Hot Rods "may banger may not" may's monthly meeting

I just read through this post and learned things I did not even know I wanted to learn. I am going to go look at my "A" blocks to see if I have a Diamond in the rough!
Rick.

 

My friend bought one just for the engine, pretty much the same as automotive, and his had the counterbalanced crank! If it's relitivly cheap, I'd jump on it!!

 

I think you would find the aftermarket AL. Winfield head has no flycut over the piston. It is flat. Most blocks have been decked but .040 would be extreme in my opinion. I have heard of but not seen blocks that are .060 +. Theses heads work well with out the flycut or relief. My "A" block has been has been decked.032 so when I installed my new J&E pistons I contacted Best gasket, the source of my new head gasket, and asked what the thickness of the compressed gasket would be and was told .060. Rather than change the combustion chamber of the head I chose to relieve the top of the pistons .012 to bring them into J&E specs which were .040 clearance. Highly stressed pistons can "grow" .035. I ran a 9.5 to 1 head on this block with .027 clearance and it ran well until it blew the gasket. This was with both AL pistons and AL rods. The AL rods will also grow but although we ran the car hard at hillclimbs and the Antique Nationals we never had or heard a problem with piston interference. Although we did break a couple of cranks.

 

How much effectiveness/performance would you get shaving a "C" head?

 

What is anyones take on the Model B 1932 Distributor, notice there is not alot of talk about it.

I am rebuilt one myself and am curious on its performance.

 

Nice and swoopy- I like it.

 

GET IT! Most had a 1932 Ford truck grill and front axle.[QUOTE=petritl;3887095]A friend of my dad's asked if I would be interested in an old Toro tractor with a Ford "B" engine. What were these used for? pictures? If it will mow grass I might have to try and get it to knock down the (2) acre yard. In the year I have lived here we have pretty well worn out the Craftsman lawn tractor that came with the house.

Does the engine differ much from the automotive engine?[/QUOTE] Here is a link I Googled. Worthing tractors are another that used Ford engines starting with Model T's. http://images.google.com/imgres?img...Ford&hl=en&rlz=1T4GGIK_enUS284US285&sa=N&um=1

 

How much can an A engine be decked without weakening the surface to much reason is I just got an engine looks like it was rebuilt a long time ago and not run the rods have new babitt havent checked the mains but it has been sat on its deck and rusted bad I think it would need about 1/8 to clean it up if it can handle it I will turn it into a donkey not a full time road goer it will need a bore it looks like its only about 040 in the bore so I may be able to find some pistons with a different compression height to compensate for the lower deck I know there will be some inventive machining on the head for releiving but machining costs me nothing but time tell me your thoughts if not it was a cheap set of rods.

 

Toro along with Wortington were lawn tractors used on estates and golf courses to pull gang reel mowers. have seen them with flathead Plymouth and OHV 6 cyl Fords

 

Bill,
The last two engines I've put High compression heads on, the pistons came above the block by a min. of .040". I did the same as you. I took material off of the top of the pistons. I just pulled the head off of my B engine and the Best graphite gasket that came off of it measured .050" thick. I did what Bluto suggested and cut a corner of the gasket of before I installed it and when it was all torqued down, .047 was the thickest feeler gage that I could get in there. I don't think it is advisable to run less then .035" clearance between the head and piston.

 

OT., But this is for fur.

Here is some pics of a Stutz at the Old Crow shop that Lucky is working on for a friend of ours. It's a great car, but I gotta say....... I think Harry C Stutz was a bit egotistical.... He put his name on everything.... Even the headlight glass. But then again, if I built a car, I guess I'd put my name all over it. Enjoy the pics

 

C50F,
I'm running a B distributor now. I like it. very easy to tune. I like the centrifigal advance. But like Bill said, the points need more maintenance then normal. But I'm running 12 v. I don't know if that is the reason.

I haven't looked hard at the "C" head. When I get a chance, I will CC a stock A and B head and see how they compare.

I did some quik calculation and stock A combustion chamber would have to be @ 230 cc to make @ 4.5 - 1 compresion. A "B" (C) head would be @ 180 cc for @5.5 - 1 CR. you would have to reduce the chamber size too @ 140 cc to get to 6.5 - 1 cr. You would have to take off @ .115" to reduce the chamber that much. I dont think there is that much that you could safely take off a stock B head.

