Chapter 2 Engine Basics All automotive engines are simply air pumps, ee the aim ot this book, a of perfor gine builders in general, is to increase the efficiency of this pump, Period! The Chapters on Valves, Building a Mild Engine, Building a hot Flattie, etc. ae all designed with this in mind, Keep in mind that the most efficient engine for street i is not also the best for Facing, Build your engine for the purpose that it will be used. Building a dual-purpose engine sounds like good idea, but is usually a compromise for both uses. Mance en. The Model A, B & T engines are all of the L-head design, we call them flatheads because of their external appearance. They also have only 2 intake ports, Siamese Ports, which are fine for the moderate speeds that they were originally meant to be driven at. The Problem with them is that each port draws the air/fuel mixture in an uneven manner; | refer to them as “putts.” The firing order being 1-2-4-3 causes port #1 to feed 2 cylinders in succession (#1 & #2), followed by port #2 doing the same thing (#4 & #3). People have gone to the expense of having special cams made so the firing order becomes 1-3-4-2, but Problem! Think about this; continue down the firing order, 1-3-4- So, you can see that both ports are still feeding 2 cylinders in succe: Model T engine for track use called the 2 up, shaft that put pistons #1 & #2 up at the same This did separate the port putts, said it did vibrate at low speeds. this does not overcome the -1. 3-4 is followed by 2-1, sion. Ed Winfield built a 2 down engine. This engine had a special crank- time, while #3 & #4 were down in their cylinders. and he was very successful with this engine even though he Performance engines prefer individual intake Ports to sepa- So 4 individual ports would be better than only i.e,, using the original exhaust ports as intakes, and », but none of these engines has really impressed me. Ahigh school friend of mine did that in 1952 ina drag roadster, and didn’t gain much if any- thing in the way of speeds or e.ts, The Old Crow car ran Bonneville with such an engine and engine. Running a re- h the 2 old intake Ports, adding heat to that area id is it ; = te tskof racking block. There have been a few engines built where the owner cut and fn : ae dn = lock to achie intake ports while retaining the original 4 exhaust ports, © most efficient way to achieve a balanced engine for breathing purposes, but is time consuming and expensive, 'eve 4 individual iBore size: When these engines were being raced professionally, “back in the day,” the first thing the builder did was to bore out the cylinders to 4”, or even 4.060”. This worked fine as the more cubic inches an engine has, the more power it will produce, you have made a bigger pump. You can still do this if you like; my theory is that keeping the bore small will add to the rigidity and longevity of the engine. The last few engines that | have built were just given a “clean-up” bore. | am also not a believer in sleeving a block back to standard unless absolutely necessary. While it is rare for a sleeve to cause problems, if the sleeve isn’t there, it surely won't cause any problem. | have not seen a Model A or B block that will not take a 4” bore satisfactorily, meaning it will cause no problems like overheating, which is merely an old wives tale perpetuated by those that have never tried it. Another problem with a big bore is finding a head gasket that will fit, they were common years ago, but not today. Stroke: Don’t mess with changing the crankshaft stroke unless for a genuinely good reason. Lengthening the stroke will give you more torque but has its drawbacks too, like less engine life and likely a shortened crank life. Shortening the stroke can result in a smoother running engine, but there is a loss of some of the torque that makes these engines so pleasant to drive. Changing either one unnecessarily just adds to the cost of building an engine. Pistons: Standard replacement pistons will give you satisfactory performance and engine life, however may not be the best for what you are doing with it. Modern pistons use narrower rings and differently engineered skirts. Narrow rings seal better and the newer skirt design re- duces friction and allows for better stability of the piston, resulting in longer ring life. This be- ing said, standard replacement Model A pistons combined with today's modern oils, will still result in very good engine life. Pistons from other engines that have been used in A & B’s in- clude: 332, 352 and 351 Windsor Ford, 1954-56 Olds, small block Chevy, and likely many more. Check bore size and wrist pin height and size before buying any of these. | am running Ross racing pistons in my Bonneville engine, they are light and strong. Cast pistons are cheap- er and more rigid than forged pistons so are actually better for street use. Forged pistons are not necessary for most street engines but do have more absolute strength for racing. Racing pistons like Ross makes are often lighter than stock pistons. This helps reduce vibration, common in our 4-bangers. Note when having special-order pistons made: Ford’s pistons for the Model A “popped-up” out of the block .03125”, and were listed as having a compression distance of 1 and 29/32 of an inch (1.90625”). This, combined with any re-surfacing of the block done over the years, can cause interference with aftermarket heads that have no relief machined into them over the pistons. To have pistons that are flush with the top deck, order 231.875”. This distance will need to be changed ; them with a compression distance 0} k with the piston manufacturer before orde You crank no longer has a stock stroke. Checl Ting, . hese engines is pretty much a WinswWin isit pression on t ing Compression ratio: Raising oe mpression than the 4.2:1 that we are all familiar yi, i sin 1927 had hig . . tion. The fs eee of roughness at idle speed and gasoline quality of the day, Today, Ford lowered tou! Higher ratios give better power and efficiency (fuel Mileage), 5 21 is ridiculous! ! . " ‘ nag tia? Nothing! With higher compression, ae molecules ui the cylinder what’ re so they burn faster. There is also less room in the oeaeonl chamber, er toget fi el will expand more. Is there a down side? Like everything else in life if you OVverdg burning ue into problems. Detonation is more likely to occur; this also relates to Combus.. it, ae ign. There were many, many aftermarket heads made for the Model 4 With tion chamber design. ls " ; some very interesting designs. In the long run the Winfield, Chrysler and Waukesha d lesigns Proved to be the best, and all were similar. The exception is the new BRIERLEY head, on the market soon, may be the best ever! ATE clog, SO the Rods: Stock connecting rods back in the day had a rather became common in race cars. | have run Model B rods in with no problems. This includes Bonneville and drag raci 'y 6,000 RPM. | have come to the conclusion that it was the rod nuts more than the rods themselves that was the problem. A & B rods are light and quite strong. All aftermarket rods back in the day were quite heavy, not an ideal situation. Today’s aftermarket rods are as light as or lighter than stock rods. So, t ‘0 change or not to change is the question. | believe itis a whichever fits your Pocketbook is t! they must be Perfect, no stretchin 'd nuts! See chapter on assembly poor reputation, so aftermarket Tods my race engines for many years, ing my Cook, and turning it Consistent- matter of economics; look at the threads, he rod to run. if choosing stock rods use stock castellate 8 Or stripping can be tolerated. Do not for more info. Mains: While | have never seen a main cap break, it was and is, and center main cap with ones m, common to replace the front lade of steel or bronze. Bronzethis is critical when using insert bearings. Alignment pins are the best way to do this. Vic King recommends making long studs, threaded into the block with nuts on the top and the stud protruding through the cap with a hard washer and nut on the bottom. The block being %” in diameter needs a 5/8” stud to obtain a full thread, but | have made them out of 9/16” material which gives only a partial thread but seems to work OK. The object here is to tie the block to- gether for added strength. An added benefit of using these studs is that it makes it easy to remove the main caps as the studs stay tight in the block. Never use over-the-counter studs, because there is not enough thread area, and they