I’m not new to hot rodding or customing, but the A is new to me. So I’m sure I’ll post some dumb comments,but my intent is to keep this traditional so I ask for your input. Thanks in advance. So on a trade last weekend I picked up a super solid running driving model A. I’m in love with it. Been dreaaming of having one of my own since my grandfather handed down his duece coupe to my father. As a kid I would set in it and make racing sounds and bang gears, but I would never seen it hit the road. Eventually my family needed the moneyand the project was sold in the mid 80’s for what today would had been peanuts. I totally understand. And my father was a bit heart broken. Especially since he and his father had built the coupe together. Sporting a channeled body, stroked 49’ merc engine and some other really cool goodies. Needless to say, pops was pretty pumped to know I was bringing home a model A. And I have plans to build a na ford v8 flathead. I’m a machinist by trade and really look to relieve to block and find some tricks to do it like they did back in the day. I’ll upload some pics and give a bit more direction as I go.
My Avatar is a 28 Special Coupe I built in the 90's with a V8 60 flathead and I also have a stock 29, always liked the body style since they are a little different. Only made them for 11 months and aren't very popular, most people prefer the standard coupe. I'm working on a V8 A now, a 30 Sport Coupe with a 8BA flathead, guess I like the orphan body styles. Will be interested to see your project as it progresses.
Thanks, I do plan on keeping it on the road until I have collected my parts and this 4 banger is kinda cool. I need to clean the carb and adjust it. Any tips would be appreciated. Its hard to start right now
Try pushing the spark advance (left lever) all the way up, pull the throttle (right lever) about 1/3 down, turn the choke knob all the way in then about 1/2 to 3/4 turn out and pull the choke for a second or two when you step on the starter. Don't hold the choke out for long , all you need to do is load the cylinders. As soon as it starts pull the spark advance down about a third and as it warms up turn the choke know back in until it runs smooth. I'm a fan of the bangers, had a B motor with a Winfield head, Ansen manifold with a Holley 94 and a Mallory in my pickup for years. Has a counter balanced and inserted engine with a lightened flywheel now, my coupe has a counter balanced engine too.
Picked up a 52’ block and big box of parts with it today. Pretty pumped as its in good shape. I’ll inspect it closer and measure roundness and size tomorrow. But I am missing a crank.☹️ I basically got the left overs from my buddy’s flathead build a couple years back. So I’m in the market for a crank and now looking at stroking the engine. Is there a place to get a crank or complete bottom end aside from $1800 from speedway? Like I said I need to measure things on the bore side. Guess I’m just on the fence about dumping a ton of money into an engine thats just going to be NA. Is there a huge difference between running a stock bottom emd and a stroker kit bottom?
Guess what I’m after is more of a budget build. I’de like to stroke it and instal bigger cam and a new valve train. Dual carb intake. Heads may have to wait. I’ll have 2 sets of 8ba heads. I do have a good set of 8ba rods. I was wondering where I could find a 4 or 4+ stroke crank to use with the oe rods for a descent price. Still need to get piston and rings also
So last weekend I picked up another 8ba and a 59ab block. Short blocks, rotating assembly and valves but thats it no pan or intake or anything past that. Didn’t give much for the pair so anything salvaged will be worth the money. The 8ba appears to be in real decent shape. Adjustable lifters, aluminum pistons, bores are in great shape still show honing marks. Unfortunately I came across some block welding. Appears around the intake port so eone did some patching also appears to have been ran post to the fix. I’de really like to replace the bearings and let it rip. Vaes appear in good shape, looks like a couple weren’t adjusted correctly since they show no seating surface on the valve. The intake guides have a rubber band seal around the body. They look like they shrunk beyond any sort of sealing. The cam I would like any input on, has CMC 2 cast into it and a J stamped in the end. Has .325” lift and rounder lobes but I’m not sure how to measure the duration and such. Pics to follow please give me your thoughts. My plans are to hopefully run this 8ba bottom end with a bigger cam and possibly mill some relief into the block and run the steel heads with some material removed to bump compression. Also have a guy to balance the bottom end if all checks out good.
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