This engine is buried in the garage in pieces. I have had a lifetime of trying to get it done, unfortunately I am at another hiccup. I have to admit the parts are all over the place and I need to get them together again. I will get pic's of the stuff I can find now. I think there would be some hear that would like the article about Rufi also. I need to find that also and figure a way to post it, lots of cool pic's of his car and the engine apart. Did you know he made the frame out of CONDUIT. Mine does not have the bridge mains, or the counterweight crank but it was balanced. Any way this is fun, and I always loved the sound of the Chevy 4's. I have lots of stock parts also. 3, 28 heads that I was told worked just as good as the Olds. I have 2, 25 engines and 2 27's. a complete 27 rolling chassis with the 29 Ford body on it, and I was going to run a Chevy grill shell out front, I have a good one. Have fun, Dave
Everything is a mess, I had to hold the camera in there just to get some of the pic's. I hope you don't mind the mess, but look at those pistons they left the extra oil ring out, and you can see the timing back under one, if you look you will see the oblong hole, that was caused from adding from another plate to move the mount over to use a larger gear to run the mag at crank speed. One is looking through the grill shell at the 27 with single down. The other is the dual Winfield or Stromburgs. the cover with the oil pump. I need to clean this up. Some of the kids from the church said they would help. LOL they haven't seen it yet. Have fun, Dave
Great stuff Dave, nice collection. Could you take a couple more pics of the front mounted oil pump. So which engine do you think is Rufi's? Could you post more pics of it? it would be much appreciated. If you come across another of those oil pumps or if you ever want to sell that one please let me know as I'd be interested. Cheers Jimmy
It's the red one in the pic of the front drive cover. You can see it has a pluged water pump. The lifters look like a top hat something like an old Ford Y blocks. I haven't seen the mag for a long time, but I know its in there . Have fun
Well fellas, I bought the damn thing. Now to get it home. You all are a bad influence. I hope this fits in a '26 Ford frame! -Dave
I find it fascinating how the design of the internal components of an internal combustion engine have evolved over the years. That old Chevy had huge pistons and tiny, chicken bone rods. Nowadays motors - performance motors especially - have huge rods and almost no piston at all (skirts).
Congrats Big Cheese, glad you got That.I was hoping someone on this thread would get it. I was watching it and the price was right..... I just don't need another peoject right now even though this thread has me Itchin'.
Good for you. You got a deal i think. I didn't want to be the only one who bought one lately. I am sure it will fit in a '26 Ford frame.
Came across this article comparing 1928 Chevrolet with 1928 Model A Ford. Mainly of interest to a restorer but some interesting stats just the same. Also a brief Whippet & Durant Comparison. Have attached 2 pages of 10 page article.
I put the article about the Forever Four on Jimmy B's build page! I think it was a good article. I am thinking of putting all my stuff up for sale. Too much for me now. If I do let it go it will be everything and there is a lot of stuff in there. 6 engines and piles of parts. There is no way it could be shipped, so I think it could only be sold out here. Have fun, Dave
The oil pump has no markings on it that I can find. When I got the engine I thought it looked too large, but then I saw the one on Rufi's engie it is the same. The box of cranks you can see the one drilled for pressure, and a Ford crank. I agree with the rods they are way too small and weak looking if you were to spin one of these things up look out. Mine some fool did the notch thing (so he could get them on the same Journal) I was going to make up a set of Ford rods for it. If I do sell this car, I think it would all have to go at one time, someone could have a lot of fun at swap meets (not me), with the stuff the car doesn't need. I owned a 490 Chev so there are parts for one of those also. Early front oiler engine stuff. I have the floor pedals with the ratchet for the parking brake, square generator and VW 09 distributer for it. Have fun, Dave
I just re-read this entire thread, and boy is my head spinning. I think I’ve got a decent handle on how to build a mild street engine, mostly following Herb’s approach in post #246. The rocker arm thing has me a bit befuddled, though. What’s it take to make an aluminum rocker arm? With careful measuring and filing, could I do it in my garage, or do I have to be a machinist? If machining skill is required, what should you tell the shop beyond “make these in aluminum”? Obviously the stockers bend - is it just because of the material involved, or do they need bracing added somewhere? Thanks, Dave
Dave, The '28 (and earlier) rockers were a combo of bad material AND bad design! You should be able to make rockers without too much trouble... and like I said, there are LOTS of "slightly used" roller rockers out there in the racking world that could be stripped of their usable parts and reused with your homemade rockers for a few extra HP!
Would 6061 T6 be the choice for rockers? Its been said that Model C cranks were used. What is the differance between the "C" and "B" cranks. I ask because I just bought two "B" cranks.