will pull out of the block, or even worse, take a chunk of the block with them. Again, do not use stock nuts. Samples, (left) of special main studs. Long portion on right extends up into the block, threads in middle thread into block, left portion is for the cap. Timing gears: While a cast iron crank gear and fiber cam gear work OK in a stock engine, they also have been known to be the cause of many a “roadside seminar”. Original crank gears were steel, stay with a steel gear. For the cam gear, use a metal gear of some sort, alu- minum is very adequate for street use. In a competition engine with high valve spring pres- sures, use bronze or steel gears, straight cut gears are the best for racing but are not really needed in most engine All cast iron gears do not have the reliefs as shown below, the real test is to pare a little off the metal with your trusty pocket knife. If metal comes off in small chips, like filings, it is cast. If metal comes off in longer slivers, it is steel. Steel gears are a few ounces heavier than cast gears but their reliability factor is much better.Cast iron Bear on left Bearing material: Babbitt was used in most engines prior to the aa Itisan alloy oe tinand several trace minerals. Many different alloys were made, for different uses. Auton, tive babbitt sometimes contained silver as a hardening agent, ae alone makes a 800d bear. ing material. Babbitt was also used in racing engines such as the Miller and Offy engines, The key to using babbitt is selecting the proper alloy, and having it done by a competent crafts. man. Babbitt holds up particularly well in main bearings, and it is good in rods too but doesn’t hold up quite as well there. Modern insert, or shell, bearings have a thin coat of babbitt asa wear surface. Today, in our A/B engines, Babbitt and inserts are about the same, cost-wise, The quality of inserts is very consistent, and they are easily replaced, so they are a good choice but not a necessity. Again, a good craftsman is needed to perform this operation. | built my most recent street engine, an iron 4-port Riley on an A block, counterweighted B crank (not aC crank), fully pressurized oil system, using all babbitt bearings. Babbitt has good “embeddabil- ity,” it can survive with some contaminants in the oil. Inserts absolutely require a full-flow fil ter in the system, Carburetion: These are big engines, half of a gines runnin n 6 ON a carburetor the size of a St things, the 4 cylinder uneven putts, so the 1960's Pontiac Tempest engi 400 cubic inch V8. Do you see any moder en ele Tomberg 97? Of course not! To complicate : eae 8enerate a steady pull on the incoming air. It comes!" mixture has to stop and start for each cylinder’s intake. The n®, 24 cyl. which was half of their VB of the day, had a bigger Out any spider webs, They are easi ready to go when you are, just clean and | have accumulated Several 97 t en the only special tool Needed is a jet wrench. od T the years, when they were cheap! The Holley 94 as 16common and good choice too but may need a little more fine-tuning for best performance due to their vacuum operated power enrichment system, especially when used in pairs or triples. Ahint on Stromberg’s; the spot on the float where the needle makes contact with it can be- come worn. This divot needs to be smoothed to prevent carburetor flooding. Ignition: Henry's distributor was pretty good in 1928, but there has been a lot of improve- ment since then. Guys used to convert distributors from other makes of car, like Willy's, but the Mallory distributor was better, and is still a good choice. Dual points will give the coil more saturation time (dwell) but are not necessary. By their nature, 4 cylinder engines give more saturation time to the coil than a 6 or 8 cylinder. The new FS electronic ignition may be the best available today. Carry a spare module, or a spare set of points and condenser under the seat, just in case! Exhaust: While the original exhaust manifold is pretty well designed for a stocker, a perfor- mance engine needs a better system. There are cast manifolds that are nicely designed, and steel-tubing headers. The cast manifolds are quiet but retain heat, making the floorboards and interior of the car hotter than tubing headers. Headers need to be designed so that cylin- ders #1 and #4 feed together and #2 and #3 together, or all 4 into one pipe such as shown on the front cover. This is to even out the putts. I’ve seen headers that put #1 and #2 together, and #3 and #4 together. This is the equivalent of the Siamese porting of the intake, not the best. The stock A muffler is quite restrictive, so at the very least, install an Aries performance muffler. A straight-through designed muffler is the best, with a larger than stock head and tail pipe. Power can be gained by tuning the exhaust system by changing overall length and pipe diameters, but a dyno is needed for this and the gain is minimal. How complicated can you make things? Rock- er assembly on a Griff 3- valve head. Never heard of a Griff? Me neither, and know nothing about it other than it has 2 in- take and 1 exhaust valve v7Chapter 3 Miscellaneous Stuff «a pan for ‘B’ block; The B rear main is larger than the A, so the A pan must be enlarged in this area, ’ pan 7 ing it i for the amount t late from the back of a B pan and using it as a guide, mark the A pan nto aaa The flare on the A pan is about all that is needed to 7 aie i ane a little long because the flare will need to be put back on the Apanso it aa aa er oon the A pan using ajig saw, but you might need to cut the lip area with a wes wt al or a block will show fall is going to fit correctly. Itis best to do this with no be i 3 iB led so you can see the area better. This is the only modification needed to the pan itself. If you want to run the dust cover, the lip will need to be cut off of it also, and possibly a small notch to clear the center of the main cap area. If using B rods, use ARP 12-point nuts to clear the sides of the a pan, otherwise you will need to duplicate the dimples that are in the B pan for this purpose. 7/16” ARP nuts come in bubble packs of 10, part #300-8333. (Supplier? Summit Racing). An A pan gasket can be used when putting an A pan ona B block by trimming the rear of it where it meets the main cap. Trim it so it has the tab that fits in the cap’s groove, like the stock gaskets do. Or use the B gasket. B pan onan A block: This is rarely done, but if you want to run a B trans behind an A block you need 2B pan, or the rear section of a B pan welded to an A pan to mate up with the transmission. A spacer needs to be welded in to fill the space between the B pan and the smaller A rear main cap, not easy but can be done. Other problems can occur with this combination. The 2 pan bolts nearest the cap are no longer reachable, not a big deal but those 2 holes in the block must be sealed or you will have a serious leak. Don’t ask how | know this; let us just say that experience is a good teacher. Pan preparation (A&B): Before painting the pan, be sure the side rails are straight and flat. They are often bulged upwards around each of the pan bolts. They can easily be straightened by supporting the lip of the pan on anything flat and sturdy such as your work bench or a 2x12 piece of wood on edge. With it properly supported, use one of your larger hammers to pound the high areas down flat. Failure to do this can result in oil leaks and an unsightly mess. Oil will slosh away from the pump on hard acceleration and sometimes on a hard right turn. To prevent this, install baffles as shown below. Ona full pressure system weld in 2 cross baffles, one just ahead of and one just behind the pump at- ea. Mount hardware-store hinges as gates that will allow oil into the pump area but not out of it. On a stock system, pop-rivet a piece of alumi , inum to the center baffle, to enlarge i low. This keeps the oil from sloshing away from the nen ara but also not as important on a st A Pump on acceleration. Not as effective as the hinge syste” a stock s\ fe . self-level, yystem. These additions need not be water tight, the oil needs t 18Not to scale, align ar- rows with stock baffle Baffles for full pres- sure sys- tem, no Paint: Now I’m not a spit-polish type of guy, but a little paint does make things look better. | like to use POR-15 paint on my engines. This paint is on the expensive side but can be brushed on easily and flows into a nice smooth appearance. It will stick to most anything, including light rust and fingers. It will oxidize if exposed to sunlight, but can be over-coated with any color you like, even Ford green, but why would anyone do that! The point is, paint while the block is clean. Tools I'm going to assume that you have a good assortment of hand tools and a variety of sizes and types of hammers (aka enforcers, very important). If you are going to do any major work you will need some specialized tools as well, including: Hardwood block, approx. 