Greetings and a Question
 

Greetings!

I recently have been asked to resurrect a Model A for a customer.

It is an all original 1930 one family owned Tudor. The car was last driven in 1979 and has been in dry storage it's entire life.

The owner does not want any cosmetic restoration work, just make it mechanically sound enough for him to use in his town. Obviously everything on the car will need to be gone through but miraculously and a testament to how well built these things are, most things still work.

So this brings me to my first question. I have done a series of diagnostic tests on the motor including compression and leak down. These were done after oil replacement and soaking the cylinders in oil. Compression came back as follows : 1- 60 psi, 2- 65 psi, 3- 59 psi, 4-60 psi. From the limited reading I have done these seem to be great values for an A that has 86K on it. Cylinder bores look great but there is a ledge at the top. Here is my question though... leak-downs came in 50-55% (cold, can't test hot) and it is getting past the rings (hear it in the crank case). Not very good but curious what to expect on a model A engine, what this means for it and does anyone else drive one with these kind of values.

Normally I would just tell the customer we should just rebuild it but due to the light duty the car is going to see going forward I want to give him the option to resurrect if the community things it is worth trying.

Thanks for the help and I look forward to asking you guys more questions. ;)

Andy

Re: Greetings and a Question
 

Andy, Because the compression readings are good, I would be up-front with the customer and show him your test results and let him decide. I would suggest he drive it for awhile and see if it smokes, uses oil etc. He should be made aware that it will likely leak oil out the rear main brg. After driving it some he, and you, will have a better idea of what needs to be done. Before first start-up, remove the dist and pour a quart of oil down that hole. This will pre-lube the main and cam bearings. The dist timing will not change.

Re: Greetings and a Question
 

I agree. Drive it and don't rush into anything.

Re: Greetings and a Question
 

Don't forget about the rest of the fluids and greases.


Mike

Re: Greetings and a Question
 

+1 for driving it. Those rings might start sealing a little better after some use.

Re: Greetings and a Question
 

I also agree drive it. that compression is good for a engine setting that long.

Re: Greetings and a Question
 

if you put your location in by your information, or state where you are, a local Model A enthusiast may be willing to stop by and offer up some tips.

Re: Greetings and a Question
 

Hi Jim, Do you think I will see a lot of smoke out of the motor with these conditions?

Re: Greetings and a Question
 

Andy, the compression rings don't do much to control oil usage, so you can't tell much about oil consumption/smoking. You'll probably get some smoke, at least at first. Use modern oil, I've seen it clean oil rings. My folks had a 1950 Pontiac recommended oil was non-detergent 10 wt. oil. After about 35 or 40,000 miles it started smoking a little on acceleration. Dad used Union Royal Triton 30 wt. oil in his diesel truck, so he put that in the Pontiac. We drove it on a trip, about 200 miles, it used 1 quart on the way up, none on the way home, and none until it was sold at 50,000 mies. I stick with my original statement. Good luck!