Name that sound 32 B motor...

[Bob C]

Don't know about the knock but it sure has a bad miss, is that because
the vacuum line is disconnected??


Bob

[jim1932]

So going to pull the oil pan tomorrow. Any common culprits to look for? Not the flywheel ring gear. Much louder when running, can barely hear anything turning it slow by hand but with compression. Thinking maybe a chunk of Babbitt gone or connecting rod loose? Plan is to pull pan and plugs and turn it by hand to see if I can locate it. Will screen the oil to see if there is anything in it.

[Happydaze]

You might get lucky as I did! I thought I'd destroyed my engine but it turned out the dipper tray had sprung free and was catching the crank. Admittedly I'd had the pan off for an oil change and clean out and clearly hadn't clicked it into place properly as I should have. There was minor evidence of the interference. I can't imagine this occurring on an engine that's been together for a while though, but you never know!

Chris

[jim1932]

Damn! That fits.... it was quiet, then was shipped twice on country roads. Then made the noise..... will post tonight if I find it.

[jim1932]

So.... oil pan was fine but snubber nut was falling off and everything was loose. Could that do it?

[DavidG]

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Depending on how loose, that could create a fair amount of metal-to-metal noise once the two big star spring washers (one in front of the snubber bracket and the other behind the bracket) lost their tension.

[jim1932]

Loose like only a couple threads holding the nut on.

[Flathead Fever]

I got here too late, you already pulled the pan. I was going to say try pushing in on the clutch to see if the noise changes. Maybe some pressure on it would hold a loose flywheel tight?

Also have someone push on the clutch while you watch the front pulley to see how much it moves. The thrust bearing surface might be gone?

Its hard to hear with all those rattling lifters. It sounds like too heavy of a knock to be a rod bearing. But you can check the rods by removing one plug wire at a time. If its a bad bearing it should get quieter when the cylinder is not firing.(That was already mentioned).

I heard one of those factory small block Chevy diesel conversions in a Cadillac Seville make a horrible sledge hammer knocking noise. When it was torn down nothing looked wrong? No metal in the pan. We were beginning to think we had torn in apart for nothing. The only left to do was remove the main bearing caps. The crank was snapped in half but it had driven into the shop that way.


This is Bernie Couch's motor from his '32 roadster. Photo was taken around 1947? It was a bad photo but I copied it anyway from his his album. This is why the hot rodders loved those 1932 V8 billet cams to regrind. I saw an original reground one at Clay SmIth's a week ago. It was a thing of beauty. Now I want one.

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by jim1932

So.... oil pan was fine but snubber nut was falling off and everything was loose. Could that do it?

whats a snubber nut?

[DavidG]

The 7/16-20 castle nut that attaches to the drilled shank 7/16-20 x 2 1/8" hex bolt that attaches the two snubber arms, two star-shaped spring washers, and two felt pads to the snubber bracket on the firewall of all but very early '32 four-cylinder engine-equipped vehicles as shown in the photos below.

[Frank Miller]

A friend of mine, whose mechanical skills I respect, had an engine rebuilt years ago for his Model A. It was making a kncking noise and he swore it was the motor. He drove the car to the rebuilder, who listened to it and agreed it was making a noise. He then grabbed onto the front fender where there was loose bolt and all was well.