1x4x12 or a 2x4x12. This is to wrap a piece of coarse emory paper around and use for cleaning and insuring flatness of gasket surfaces. Care must be used when sand- ing to keep areas flat. This can be used on the top deck of the block and all cast iron covers. Do not use a large file as it can flex, resulting in a rounded area instead of flat. Valve Spring Compressor; The “C” type works the best. A light-duty one will work OK on stock springs, but a good heavy duty one such as used on modern OHV engines will be needed for stronger springs. Installing Isky V8 springs and re- tainers; Special tool acting as a pivot point for screwdriver has patent pending! 1921/32” socket: Used to remove stock connecting rod nuts. This was a standard size included in socket sets as late as 1960. Ford rod nuts are likely the only use for this size socket. Not for installing ately after removal. nuts, as you should have thrown those nuts away immedi Gravity: As a tool? Certainly! When installing front covers or the Bell Housing (with block useful in many other areas, think standing on end,) gravity will help keep the gasket in place. Also sagging is caused by gravity. Some of you may be too young to understand all about it! By the way, of what that means, but you will!!! FYI, the curve on the human body, like most things, is a bell-curve, It has changed somewhat over the years but only in the shape of the curve. From birth to age 30itis on the steep uphill side of the bell, from 30 to about 50 (this is the part that has changed,) the curve has lengthened.) At 50 or so it starts on a gentle downhill slope, and at 60 or 65 it's like falling off a cliff! What most people refer to as a “beer-belly” is merely a result of gravity. Stick around and en- Joy! Beer: Beer as a tool? Of course! Besides making people happy for centuries, it can quench your thirst after working hard on your A. Re-cycled beer can even put out small fires, just be sure and not get the fire hose too close to the flames! Pocket knife; Always carry a good pocket knife with you. Not one of those wimpy-ass little ones that you couldn’t cut your way out of a paper bag with, a good husky one, 1 or 2 blades, kept reasonably sharp. The one I’ve been carrying around the last 10 years or so is a Genuine Caterpillar knife, imported from China, so you know it’s a good one! It has a single 3” blade, stainless steel and holds its edge quite well. Some carry one of those fancy Swiss Army knives, these are OK if you are a fisherman/tree-hugger, but think about them for the Model A guy. A’s don’t have Phillip’s screws, and how often do you need to open a bottle of wine while driving your A??? The only advantage to carrying one is that you'd have something to clean your toenails with, and that is all! Brass-knuekles; Oops, wrong book! Tee Shirts; Tees as a tool? Well not really a tool but your education would not be complete If you were not instructed on the proper care and usage of the venerable tee shirt. First, never buy any tee other than all cotton. A 50/50 tee may wear longer but is useless for anything other than wear- ing, and they are not as comfortable in hot weather. There are 3 stages of tee usage: Stage 1; New, to be worn with pride, kept clean and neat in appearance although ironing them is a bit of overkill. Should have an appropriate logo such as on a F.A.S.T. shirt. Pockets become more important as we age. A clean cotton tee can also be used to clean your glasses. Stage 2; Slightly-worn, with perhaps a ragged neck and /or sleeves. Some oil stains allowed but without any large holes or tears. To be worn around the house and shop but not for going into town or on a date with your best gal. Stage 3; Very worn, ragged, or with holes noticeable at distances of 10 feet or more. The tee is now on its last legs but is still of use as a shop or polish rag. If used as a polish rag it should be turned out-side in, as the logo could do more damage to the paint finish than you'd want. If used as a shop rag they can be used for awhile right-side out and later turned outside-in, this gets the absolute most use out of them. At any time in stage 3 they make excellent covers for projects-in-work or equipment covers 20such as keeping dirt or sawdust off your milling machine table, etc. When quite saturated they are now ready for disposal, but please do so in a reverent manner. Some tees should never be thrown cout, such as 200 MPH Club tees. In fact, they should go from stage 2 to an honored spot on your shop wall and not desecrated by using as a shop rag. Do not throw oily rags in a pile as they can self- combust. Lay them out openly so any heat will dissipate. I was going to put a bit in about nose-picking but decided it was too complicated a subject with sanitation, ethics, proper angle of approach, proper disposal, etc. all to be considered. ‘Scrotum: ... Say what? So why is it mentioned here? Because it, and pumpernickel, are two of the funniest words in the dictionary! Brought a smile to your face didn’t it? Rufi streamliner with my (now) Cook. See Chapt. 24 21Chapter 4 Heads & Compression When you look up the word compression on the web you get info on medical Eade music and com. puter file compression. This is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about compressing the air in the cylinders of our Model A engines. The fuel is a liquid, and does not compress, just the air (a gas) does. I've never seen what | consider a really good explanation of what happens as com. pression ratio goes up, so | asked Dema Elgin about it. He says that it is done to get the most BTU’s (heat) out of an engine by increasing the burn rate. | am sure that burn rate is the answer. My simpli. fied explanation is; the more we compress it, the closer the molecules become to each other, so igni- tion of each fuel molecule occurs more quickly and the mixture expands more quickly and to a greater extent, resulting in more power. Also the act of compressing a gas adds heat to it. Heated fuel ignites more easily. An example would be when you rake your leaves in the Fall, and your neighbor rakes his leaves. If the two piles are near each other, and your rotten neighbor lights his pile on fire, yours will catch fire too. Now move these 2 piles closer together and yours will catch on fire sooner (quicker). Ok, now throw in a breeze (we call this turbulence in an engine) and your pile catches on fire even is just nature following its course, so it will likely do no good to sue your lousy more quickly! Thi neighbor. Aftermarket heads for the Model A started to. appear almost immediately after the first new cars hit the showrooms. All were designed to increase performance, they achieved this by raising the com- Pression. In the 20s & 30s gasoline was of poor quality compared to today’s fuel, plus the handling and storage of it was not always the best. This limited the compression that could be used, as deto- nation would occur as ratios were increased. Racers got around this by the use of special fuels and additives, but for daily use this was not practical. To control detonation, combustion shapes of many descriptions were tried, including some really weird ones! Waukesha and Chrysler did a lot of exper- imenting and soon were licensing their chamber design to others. Ed Winfield, a West Coast racer and self-taught designer/engineer, was also on the cutting edge for such things of the day. The shapes by those mentioned above were similar to each other and became the standard of the indus- try. Keep in mind that the goal is to burn the fuel and not explode it. Explosion in the engine is deto- nation and is very hard on parts. Compression aids both power and economy. Our 2001 Prius has a ratio of 13:1! It also has dual over- head cams, 4 valves per cylinder, variable cam timing and fuel injection, all controlled by a computer. This is typical of performance engines today, but the Prius is designed strictly for economy, and runs on regular gas too! There are different “types” of compression: Static compression. This is what we all