Teardown at J&M Machine

Great post Seth, love the pictures! Boy, what a shop! Wish I had some of that equipment, all state of the art from what I see. They have done several motors for me, all top notch!
You won't believe how it will run when you get it back!
 
Meskhov, They had 5 model A engines in various stages when I was there (6 if you include mine). It is quite an operation they have going.
 
:)Yes, every time I take a motor over I never want to leave!
I just drool over all the equipment they have as they just don't do Model A's. I saw a v-12 Lincoln, and a multitude of big six and straight eight engines together with the modern muscle car stuff as well.
In other words they do everything and all in-house.
 
John Gulbankian and his bro at J&M are the best in the United States for Model A engine rebuilds in my opinion. I have been a member of this site since about the time it opened, mainly lurking, and I have never read any complaints about their work or seen anyone dissatisfied, which cannot be said about most of the other A engine rebuilders out there who are frequently mentioned on this site.

Not only does John come on this site and explain his work, he backs up what he says with detailed pictures. That's a sign of confidence the other rebuilders don't seem to have, except maybe for Kohnke.
 
Seth,
Thanks for the great info and photos.
I look forward to more details and photos regarding your rebuild.
The inside of your engine doesn't seem to look as bad as it could have been considering its age. What this demonstrates to me is that babbitted bearings, although sacrificial, really are durable and allow for gradual/graceful failure vs the catastrophic failure associated with insert bearings.
I did notice that one or two of your crank journals are scored - will you be turning down and re-using the crank, or using a newer counterweighted/counterbalanced crank?
Will you add a 5.5 head and a Stipe cam?
Will you use fiber or aluminum or bronze timing gears?
I assume you're engine will be done and installed in time for the Spring touring season, which might not begin this year 'til June in New England!
 
Pat, I am leaning towards keeping things as original as possible. The crank, I am told, is in good shape and will be reused after being reconditioned/balanced. I am keeping the original head. The cam that was in the car was good (it is a standard one), so I will likely reuse it as opposed to "upgrading" to a touring cam. I haven't thought about materials for the gears and will likely yield to whatever J&M selects.
 
Awesome, Seth, keeping it as is as much as you can..You are the care taker of one piece of automotive history.
 
I would have counterweights added to the crankshaft. They help the life of the babbit and should help make the engine run smoother.
 
Seth,

I am by no means an expert and hope that others will chime in to correct, and/or append my thoughts here.

- From what I've read, adding a 5.5 head is the single biggest contributor to increased power of about 8-10HP without changing anything else on the engine. My club members and I can confirm that hill-climbing is a bit easier with the higher compression head. However, you can add this head later, by yourself if you wish; I think the cost is about $300 from Snyder or Bratton or others.

- Again from what I've learned here on fordbarn, if I were to do a rebuild by J&M, I would also add the Stipe touring cam and the "matched" bronze timing gear set from Dan McEarn (spelling???). These two items need to be added to your build now. Others have also talked about enlarged intakes valves and many other things which I cannot comment on.

- A balanced counterweighted crank is something else to consider, and this is a controversial subject because it impacts other considerations such as flywheel weight/balance. Also, I understand that you can no longer "gap" the rear main while the crank is installed if you use a counterweighted crank, but again I am not an expert in this area either.

As I recall, you don't just take you Model A around the block for short joy rides, but instead you take your car on long trips, and because of that, you really should consider some of the aforementioned mods to make touring a bit more enjoyable, with less beating-up of your engine at close-to-highway speeds, and also making your car a bit, and I mean just a bit, easier to keep-up with local area traffic flow.

You might seek out the advice of your builder for his opinion and the cost implications of the various upgrades that you are considering.

Again, I welcome the thoughts of the multitude that know a lot more than me, because this is the time, while your engine is in the middle of a full rebuild, to carefully consider what mods should be done now, vs later, and to ensure you'll have no regrets later.
 
Pat Martone said:
Seth,

I am by no means an expert and hope that others will chime in to correct, and/or append my thoughts here.

- From what I've read, adding a 5.5 head is the single biggest contributor to increased power of about 8-10HP without changing anything else on the engine. My club members and I can confirm that hill-climbing is a bit easier with the higher compression head. However, you can add this head later, by yourself if you wish; I think the cost is about $300 from Snyder or Bratton or others.

- Again from what I've learned here on fordbarn, if I were to do a rebuild by J&M, I would also add the Stipe touring cam and the "matched" bronze timing gear set from Dan McEarn (spelling???). These two items need to be added to your build now. Others have also talked about enlarged intakes valves and many other things which I cannot comment on.

- A balanced counterweighted crank is something else to consider, and this is a controversial subject because it impacts other considerations such as flywheel weight/balance. Also, I understand that you can no longer "gap" the rear main while the crank is installed if you use a counterweighted crank, but again I am not an expert in this area either.

As I recall, you don't just take you Model A around the block for short joy rides, but instead you take your car on long trips, and because of that, you really should consider some of the aforementioned mods to make touring a bit more enjoyable, with less beating-up of your engine at close-to-highway speeds, and also making your car a bit, and I mean just a bit, easier to keep-up with local area traffic flow.

You might seek out the advice of your builder for his opinion and the cost implications of the various upgrades that you are considering.

Again, I welcome the thoughts of the multitude that know a lot more than me, because this is the time, while your engine is in the middle of a full rebuild, to carefully consider what mods should be done now, vs later, and to ensure you'll have no regrets later.
Click to expand...
All valid considerations, but, to me , all these decisions should have been made BEFORE you drop the motor at the machine shop.
Thanks to the OP for the post...I like following these.:)
 
"Also, I understand that you can no longer "gap" the rear main while the crank is installed if you use a counterweighted crank"
He will hardly ever have to do this because bearing life will be extended. And it is way easier to do it with the engine out of the car anyway

"and also making your car a bit, and I mean just a bit, easier to keep-up with local area traffic flow."
change the word 'bit' to 'lot'

And it is not too late to be considering improvements just because the motor is already at J&M; just call them and start the dialogue

At the minimum he will want the 5.5 head
 
seth you do ALOT of long distance touring and i agree with the others on these improvements. J&M will hopefully take into account how you use the car and recommend certain additions. heck you drive the highways and byways all the time in your car.. plus you still promised to make it to philly sometime....
a cheese steak on me
good luck

P.S. remember you were going to visit and wanted me to drop your pan and ck clearances. LOL you would have had no shims to remove ....hehe
 
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