Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Early V8 (1932-53)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-16-2020, 04:44 PM   #1
slowspoke
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 24
Default 8ba Head Replacement

Howdy folks! I've received a positive prognosis from the machinist regarding my 8ba; however, it doesn't appear the heads will survive the resurrection. I have no real grand vision for this motor as I simply bought it out of curiosity. She'll likely end up on a test stand for a year or two as I look to progress this project into something with four wheels. That being said I didn't have any real intention of hot rodding this motor; however, now that I must replace he heads it has me thinking... I think he economical choice would be to seek out some replacement 8bas or maybe seek a set of EACs. Head replacement wasn't on my radar as I wasn't suspecting this issue to arise. Now I'm in the market and would appreciate some guidance regarding replacement/sourcing.

Last edited by slowspoke; 09-16-2020 at 04:53 PM.
slowspoke is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2020, 05:06 PM   #2
uncle max
Senior Member
 
uncle max's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: SLC Utah
Posts: 798
Default Re: 8ba Head Replacement

EAB heads provide more bang (compression) for the buck.
__________________
RIP Tyler... My Son, Helper & Best Friend.
Feb '78 to Father's Day '10.
www.97-express.com ~ [email protected]
uncle max is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 09-16-2020, 05:33 PM   #3
Black Fifty
Senior Member
 
Black Fifty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: The Thumb of Michigan
Posts: 107
Default Re: 8ba Head Replacement

^^^^^ +1
Black Fifty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2020, 06:57 PM   #4
tubman
Senior Member
 
tubman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,259
Default Re: 8ba Head Replacement

"EAC"'s ('52-'53 Mercury heads) have larger chambers than "EAB" ('52-'53 Ford heads) and are not as good a choice. FMC did this to keep the compression ratios consistent between the Fords and the Merc's (that had a longer stroke). I believe the "EAC"'s are equivalent to "8BA"'s.

Of course, they can always be milled to get more compression. If you are going to go to that extent to improve the performance of your engine, you may want to get the "quench" of the combustion chamber down to a little less than 050". In my opinion, this is one of the best (and cheapest) things you can do to improve the performance of a flathead Ford. There are a lot of threads on here about the required process.
tubman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2020, 10:59 AM   #5
Ol' Ron
Senior Member
 
Ol' Ron's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Chester Vt
Posts: 8,840
Default Re: 8ba Head Replacement

If your going to run this engine on a run stand for a few years, assuming the engine has just been rebuilt. I doubt the rings will not be seated properly and will have to be replaced before putting it in a vehicle, The original heads could be used with a mill job as the run stand wont care how much compression it has.
Ol' Ron is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2020, 11:19 AM   #6
slowspoke
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 24
Default Re: 8ba Head Replacement

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Thanks for the response Ron. All this information leads me to believe I'll just stick with stock 8ba heads. Now I just need to source some in N. Texas.
slowspoke is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2020, 12:47 PM   #7
F-ONE
Member
 
F-ONE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Heart of Dixie ( Alabama)
Posts: 63
Default Re: 8ba Head Replacement

Quote:
Originally Posted by tubman View Post
"EAC"'s ('52-'53 Mercury heads) have larger chambers than "EAB" ('52-'53 Ford heads) and are not as good a choice. FMC did this to keep the compression ratios consistent between the Fords and the Merc's (that had a longer stroke). I believe the "EAC"'s are equivalent to "8BA"'s.

Of course, they can always be milled to get more compression. If you are going to go to that extent to improve the performance of your engine, you may want to get the "quench" of the combustion chamber down to a little less than 050". In my opinion, this is one of the best (and cheapest) things you can do to improve the performance of a flathead Ford. There are a lot of threads on here about the required process.
Tubman I believe the EACs are just a step below the 8BAs being roughly equivalent to the 8RT truck heads.
F-ONE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2020, 12:52 PM   #8
F-ONE
Member
 
F-ONE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Heart of Dixie ( Alabama)
Posts: 63
Default Re: 8ba Head Replacement

Quote:
Originally Posted by slowspoke View Post
Howdy folks! I've received a positive prognosis from the machinist regarding my 8ba; however, it doesn't appear the heads will survive the resurrection. I have no real grand vision for this motor as I simply bought it out of curiosity. She'll likely end up on a test stand for a year or two as I look to progress this project into something with four wheels. That being said I didn't have any real intention of hot rodding this motor; however, now that I must replace he heads it has me thinking... I think he economical choice would be to seek out some replacement 8bas or maybe seek a set of EACs. Head replacement wasn't on my radar as I wasn't suspecting this issue to arise. Now I'm in the market and would appreciate some guidance regarding replacement/sourcing.
First thing....
If the damage to the heads is visual crack damage I would insist that the block be magnafluxed.
If the heads froze and cracked.....usually the block does too somewhere.

The earlier 59A style Pre-49/48 24 stud heads will fit with little modification. This gives you some more options and I like the look of the earlier heads.
F-ONE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2020, 03:36 PM   #9
elwood
Senior Member
 
elwood's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Dallas
Posts: 1,046
Default Re: 8ba Head Replacement

Im close to I30 & beltline, Id bet I got a pair or two layen around ..
elwood is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:04 AM.