think of when talking about it, like 6:1. Itis the mathematical ratio figured by the following formula. (chamber vol- 22ume + swept volume) + chamber volume. Don’t forget to include the head gasket volume when figur- ing total volume. This is not what the engine actually “sees.” Why? Because the air does not start to compress until the intake valve closes. This point varies according to the cam being used. No cam to- day allows the valve to close at bottom-dead- center (BDC), maybe in 1901, but not today. Ina typical touring cam, the intake valve isn’t fully closed until about 40° to 50° after BDC (ABDC). Effective compression. This is the volume of the cylinder when the intake valve has seated, plugged into the above formula. To complicate things there is also Dynamic compression. This is effective compres- sion that is affected by volumetric efficiency, RPM, ram tuning, etc. We are really only concerned here about static compression, affected only by bore, stroke, and combustion chamber volume. My recommendation for a good touring engine would be no less than 6:1 and no more than 7.5:1. In a light car such as a speedster or fender-less roadster, 8:1 could be used, and of course even more on racing engines. A general problem with flatheads is that on any given head, the higher you raise the compression, by milling the head, the more restrictive the passageway between the intake valve and the cylinder. | do not recommend above 6:1 when using a head with a combustion chamber similar to the original Ford design. Be aware that raising the compression will likely require using less spark ad- vance. 26° to 28° is about max on most engines. Ample passage between the intake valve and the cylinder is just as or more important than static compression ratio because even though you have raised the static compression, the effective ratio may be less. Less air/fuel in the cylinder = less com- Pression pressure. Baa Silberstein chamber, Head in Wiley Post certified FAA. dual plane approved for flight (in Pietenpole) How to CC the chamber: A piece of Plexiglas and a beaker is all that is needed. With a hole drilled in the Plexiglas to pour liquid through, and a small amount of grease around the chamber edge to seal it, Pour the liquid into the chamber until completely full. This may require some acrobatics on your part to get the last of the air bubble out of the chamber. | tried, without success, to buy a beaker from a medical supply house, but did find one in a toy store, and cheaply too! Mine only goes to 100 cc’s, so a refill is often needed. | use water as the liquid, it is cheap and readily available. The volume of the head gasket is needed to complete the formula. Rather than try and measure this on my own, I stole figures from 2 other people. Bill Stipe in Wisconsin says 16.877cc @ .050” thickness and 20.253cc @ 23060", Marco Tahtaras on Ford Barn says 17-474c«. I've been using a : iain figure. Toy, totally accurate you should do this with the head installed on the engine, but it is difficult to com, pletely fill the chamber. Unknown designer, has miles onit. Cast iron Cyclone crows-foot, copy of Win- fields’ crows- foot chamber Iput many miles on this Cyclone head, note thread repair and welding done to repair corrosion damage. Winfield 6:1, typi- cal of Winfield Also left, Tools needed to cccham- chambers bers oa in pon ve Sears catalog listed rebuilt Model A engines for $29.75. For $249 eee a te ; ut if you really wanted to step up you could buy a high compression fetes ly not a lot of people could afford the extra 30 cents??? In 1938 this was fl many working-class people, the kind of people that drove Ford’s! 24Riley flathead, 13/16” deep. Photo taken from Dan Iandola’s George Riley Racing Scrapbook. Note that the spark plug locations in all of the above heads are similar, but different than what was used by Ford. Throughout the years, plug location has progressed from over the intake valve (a cool area) towards the exhaust area. This was done to prevent pre-ignition caused by heat-activated com- bustion. My new head (below) will have an entirely different plug location. Anote on spark plugs: The higher the compression, the colder heat range of plug needs to be used. For street use, with Champion plugs, use a 12 or 14. Thread sizes can vary from head-to-head. Most aftermarket heads back in the day used 18mm plugs (D series in Champion), today’s heads usually have 14mm threads. Early Winfield heads used 18mm threads, later ones used 14mm. Thread length varies too. Check the plug in the head before installing. Aim to utilize full thread depth without threads protruding into the chamber. See Chapter 13 for more info. Best head ever: The new BRIERLEY head. All new design, taller casting for rigidity requires longer studs. New combustion chamber, will not restrict air flow into cylinder if head is milled for higher compression. Thicker in all dimensions, for rigidity. %" reach, 14mm spark plugs, etc. Nice pics of my size 12’s. Head not yet fully machined. 25Chapter 4a Compression Chart Compression chart compiled by Dave Barker, San Jose, Ca. Measure the cc volume of your combustion chamber, gasket included, as shown in Chapt. 4, Follow the lines on the chart to determine your engines compression. BY DPAve BARKER Model A Compression Ratlo for Various Bore Sizes 9.50 o>; Stan. ooo =" 940 Over oa aso === 000 Over ea —— 128 over ~ 125 Over, 8 in. Soke Yours truly at speed, fastest mph in SP-1 class in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the 2009 Speedster Reunion. Winfield 6:1 head, 3 Stromberg 81’sChapter 5 Getting started Choosing the Block and crankshaft, etc. The first thing you need to do is to cheese-yourweapen, oops, | mean choose the type of block that you want to build. In George Riley’s booklet, written in 1931 before the B came into existence, he says not to use the early blocks. This is because the rear main area of those blocks is noticeably weaker than later blocks. Model A blocks: The very early blocks used a steel rear main cap; later ones are of cast iron. Is one stronger than the other? | haven’t the slightest idea, but I have never seen a main cap break. The early steel cap is thinner and requires shorter bolts, but either cap is OK to use. | like the thicker late caps. The A block generally got stronger as production changes were made. If using an A block, use the latest one you can find. The early blocks also had 5 cam bearings, but this is not a critical thing. For most engines, the standard 3 bearings are more than adequate. For extreme use, where the cam is ground down quite small, and heavy spring pressure is used, extra cam supports can be made and installed. Advantages of the A block, as compared to the B block, is mostly in the thickness of the top deck and around the ports. Thickness around the ports will allow bigger valves to be installed without porting out into water, a bad thing. This added thickness also means the A block is less apt to crack around the exhaust ports. Disadvantages are the main bearing sizes are smaller than the B resulting in a more flexible crank and less bearing area. Flexibility is great for pole dancers, not so good for crankshafts. B and C cranks were commonly installed in A blocks back in the day. Most merely turned the mains down to A size and the crank dropped right in place. This gave a slightly stronger crank, and in the case of the C crank, it had counter-balance weights already in place. And don’t even think about giving me that crap about “no such thing as aC crank.” Everyone back then, and everyone to- day, knows the B crank had no counter weights and the C crank does. It is much easier to call them a C crank than to go to all the trouble to explain each time about the difference and that Ford never changed the part number. OK, where was |? Oh yeah, the B cranks also have larger throws (bearing diameter of the rod journals) and can be off-set ground for added stroke. Some racers even short- ened the stroke in order to get fewer cubic inches for certain class requirements such as in Bonneville racing before the days of classes explicitly for Vintage Fours. If putting a C crank in an A block today, | would turn the mains down to 1.800” and use insert bearings. Bearings for the Chevy Corvair rods and some NASCAR bearings are that size, and | think others. There is exactly 2” between the A main bolts, and boring the block for inserts will work out well. It will take 2 bearings, leaving a small gap between them for an oil “groove.” The intake ports in the A block are not quite as streamlined as those in the B. This is important only on racing engines. Be sure to check the top deck and areas around the outside of the water jacket for cracks and other signs of water leakage. Also inspect the 27roof area of the valve chamber for “freeze cracks.” External cracks on the A blocks seem to be more common than on the B’s, notably in the very front, but can occur elsewhere too. Model B blocks: The early ’32 blocks have a boss, approximately 2”x3” on the left side below the oil fill tube area. This was for a proposed vacuum assist on the clutch. Early’32 firewalls had an area to mount linkage or something for this device, which by the way never reached production. This boss ig neither a plus nor a minus as to strength of the blocks. B blocks were in production from 1932 through 1934. In’32 nearly as many B’s were sold as were V8’s. In’33 & ’34 mostly V8’s were used mostly in passenger cars while the B engines were used more in commercial usage. Most aftermarket flatheads were made to fit the Model A block and head gasket. The B block has 6 small holes on the top deck that the A does not have. Four of these holes must be plugged flush with the deck in order to support the gasket or it will fail. These are the 4 that basically run down the center line of the block. See Chapter 7 for details. Diamond blocks: After production ceased, Ford continued to make both A and B blocks for commer- cial use, and they made a lot of them. These blocks are identifiable by a small diamond cast into the block at the right front corner near where the side cover and the small timing gear cover come to- gether. The diamond is a foundry mark, these blocks were cast elsewhere and not in the Ford factory. Most of these blocks came from the factory with hard seats installed for the exhaust valves. These blocks are not all from the same molds, and can vary in thickness around the ports, so don’t think that if one block was successfully ported out for great big valves, the next one will take that much porting too, maybe so, maybe no! Alll of the above blocks can safely be bored out to 4”, which is .125” over standard. Racers used to run them at 4.060” but I don’t recommend that today. A bore that big re- quires a special “big-bore, big-valve” gasket, and these are no longer available. An engine with a 4” bore will not cause overheating or any other problems. Many people today want to sleeve the block back to standard, but my theory is that if there is no sleeve, it will not cause any problems. | have the same theory on painting inside the block, but many do it anyway. Painting the inside of blocks be- came popular with late-model V8 guys as the castings on them are often quite rough, and paint lets the oil return more quickly to the pan. A & B blocks are quite nice castings, and do not have this prob- lem. If you do paint the insides, use the proper type of paint and not ordinary enamel. Glyptal, a paint used in electric motors, is the best paint to use. Glyptal is expensive, 50 bucks per quart from Speedway Motors. Preparing the block: After choosing a good block, the water jackets should be cleaned as rust has un- doubtedly formed inside. This rust will likely come loose as you drive, and clog the radiator. A short piece of speedometer cable, or %” wire rope, can be chucked into your electric drill and fed up into all the water passages to knock the rust loose. If done while the block is upside down most of the rust will fall out. Wear a breathing mask as this is a dirty job. You'll probably need to run the drill counter- clockwise to prevent the cable from unraveling. This rust can also be cleaned out commercially and a better job would be done. 28‘Crankshaft. Most guys run the Ford “C” crank, and it is the best choice for most engines. Aftermarket replica C cranks are made today, by SCAT, and seem to hold up well. | have used Eubanks cranks with good re- sults. Eubanks is no longer making them. There are alternatives. Both the A and the B cranks are lighter than the C, and will accelerate quicker, which is useful for hill climbing and drag racing. The disadvantage of them is they have no counterweights and can be harder on bearings, mostly the cen- ter main. There are also 5-main cranks available, at great cost. These require a matching girdle to support the 2 additional bearings. A 5-main crank is best for severe use such as Bonneville racing where high horsepower and RPM’s come into play. A 5-main crank is not needed for street use, even severe street use. They are expensive and complicate other areas; such as no room for an oil pump inside the block so require an external pump or pumps. ‘Top is Model “A” crank, bottom is the world-famous “C” crank, The B crank is similar to the A but has larger mains & rods, the same siz- esas the C crank. Crankshaft weights: Early ’28 beaver-tail, 27 Ibs; Later Model A’s, 29 Ibs; Model B, 39 Ibs; Model C, 46 Ibs; BB, 58 Ibs. When having your crank ground, ask the grinder to put as large a radius on it as possi- ble, for maximum strength. Rods Stock A & B rods are quite strong and light. Until | built my most recent Bonneville engine | had al- ways used B rods, mostly with Babbitt bearings. A and B rods can be successfully bored for insert bearings, and that is a good alternative to buying new rods, although it is somewhat of a toss-up dol- lar-wise between inserted stock rods and new rods. One problem with stock rods is finding an insert bearing to fit. | used Volvo bearings in my B rods, but today these are somewhat hard to locate. New 29rods will come with instruction on which bearings to use. Rods from the 1937 Pontiac 6 cyl, w. ten used but require a lot of work to make them fit the crank and clear the block, they also ha ere of. id 2” bearings and spacers had to be made, Rod nuts: If using stock rods, do not use stock rod nutsi Castellated nuts utilize only about 4 full threads, standard nuts use 6 or more in the same thickn, Rut. Castellated nuts contributed to the bad reputation that B rods had back in the day. | reco, mend ARP part #300-8333, a bubble pack containing 10 nuts. These are 12-point nuts, very strong and light, and will clear an A pan on a B block without dimpling the pan like the B pan is. 185 of m- Camshaft ‘The cam is considered the heart of the engine. Its configuration, i.e. the grind, determines how the engine will perform. The cam must be chosen with care and must work in conjunction with periph- erals such as what you are going to use for carburetion, what compression, flathead or overhead, etc. For street use it is always best to stay on the mild side. Too radical a cam will give a poor idle, low torque at slow speeds, and make driving less fun because the engine may buck and snort at low speeds. Buck & snort ... we are talking horse power here! A re-ground stock cam will be more than adequate in most cases. New cams are available, but add to the expense of building an engine with- ‘out any increase in performance unless building a race engine. Brierley cams are of course the ulti- ‘mate, but there are others out there that are very good too. | won’t grind a cam that is worn an ex- cessive amount, both on the bearings and the lobes. Always follow your grinder’s advice; no one knows his cam better than he does. There were 3 different Model B grinds from the factory, ranging from 255 to 260 degrees of duration and from .302” to .339” in lobe lift. Either of these will make a g00d mild, or touring, grind. A performance street grind may range from 270 to 280 degrees, and over 300 degrees for a Bonneville engine. See chapter 11 for moron cams. Head Choose the head now, and make sure that it clears the valves that you are going to use. All head gas- kets are not the same. The Felpro 7013 comes closer to the valves as compared to the Best 509. The gasket must match the head! All gaskets will fit on the Model A block as it is flat. The gasket must not protrude into the combustion chamber. The original B head had a narrow “waist” and the B gasket would hang out into the chamber if an A type head was used. All aftermarket heads that | know of were made for the A gasket. This is not usually a problem with an OHV head although gaskets are available for them in both standard bore and 4” bore. The new BRIERLEY head is, of course, the best head for performance. There are other things to consider, like flywheels and clutches, carburetion, and compression, etc. These are covered in other chapters