Not mine. Since getting electronics installed in my chest, I am not supposed to get anywhere around electric welding. Or plasma cutters. Or spark plugs. Mags . Most fun stuff.
Andy-- You asked if it was worth it to counter balance the crank Well, it depends. All of this is independent of wether the crank is drilled or not-but drilling doesn't make the crank any stronger The C/B involves balance pieces being cut from plate, a lot of welding, then straightening, probably grinding the crank to get it true enough again, if so, mains will have to be re babbitted, and line bored. . Then the crank needs to be balanced---And do not let anyone who calls themselves an expert tell you that you need bob weights made for the rod journals. They are used to V8's where they are necessary. NOT needed with a straight four. No mods at all needed to block. Thats the cons. The pros. Much smoother running (assuming that you have matched the weight of the piston/rod assys). Longer center main life, also prolonged crank life, as you mentioned. I have heard that the circle track guys liked the UN-counterweighted Ford B cranks because the lighter weight would give then a small advantage coming out of the turns. So you have to make the decision. Probably not worth it for a ''now and then'' engine. I do it, mainly because I am an idiot, who likes to piddle around with old iron. No problem at all with anyone using my pix. I appreciate credit, which you did. Hope this helps you with your question. Anything else--just ask Herb
Considering the fact that the '26-28 block has a hole through the center main for the distributor, counterbalancing makes a lot of sense, if you are going to put your block through the rigors of racing.
Good points you guys. I can probably well do without having it done but I'll go to the shop and cost it out. This one isn't a not job for me for sure. Seeing as my engine is going on a T pan and trans, there's gonna be a lot of weight flying around in there. End of the day it will come down to affordability Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Herb, "I do it, mainly because I am an idiot, who likes to piddle around with old iron." God bless the man who can so clearly express his reasons for doing what do. I wish I could've said it in so few words!
OK. There is a tube from the oil pump to the cast in passage that supplies oil to the rod splash trays. From the outside of the block there are two fittings tapped into the oil gallery. The smaller of the two is a "T" fitting. Where do these go? How is oil supplied to the can bearings? Thanks for any info here.
Rich. I'm not sure the cam has bearings as such, more like bushings. See my pic I just shot, there is oil feed holes in the top of the casting for the centre. The front and rear are similar with one hole each. There is an oil groove in the front one. All 3 have little shelves above them, exactly like the main bearings. The exterior oil lines run through the filter and the T runs up to a gauge Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thanks. i figgured it out. Line with bypass oil to the filter. Return from the filter. Line to the oil pressure gauge. I guess the cam has to get by with splash oil. Even my Dodge Bros has oil pressure to the cam bores. If i had realized this prior to putting it together, I would have drilled in from the cam side and run oil in. I guess it has worked this long, it should still work now. The bad news is that this engine doesn't have splash. It has pressure oil to the mains. And no oil troughs with dippers splashing oil all over the place. I need to ponder this more.
Well yes, it does not have replaceable bearings. But it does have a bearing diameter. It's just bored into cast iron. It's just not babbitt.
And Lord, I wish that they had put a little more meat on those castings, so we could put a little more "bump" in the bump stick!
You know I'm just a displaced Yankee... and MAN, I miss my Jimmy Johns ! By the way, my folks moved again, to the Butler area and haven't been able to get up to them yet.
Alright. When I last posted I was concerned about getting oil to my nonbearings on the cam. Looking at it I noticed that the kind people at Chevrolet cast bosses on the block at the cam jurnol locations and put freeze plugs in them. So I popped out the soft plugs and found a nice hole leading to the nonbearing jurnol. Drilled for a 1/4 NPT thread, no less. So I tapped them for 1/4 NPT to -4AN adapters. I will thread the AN end and install restrictors to .062 in the end two and .093 for the center, Distributor, location. I also need to use a 1 inch aluminum bar with an O ring to block off the lower, stock oil pump, bore and machine an O ring slot on the distributor housing.
Rich, are you sure there aren't holes to the inside of the cam and those plugs just close the outer holes where they drilled from?
Yes they do go through. I guess that is where the drip oil gets in. from the other side. I thought the drip would be more down to the cam. But i am glad they are there and as big as they are.
I agree they are for manufacturing but hats off for taking full advantage. They are very big drip holes is there a need to pressure feed the cam? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The engine I am working with was, as I understand it, built around 1948 to run in a midget at Oakland stadium. By high school kids. They ran it once, saw another one with an OHC conversion and took this one apart to do the same. It never went back together. I got what was still there in boxes. It had been converted to pressure oil to the crank and all the drip channels and dippers removed. Without them to splash oil all over the place, I was concerned that the cam would not get the drip down oil it should. And there was a lot about the oil system that I thought could take advantage of the progress since 48. So I am pumping oil to the cam.
Since i didn't want the oil I supplied to the center cam bearing running down the now empty oil pump location. I made an aluminum plug with O rings on both ends and used the stock hold down bolt to fix it in place. This engine came with a rather large oil pump in the distributor location and a mag, gear driven off the crank nose. I don't want to drive that pump with this toothpick cam that is undercut to increase the lift. So I am going to use the OEM distributor converted to Petronics, in the original location. I had to remove the oil pump drive from the distributor to clear the block off plug. The oil pump will be now belt driven off the crank. As received it had no pressure relief, so that will also be a remote add on.
And here is the pan on the Chevy. NPT fitting will be where the still to be made, oil mainafold attaches. lines from it will hit the front and rear ma ins. A line from it will pass between #2 and #3 cylinders and another mainafold will feed the cam bearings, rockers and pressure gauge. Two -6 fittings on the inspection plate side will be returns from the side covers to the sump. -8 fittings on the other side will be oil to the pump and oil from the pressure bypass to the sump
This is really nice work. What RPM are you shooting for? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
So I decided I want to drive the oil pump with a tooth belt from the crank snout. But the crank isn't drilled for a bolt to hold the pulley on. If I was on top of this thing I would have drilled the drank before getting it ground and having the bearings poured and bored. So I made this little guide to center and hold straight a pilot drill (letter B). Then I drilled the guide to letter I and used it to guide the tap drill. After drilling the crank I shortened the guide and tapped it 5/16-24. Reinstalled it and started the threads in the crank. Finally I ran a bottom tap into the crank. I have a good half inch purchase which is more than the 1 and 1/2 diameter normally considered standard. Now I need to
This link is a bit old but dont remember seeing it in this thread. https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/01/14/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1928-chevrolet-sprint-car/
Interesting. That is a good shot of the back of the Olds head showing why there may be a firewall clearance issue. That appears to be a well built car although is screams new build. I'd like to have that engine.
The Jalopy Journal
