8ba

[bigfeller08]

hi ,i am in the process of building my 8ba up from scratch, it will be bored to 80 th over ,new 4 ring pistons new cam bearing etc, heads planed 5 th, just to clean them up, ,i have never rebuilt one before ,BUT handy with spanners etc, can any members guide me with this re-build , as i do not want to have a stuff up, fitting new esk valve SPRINGS , CAN I JUST PUT THEM IN WITH OUT TESTING THEM , ALL ARE THE SAME HEIGHT , AND ADDING HOLLER ADJUSTABLE LIFTERS , any help would be very grateful, as i have spent just on 3000 au dollars in engine machining and dont want to stuff up , many thanks and look forward to some up front honest help ,cheers bigfeller

[Talkwrench]

IF your machinist did there job properly it should be straight forward as an 8BA has insert bearings. They should have checked all of this , bored and honed to suit as well. Dont take anything off the heads its about the last job you'll do to check clearance. Why do you need the Isky ...Ahh you bought the lifters and spring together didnt you .. ?

What state are you in ?

[51 MERC-CT]

When you say " ADDING HOLLER ADJUSTABLE LIFTERS", I am assuming that you mean 'Hollow adjustable lifters'.
If that's what you mean then just a word of caution.
There have been some write ups that some of these non-original Johnson hollow adjustable lifters that are being sold are defective as to quality and have experienced some failures.
They do not have to be hollow and there are #2032 solid Johnson adjustable lifters available.
You may find this letter interesting.

[Ol' Ron]

I as u me your using a stock cam??? use the stock springs, I recommend the rotators for any cam up to 350 lift. The use of one .060" shim and stock springs is all you need for a street engine.

[flatford39]

Pick up Vern Tardell's book on rebuilding the flathead ford V8. It will walk you right through it. Has great graphics.

[tubman]

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Guys, do you think I should even bring up the subject of leaving the bottom rings off since he is using 4-ring pistons? I left them off my last build and everything seems to be fine.

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by tubman

Guys, do you think I should even bring up the subject of leaving the bottom rings off since he is using 4-ring pistons? I left them off my last build and everything seems to be fine.

Yes. I was wondering why he went with the 4-ring piston when the 3-ring are available. But if you already have them then I would consider leaving off the bottom ring.

[flatjack9]

Haven't used the bottom ring in years.

[Mike51Merc]

Does anyone feel that 80 over is a bit much?

[tubman]

Originally Posted by Mike51Merc

Does anyone feel that 80 over is a bit much?

Nope. I'm just a regular guy, not a professional and I've built 2 8BA's over the years that were .125 over. On both, the machinist said there was plenty of "meat" left. On the second one, the bores looked good, but when they made the initial bore, they exposed a casting flaw. There was plenty of cylinder wall left, but there was a small pit that was exposed. I decided to spend the extra money to have that cylinder sleeved, even though the machinist said I could get by without it. The $75 was cheap insurance.

8BA's are plenty robust; it's some of the early 21-studders that you have to worry about on things like this.

Also, since I've been given permission, I'll go on record as recommending leaving the bottom ring off when installing the 4-ring pistons. Te story goes is that the fourth ring was added to cure a persistent oil burning problem. Given today's piston ring technology, the fourth ring is not necessary and just adds more friction in the cylinder bore.

[GOSFAST]

Would strongly recommend using bronze-lined guides, you'll never experiencing a "hung" valve ever with these guides!

To answer the question concerning the amount of o'bore above (.080"), this is a "non-issue" and a perfectly safe number. We actually prefer this size over going directly to the .125" over, even though almost all the rotating kits we sell include the .125" o'bores? All the .125" sizes are usually customer requested?

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.s. Here's a couple shots of the OEM (Johnson) Flathead lifters, the bronzed-lined guide/valve pkge, and one of an interesting read from our friends down at Johnson. We buy these lifters in "bulk", 92 to a tray!

[51 MERC-CT]

Originally Posted by Mike51Merc

Does anyone feel that 80 over is a bit much?

I'm over 80 and sometimes I think it's a bit much.

[Frank Miller]

From what I have read here, if you get the crank ground make sure the radius is put back at the edges otherwise it creates a place for it to break.

[Ol' Ron]

I'm .145 over and no problems.