of this book. 30 Thi ticl bit the all foi ha dit ur Ri Rt thChapter 6 Modifying the Model ‘A’ block For full-pressure oiling Photos by Bruce Newberry, George Scott, Jim Brierley This chapter shows 4 different ways to adapt your ‘A’ to full pressure oiling. It is mostly a pictorial ar- ticle. All require drilling of the crankshaft to feed oil to the rods from the main journal area. In a bab- bitt system, the babbitt should be grooved radially (not the stock X pattern) so the oil will be going to the rods at all times. In an insert system, spacing of the bearings provides this passageway (groove). All of the ways shown will work nicely, so choose the one that you think will be the easiest and best for you. The first thing you must decide is whether you want / need pressure oiling, The stock system has worked well for some 80 years, and it has some advantages over a pressure system. The stock dip-and- splash system will provide oil to the rods, pistons and cylinder walls immediately upon start- up, no matter how long the engine has been at rest. Most A’s are not driven regularly so this can be important. The dipper system was used on the race track for many years, and some still use it today. Rick Sturim in Michigan uses it in his sprint car in AARA racing and regularly turns the engine 4,000 RPM on babbitt. | have always thought that was the upper limit for a splash system, and still think that, although | hear of people running them to 4500. If staying with the stock system: Open the oil pump inlet and outlets passages to the pump by grind- ing or milling the existing openings to a larger size, and turn the shaft down to 3/8” diameter between the bushings. This allows for easier flow from the gears to the block. | recommend a small 3/16” or X" line from the stem area of the pump to the center main cap. This will get oil to that main quickly on start-up and provide extra oil to the bearing. Since the center main takes the most load, this is a good idea. Note: The intake of the pump is often OK as-is from the factory, but not all of them. Keep the tin shield around the pump in place to prevent the pump from drawing air from above. When running babbitt and a pressure system, | recommend grooving the block prior to pouring the babbitt. This should be done beneath the area where the babbitt will be grooved and somewhat wid- er than the groove. The reason for this is the babbitt often cracks at the edge of the groove because its too thin. | recently built an A block with a B crank and did the above. This groove caused head- aches for the babbitt guy as the crank was ground to 1.812", half way between A and B sizes. If | were to do it again | would grind it to 1.800" and use inserts available for NASCAR engines. The OD would just clear the main bolts and provide the needed “groove” as it would take 2 bearings, side-by-side. Rods in a pressure engine need modification to retain oil pressure. If using stock rods, the dippers must be plugged. | recommend not welding, but tapping the oil-hole part way through and screwing a bolt into the hole, then cutting off the bolt flush with the end of the dipper. This gives some materi- al to grind off when balancing the rods. If the bolt is Loc-Tited in and jammed tightly into the hole, it will not come out. Most aftermarket rods do not require modification. A rods with insert bearings do not need the bolt installed unless 2 bearing shells are used with a gap between them, just leave the dipper as-is, this gives for the engine balancer some weight to work with. (grind off) All pressure systems should have a pressure regulator. A street engine can easily get by on 20-30 psi. 31Arace engine needs more. ‘V8 pumps, or even modified A pumps will pump way too much pressug when the oil is cold. A general rule of thumb is 10 psi per thousand revolutions that you turn the en. gine. I've seen filters blow a gasket when no regulator was used. Too much pressure is hard on the little oil pump / distributer drive gear at the cam and the little tang that drives the pump. It’sa Boog idea to carry a spare gear assy. along with other spare parts that you carry. Higher pressure puts more strain on things, and greater possibility of oll leakage. And who wants to see any oil under the, Model A! \also recommend installing baffles in the pan to keep the oil from sloshing away from the oil pump under hard acceleration. Sheet metal baffles brazed or welded in place with hardware hinges acting as one-way valves to allow oil into the pump area but not away from it work well. These baffles should not be water-tight so as to allow the oil to self-level as you drive. The oil pump needs modifi cations too, this is covered in chapter 9. The pictures tell the rest of the story. Note: The V8 pump may interfere with the stock dipper tray, and the tray may need some massaging to get it over the pump. This is only a minor bump in the road. Oil to center main, Line feeds elbow shown in left pic 32Internal lines For above method (left) and into the mains Spreading the ‘A’ slinger to fit the block The rear-main oil slinger in the A block is made of aluminum. These slingers can become distorted from abuse or ??? They can be straightened as follows; measure your block carefully and gently squeeze the slinger as shown above until it fits the block. Do not try this on a B slinger, they are made of pot-metal and will easily break, causing a sudden outburst of !@#$%" and thus upsetting your neighbors! 33Chapter 7 ‘ing the Model B block Pressuri The oil galley requires the most work. Work slowly and take one step at a time. 1) There are 3 horizontal holes that feed the main bearings, each about 2.5" deep. (#1 and 2 in the photo) Drill the two end ones to 1/4", the center one to 5/16". The center hole feeds the center main and 2 rod bearings, so more volume is needed. | have talked with old timers that didn't drill these holes at all, but most did. 2) There are 2 holes, one at each end of the oil galley*, that go down on an angle to feed the #1 and #3 cam bearings. (#3 in photo.) Tap these holes for a 1/4"x20 screw and make a restrictor/plug. Mog use a #60 drill in that plug which is .040". | use a .030 drill in an effort to keep oil pressure up when the engine is hot. *) Gallery would be a more correct word, but galley is more commonly used. 3) The large hole at the front of the galley (not shown in photo) must be plugged solid, 1/8" pipe plug with a slotted screw-head or Allen-head works best. Do not drill this plug to "oil the timing gears" as it will do nothing but cause loss of pressure. This hole was originally there to fill the dipper tray for the rods; it does not oil the timing gears. It would dump oil behind the cam gear and centrifugal force would throw it off, but little if any would reach the gear teeth. The gears are oiled by the mist of oil that is constantly in the crankcase. 4) The large hole at the pump area needs to be plugged (#4 in photo, has already been plugged in block shown.) This is a thin area so use caution. | use a 1/8" pipe plug and JB Weld or braze it in Place, then grind the inner part of the plug so the pump drive-gear assembly will fit into place as it should. 5) Oil now needs to get into the galley, so drill and tap into the side-cover for %” pipe as the inlet. En- large the original hole in the block, also to %” pipe, so oil can exit the pump and either feed the galley directly from there, or better yet, put a full-flow filter in that line. While you are doing this it is a good idea to drill and tap another 1/8” pipe hole to feed a pressure gauge. A third hole may be needed to feed the rocker arms on an OHV conversion. | put one of these holes toward the rear and the other toward the front of the galley. Be sure to punch matching holes in the gasket! 6) Oil needs to get to the center cam bearing and distributer-drive gears. This can be done in several ways. You can drill a small hole in the plug that you just put in, that plugs the original galley inlet, or drill a small vertical hole in the upper pump bushing, or grind a small flat spot on the upper area of the pump. The crank of course needs to be drilled so oil can get from the main bearings to the rod bearings. | recommend having someone with prior experience drill the crank. Be sure all holes line up properly including those in the main bearing area, They must all align with the crank holes in order to feed the rods properly. 