Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

My point in question brother...how can you effectively monitor the changes needed in timing with a lever? and why? especially given a center main expected to handle the impulse from four cylinders with no more area than a front bearing that handles two cylinders? regardless of timing required by a raise in compression, the basic need for a mechanical ramped increase in timing is critical for engine life as a whole. Harold Hicks,the ford engineer brought in from aircraft design to raise the hp to 40 noticed a main bearing weakness with the design...but was shot down by Mr Ford,who allowed his redesign of the exhaust manifold and additional cooling around the exhaust valves,but felt the three main bearing design was adequate..but he nodded with the B engine,offering mechanical advance from the jump...and a counterbalanced crank...

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

Harryc! this food for thought! when I change the spark lever it would basically, in a round about way put more load on the cam in advance & less in retard! this would cause the noise too change, will need too think this one out! thanks

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

I think if & when I go back into the engine I will install the automatic timing advance system, for two reasons. it would regulate the timing that was needed by the engine when it needed it! it would also eliminate the chance of mistakenly advancing the timing too much & beating on the Babbitt in the rods & mains.

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

I don't know about "eliminating the chance of" . When you go to the automatic timing gismo, you still have to do the dance of where is the timing at idle and high speed with no regard for load on acceleration and climbing a hill. The first thing I would check if I were there is; the starting point at idle, Very Slow and not much power. After that, you have about 30-32 deg. to work with which is about 1/2 way down on the lever, maybe 2/3.

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

got a silly question? what are the dimensions of a 1929 model a radiator? it is hard to get a accurate measurement while it is on the car with the shroud & all!

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

well I probably found a lot of my noise! was planning on rebuilding the transmission this winter, so I got started on it a few days ago! took the top shift tower off & felt pretty good on what I am seeing! got the transmission out & apart & found the u-joint is toast! I have never seen one worn as bad as this one. the next thing I find is you can slide the u-joint forward & back just about 1/2"! who ever was the last one was that was in there had put a oversized lock washer & a soft iron flat washer to hold the u-joint on the out put gear! I have no idea how it even stayed on there, the washer was bent back enough I could almost remove the u-joint without removing the bolt! not quite but almost. can't weight to get it to gather & see what changes!

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

Hey Pinball,

Here is what happened to me ... might help you out.

06-03-2017, 01:14 PM #3


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My coupe suddenly started to make noise in 2nd gear about 5000 miles after a complete rebuild. All new shafts, all new Mark gears, bearings and etc.

Looking back on it the only thing NOT replaced were the three needle bearings because they looked good. (HINT ... HINT)

I lived with the noise by keeping speeds low in 2nd gear and drove another 5000 miles.

Finally got tired of noise and tore it down.

Found that one of the needle bearings inside the cluster gear had come apart so one end of cluster gear was "flopping around".

Second/third slider gear and the corresponding gear on the cluster were "all chewed up".

These were brand new Mark USA gears!

I wonder if maybe I could have saved the 2nd gear and cluster by taking it apart as soon as the noise started! Your call !!

Steve at Bert's said it was the noisiest transmission that he had ever heard.

On the surviving needle bearings you can see that the needles are worn to "Points" where they fit into the holes in the "cage". Other wise the bearings look new.
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Last edited by Benson; 06-03-2017 at 01:28 PM.

Re: Noise in my ney 29 a engin
 

You can't tell by looking at rods and see if there out of alignment, they have to be put on a Rod Aligner, to check for twist, bend, and off set.

As far as wrist pins go, any movement that can be felt, is no good. The clearance should be right on at .005.

Hope you find the problem.

Herm.

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

I know Herm meant .0005"

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

In your first post, you mentioned removing the spark wires one at a time, however that didn’t change the sound of the engine. Was the “sound” there when you weren’t moving? If so, then it seems like a second problem, other than a bad u joint. ???

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

Another possibility is loose center cam journal. Might need to add cam bearings.

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

well, problem fixed I think! all new bearings in the transmission, new input shaft, replaced the cluster gear & second & high sliding gear, new cluster & reverse idler pins & a new u-joint! while doing all of this I also found the bracket that bolts the alternator too the block was loose & it had to be making noise! have not had it in the road yet, but pretty shore the noise is gone

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

got a question! I filled the transmission with Lucas gear additive, only! I was told that every one uses STP! the Lucas is about the viscosity as the STP, but it will not foam & it sticks to the gears better. what does every body think about doing this?

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

STP is not a lubricant it is an additive and so is Lucas. So, do two modifiers make a lubricant, not likely. Today's equivalent of 600 W is known as Steam Cylinder Oil and you will only find it at the local distributor, not at the auto parts store. Do a search here for "600 W". Remember, when your back on the road with your ears on, the consensus on timing was NOT all the way down. That is the sound of the engine crying and saying; back off, that's too much.

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

Most of the vendors carry 600 W oil.

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

Lucas oil stabilizer works great as transmission grease. Shifts smooth as silk. Much better than the 600W oil I got from a vendor.

Re: Noise in my new 29 a engin
 

It could be a loose timing gear nut. A simple test is to insert timing pin into timing hole while the engine is running at idle speed. Slowly push pin against gear if the noise goes away it means either the nut is loose or the gear is worn. Sometimes a worn 2 piece gear will produce this type of noise.