Christmas came early! I got my engine!

[montanafordman]

Christmas came a few days early for me! I just had my engine rebuilt and picked it up today! It is a babbit motor with a high compression head, counterweighted crank and a b grind on the cam for a nice touring setup. The builder is a member of our club and has done dozens of motors for the club over the years and I’ve heard nothing but good things – many from some friends that have put over 20K on his engines with no complaints. He’s pretty meticulous and invited me over to his shop to see the progress which is where I took the photos with the head off but I had him put together the whole long block for me. It’s nice to have the local support on hand too and beats crating and shipping. I was lucky that my block was pretty close to stock, no cracks whatsoever, got all the studs out and cleaned up very nicely to .060 over. I’ve got some other work to do with the car this winter but hopefully I’ll be crusing by summer. I had a B filler tube for it, and a unique air maze type filler cap that probably came from a tractor or combine. It was the way my granddad had it anyway. I have a standard b cap but I think this other unique type is cool, it cleaned up nice so I will probably use it. I surely didn’t think I was this good but Santa must have thought otherwise!

[Gary WA]

Very Nice, Merry Xmas.

[QGolden]

Congratulations! And a Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[insomniacshotrods]

Never thought id be excited about a 4 cylinder engine with all the v8s ive had,but these little engines rock. i Love the sound of them. How does a B grind cam sound compared to an A grind? Very nice looking and good to know people still do the babbit and redo them like they used too. Im glad its not a lost art yet.

[montanafordman]

Originally Posted by insomniacshotrods

Never thought id be excited about a 4 cylinder engine with all the v8s ive had,but these little engines rock. i Love the sound of them. How does a B grind cam sound compared to an A grind? Very nice looking and good to know people still do the babbit and redo them like they used too. Im glad its not a lost art yet.

I love the sound too. Its fun to experience an antique car the way they were back in the day - although usually on a nicely paved road with a cell phone and gps. I have not noticed a sound difference with other cars I know have B grind cams. I'm anxious to see what kind of difference I will feel - but I have had a lot of fun with stock (about 2,000 miles behind an A myself as a relatively new guy to the hobby) and find a properly restored A (especially brakes, steering, suspension) drives very well even in Seattle area traffic.

I was happy to have babbit bearings in my motor, it seems there are few people that do babbit anymore and even fewer that are good at it and really know how to do it well and right, the first time. The guy my builder uses for babbit has been doing it a VERY long time from what I understand, and the person who built it for me won't be doing it forever either so I'm glad I got it done when I did. I sure hope there will be some talent to carry the torch for doing babbit A engines 20, 40 years from now - although its a forgone conclusion there won't be as many "local" guys doing it.

[Franchise_24]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Very nice, lucky you!! Merry Christmas.

[Tom F OHIO]

Montanafordman, Isn't Santa Great.....

[montanafordman]

Originally Posted by Tom F OHIO

Montanafordman, Isn't Santa Great.....

That he is! I'm a cargo pilot by trade, and coincidentally I am departing on a flight at midnight christmas eve so I guess Santa is counting on my help. I am flying a plane full of medical specimens to a medical lab on the other side of the state. In the grand scheme of things I like to think it helps the medical profession provide the best gift of all (besides Christ) and that is additional time with loved ones. It will be a quick night though and I should be home by 4:30am, still in time for all the magic.