1928 Tudor: starting disassembly

[jrd-28]

I made a bunch of good progress on the disassembly. Engine on stand, accessories stripped, valve cover off, head off.

So far it looks pretty decent in there. I was expecting to find more rust or sludge or something, but it really all looks fairly good. So far, anyhow.

Met up with some other Barners at the shop. Showed them around, they appreciated the setup and the car. Here's hoping they keep coming back, so I can put them to work

Turns out I have a single-disk clutch. I thought multi-disk was stock for this vintage. Maybe somebody changed it along the way?

Question about the engine: If I'm reading it right, the pistons are stamped .100. Does that make sense? .100 over?!? That seems like a lot.

Full pix at http://www.jrd.org/nate/01-30-16/

[jrd-28]

I had the car running maybe 10 years ago. It ran ok, just a hint of burning oil, but compression decent, and drove around ok.

Engine number is A167268 (pretty sure, the 2 is a bit hard to make out). I looked it up in some book (which I don't have in front of me now) and IIRC it came to June 1928.

[Sunnybrook Farm]

It looks better than the one I am working on, it might not need a lot of work especially since it came apart so nicely.

[700rpm]

That block looks good. .100 is about as far as you want to go, though I've heard of .125 engines. I would Mic the cylinders and have it magnafluxed, and if it's OK, buy new rings, maybe new valves and valve springs, check the block and head for flat, grind the valves, set bearing clearances, in other words, do what we used to call an "overhaul", and run with it.

[Mike V. Florida]

Remember take MANY pictures especially of this you already know where they go. As soon as toy take them, that night copy them to another medium. I know first hand what happens when you put them in one place and that place crashes.

[jrd-28]

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Originally Posted by 700rpm

That block looks good. .100 is about as far as you want to go, though I've heard of .125 engines. I would Mic the cylinders and have it magnafluxed, and if it's OK, buy new rings, maybe new valves and valve springs, check the block and head for flat, grind the valves, set bearing clearances, in other words, do what we used to call an "overhaul", and run with it.

Thanks 700, that matches my mental model. I'd just as soon not bore it any more.

Out of curiosity what would have led to such a large oversize bore? I'm used to going .005 or .010 at a time. To get to .100 either somebody has been into this engine A LOT, or the pistons only came in increments of like .025 or .050?

I need to get the valves out and cleaned up and inspected. I turned the engine over, and the valve seats all looked pretty nice. How do the guides usually fare on this engine?

I expect to get the bottom end opened up next week, maybe get as far as getting pistons out to mic them.

Mike V, agreed. I always take lots of pics. Somehow I never seem to take enough, but that's a separate problem My home system is a RAID and I keep off-site backups. The biggest problem isn't losing the pix, it's finding them again.

This coming week is the meeting of the local MAFCA club. I'm gonna go start getting to know those guys.

[jrd-28]

I've spent part of this morning reading up on the engine. A bunch of references, including Andrews Vol 1, talk about adjustable valve lifters. The ones that are in there don't look like they are adjustable, the appear to be plain solid lifters. Were there early lifters which were non-adjustable? If yes, is the accepted wisdom to replace them?

[Tom Wesenberg]

I always drill 8 holes in a 2 x 4 to keep the tappets in order. I do the same for valves.
I wouldn't replace them unless they need to be replaced due to wear.

[Marvin/TN]

My 30 A has 109 thousands over bore if I remember right. Been about 50 years since I was in the engine. It does have 4 ring Ford pistons. By the number on the block I seem to remember it being a Sept 1929 engine based on what information I had back then. I have also heard the 125 over bore is max.

[jrd-28]

Originally Posted by forever4

All original tappets are solid, not adjustable.

Interesting. So if you wanted to adjust something, your only option was grinding. The spec says .015 exhaust and .013 intake. Was it SOP in those days to do a little extra grinding at the seat or at the bottom of the stem to set it up?

Tom W; yes, I'm familiar with that one. I have a bunch of those two-bys around the shop. They've mostly been used for airplane engines, but I bet they'll work just fine

I found a reference which said that back in the day, pistons were available in std, .010, .020, .040, .060, .080, .100, and .125. So my engine either has had a number of bores, or it had some problem along the way which required a big bite out of at least one cylinder.

[1930artdeco]

My old block is bored .125 over and ran fine. My new engine had one sleeved cylinder so I sleeved them all back to standard.

Mike

[Mitch//pa]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

I always drill 8 holes in a 2 x 4 to keep the tappets in order. I do the same for valves.
I wouldn't replace them unless they need to be replaced due to wear.

I use cardboard

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by 1930artdeco

My old block is bored .125 over and ran fine. My new engine had one sleeved cylinder so I sleeved them all back to standard.

Mike

the engine that was in my AA was bored .125" over. That was done at least 70 years ago.

[henry's 31]

28 should be a multidisc clutch. My dad 's car is July 27,1928 and it had a multidisc clutch, so someone changed it on yours during the last 80+ years. What date is stamped in the cowl? (driver side, engine compartment)

[jrd-28]

Originally Posted by henry's 31

What date is stamped in the cowl? (driver side, engine compartment)

Huh, dunno. There's what looks like a data plate on the right (passenger) side of the firewall, but it's completely unreadable.

Is the number I'm looking for just stamped into the firewall?

[Tom Wesenberg]

Tank date stamp on the left side of gas tank just above the bolted lip. Mine reads 9-27-28.