HOT early 21 stud Anyone have one?

[Jason M.]

I have had a recent obsession with the early "pump in head" 21 stud engines. I don't really know what I'm asking here but more looking for insight on how? Photos, stories, experiences, changes, formulas, secrets, recipes? What does it take? I don't need a HOT one but a warm, reliable, great sounding 21 stud would warm my soul.

[gavin m]

I share your passion!
I love my little 21 stud. Not exactly hot, more slightly warm
Had it on the road for 3 years now, seen plenty of road miles along with regular trips up the drag strip. Been 100% reliable apart from a perished fuel pump diaphragm a couple of years back.
Not sure of the exact spec but it looks to have been rebuilt some time in the past. I do know it has 80' pistons, adjustable lifters and twin 97 carbs. I definatley know about the repro Eddie Meyer heads and inlet as I had to buy them! Well worth the expense though as they really woke the motor up. Recently updated the dizzy to the later crab type and a set of cheap Speedway headers. Good for a 17.8 second quarter at 75mph so far.

[Brendan]

my motor is not hot at all, it is a stock 35 motor just bord out 40 over. i have had it running for about a year, and it has not given me Any trouble. i just drove it about 240 miles last Saturday and it didn't use any oil or water. it is a good runner and very dependable!
Brendan

[Lawrie]

I have a 33 and 34 both with the 21 stud engs, We live in central QLD here in Australia,and it gets HOT in the summer,have done lots of trips with the 33 towing a camper,once in 42 deg C and the only thing that got hot was the people in the car.
One car has the 36 lb eng in with a merc cam modified to fit the early block and the other is a 33 babbit motor with the stock cam and carb.both are great motors, and will cruise all day at 60.
I would like a set of heads like you have but the $$ would scare me.BUT they look spot on.
Lawrie

[Terry,OH]

I also have been bitten by the bug

[FL&WVMIKE]

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gavin m ......................
A friend of mine just put a "crab" distributor on his '40. He likes it a lot.
Do you feel like it helped your 21 stud engine a bit.
Thanks,
MIKE

Originally Posted by gavin m

I share your passion!
I love my little 21 stud. Not exactly hot, more slightly warm
Had it on the road for 3 years now, seen plenty of road miles along with regular trips up the drag strip. Been 100% reliable apart from a perished fuel pump diaphragm a couple of years back.
Not sure of the exact spec but it looks to have been rebuilt some time in the past. I do know it has 80' pistons, adjustable lifters and twin 97 carbs. I definatley know about the repro Eddie Meyer heads and inlet as I had to buy them! Well worth the expense though as they really woke the motor up. Recently updated the dizzy to the later crab type and a set of cheap Speedway headers. Good for a 17.8 second quarter at 75mph so far.

[Brian]

I run one in my 35. Good for 7000 RPM. I've developed it up over the years. Basically it's bored .060" over, three ring flattops, massive ports, those Eddie Meyer repop heads, twin 97's on a Fenton intake, streamlined stock mushroom bottom valves running adjustable lifters operated by Isky 88 cam, stock bottom end all balanced up, lightened flywheel running 9" Auburn clutch, 8BA oil pump 95% oil filtration. It just loves to rev. Brian

[Brian]

Add, crab distributor operating transistorised ignition

[JM 35 Sedan]

I rebuilt a '35 221 engine at .030 over, adjustable lifters, stock cam (wish it was an L100) shaved the cast iron heads for higher compression, staight pipe exhaust and installed a MCF full flow oil filter system. Planning to install Eddie Meyer heads and duel intake with two Stromberg 81's. I have this engine in a '35 4dr FB sedan. It runs and sounds extremely good. These little 221 21 stud engines are usually thrown aside in favor of the later 59 or 8ba engines but in reality they can be built to be reliable little power plants that will get you where you want to go with plenty of pep.

[gavin m]

Originally Posted by FL&WVMIKE

gavin m ......................
A friend of mine just put a "crab" distributor on his '40. He likes it a lot.
Do you feel like it helped your 21 stud engine a bit.
Thanks,
MIKE

Definitely worth doing Mike.
There is nothing wrong with the diver's helmet type but the crab is easy to install with the adaptors that are available, they are easy to set up and the parts are a bit cheaper.
It did seem to improve how the motor ran although on inspection my old dizzy was pretty worn.

[G.M.]

Here's a 37 21 stud engine that is in Skips 34 P/U. G.M.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Looks like a super cool 21 studder. If all these early FH engines had four WP's Skip would probably have twice as many pumps to rebuild

[Keystone 34 3w]

Hot and Cool!

[41ford1]

Originally Posted by G.M.

Here's a 37 21 stud engine that is in Skips 34 P/U. G.M.

Looks like there is no such thing as too much water flow.

[FL&WVMIKE]

Originally Posted by G.M.

Here's a 37 21 stud engine that is in Skips 34 P/U. G.M.

Never saw that before ! That thing is likely to freeze up !
MIKE

[Brendan]

would it work, having 4 water pumps?

[Bassman/NZ]

Originally Posted by Brendan

would it work, having 4 water pumps?

Why not? It seems the old school of thought of slowing flow down with washers and such has gone by the boards and been replaced with the opposite.
I must say that my C59A has no stats, modern high-flow pumps, and a 6 blade fan. I'm using a little Mustang radiator, and it has yet to get hot. In fact I might even replace the fan with the original 4 blade.
BTW... love these 21 studders! I had a 36 a few years back that was so quiet you had to look at the fan to see if it was running.

[34Fordtk]

Great stuff fellas, just for my info what does Orosco get for those 21std heads?
Gavin m SWEET truck!! What color is that, looks so close to the factory coclor mine was.

[KiWinUS]

Stock 21 stud in my RHD Kiwi 36 with exception of reground mystery cam from my good friend Max @ H&H flatheads , & man it runs & pulls so strong . a couple of years ago on the way home from the Dawsonville Moonshine festival I ran it wide open from the Ga/Sc state line all the way to when I got off I85 @ the speedway exit to go to the goodguys show. Now thats only about 85 mph but she ran like a top !!!! I get 17.9 mpg at 65 mph with a 97 carb & stock fuel pump , stock early distributor by Skip & his coil still all 6volt .Has NOS cast iron heads on it as the original alum heads are corroded pretty bad , I now have several sets of nice alum heads for her including a set of the new made stock heads from the foundery in Ca. but she runs too good to change the heads. Stock exhaust except for muffler , I made that , just like the one I made for this car when I first bought it in 1973 in Ashburton New Zealand.
I am going to build a stroked & tricked 21 stud in the future , not sure what I will put it in.
Cheers
Tony

[G.M.]

Sure it works with 4 pumps. Hasn't been driven on the road yet but in tests it don't look any or much improvement over 2 of his pumps. We thought it would be differant for the "water pump man's" truck. Don't forget the pressure isn't going to increase much, just volume so the 144 tubes, the length of the tubes and some dirt in them restricts it the same as with 1 set of pumps. Larger or more radiator tubes would increase the flow. I just happened to think that my 45 V/60 midget does not have water pumps but has 2 3/4" copper pipes from the top tank to the bottom tank. We ran this about 30 laps on a hot night and it ran in the normal temperature range.