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Old 12-30-2016, 11:52 PM   #1
serf2
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Default 32 counter balanced crank

When did Ford start counter balancing the 4 cylinder cranks?
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Old 12-31-2016, 12:04 AM   #2
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Hi; There have been many good articles on this. SSOS Secret Society of Speed 4cyl group; their article said that it started with Ford factory rebuild engines. I don't have a link. Newc
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Old 12-31-2016, 05:22 AM   #3
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Not so. The Model B counterbalanced crankshaft was gradually phased into production during the '32 model year and all fours commencing with engine number *B-5175104* built on November 29, 1932 had the new crankshaft. (This according to the Rouge Engine Plant production log in Ford's archives at the Benson Ford Research Center.)
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Old 12-31-2016, 09:09 AM   #4
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

I think it's the large shrunk on weights that got installed during factory rebuilds
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Old 01-01-2017, 01:18 PM   #5
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Is there a way to tell without pulling the pan?
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Old 01-01-2017, 02:26 PM   #6
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

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If you pull out the oil filler tube you should be able to see at least one partial counterweight with a well-focused light.
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Old 01-01-2017, 02:29 PM   #7
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Or look through the fuel pump opening with a bore scope.
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Old 01-02-2017, 05:06 PM   #8
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Didn't have a chance to pull fuel pump but did copy down the engine # BB5183372. If DavidG is correct I am guessing this would be a late 32. Is that right?
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Old 01-02-2017, 05:30 PM   #9
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Looks like January 1933

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Old 01-02-2017, 07:46 PM   #10
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Than that brings up more questions. The engine # matches the title which states it as a 32. Was there any differences between the 32 BB or the 33 as far as cab and front sheetmetal?
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Old 01-02-2017, 07:49 PM   #11
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Firewall is the first give away. Then the hood and grill . Dash changed. Fenders are different around the front crossmember area.thats just a few differences
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Old 01-03-2017, 09:18 PM   #12
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Check out Vince Falters web site. David can correct me if I am wrong (I usually am) but model 4 cylinder engines were not stamped when new, I thought. If it is a rebuild they tended to stamp the numbers on it. pull the fuel pump and use a flash light. Make sure you know what one looks like though. I have a second model B motor that is stamped with a model A 1929 number. It is a diamond block with the counterbalanced crank (no it is not for sale).
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Old 01-04-2017, 04:20 AM   #13
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

The '32 and up fours' engine blocks were not numbered as Jim indicates, only the flywheel housings. In some jurisdictions the blocks were stamped with a number (not necessarily Ford's number) when rebuilt.
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Old 01-04-2017, 08:12 AM   #14
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

David
Did the "C" stamp on some heads have anything to do with nothing an engine with the counter balanced crank....OR I guess more direct to my inquiry IS why is the 33/34 4cyl cars seemingly associated as "Model C"?
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Old 01-04-2017, 08:40 AM   #15
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

A Model C is a British small Ford, looks like a mini 35 Ford. Has a 10 horse (tax) power 1172 cc engine, the engine kinda looks like a Model B engine in mirror, but without a water pump from factory.
The C cast into some of the heads is not an indicator of a counter balanced crank.
Why do folk call 33/34 four cylinders a Model C? I have no idea, but they ain't Model C's. See above.
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Old 01-04-2017, 09:54 AM   #16
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

I'm sure it was just the head marking. A lot of folks call the 59 series engines 59AB and that is also just a head marking.
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Old 01-04-2017, 01:29 PM   #17
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockfla View Post
David
Did the "C" stamp on some heads have anything to do with nothing an engine with the counter balanced crank....OR I guess more direct to my inquiry IS why is the 33/34 4cyl cars seemingly associated as "Model C"?
There was a high compression head available from Ford for the Model A (often called the "police head") When the '33 came out Ford don't call it a "Model C" but that is what people did since that was the pattern they were expecting to continue. To keep stock straight it had a letter "B" cast into the head. When the '32 Ford came out the just used the next letter which was "C". It has sure caused a lot of confusion over the years.

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Old 01-04-2017, 04:32 PM   #18
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

Robert,

Charlie and Scooder have nailed it. A further confusing ingredient is that at least some Ford of Canada-made heads had no "C" cast in.

Many of the surviving Model B (the car) heads have cast-in Ford script as well as the "C" and all of NOS ones I have seen do as well. The irony is that the script was added in August, 1934, three months after those engines were no longer available as an option for U.S. vehicles. (Model B engine production continued on to 1941.)
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Old 01-04-2017, 08:21 PM   #19
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

A lot of people incorrectly refer to the "diamond block" engines with counter balanced cranks as a "C" engine. Falters site can explain diamond blocks better than I can
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Old 08-05-2018, 12:48 PM   #20
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Default Re: 32 counter balanced crank

I stumbled across this crank the other day, it looks like a B but the mains/rods are that of an A. Was it a thing to turn down a B crank for an A block?
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