The Model A Ford experts will tell you that ford did not build a model C engine and they are right acording to Ford records and those who worked at the Ford engine works. The first Model B crank shafts built in 1932 didn't have counter weights like the later Model B cranks. Since the first original Model B engines didn't have counter balanced cranks it was probably a natural to call the later Counter balanced cranks C cranks. I think that some of the confusion may also come from the Model B high compression head Marked with a large C cast into its top probably to signify a compression head. To add to the confusion the Model A high compression heads called the "Police Heads" had a large B cast into the top of them but had still the 4 bolt Model A water pump mount. Even though the Model B head had a 3 bolt water pump unlike the Model A's 4 bolt pump they probably cast the large C on the B head to differenciate the two. Ford Made Model T, Model A and Model B replacement engines into the 1940s. After the Ford V8 was introduced Ford sold the tooling for the Model A cars and trucks to the Russia who produced cars, trucks and engines into the 50s. Russian military trucks during WWII were mostly Model AA trucks. Years ago a few Russian Model A and maybe Model B parts somehow showed up in the U.S. All of this to say that I think that what they mean by a Model C crank shaft is a late Model B cranks. I have a model B engine in my barn that is an early B block with the large main and rod bearings but the round counter weights. I also have a later Model B crank that has heated and shrunk on counter weights. The even later Model B cranks may be one piece with cast on weights. At any rate during the 40s and 50s somehow talk of the Model C Ford engine surfaced and became a sort of erbin myth of early Ford engines. Here are some pictures of a Model B crank with heated on weights. .
Technically, there is no “Model C” engine from the 1930s. There is the modified Model B produced in ‘33 and ‘34: Source: Ford Garage: Model C Myth? I thought somebody earlier said that there really isn’t sufficient room in the crankcase of the Chevrolet block for counterweights, so if the “B” cranks aren’t counterweighted, maybe that makes them a better choice (or is it just that they use bolted on counterweights instead of forged?). -Dave P.S. I picked up my engine this afternoon. We had to pull the head to get it in the trunk of my Falcon - it looks pretty clean inside!
The only clearance issues I'm aware of is the OX-5 rods (maybe Ford rods too) would foul the block side walls so recesses are ground into the block.
"I thought somebody earlier said that there really isn’t sufficient room in the crankcase of the Chevrolet block for counterweights, so if the “B” cranks aren’t counterweighted, maybe that makes them a better choice (or is it just that they use bolted on counterweights instead of forged?)." It isn't so much the counterweights that are the problem, it is the fact that the journal end of a B rod is larger, requiring the notching of the block. There may also be an issue with the rod to cam clearance--see my post #440. The end counterweights will have to be ground down some to clear the radius in the block at the pan joint, shown at the top of Jimmy's second picture above. I am running a Chevy crank with welded on counterweights in the car in my avatar Herb Kephart
Herb I Have the cranks, but I also have two fords. So thats most likely where they'll go. I have 4 or 5 chev cranks to play with and I was taking note when you described how to make the paterns for the counter wieghts. I've given up the Idea shoplifting some rods from an air museum and think I would like to play around with making some. If they should come apart.....? Norm
Norm- I got an email a while back from the folks who restore Curtiss Jenny's, but didn't follow up because of some family issues (my wife's grandfather just passed from cancer). Will try to find the email and get back to them in the next few days- will let you all know what I find out! Egor- do you know if your Rufi engine has a B crank in it? If so, would you be willing to crack it open so we could see the lower end (also would love to see where exactly they ran the lines for oiling)? Thanks, Bill
Bill If you can find out about some rods I would like to be a player. Note: I placed a wanted ad for Rocker arms on the Nash web site and got a nice reply from the UK offering to sell me some "Mint" ones for a 100 GBP. He was having technical problems and couldn't supply the pictures, but assured me they were mint. Shortly after I was informed by the Fedral Bank of Nigeria that I had inherited US $10.7 Million "please supply your bank account numbers for the transfer of funds". Isn't life great. Just yesterday I was living on social security and now I'm rich. Have a nice day. - Norm
Norm, Will do- I won a few Dodge/Nash disk wheels a while back on espay locally- went to pick them up, only to find out that "this whole building (roughly 60'x40') was FULL of Nash parts... the gentleman who bought them left with the last truckload YESTERDAY... why no, I never did get his information". Sorry to hear that all the other Nash parts have migrated to England and Nigeria- guess we'll all just have to make do!
I'm a nerd for this kind of stuff, so maybe nobody else cares. I just discovered that my block was cast March 14, 1928; which helped me figure out my engine number (the second digit was partially obscured). What's everybody else's date code? Mine was C 14 8. -Dave
Norm- I should have replied to your question about rocker material sooner- sorry. Best choice for rocker material would be 2024, if you are buying new. If you can scrounge some 7075, it would be even better, but it isn't worth the difference in price if you are going with new matreial. 6061 would be my third choice, unless there was welding involved- the other two are not weldable (or more accurately not recommended for welding) Herb Kephart
Thanks Rich. Looks like yours is just one day short of a month older than mine (February 15, 1928 - as I'm sure you could figure out). Now, if I could just find a resource for which engine numbers ended up in what vehicles ('28 Chevies are typically titled by body SN and not engine number), that would really satisfy my history nerdiness. -Dave
I have three '28s. Casting number 348532 Date codes: D 17 8 - H 9 8 - K 30 7 This last one is a truck based on the transmission. I have another block that seems inconsistant with these codes. Casting number 346709 Date code: H 14 9 - It is not a '28 block! It has earlyer lifter bosses and no side covers. It does have a distributor in the side of the block and an oil pump with squirt lines. Someone has been asking for the casting number of the '28 head. It is 348540. one of the ones I have has a date code of L 28 8
I forgot to ask a question. What years of crank shafts are the same? Is there any way of differenciating?? the years?
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