Head mods

3

31 A4door

Senior Member
Ok so I also have a model T and have done research on milling the head using a club in Tulsa or somewhere I don't remember where. Anyways. I milled my Low head to the most they said to mill it to with some improvement but not enough so I ended up installing a Z head on it.

On these "A's " is there enough benefit to milling or not? Not seen the chamber of an A head so I don't know.
 
The 'Z' head or the Perf. T aluminum heads are both great additions to a T and really wake-up a stock T engine. It used to be with the T, the heads were milled up to .0125" and used in conjunction with high-compression pistons that protruded outside of the cylinder case (block). This is not feasible with the Model-A head due to the roof design. In today's environment, the options available for a Model-A to increase compression are affordable enough where most people generally use a Snyder's 5.5 compression ratio head due to their rapid availability. There are other options such as an original high(er)-compression head that was available in the day, and there is the Model-B head which uses a different water pump, ...but both of these heads are useable to slightly increase the compression. My recommendation is to use either the Snyder 5.5 or the 6.0 compression head. Good luck.
 
I have two model As, A Town Sedan and a Coupe, when I had the T.S. engine Rebuilt, I used a Snyder's. My coupe engine, I'm doing myself and I had the stock head cut down about 1/32 (.031) for $40 as opposed to the $275 for the Snyder's. I have no illusions that the two will be equal. But The old stock head will be improved. Costs are very important to me right now which is why I'm doing the engine myself. I'm not familiar with the T head but the A head combustion chamber is huge. Take a plug out and measure the distance from the bottom of the spark plug hole to the deck of the block. It's a lot! The worst part is grinding off as much as .100 ( 1/10 of an inch) really doesn't raise the compression that much. You are better off with a Snyder's.
Terry
 
Sounds like the same thing as the T head really. One good thing is I can mill my own head so that has no cost but if a Snyders head is that cheap I will probably go that route if the car lacks power. I have only driven it down the block and back so far till I get some road worthy tires on it but I can say it has way more power that a T. Guess I will look through my Snyders catalog today. Thanks.
 
If you have a Bridgeport or similar machine, one thing you might consider for a couple of HP, is to bore out the intake manifold. Stock manifolds are a rough cast 1 3/16", Bore it to 1 1/4". Ideally it should be 1 9/32" but the walls are getting too thin for comfort. I use a 1 1/4 drill known to cut oversize. Run the drill down the intake part of the manifold and follow with a 1 1/2 flap wheel on a shank. Also, make a locating pin that goes in a chuck or collett to get reasonably precise center and axis of the bore when you set up to drill. This is some of the "Cheapest" HP you can find.. Good luck!
Terry
 
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