1932 B banger with a Model A flywheel ?

J

jettech

New member
Hey guys, my recent 32 Truck B banger when pulled had a Model A flywheel installed. Apparently the flywheel fits and was ran this way before I acquired the truck. I could never confirm how well it ran since I only idled it due to other mechanical and leaks issues with the motor. I plan to continue using the flywheel if possible when I rebuild the motor but would like to know if anyone has done this without any issues like balance or chattering. Pros and cons ? Finding a 32 flywheel is near impossible and Model a flywheels are plentiful. Thanks .
 
Other than being unnecessarily heavier, there shouldn't be a problem with a Model A flywheel on a B engine. I would think that B flywheels would not be that hard to come by given that nearly 300,000 of them were made from 1932-1941 and unlike commercial/truck radiator caps, they did not fall off or get left behind at gas stations.:)
 
There is a 11 lbs. difference between the Model A and the Model B ...63lbs. vs 52lbs. The "B" had a counter weighted crankshaft.

I am running a Model A flywheel that weighs 26 lbs. Many Model A parts suppliers have "lightened" flywheels for sale.
 
drgoetz said:
There is a 11 lbs. difference between the Model A and the Model B ...63lbs. vs 52lbs. The "B" had a counter weighted crankshaft.

I am running a Model A flywheel that weighs 26 lbs. Many Model A parts suppliers have "lightened" flywheels for sale.
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No. The first Model B was in 1932 and it did not have a counter balanced crank, just a bigger crank than an A. They came out with the counter balanced crank in 1933. They were interchangeable with the early one.
 
With respect, the four-cylinder counterbalanced crankshaft went into Model B production well before the end of the 1932 model year in the U.S.. The changeover was phased in and became complete on November 29th with engine number B-5175104.
 
IMHO...no need for the 60lb flywheel, that was for lugging thru mud holes we do not have anymore. I like the lightened v8 flywheel with a 9" disk and v8 pressure plate. Easy on the left leg, and quite peppy compared to the 60 lb hunk
 
DavidG said:
With respect, the four-cylinder counterbalanced crankshaft went into Model B production well before the end of the 1932 model year in the U.S.. The changeover was phased in and became complete on November 29th with engine number B-5175104.
Click to expand...

I have always heard it referred to as a C crank. The one I ran was a Russian C crank.
 
The 'C' designation for '33-'34 fours likely comes from the mistaken interpretation of the 'C' on the cylinder head. In the case of the head, the C is there to distinguish it from the higher compression B Model A head. (Evidently Ford did not think that its dealers' parts counter persons were very smart, further evidenced by casting part numbers into '32 V8 heads, at least for a little while.) There is nothing in Ford's archives that supports the use of a C as either a prefix or suffix in the 1932-34 fours' part numbers.
 
It was long ago but I thought the A flywheel rubbed on the B transmission case. Maybe a bad memory or a build up of tolerances in a particular case.

Charlie Stephens
 
The C was likely the engineering change for the different water pump from the original A design. This would have been the 3rd change in the A-6050-A lineage but it was for a new model of engine so the prefix changed to B. The suffix B high compression heads never made it into the green bible chassis parts book likely because they came so late in the model A production. The A-6050-B heads weren't produced till 1931. The heart shaped chambers and the big "B" give them away. A-6050-A heads had no markings till production for the model A cars was ended. After that, Ford generally just cast the Ford trademark on the surface with a date code. They may have produced them till the end of the model A engine production just before the start of WWII or they farmed them out like the blocks, ie the diamond blocks. Ford also produced the AF-6050 heads for the UK model AF production engines.

Since the model A had no markings on the heads from standard production, putting the "C" on there made them distinctive from the model A but a quick look at the water pump mount flange is enough for me.
 
With respect, the A-6050-B cylinder head, high compression, is indeed listed in the chassis parts catalogs, just not one published 17 years later. It is shown at least through the 1934 version. Further, a '32 four-cylinder water pump's part number was B-8501 and that of the '33-'34 fours was 46-8501, not A-8501-C.
 
I'm not surprised, when parts were obsolete, they didn't make it into the green bible. The early part books likely were different colors over the years.

Municipalities that used the model A as a Police vehicle likely used them for a long time due to the depression years. It probably didn't take them long to go to the V8 for pursuit cars. That's what a lot of criminals were using. It would be interesting to know how many B heads were made. They were copied in later years.
 
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