

 

On my Model A engine I have a police had, Tattersfield downdraft intake with a Stromberg 81 carb and a Clings adapter with a 39 trans.

 

Before you go making it go fast
Get the brakes working properly
a set of cast iron drums will help make it stop

 

A high compression Thomas aluminum head, Weber carb and FSI electronic ignition make for a fun engine. At a higher cost, an overdrive transmission is a performance addition to get you traveling at a more comfortable top speed. I have the F-150 3 speed-over conversion in my A.

 

you don't get anything out of hopping up a model A motor but looks, It's a waist of money if you are on a budget,,and as my dad would say if you got money burn'n a hole in your pocket put it in a coffee can till you have enough to buy a B motor... every penny you spend on the A is money that could go to a b motor..I wouldn't waist the time it would take to lighten the fly wheel, you could use that time to do the B motor swap.... and I would serious think flat head... you can buy a cheep flaty powered car rob the motor and sell off parts of the rest..

 

The Model A motor will tolerate a lot more abuse than some will admit. I built a 10:1 flat motor with stock splash and babbit bottom end that went to Bonneville years ago, it made 125hp @ 3500rpm on the dyno and pushed a street roadster up to 99.5mph! Not sayin it was the most reliable motor on the road, just that it’s possible. Lots of A bones out there making 60-80hp pretty reliably. Never gonna make it to 100,000 miles… but it’ll sound good tryin!

Good news is that almost all the fancy hardware will interchange from the A to the B should you upgrade someday. It’s your money, have fun with it!

 

is the weber a progressive 2 barrel?

 

heres my bangers.... hate all of them...low power hi dollar looky lu motors... there cool to put around the hood.. and attention getters at the gas station..my best one is the 31 w/od...but still don't like going a far distance in it...IMO...traditinal hotroders of the 30's dreamed of the flathead swap, and saved up to do itand come the 50's all hell broke loose and the Y bloke was king of the hill close after was the SBC...so REAL traditional hotrod cars had tomato juice motors... bangers can't run in the V8 class....

 

Weber 32/32, FSI ignition and Snyder head work well, but an overdrive makes the difference. Still, it is an expensive way to get few horsepower and the vibration is no fun for me.

 

Good reason to take them off....

 

Huh. I missed the part where he asked for opinions on what engine he should run. Apparently no one hopped up an A engine, weird that speed parts exist.

 

Regarding the babbited bearings, used to be a machine shop in town, and one a few towns over, that did what they did to use insert bearings.
I don’t have first hand knowledge, just what was told.
was this a myth or reality?
Specially for Model A engines.

 

Snyders sells blems 5.5 for about half the $400.00 but you will still need the special head gasket.
A-6010-HC 5.5.1 head | eBay

 

Coming back to the OP's request for "affordable" upgrades, everyone telling you to increase compression is spot-on. A Snyder's 5.5:1 or 6:1 head is a great choice, and will work well with the parts you've already acquired. (Those links will take you to the product on the Snyder's website.) A blem like the one posted above is also a good option, if available.

Since it seems you're new to Model As, here's some gratuitous installation advice. Be sure to use the gasket recommended by Snyder's. I prefer the graphite version in conjunction with Permatex 80697 Copper sealant; I really can't recommend their silicone gasket, which is installed without sealant (I've had two fail; that's probably on me, of course).

When you install the head, you will also be installing the water neck, because it is held on with the front two head studs. Do NOT use a gasket here, as this can cause the neck to crack during torquing (it's a design flaw). Instead, seal it with RTV, such as Permatex 85080 Ultra Black.

Standard procedure is to torque the head to the recommended spec (I think it's 55-60 lbs on a Snyder's head?), then start the engine and warm it up, let it cool overnight, and then retorque. Drive it a while (say 50-100 miles) and retorque again. (Here's a link to a recommended torque sequence on fordgarage.com.

You'll be surprise how much that head wakes up the engine.

 

Based on your other post, you want to make some kind of show at TROG not a daily street driver for now
Model A engine hop up....on a budget...before a lot of the aftermarket stuff was available that is out there now
My progression was....B intake and carb....yes improvement
Winfield head scored at Hershey in the early 70's... 50 bucks was a lot of money
really woke it up and my $300 coopster now blew oil everywhere with increased crankcase pressure from all that compression past the rings
oil pan and head back off to hone and ring it....old babbett but was able to pull shims to get it 'close' enough and run STP (stupid idea)....babbett needs oil, not honey so the 'cheap fix' knocked center main out....Henrys babbett had lots of lead in it for easy run in when it was new, not for hop up....that's when things get expensive
Back then there were people pouring babbett
Compression and Carburation .....first gains... and the 5.5 to 6.1 is easy on the bottom end
Ignition is perfectly fine with a stock Model A dizzy and the engineer adjusting the timing as required for racing
make sure the shaft and bushings are tight with no slop....the FSI will compensate for slop ...well kind of....
Lightened flywheel will help too...yes..helps throttle response
What do you have now?
Have you done a cranking compression test and a leak by test? Gains might be made in a ring job too.
It's gonna leak oil out the rear main in my experience
@ClarkH advice is spot on and I have had multiple failures of the silicone head gaskets and use the graphlex

 

I have a model a... very first thing to do to them is the float a motor -motor mounts...my model a shivers like a freez'n dog... if I have time I'm doing the side mounts today...

 

do B motors all have insert bearings??

 

No.

 

thanks,... I started to remember that... both my B motors have inserts...don't know what the a motors have that i have...

 

is a C head 5.5 to one???