 

Crazz

How did you measure that piston pop-up? You have a large piston with clearance. Need to measure front/back/left/right and average them. .O4O IS REALLY CLOSE for most guys here to be running. .060 is more like it.

Carbon builds up in these old engines
Old or sub-standard fuel doesn't help either.
You can break a piston pretty quick.

AND don't leave any sharp edges any where in the combustion chamber
Low quality fuel will fire off those sharp points as they act as a glow plug.
This includes spark plug threads in the head or exposed threads on the plug.

 

Thanks Daddy-O and Bill.

I actually had my 32 Distributor upgraded to mondern points so hopefuly that will help out. I believe we used Mustang points, a direct fit in.

I am also going to run 6v.

Hope it pays off.

As for the "C" head, 5.5 isnt too bad. I have another and may shave off a few decimal spaces to get a little more sqeeze out of it.

 

Just want to make sure I did this right, I have adjustable lifters in my block. I adjusted each one to .011 gap between the valve end and lifter. Is this correct?

With my new re-ground cam, I had to really lift the adjustment up there, turn the block, back and forth until I got the right amount. If stock ones were in there, I would have been screwed. What a chore.

OH, anyone got a finned Aluminum valve cover plate laying around or for sale?

 

I'm sure this has been asked and answered before. I looked through the links provided in last month's meet without finding the answer.

When putting a B engine in a Model A Tudor , which housing do you use, A or B?

a friend is in need of a B transmission and housing. I have the transmission but don't want to get rid of my B housing if I am going to need it.

 

Yup, that is the beastie! Have you got a chance to drive it?

 

Not yet. She needs a few things. I'll take a video for ya when we fire her up. Might be a few weeks.

 

Bluto,
I use a depth mic to check the piston pop up is several places. I also do an assembled check by installing the head with an old head gasket and pieces of lead solder in the squish area.

You are probably right with the .060" clearance with 90% or the road going builds. But if you go to the lengths that we do to get as much power out of our engines, then closer is still going to last longer then some of the other parts in the engine

 

Got the roadster fired last night....sounds just like when it was in my coupe Cars getting close!!

 

Cool, I am going to order the battery for mine and get her fired up. Could you post some pics of the dash?

Does yours still have the priming pump for the brakes?

Have fun with the vacuum tank!

I think that car came from San Diego, it is too cool seeing two 6 cylinder Stutz's on here, as there are not a lot of them left from the '24-'25 "interem" years.

 

Sounds great! Like the flames shootin' out

 

Check the bolt heads- Dodge had the "DB" on their bolts for a good while

 

Regarding the discussion of the "B" head versus the "C" head. The head with the "B" was also known as the Police head and was rated at 5.2 CR. The head with the "C" was rated at 4.6. This according to a recent discussion on the Ford Barn.

 

Chris,
Great to hear that Roadster going.

Every on else:
I'm going to the junk yard this weekend looking for Model A parts.
What things do you guys look for? I've got my notes on front susp. & brakes.
But I would like to find some real treasures for the Banger.
This yard has tractors, mowers, trucks, and stuff just in a pile.

What quick tips do some of you more knowlegeabe
banger guys use at the junkyard?
Like casting marks, quick measurments and so on
Anything would be great, I'll also have the camera, So expect some
pictures Next week.
Thanks Jeff

 

If the Ford banger has a mechanical fuel pump on the passanger side, it's a B or C. Also look for diamond blocks

 

Wow, I thought it was the other way around.

What is an allowable amount that you can shave off to bump the compression on "C" head?

 

That's just the tips I'm looking for!

Who's got more?

Thanks Jeff

 

If it has a fuel pump, pull it off and look or feel the crank, see if it's counterbalanced. If so- super score! Also any neat distributors or aftermarket manifolds/cars (downdrafts). I belive certian B carbs (updraft) are worth a bit, too.

The B trannys are also kinnda desired, so keep an eye out for those. Of course any 32-34 part- even chassis is worth quite a bit more than Model A.