Burtz Block - General Status Updates

[JRLampl]

I thought it would be good/informative/useful to provide a general update on the Burtz Block project, milestones, resources, and related project activities within the building community.

Milestone:
To date, we have delivered over 500 "New Engine Kits" to customers in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the USA. Dennis Kliesen (home builder) has over 22,000 miles and Dave Gerold (Durable Performance, MN) has over 18,000 miles on their new engines and they are running smoothly with no issues.

We just received a new delivery of engine block kits and are very happy that we have stock available in the warehouse and ready to ship; no more waitlisting! Camshafts and flywheels are also in stock.

New High Compression Head and Status:
The new heads (6.5 to 1) are now in production. The first 100 heads will be in the distribution warehouse before the end of October. Dennis Kliesen installed one of the engineering evaluation samples of the new head before driving from his home in Mission Viejo, CA to the 2022 MAFCA National Meet in Kerrville, Texas. The revised water passages in the new head worked well to keep the head and cylinder block at a uniform temperature while crossing the deserts.

Builder Updates:
• Spare unique parts for the "New Engine Kit" like cam bushings, thrust washer halves, and studs are available at www.burtzblock.com
• A new "analog" adjustable oil pump relief valve has been designed by Terry, manufactured by Dan McEachern, and tested by Dave Delmue. The new relief valve can be fitted to a stock Model A oil pump or an aftermarket pump for use in the new engine. The relief valve, special bolts for an oil filter and for measuring oil pressure at the main oil galley, and the front and rear main radial lip seals are available at www.burtzblock.com
• The latest updated "Builders Guide" (http://www.modelaengine.com/new-engi...ers-guide.html) has been revised as of 11 September 2022. The changes include adding additional Bearing Manufacturers part numbers, warnings related to using oily solvents, a warning on crankshaft gear installation, an explanation regarding the oil feed hole size for camshaft bushings 2 and 4, an alternate method of sealing the studs for main bearings 1 and 3, a rewrite of section 3 because a stock Model A oil pump is adequate, and the addition of more engine builders to the list.
• The guide "Doubling the Flow Area of a Model A Oil Pump" (http://www.modelaengine.com/doubling...-oil-pump.html) has been revised with a date of 11 September 2022. This guide has had an extensive revision since it was discovered that a stock Model A oil pump provides adequate volume. This guide also describes the new analog relief valve along with the installation and adjusting instructions.
Other News Updates:
• Leonard Nettles's new oil pumps are in production and are working very well. Leonard is now working on an oil filter bracket assembly that mounts on the cylinder block in place of the timing gear inspection cover. Please contact Leonard Nettles at [email protected] for pricing and further details.
• Dennis Kliesen is developing an adjustable oil pressure relief valve/oil filter bracket combination that mounts on the cylinder block in place of the timing gear inspection cover. Several prototypes are working well. Please contact Dennis Kliesen at drkliesen@gmail for further details.
• The Facebook group (facebook.com/groups/1123377268114692) has about 3500 members and there are a lot of comments from home builders, professional builders, and those that have running engines. A lot of good information and pictures of recent builds can be found there.
• Bob Ryll had Jim Brierly regrind 2 of our new camshafts for OHV applications. The first was ground to an M-58 profile with 280 degrees of duration, and the second was ground to an M-21 profile with 286 degrees of duration. After grinding, Bob had Nortech Advanced NDT verify that the lobes still met the drawing requirement for hardness.
• We are still waiting for block measurement information from Paul Shinn which concern deviations from the manufacturing specifications.

If you have any questions about the block kit assembly or project information you want to share with us, just email to [email protected]

Thanks,
John

[Jim Brierley]

It should be noted that my M-58 and M-21 are overhead valve grinds, with less lobe lift than Terry designed into that cam, which was my concern (grinding material off the nose of the lobes). I thought the Burtz cams were made of cast steel, but they ground like steel billet, and testing showed they were hard all the way through.

[johnneilson]

Can John or Terry confirm the camshaft material?

Thanks John

[4bangerbob]

Originally Posted by johnneilson

Can John or Terry confirm the camshaft material?

Thanks John

John

Ductile Cast Iron as I understand.

bob

[marc silva]

Thank you for the update. Regarding the oil pump comment “the stock model A pump is adequate “ does that mean no modifications? I am anxious to get started on my assembly and difficulty trying to find a Stipe pump seems to be the case and someone to modify a stock one as well….my only hang-up. Thank you , Marc

[Paul Mike]

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I can not find any link on the wed site to order a relief valve or any other needed parts.

[johnneilson]

Originally Posted by 4bangerbob

John

Ductile Cast Iron as I understand.

bob

Bob,

I am not sure as Jim was mentioning it may be cast steel.
More interested if it can be welded up for performance.

John

[SonicRaT]

Originally Posted by marc silva

Thank you for the update. Regarding the oil pump comment “the stock model A pump is adequate “ does that mean no modifications? I am anxious to get started on my assembly and difficulty trying to find a Stipe pump seems to be the case and someone to modify a stock one as well….my only hang-up. Thank you , Marc

The latest oil pump modification update makes it seem like the original is sufficient without the volume change, but it would still at the least require the relief valve installed. If you're having trouble finding an oil pump, reach out to Leonard Nettles who is mentioned in the original post.

[ampico-kid]

I asked John Lampl this same question and he replied with the following information.

"You can use your stock Model A oil pump in the new Burtz Engine.. At high RPM you can achieve 35 PSI and at low idle about 5 PSI with an unmodified stock pump."

"You would need to tap a 1/8" NPT thread into the side of your oil pump and put a pressure relief valve in place."

He also included a PDF file on how to modify your stock oil pump and also how to install the pressure relief valve.

Model A Stock Oil Pump Mod..pdf

[JRLampl]

Ductile or Nodular cast iron.. it is the same..

[johnneilson]

Thanks John for the clarification on the cam material.

I will stay with the steel billet construction.

J

[Terry Burtz, Calif]

Originally Posted by Jim Brierley

It should be noted that my M-58 and M-21 are overhead valve grinds, with less lobe lift than Terry designed into that cam, which was my concern (grinding material off the nose of the lobes). I thought the Burtz cams were made of cast steel, but they ground like steel billet, and testing showed they were hard all the way through.

Jim, I'm glad that the new camshaft had sufficient depth of hardness to be reground to your M-58 and M-21 profiles for overhead valve applications. Your customer sent the results of hardness testing to me and I'll be happy to share them with anyone interested.

The new camshaft is made from nodular iron and the various surfaces are induction hardened to different hardness and depths of hardening.

The material along the centerline of the new camshaft and between lobes is not hardened which prevents any brittleness.

The advantage of induction hardening is that there is a gradual change from the hardened surface to the unhardened base material which eliminates any stress risers.

The 5 bearings and center gear on the new camshaft are hardened to Rc 40/52. This provides a good wearing surface and the gear teeth are not brittle.

The lobes are hardened to Rc 58/62. The depth of hardness at the tip of the lobes is Rc 58/62 to a depth between 2 and 3 mm. The remainder of the lobe is hardened to Rc 58/62 to a depth between 1.5 and 2 mm.

To put things in perspective, ball-bearing balls are around Rc 62 and the races are not quite as hard.

If you have a steel billet or forged camshaft that has copper plating on the non-wearing surfaces, it has been case hardened and there is a sudden change in hardness between the wearing surface and the copper plated surface. This sudden change is a stress riser, and if you were to drop the camshaft on a hard surface, it will fracture at the point of change from the wearing surface to the copper-plated surface.