34The model A or B pump will suffice, but you will have too much pressure with cold oil and not enough with hot oil. Most of us adapt the '46-'48 flathead V8 pump to fit the B block. This pump has a built- inrelief valve that is pre-set to 80 psi so the spring will need to be shortened to drop the pressure. | recommend 25- 30 psi for street use, 60 for racing. If you are dumb enough to use the A/B pump, fill the 2 upper slots so the oil will be forced out of the block and piped back in. If you don't do this the center cam bearing will use most of your volume and not enough will feed the bearings. JB Weld, or other epoxy, will fill the slots nicely. ou If you braze them in you will need to replace the upper bushing inthe pump as the heat will ruin the bushing. No matter which pump you use, you will have very little oil pressure at hot idle, this is normal. Note signs of too much silly-cone used on this engine. Now is a good time to plug 4 of the %” water holes on the top deck. These holes are in the B block on- ly, not the A. They need to be plugged and machined flush with the deck surface in order to support the head gasket properly. Full flow filter installed. were plugged for gasket support Bottom line has ol from the block. Top line sends oil to the side cover’ and into the engine, Arrows show where water holes 35Model A pump modified for increased volume (and a little bragging on my part. © Oil: I do not recommend using non-detergent oil at any time, lalso don’t use synthetic oils although they are excellent at lu system itis too thin to maintain good oil pressure, although I a Lincoln oil pump with larger gears than the common V8 pul 10/30, 10/40 etc. but prefer 20/50 for daily use and hill cli not even during break-in. brication. Why? Ina full-pressure do use it at Bonneville but I also use mp. I have used straight 30 weight, imbs, Dan landola’s '29 rdstr p.u., 1976, Irwindale Raceway. Winfield cam & carbs, chromed Winfield head. Made many trips to Las Vegas on Winfield Weekends. 36Chapter 8 CONVERTING THE ‘B’ BLOCK FOR FULL-FLOW OIL FILTERING he following is meant only for engines that will retain an otherwise stock oiling system. (Not full pressure) 4) Modify the oil pump as follows: The two grooves at the top of the pump must be filled-in, either by brazing them shut or using an epoxy filler such as JB Weld. Try and get a nice, round, good fit between the block and pump. Brazing will ruin the top bushing in the pump and it will need replacing, for this reason it may be best to use JB Weld. This modification forces the oil out the block (and into the filter) and eliminates the original feed to the oil galley. The above is necessary, below is optional. 1a) The pump can be opened up some to produce more volume: elongate the pump inlet vertically to allow easier flow of oil into the gears (not always necessary as some openings are bigger than others), turn the shaft down in a lathe between the bushings to 3/8” diameter; enlarge the openings in the top (outlet) area of the pump housing for easier flow out of the pump, minimum size 1/4"; and drill the hole in the pump body above the gears so oil can more easily flow from the gears into the pump body. 3/8" is about right. 2) Modify the block: drill and tap the existing 1/8” pipe hole to 1/4” pipe size & thread, this is the hole below the valve cover in the lower center of the block. Drill and tap the valve cover through the oil galley about in the center (fore & aft) for the new oil inlet to the engine. If you think you may want to install an oil pressure gauge sometime, now is the time to drill and tap another hole in the valve cover in the oil galley area to 1/8” pipe. Most people do this towards the rear of the cover. Plug the hole in the oil galley where the oil originally came from the pump into the oil galley and drill a #60 hole in the plug to oil the center bearing and drive gear. Care must be used here because this area is thin and the plug must not interfere with the drive gear assy. Option: This hole does not need to be plugged when not going to a full-pressure system. 3) Mount a remote oil filter base (available at most parts stores, swap meets, Speedway Motors, etc. | got mine from Scat crankshafts). Run an oil line from the enlarged original hole in the block to the filter inlet and from the filter outlet back to the new inlet in the valve cover. Put 5 quarts of oil in the Pan, a filter on the base, and start the engine. | have used 3/8” pipe and 1/2” tubing for the system but 1/4” pipe and 3/8” tubing is adequate and is what most people use. | also fill the new filter with Oil so the engine doesn’t run so long without oil pressure. Run the engine for a few minutes to check for leaks, then stop the engine and check the oil level. Most filters hold about a quart of oil so. you may have to add some in order for the engine to be properly full. Do not plug the hole in the front of the oil galley behind the timing gear! This is the hole that feeds oil tothe dipper tray and will starve the rods of oil if plugged. No other modifications are necessary Unless you are going to a full pressure system with the crankshaft drilled to oil the rods, but that’s another story altogether. With the above mods, you will still have stock oil pressure, about 3-4 Pounds cold and 1 Ib. or less when hot, at freeway speeds. This is the same as stock and not a Problem, so don’t worry about low pressure. Refer to photos in Chapters 7 & 9. EyChapter 9 V8 Oil Pumps | am going to assume afew of things here, 1) thatthe crank has been diled fr oll to reach the bearings, and 2) that you are aware that you could end up with oilleaks, especialy atthe reqr and 3) that you really want todo ths. The A pump can be used, ands easier, but !am notsure much pressure you will end up with, possibly too much with cold oil and not enough with hot sin you use an A pump it will need a few changes too, easy ones. Aor B engines don't really need to have full-pressure oiling unless you will run over 4,000 RPM ang run high horsepower. Dip and splash has worked fine for some 80 years and has the advantage of getting oil to the rods and cam immediately upon startup, while full pressure takes a few seconds for oil to reach them. Starting with a V8 pump from the “59-A” engine, 1946-48. It is identifiable by its long length and a Pressure regulator about half way between the gears and the mounting flange. The pump from the 8BA ('49-’53) can also be used. These have a bit more volume but are more difficult to convert and the pressure regulator becomes inoperable. See photos below. The V8 pumps rotate opposite the A pump, so rotation must be reversed as follows: 1) Make a plate to cap off the original oil inlet to the gears. 2) Open the opposite side of the pump to allow oil into the gear area. Drill or slot the pump body to do this. Most guys leave this new opening as-drilled, but you could drill and tap for a copper pipe fitting and install an inlet screen if you want. 3) Tap and plug the original passage from the gears to the upper body. The plug should fit flush with the bottom of the gear housing area while stil allowing the gears to turn freely. 4) Drill (on an angle) the opposite side to allow oil into the body. This takes care of the rotation problem but now the upper end of the pump needs to be made to fit into the A or B block, as follows: 1) Using an A pump for dimensions, machine the V8 pump to fit into the block. The V8 pump will need to also be shortened and a new upper bushing installed. This is a bit tricky as you are dealing with a rough casting and the bushing needs to be concentric with the newly machined housing. Be sure the new pump fits snugly and the flange fits down flat against the block or the pump casting can break after a few miles. The block may need to be chamfered a bit more to allow this? 2) The V8 pump will now mate to the block like the A pump does, using the V8 flange, but a new anchor will be needed to bolt the pump to the block. (the A pump does not bolt in, but is held in with a locating pin and spring on the bottom of the pump). Drill and tap the block for this bolt. The V8 pump can also be drilled for a pin like the A and held in place with the large spring on the bottom. The spring will need to be shortened as the V8 pump is longer. Cut the spring slightly shorter than half of its original length. Before final assembly give the pan a trial fit without gaskets to insure all clears and the spring isn’t too long or too short. 