Technical 8BA RODS 59AB CRANK

Hi, saw your post about spare rods. Do you still have any left? I have a 46-48 block with the 59 stamped on the housing. 59AB on heads. Will your rods fit? Pete

 

I’d guess they should. As I recall I ended up sending the fella two rod caps, so would have 6 complete left and two w/o the caps.

 

Be aware that the 8BA crank, rods and rod bearings fit right in, you have to use main bearings for the early block, not the crank. Crank mains are the same ID but the tang on the bearing shells are smaller on the 8BA . Use main bearings for the old block and you'll be fine.

 

Best to make one, trace an exhaust manifold and drill the front 2 and the rear 2. (rear holes are 3/8", front are 7/16")
45 degree cut on a tube that fits your engine stand.
OR: Look for Ford flathead engine stand on EBay. $85 plus $78 shipping...
I made mine, had a nice plate of 3/8" thick X 36" long. Chop sawed it and welded it with my 250 Amp Cobra-Mat.

 

If you're running a later 8BA Ford or 8CM Merc crank in an earlier engine, I highly recommend that you run the 49-53 rods with insert bearings. Why? Because you can't just drop in full-floater bearings with 29A rods and expect them to work "out of the box". They have to be "fitted" to the rods and crank - and the process is 1/2 art, 1/2 science and if you've never done it before, you may ruin a set of expensive bearings. The later 49-53 insert style rods and bearings are like modern engines ---> bearings are cheap, no fancy "fitting" (other than making sure your clearances are correct).

About the only time I run full-floater bearings is when I have a 4" Merc crankshaft offset-ground to increase the stroke to 4 1/8" - and for a "vintage style" build I use the earlier 221 CI Ford 91A or 21A rods with full-floater bearings. This was the "hot setup" back in the day. Also, I try to find Cadmium/Silver bearings ("Heavy Duty Truck and Bus") - as they are much softer than the hard bronze ones and are much easier on the crank journals. You'll find a good set of Cad/Silver rod bearings is north of $200 - if you can find them.

Modern - High-Horsepower Race Builds: Now days, if you're running a very high-horsepower flathead and racing, it is usually a better idea to buy some modern H-beam, Carillo or other aftermarket rods and run Buick insert bearings on the smaller 1.999 crankpins. The main reason is they are a LOT stronger than 21A rods (especially for an Ardun or serious blown application) and the bearings are cheap. The full-floater 21A rods are probably just fine up to about 200 HP - over that . . . racer beware! LOL

Fitting Full-Floater Bearings: For those of you who want to run full-floater bearings, here is a little video I did a couple years ago about the basics for "fitting" them to the rods/crank. If you don't do this - chances are you'll ruin a set of bearings and also some rod or crank journals.

Here is the link:

 

As always "good advice Dale"........