Is this a true statement? Was there a 24 stud 38 engine or is this a typo in an article I'm readling? I was reading it to grandpa and he caught it.......old dog! I buy him Flathead books for Christmas and his B-day and he goes through and corrects all the errors... "Early 24-stud engine heads, i.e. '38-40, should not be used with 59A blocks......" Excerpt from "What Model Engine Block Do You Have?" Written by Jay M. Temple
The change to 24 studs was a early 38 changeover. Onece the 21's were used up the 24 went in. So I was told.
Paul is correct, both were used in 38. The 21 had the Stromberg 97 and the 24 the Holley or Chandler-Grove 94. There is an all original 38 pickup locally with the 21 studder.
Hmmmmm.. "Ford in the Thirties" claims the following: *I know literature contradicts each other some times....but here it is... "1937 [tells the specs of this year engine] 1938 (Model 81A) No changes other than changes to 14mm plugs. 1939 When the Mecrury automobile was redesigned so that it could be used in both cars. ford retained the 3 1/16" bore, while Merc went to 3 3/16" for 239ci. Heads changed to 24-stud design (extra studs for better sealing)." I'm not trying to start an arguement, seriously. Like I said in another post, I love the little bits of trivia. Again, I know Ford did some stuff that makes things hard to nail down in absolutes. I just like to know facts..... seems there's plenty of misinformation..... What do you gurus think? I really do want to know! Do you have any do***entation......
I've got the '38 resto book from the club, and it gives the changeover information with dates and so on. Definitely true. Another oddity: The Ford carb was actually introduced in very small numbers for sort of beta testing on the public in 1937, which accounts for the "78" part numbers for many bits. It was made by Ford and Chandler Groves '37-8, Holley and Ford thereafter. Early Holley ones still carried the C-G logos...I have three carbs with the Chandler-Groves logo, and none of them were actually made by CG--one is a Ford, the other two Holleys! Also, the "'37 V8-60 tubular axle" was used up into '40--apparently all on 85's.
Another possible oddity--if I remember correctly, the Ford stuff says switchover was very early in 1938 production so overwhelming majority of cars should be 24's. This doesn't seem to correspond with LOTS of people's experience--there seem to have been a lot of 21's out there. Perhaps the date given was just the end of manufacture of the engines for production and the changeover at the Rouge plant and the ***embly plants in the hinterlands already had a few month's worth of 21's stockpiled. The English, by the way, produced 21 stud engines in new vehicles right into the early 1950's.
There might also be some confusion if they're talking about calender years or model years. '38 Model year started in September '37. I saw one of those Chandler-Groves carbs at the LA Roadster's show Swap Meet, with about half a century's worth of desert mud, sand and rust on it and still a $60 price tag
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