blocking off the heat risers?
- Thread starter 37fordtruckguy
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rotorwrench
Well-known member
In copper Vs copper plated zinc,the copper will win the corrosion battle between the two
RalphG
Well-known member
Not sure about this "heat riser" on later flatheads. Does the 8BA in my 52 Merc have it? I can't remember the name of it but mine has some type of heat riser valve in the right side of the exhaust cross over pipe that operates by a heat sensitive spring. When cold the spring holds the flapper closed to restrict the exhaust flow.As the spring is heated up it pulls the flapper open.
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JSeery
Member Emeritus
The valve is just to increase the exhaust flow through the manifold until it heats up (like a thermostat). You would not use the exhaust valve with a blocked manifold crossover that's for sure. But if you were interested in performance you would remove the exhaust value in the first place.
rotorwrench
Well-known member
The old 49 thru 53 Mercs don't run well until they are warmed up good. That valve, in good working order, just speeds up the process. Most folks ditch the 885 & later carbs like Ralph's. I like the stock performance of these well enough to keep them and they need that valve for the automatic choke to work right. I just make sure and maintain the valve in good working order.
RalphG
Well-known member
That "flapper " valve was seized up solid on mine. I got it freed up so it moves but I think the spring is disconnected or lost it's spring . I should probably just remove the whole thing. The car was converted to manual choke nearly fifty years ago and it works ok. But yes, cold performance is not great. Plus the weak accelerator pump on this old "teapot carb." does not help. I need to get to work on fixing that.
Back in the day a special "heat riser valve" penetrating oil was sold to keep these valves free and working. Don't know if was really a special formula or just regular stuff repackaged. Seems like it did have graphite in it, but so did other penetrants.
JM 35 Sedan
Well-known member
Ed Zachary!
I find some wheatback pennies that have been in the ground for about 100 years, and they clean up very nicely, but try burying some pennies made between 1983 to 2016 in some slightly acidic ground for 12 to 24 months. Then dig them up and see what little is left of them. Even with the low cost of material used to make our modern pennies, it still costs the US Mint more to make a penny than they are actually worth. Now when there is talk about completely eliminating the US penny, many American's will cry foul in protesting this movement, as if they are losing something that is very important to our U.S. monetary system 
.
rotorwrench
Well-known member
If it costs 1.01 cent to make a penny then it is a loss. They have been made at a loss for a long time now but I bet way more money is lost by the government in just about every other thing that they do.
If folks would turn in their buckets full of pennies every now and then, they wouldn't need to stamp out near as many as they do. The zinc penny is a total loss since it will deteriorate in just about any damp environment. It doesn't take long before they look like a slug from an electrical box. At least the copper ones last the test of time. A hundred years from now, folks will still be digging up copper pennies but they won't find any old zinc ones.
If folks would turn in their buckets full of pennies every now and then, they wouldn't need to stamp out near as many as they do. The zinc penny is a total loss since it will deteriorate in just about any damp environment. It doesn't take long before they look like a slug from an electrical box. At least the copper ones last the test of time. A hundred years from now, folks will still be digging up copper pennies but they won't find any old zinc ones.
flathead4rd
Well-known member
The wheat penny's are solid copper. The newer penny's are made of Zinc and will probably deteriorate over time and not be found.
robert dick
Senior Member
cruising around town - come to a steep hill -- wind it up in 2nd and listen to the music all the way down --of course agravating the hell out of the neighbors.
JM 35 Sedan
Well-known member
You are correct, and not wanting to get too political here, what the government loses making what I would call modern "trash pennies" is a mere pittance of what is actually lost overall, in other areas, each day.
One thing I have noticed is that most of todays generation does not even want to carry a modern US penny, and when they get them in change from making a purchase, they just throw them away, anywhere they happen to be at that time.
The real copper and copper alloyed coinage of yesteryear will in most cases last a very long time in the ground. I know this based on another hobby that I enjoy of searching for rellics and artifacts that have been lost most anywhere we look, many many moons ago. With our relatively short history here in the States, we can only find copper coinage from just before, and during our Colonial days, or about 400 to 450 years old. Now, in other countries, in and around Europe, we have found copper and bronze based coinage lost or hidden hundreds of years BC. It's mind boggling to see what's in places like the Brittish Museum's in the way of ancient coinage that has been removed from the ground in just recent times.
Now, how does this all relate to Henry's early Ford V-8's from '32 to '53 ('54 in Can)? Well, I can say that I have personally found, and have seen others find, copper based World's Fair and Exposition coins and tokens made by the Ford Motor Co., back in the thirties, that are in near perfect condition after spending 80+ years in the ground
Back to the garage!! In the late 40's we used pennies and on a winter weekend night we would meet
late at the Hot Shop at about 65th and Market street. Market street is the main
street East and West through Philly. A group of Hot Rodders would head into Philly
heading North on some side street like 54th street. These were old narrow streets
with row houses on both sides and wind up in 1st gear and let it back down with
the duals rapping and rattling the window. All the lights would come on in the
houses. If they ever caught us they would have rung our necks. I now have some
old Fords with nice mellow pipes but the pennies are a pain to install and hard to remove. I cut 2 pieces of about 20 gauge sheet metal about 1 5/8" long and
about 1" wide. I bent a 90 degree bend 3/8 to a 1/2" on one end of the 1" side of
both. Now you can loosen the intake manifold bolts and shake the manifold loose
and slip these parts in on both sides to block the heat riser holes. They are thin
enough that the gasket will seal them. If you want to remove them in the winter
you can. G.M.
late at the Hot Shop at about 65th and Market street. Market street is the main
street East and West through Philly. A group of Hot Rodders would head into Philly
heading North on some side street like 54th street. These were old narrow streets
with row houses on both sides and wind up in 1st gear and let it back down with
the duals rapping and rattling the window. All the lights would come on in the
houses. If they ever caught us they would have rung our necks. I now have some
old Fords with nice mellow pipes but the pennies are a pain to install and hard to remove. I cut 2 pieces of about 20 gauge sheet metal about 1 5/8" long and
about 1" wide. I bent a 90 degree bend 3/8 to a 1/2" on one end of the 1" side of
both. Now you can loosen the intake manifold bolts and shake the manifold loose
and slip these parts in on both sides to block the heat riser holes. They are thin
enough that the gasket will seal them. If you want to remove them in the winter
you can. G.M.