Evaluate my engine plans...

[DaveWright]

I've recently stripped my A engine down to the block, pistons & crank. I'm planning on building it up a little 'warmer' than stock, including a B cam, police head, a zephyr intake with twin 94's, and a modern point-style ignition. Of course this also includes replacing and/or upgrading everything else that I've taken out along the way; valves, oil pump, water pump, gaskets, pulleys, timing gear, etc...
My question is: does anyone see a problem with my plans here? If it matters, the engine ran well before I tore it down, but as it was on a bare chassis, I never really had a driving experience with it. I'm not looking at building a daily driver or a long-distance touring car, just a fun project to drive occasionally and build upon. Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

[RawhideKid]

One word of advice, when you install the B cam, be sure to use the B timing cover as the hole for setting the timing is different than the A timing cover.

My wooden nickle worth.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

My advice would be to ask your engine builder what they can do. Share your goals with them and discuss options they can perform for you.

[Drive Shaft Dave]

Forget the modern points.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Counterweights on the crankshaft would be a good move.
That and a H/C head are what I'd add to an otherwise stock engine.

[Big hammer]

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Lighter flywheel, larger intake valves, the list goes on! :-)

[Rex_A_Lott]

Originally Posted by Drive Shaft Dave

Forget the modern points.

X2 on that. Not any better than stock. The FSI ignition MIGHT be a little better, you'll get some argument both ways on that one.
Get Jim Brierley's book and read through it, lots of experience there.
Good Luck, have fun!

[Dave in MN]

Originally Posted by RawhideKid

One word of advice, when you install the B cam, be sure to use the B timing cover as the hole for setting the timing is different than the A timing cover.

My wooden nickle worth.

The advice RawhideKid gives is valid if you use a "B" distributor.

If you plan to use an "A" configured distributor with the "B" camshaft, you should use the "A" front timing cover.

Good Day!

www.durableperformance.net

[2manycars]

Originally Posted by RawhideKid

One word of advice, when you install the B cam, be sure to use the B timing cover as the hole for setting the timing is different than the A timing cover.

My wooden nickle worth.

The B timing cover is only relevent to the B distributor, NOT the cam. An A timing cover is used with an A or B cam. The B timing cover is only used with the B distributor.

[MikeK]

There is a common misconception that bigger/ more carbs makes more HP. It does not. Bigger/ more is necessary only to the point it is able to supply air/fuel to an engine that has been modified to breathe more that the stock carb can supply at near zero manifold vacuum. Too much carb and you get zero vacuum but insufficient flow velocity to pick up any fuel.

You will be way over-carbureted for what you spec as a build. You will have severe driveability problems. There is a minimum flow velocity within a carburetor, below which it (they?) will atomize NO fuel.

With a B cam and stock valves/ porting if you stomp on the throttle with two Strom 97's or Holley 94's it will fall flat on it's face and stall. You will need to be breathing at least 175+ cfm at partial throttle before a pair of what you spec will transition to WOT without a big flat bog. Those twin carbs may look cool but will not work well.

A single 81 is about the limit for easy throttle control drivability with a B cam and stock valves/ porting. If you just want the 'look' you can use a dual manifold with one carb blocked off. Even a single 97 or 94 would be unstable at WOT with your build.

You will probably see about 50-55 HP with what you propose.

[denniskliesen]

Nobody has yet mentioned a Weber. I have followed a couple of the club members, one has a Stromberg the other has a Weber, both are impressive acceleration. Has dyno testing been done with Tod's new downdraft manifold?

[V4F]

weber , header , cam , hc head .

[midgetracer]

I agree, 2 94s are way to much carburation. Even 2 81s are too much. I would stick with one 97 or one 81.

[31Tudor]

I run one 97, never had an issue.

[ronn]

A single 81 is about the limit for easy throttle control drivability with a B cam and stock valves/ porting. If you just want the 'look' you can use a dual manifold with one carb blocked off. Even a single 97 or 94 would be unstable at WOT with your build


totally agree. One 81 is sufficient if you are not planning on going 80mph.

[Terry, NJ]

Lot's of plans! Have you acquired these parts yet? If not, then I would buy a "Snyder's "5.5 CR head. I like the idea of balancing the crank. You don't say how some of this work is going to be done, Engine builder? Yourself, or a friend. If you have a friend with a large lathe, then buy all means, get him to take a few lbs of the fly wheel In it stock weight it's 63 lbs. The real trick here is the rebalancing and it must be rebalanced. This allows the engine to rev up faster. Heavy Flywheels were a necessity in Henry's day but they're not really needed today. Another "Trick"I use is to "Port and Polish" the intake and block. Get all the casting flaws out and match the ports so you don't have "Steps" for the air/gas mixture to be slowed down. This increases the Volumetric efficiency of the engine. It simply means getting more gas into the cylinder. Myself, I like the mod B carb on a Drilled/bored out to 1.250"+ A manifold. The cam ? Use what you have, whatever! Just make sure the center journal mikes 1.557 or greater. Good Luck
Terry

Originally Posted by DaveWright

I've recently stripped my A engine down to the block, pistons & crank. I'm planning on building it up a little 'warmer' than stock, including a B cam, police head, a zephyr intake with twin 94's, and a modern point-style ignition. Of course this also includes replacing and/or upgrading everything else that I've taken out along the way; valves, oil pump, water pump, gaskets, pulleys, timing gear, etc...
My question is: does anyone see a problem with my plans here? If it matters, the engine ran well before I tore it down, but as it was on a bare chassis, I never really had a driving experience with it. I'm not looking at building a daily driver or a long-distance touring car, just a fun project to drive occasionally and build upon. Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

[DaveWright]

Thanks, everyone, for all the input and advice... To answer a few questions that were asked: My friend and I are doing this in my garage. Right now, the engine is torn down to just the crank, the flywheel, and the pistons remaining in the block. As it seemed to be a good running engine, my intent was to not dismantle it any further and not remove it from the chassis.
I guess one would call it 'freshening it up', as everything else was going to be replaced and/or mildly upgraded.
The only parts that I have right now are the high-compression head, the Zepher intake, and the dual 94's, as they were all Hershey finds. I was planning on purchasing everything else from Bert's and/or Snyder's in the near future based on the input I received here.
Thanks again for all the input- keep it coming...!

[40 Deluxe]

Have you, or are you planning to, check and adjust main and rod bearing clearance? Now is the time, and since you don't know the history of this engine, the bearings should be looked at anyway. Go ahead and push the pistons out while the rod caps are off. You may find a cracked piston, a broken ring, a tip broken off a wrist pin retainer, a collapsed skirt or worn out rings. Now is the time! Before removing a piston, look down from the top and eyeball the top ring gap. If the gap is large, the ring is worn. Otherwise, just rinse off and oil up the rings and reinstall. The rings will never know they've been out of the block!
So unless you need new rings, all this will cost you is time (it's a free education, plus you now know what you've got).

[Hotrodfil]

Here's my carb calculator for you. I run a single 97 on the tourer - good for 77hp.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...36c/edit#gid=0

[jm29henry]

I would get the block cleaned and magna flux and check block even for the most miner crack before I would do anything regardless of how it ran before tear down!