I recently acquired this 4 cylinder Ford engine with an unusual FUNK aluminum 8 sparkplug head. Having a hard time finding any information so I'm posting here to see if someone can shed some light on this very kool head
Tractor or Aircraft maybe...neat I mean it's more than a head it's on an engine... The Funk Aircraft Company made conversions for 6 bangers and V8s could this be a V8 head on a 4 banger?
Quoted below from link John shared above.... "The Model B engine is not as well known because it came out in 1932 — the same time the wildly popular flathead V-8 was introduced by Ford. The four-cylinder B engine was an upgrade of the earlier A engine in that it had a pressurized oil system rather than relying on splash lubrication. The Funk brothers took the engine, turned it upside down — obviously modifying the sump to allow it to work in the inverted situation — and hung a prop on the front. This configuration supposedly turned out 63 hp at 2125 rpm and could pump out as much as 70 hp at 2450 rpm for takeoff. The drawbacks to the engine were obvious: It was heavy and required a cooling system. By the same token, in 1934 there was no such thing as a commonly available low horsepower four-cylinder aircooled engine of similar horsepower. The 37 horse Aeronca engine was around as was the 40 horse A-40 Continental. Howard and Joe did the same thing many designers are still trying to do today: Take advantage of the mass production capabilities of the automotive industry and, through minor modifications, adopt those cheaper mass produced engines to aircraft use. In actuality, this method worked better for the Funk brothers than for anyone since. The airplane attracted so much attention that eventually a group of businessmen from Akron, Ohio, agreed to finance the formation of a company called the Akron Aircraft Company which built between 50 and 100 Model B Funks using the converted Ford engine. Incidentally, the factory designation for the converted engine was Funk "E" and I'm passing up some great lines here."
That's seriously awesome, a twin plug aluminum aircraft head on a counterbalanced B motor making 70 hp. That's a heck of a banger, would be great in an early roadster or speedster build.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dlberek/6649786935 So this is a B Funk engine based on B block...note it operated this way... If @oldcarnutt's engine was a AC block the bottom end would look different...I think... Thing is did they make Tractor 4 banger B blocks...or was this a go fast car creation...
There was a new in the crate Funk engine here in Fairbanks,Alaska. The gent who bought it went through it and installed it in his Model A pickup. put one of those Weber carbs on it and the truck goes down the road just fine. Pietenpol planes also used a Mosel A engine. Pietenpol Aircraft Company – Official Pietenpol Air Camper | Wisconsin
...wtfunk are you talkin about... https://www.pjpower.com/news/funk-history ...more about Funk...they still are around apparently... Seems they made tractor conversions BUT not for 4 banger tractor engines...6s and 8s
So when coverted to run upside down can you flip it back around and run as normal or did he ditch the pan and crank and other things to Street it?
You just add a couple quarts of water to the oil. That keep the oil floating up near the crank and pick up (down) tube while cooling the head and valves. You read it on the internet so...
That sounds pretty sketchy but I know nothing about such things...It would be nice to see that pickup...since they used B blocks you'd figure it'd be a matter of swapping out components back to auto and keeping the performance improvements... So I wonder if Nutts engine was an AC converted back to automotive by a clever hoodlum...
He put it right with the automotive pan...I don't believe he did anything to the crank.Could be wrong.
Thanks Bob, any ink or digital ink on this Pickup...its a Hop up really...perhaps pre-war in nature...
@oldcarnutt this might be perfect for your A Bone... I envision a sublte Flaming Propeller artwork on the cowl side...that'll get the juices flowing on whats under the hood...
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/stock-or-not.368834/#post-3996215 ...Bob...you did a Thread on it... Why did he take the Funk head off...too Hotrod? Maybe it wasn't there... I'm just curious...I could see that in antique circles...but maybe the head was coveted...aluminum duel plugs and all...nice wall hanger...
Thanks Bob, regardless of that, the fact it was done and you did a Thread on it helps put this all into perspective... I was just thinking the spindle for the prop was sticking out of the crank area but as you say perhaps it was all bolted or fastened to original B components which is pretty innovative in a low cost way for the Funk camp... Looking at the plane engine config the intake manifold could be flipped around and carbed or further modded once the engine was flipped...
Paging @lippy... Why you ask......Because he mentioned Ole Funk and B Engines in 2009 in a post...without much of a response. I thought he might like this Thread...
...I noticed Lynite cast into the head on Nutts Engine...does that mean Funk would have added Lynite Pistons as part of their modding to its Aviation readiness or was Ford equipping their engines with Lynite already? I reason with all this is because Funk increased HP which Hop Up just happens to also pony up to in its mantra... So Funk was producing its B engined AC in 1933/34... Quoted... "In 1934 the Funk brothers built their first flying aircraft and subsequently built 60 more while working out of the back of their parent's grocery store." ... They must have made thier parents proud...funny I'll bet the go fast crowd were keenly interested in what was going on beyond the produce section...
Just a shout out to the banger crowd...did any of you ever hook onto one of these and put it back on the ground...we do know of one...
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