C engine ???

Hotrodmyk

Hotrodmyk

Member
Hi Everyone, I'm new here but not new to car forums. I have tried the search function here but can't find what I was looking for. The other day I was having a friendly discussion with one of the older members in my MAFCA chapter about the "C" engine. I said that there was no "C" engine per se but it was really a "B" with the latest 4 cyl head revision that was marked with a "C". He insisted that there was a "C" engine, 1934, that was completely different, counter balanced crank, different water pump, etc, etc, etc. Where can I find the correct info? I know I have seen it somewhere but can't rember. Thanks for your help.
 
The "C" nomenclature came about when ford produced the counter-weighted crank in Nov. '32. They did not change the part number but all Ford parts men, and all racers knew what was meant when the term C-crank was used. This held until maybe 15 years ago when someone decided that because there was no dash-C part number, there was no such thing. It is still quicker and easier to use C when referring to the counter-balanced crank, and truth be known, most everyone knows what that means! nuff said!
 
Now here's a question along the same lines. A customer of mine has a 32 B roadster that his mother bought used in 34. He claims some time in the late 40s a back alley garage put a C head onto it for some extra pep. His complaint over this was the trouble locating a proper water pump being it was allegedly different than the B. Does this make sense?
 
The guy is confused and obviously doesn't know what he is talking about. He probably saw a model A police head with the large letter B and thought it should be the correct head for the model B. Things like that are confusing to the unknowing majority.
 
The 33-34 water pump is shorter than the 32 water pump, maybe that
is what had him confused.

Bob
 
jkeesey said:
It had a large letter C stamped onto it, and the water pump mount flange was very large.
Click to expand...

All of the C heads used the three bolt water pump. The later 33-34 B type four cylinder engines used a slightly shorter water pump , so as to allow for the laid back angle of the radiator. Both the C and the B heads used the higher compression heart shaped combustion chamber. The C heads with the three bolt water pump has been said to have a 4.6 compression ratio. The head with the large letter B used the four bolt water pump and was made for the model A, this head is oiften referred to as the police head and has a compression ratio of 5.2 .
 
The head with the letter C would be correct for a 1932 model B. If his pump is leaking, all of the three bolt water pumps used mostly the same parts as the model A pump. the water pump shaft is shorter but the same diameter as the model A pump. the impeller is larger in diameter and different than the model A. When I rebuild the three bolt type pump , I use the model A shaft and cut it to the same length as the shaft that is removed from the three bolt pump. I use the C impeller that was removed from the three bolt pump and the rest of the parts are same as the model A pump.
 
Okay. Just wanted to get straight what was goin on there. He had no problems with it the last time I worked on the car. He's not exactly a mechanical person and probably one of his buddies just said "hey that head has a C on it, its not right" so that may be a more original car than we thought. It was repainted in 48 and a new top put on it 53 other than that nothing was touched. 25 thousand original miles.
 
Sounds like you need to personally monitor that situation. You say he's not mechanically inclined?

My Gordon Smith air compressor has the B engine (no counterweights) but has the 3 bolt waterpump to match the Gordon-Smith head. IIRC, there are two versions of the 3 bolt pump, but either will fit the space. I'm not sure of the differences.

Low on my priority list at Amherst, NH is to find a "spare" waterpump. But as I say, pretty low - this is an air compressor, after all.

Joe K
 
Joe he's not mechanically inclined at all. He just has a lot of memories in the car. There's a lot more maintenance that needs to be done to it since he's never done any. Being his mothers car he's always been afraid to drive it. Since the seventies he's put less than 100 miles on that poor old girl.
 
C engine water pump

No need to cut down 'A' parts. You can buy rebuild kits for the 'C' three hole water pump. Call any major vendor, explain what you have and they can send you what you need.
 
A while back,I rebuilt my 32-B water pump-"so called C".To save the hassle of pressing the impeller on,I ordered the shaft with the imp already pressed on.When I went to install the pump, it would not go on the last 3/8" to the head.Turned out that the imp needed to be machined back another 3/8" on the front side.I ended up using the old imp & pinned it to the shaft & it worked fine.Another case of crappy repro parts.Perhaps the repro imp will fit the repro B pumps but are no good for an original pump.
 
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