383) The shaft that drives the pump gears now ‘ons as the original A pump. Y needs to be shor ss ote way woul . Yuan sot the shaft using ortened and slottedto the same dimen into the V8 Bear, just allow for eae amill. In lieu of this, aoa bee filing the slot, a i in ing at th i " aft can be t pressed part way into the gear it will work fine, It ae ee The A shaft is a bit Saree . lacks about 1/4” au adequate. of depth in the gear, sois very Note: The V8 pump may interfere wit ’ tit over the pump. This i re with the stock dipper tray, and toget I pump. This is only a minor bump in the va the tray may need some massaging road. Ifall this sounds a bit much, a friend of mii man ma mine converts th lic. His iff Will ese pum ; pe Fi ey u meee Williamson. Cliff can be reached heen regular basis and sells them y, CA). Ihave at he charges. He does really nic at 626-452-8081 (Temple an inlet screen? work, and | think his pumps come with {all internal for stock external Took, oil is not filtered here) Internal lines feeding mains (A block) 39Drill angle to re-route oil; lower gear & shaft are Model A Pre-setting pressure relief. Type ‘A’ auto _It may not be pretty, but it works! Trans fluid and by-pass line to simulate actual hot-oil usage. Counter-clockwise rotation. No expense spared! Note: “Trash” can be hard on these pumps so it is a good idea to install a pick-up screen of some sort. Wrapping some fine-mesh screen from a hardware store around it and securing with mechanics wire! or hose clamps is a good idea. 1) Mechanics wire, aka baling wire. °50-’52 Lincoln, or F-8 truck pump on my Bonne- ville engine. Note cam support and steel main caps. Still running Babbitt on mains! Long gears in pump = high volume. 40Chapter 10 Valves, Valve Springs & Porting : mn ideas on how to build one. The downside to building a flathead is that if you toss @ rod out the side of the block, you may have lost all the time and energy put into it and will have to start all over. In almost 60 years of racing bangers, | rave never tossed a rod! Intake valves: Old-school thought was that the area behi fie that at higher RPM that area has little or nothing thatarea?? Piranio’s in Denton, TX sells a really nice 1.700” intake valve and kit, plus many other performance A and B parts. These valves have 45 degree seats, and can't be ground to a 30 Degree But work nicely. Piranio’s 1.7 valves are a bit heavy and may require more valve spring pressure? See the chapter on “building a hot flattie” for more info on intake valves. Hard seats are not needed on intakes as they run much cooler than exhaust valves. seat angle because of their under-head shape, Exhaust valves: Air flow work has shown that the exh: dlearing and smoothing the port while following the enlarge the port to the diameter of the area machint Blece guides and modern valves such as the 305 ciD Good idea on exhausts . ‘aust ports are very adequate in size and shape, criginal contour is all that is needed. | usually led for the alignment rings. Ido recommend one- V6 GMC from the early 60's. Hard seats area The GMC valve is only about .015” larger than the A valve but is very ade- ‘uate, They are also a bit long, about .200” must be removed from the tip-end. (Note: 2” intake from this same GMC will work too if you want that big a valve, or they can be cut down to size wanted). Use valves from the 305-A (light duty) engine. The .200” figure above was what | needed to remove Sy latest engine. It is also fitted with Chrysler lifters which are longer than A lifters. | rough- Sound the tips on a bench grinder, being careful to keep them cool while grinding. Note: keeping thestem coolis not the Same as cooling it, or quenching it, after it has gotten hot from the grinder. Keepit cool by frequent immersion in water! | finish-ground the tips on a valve grinding machine in >te"to insure proper contact with the lifter. The GMC valves also have very thick heads and are *arder than the Hubs of Hades! | machined about .060” off the top of them for lightness, good luck! “ein mind that the 'arger diameter the exhaust valve, the hotter it runs. The reason? The head Xe2of the valve increases a Breat amount as the diameter increases, while the seat area is increased ni right amount. This results in less cooling of the valve and higher seat temperature which can “to burning of the valve and seat. Valves, lifters and cam must be measured as a group to de- atermine proper fitment. .. Chrysler lifters are longer than A or B lifters so the valves Must be shortened to match. Guides: The above valves are straight-stemmed, and require one-piece guides. I’ve been Using Buides from the early 60's Buick 215 cubic inch aluminum V8 engine, Egge part #880. They press 4, rectly into the block and accept valves with 11/32” stems. | shorten these guides to Model a length, When using these guides a spacer must be made to insure the spring installed-length is correct for your cam requirements. Note: Some Model A stores now sell guides that fit the block and have a shoulder on the bottom end so the spring retains its original installed length. These guides would make the conversion to straight-stemmed valves much easier. | recommend pre-adjusting the valves before installing the springs as follows: With the seats ground and the cam and lifters installed, use the following “rule of nines.” When valve #1 is fully open, adjust valve #8. (8+1=9). With #2 fully open, adjust #7. (7+2=9) etc. With crank and cam (only) installed in the block it is easy to turn the cam to the proper position for adjustment. Adjust the clearance by holding thumb pressure (press down hard) on the top of the valve acting in lieu of the spring. Set all valves in this manner. Other books may give you a method where you can adjust several valves at the same time, without turning the crank to a different position. This may be OK with a stock cam but is Not ideal with a performance cam. The reason is that a hot cam gives the valve more open time, and is likely to have longer ramps. This can give a false setting of the clearances. After all valves are set in this manner, install the springs and keepers and re-check the adjustment. You may be surprised how close the adjustment is, but they may require some slight changes. | oil the valve seats to pre- vent rusting before the engine is run, and the stems for lubrication. Valve stems are the last thing to receive lube in a running engine, so they need a head start before firing the engine. Springs, retainers and keepers: If using the stock mushroom-stemmed valves and springs, use flat- head V8 spring retainers, identifiable by their 2 flat sides, as they are lighter than stock A retainers. If using stock V8 or Isky springs, use the matching retainers and keepers that are made for those springs. | get my Isky springs from Speedway Motors in Nebraska. For mild engines, it is easier to use stock A springs with spacers than to use V8 springs because installation is easier. Installation tip: With straight-stemmed valves it is easier to install the springs, with retainers, into the block before slipping the valves in place. Art work by Dan Iandola for F.A.S.T. magazine circa 1996. At that time, it was more of a newsletter, but it was Dan that really got the magazine rolling for F.A.S.T. www.hotforhotfours.com 421.7” intakes and GMC exhaust valves installed Valve Springs: This section will hopefully tell you all that you need to know about valve springs??? t've found that most engines when using V8 springs need a .500” spacer, but always measure be sc finalizing and machining them. VALVE SPRING PRESSURES LENGTH PSI MODEL A ve 1949-53 Isky V8 255° 30 2187 33 2.425 60 2375 40 2125 «38 2.07 70 225 52 Da 5 2.04 80 2.425 62 4875 75 2 9 2 73 175 4.96 100 1.875 83 4.625 115 4.92 110 1.75 90 15 135 4.89 120 4.625 100 1.84 130 1.5 coil bind 1.8 140 4.75. 150 43CUT 70 LeVeTH NeEDED _ Fog oes iaco pRecsuRé ANAS AA Spring spacer diagram Checking spring pressure ‘A’ spring on left, sky V8 spring w/spacer on right You don’t have a spring tester as shown above? Put a bathroom scale on the table of your drill press and press down with the spindle, careful measurement will give you the installed length that is needed. Both of the above pics are of diamond B blocks, showing that all are not the same. You can geta rough idea of casting thickness by peering down through the water jacket. The area just under the valve is thicker, so ream with a 70° reamer and blend into the port area. USE CAUTION!!! (Note: Model A blocks are thicker in this area.) cp Ultimate flathead block, a Model T. Ran 214.7 in Blown Stream- liner. Joel Young