For some time I have thought that a Willys “Go Devil” (Flathead 134 CI) might be a good swap into a Model A. I own both a 1948 Willys Jeep which has the Go Devil motor in it and I also own a 1928 Model A Roadster pickup. Stock Model A motor is 200 CI 40 HP in stock form. They also vibrate pretty bad. The Go Devil is 60 HP and smooth as butter. The Willys transmission is a very good 3 speed with 2nd & 3rd synchronized. Obviously, visualizing the idea is easy for me since I have both but the average Joe (not you wise and well informed gentleman of course) would be easily fooled because the Go Devil is still a flathead 4 Banger (yes, there are differences of course, I’m talking about the similarities). The Go Devil cylinder head does say Willys or Jeep on it but that could be milled off, or, a “Sonic” head from a Kaiser passenger car could also be used. Who wouldn’t think that a Model A Banger with a Sonic head on it was cool?
Why not ?? I have several old flat fender Willys unrestored and my 1953 Willys CJ3B which of course has the newer F head configuration. Maybe look for an ultra rare Hickey aluminum head !! Somewhere in a folder, I have a "little books" article about a Vic Hickey build of an old flat fender.....not sure what other mods they did. I think it was used as a sand dune racer at the time. Sounds like a great project and surely a nice dependable conversation piece. Have fun.
I always thought a 110 Offy midget engine would be neat in a Model A. Back in the 70's you could pick them up cheap. De-tuned it would probably still put out 100 hp.
And you can get factory OD trans for it if you want one. I wouldn’t mill squat off the head. Run that Willys with pride
The only thing I would wonder about is the usable torque with the smaller displacement. Do you happen to know the weights of the respective vehicles?
If you get a wartime head, it won’t say Willys. If you get one out of a GPW it will have an ‘F’ on it since it was made by Ford! Go for it! I just put an MB together with an L-134. Great little motors!
Somewhat related, but I always thought an Alfa Romeo 1.6L or 2.0L would be an excellent choice for a banger replacement. They are about the same size, dual over cams, all aluminum with steel wet liner sleeves and rev up to 8K. If you go open drive, their 5 sp transmission is excellent. Even their rears from Spyders look kind of like banjos, but are all aluminum with disc brakes. They sound great too.
There was a A street rod in the '70's that ran a Fiat engine! I dig innovative swaps like you have planned; no unnecessary cutting up old tin and still boosting power, somewhat!
Actually, they take to traditional methods of hopping-up rather nicely. I'd rather use one of them than a ModelA or T. Fair amount of parts-swapability, iirc. Marcus...
I hope this post stays up with a lot of interesting info. I found parts for a t roadster cheap and this would be fun to do
Ugh - I had my fill of fixing Fiat 850s in the 70s. My dad also had a 1967 Fiat Abarth 1300 OT coupe....nothing but trouble but kinda fun when it worked. Carlo Abarth was essentially a creative Italian hot rodder but the basic cars were not designed for US highways and long US travel distances.
Great topic. Hopping one up is straight forward, as Kaiser developed it quite a bit. Bet you could even bolt up one of the factory superchargers from the 6. Look for a Kaiser “Supersonic” head, that will get you closer to 70hp as it has higher compression and better combustion chamber design. Next get a cam ground. I like Dema Elgin over in Santa Rosa, he has a lot of experience and is very creative. I bet you could get a solid 100hp out of thar little 134 cu in engine. Also good transmission options and with luck, get one with overdrive. Look forward to the build. fun link about modifying the 6: https://www.oldwillysforum.com/foru...s-utility-wagon-be-careful-of-big-ideas.6642/
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