How many problems are caused by mods?

I have two with overdrive , t-5 speed , electronic ing , hc head , down draft carbs, and more . ( how many problems are caused by mods ) none. I drive them every day. Every body has an voice this is mine. God bless
 
All "mods" as well as all original parts and systems have a mean-time between failures that is dependent on that item's original design engineering, how it integrates into a system possibly not addressed when designed, and correctness of installation. You cannot group them all together as better or worse than original.

The biggest "mod" we are all guilty of is using fuel containing butane. You may avoid the ethanol in some areas if you are lucky, but NO modern fuel has the vapor pressure spec of what was available before WWII due to the butane, which F.I. engines love.
 
IMHO the problems with mods are not necessarily reported. The person spent a lot of money and won't admit they might have made a mistake and will even defend their mods. Most than once on tours cars have had problems and I have been asked to help. One look under the hood and if it is full of mods, I walk away. Have no idea what has been done. One young man actually asked me how to make his car idle and run like a Model A. My response was to take all his mods off and make it stock.

As said before, a police type head such as the Snyder's 5.5 and maybe a 3.54 ring and pinion are the only things that I put on my cars.

Just my thoughts.
 
As long as there are motor heads there will always be the quest for improvement in looks, performances and handling. Its the nature of man to do so. A few years back I bought a barn fresh 1929 Ford Roadster. It was and is a great car but the one flaw I couldn't drive it at night because the headlights had been changed to seal beams and the generator couldn't keep the battery up. Change the headlights to a dim light or go to a 6 volt alternator? Easy decision here and the alternator looks great and designed for the 29. OK so this was change one. Now when I drove 45 or just a little over the engine vibration was horrible. I thought the motor was a goner but had 2 experts on the A's check it out on an hour test drive which they told me I had a good one and nothing wrong. May be but I cant deal with severe vibrations so change two brought me a new motor and transmission in the 1934 vintage four banger. Balanced crank with counter weights and all so now the 29 can drive 60-65 all day long with smooth results. Its fun and a pleasure to drive so now is my ride ruined because a purest wants vibrations and dim lights? I think not and I transformed it from a dog to pleasure to drive. I did it my way.
 
There are times when problems can be solved by mods also. For example, while driving home from picking up my grandson, I heard a noise coming from under the hood. I pulled over and checked and found the alternator (on car when I got it) bearings were failing. Got back in car and stopped at an Autozone on the way home and purchased an alternator for $29.38 including a $20 discount. Try that with an A generator! Hmmmm about $215 exchange plus s&h and I'm not talking green stamps. Oh... and about a week for delivery.
 
Ray With said:
Its fun and a pleasure to drive so now is my ride ruined because a purest wants vibrations and dim lights? I think not and I transformed it from a dog to pleasure to drive. I did it my way.
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While those changes "fixed" your problems, if one were to take the A body and put it on a modern chassis it too would be "fixed".

Your statement would be correct if all Model A's had dim lights and vibrated, but they do not. If one were to replace the sealed beam bulbs with the right reflectors and bulbs and if the motor/****** was rebuilt correctly you would have a stock Model A that you could drive at night at 60+ miles an hour.


Guys it's your car and you can do with it as you wish! The problem I have is when somebody states that "mods" HAVE to be done to get the car to operate correctly, that is simply not true.
 
Mike V. Florida said:
Guys it's your car and you can do with it as you wish! The problem I have is when somebody states that "mods" HAVE to be done to get the car to operate correctly, that is simply not true.
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I agree 100%.

The chances of buying an A that functions even close to factory specs are slim to none. In the slim column, bring oodles of currency. In the none column, eighty years is plenty of time screw up almost anything.

Even modifications require a proper foundation.
 
Mike V. Florida said:
Guys it's your car and you can do with it as you wish! The problem I have is when somebody states that "mods" HAVE to be done to get the car to operate correctly, that is simply not true.
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This may be open to interpretation. In my opinion an engine that operates correctly has an automatic timing control. The "A" does not and it is impossible for a human to operate the manual one correctly 99% of the time even if someone trys.

At the same time I refuse to install an automatic timing kit on the "A" because I think the manual control is part of the "A" experience :D.

The cheesy arm that goes to the throttle linkage mod does not count as a real automatic advance, in fact I think its worse than the manual control.
 
[QUOTE=Mike V.
Your statement would be correct if all Model A's had dim lights and vibrated, but they do not. If one were to replace the sealed beam bulbs with the right reflectors and bulbs and if the motor/****** was rebuilt correctly you would have a stock Model A that you could drive at night at 60+ miles an hour.



Having a Model A club close by and several purest on hand I find there 28-29 motors vibrate as bad as mine did. Without counter weighted crank shaft's it would be impossible to have any motor run smooth without excessive vibes and as to lights there lights run dim yellow and with only a 10Amp generator it cant keep up to many candle power. My car is not a museum piece and it gets hiway driven weekly
 
I have to ask, if the stock "A" engine ran so smooth without any real motor mounts and an unbalanced crank, why do all 1950s+ engines have motor mounts and counter balanced cranks? To waste money?
 
Big diff between engines of the 50's and the 30's, higher rpm's, road speeds, etc, etc. And people in the 50's, after the war weren't going to put up with 30's technology. JMO Then we went to the "age of aquarius".
Paul in CT
 
1931 flamingo said:
Big diff between engines of the 50's and the 30's, higher rpm's, road speeds, etc, etc. And people in the 50's, after the war weren't going to put up with 30's technology. JMO Then we went to the "age of aquarius".
Paul in CT
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True, but if the "A" engine stock runs perfectly smooth to the point motor mounts arn't even needed it should have no problem running at 5-6K rpm without grenading. If this is not the case a balanced crank WILL improve it. This does not mean "its necessary for the engine to work"
 
Running at 5-6K RPM? That's pretty much wide assed open on any 50s era motor and good luck doing that with a Model A engine.

As we all know there's very few engines designed to run wide open for any great length of time- aircraft motors being the exception and maybe others I'm not familiar with.
 
Just to set the record straight about "balanced" cranks, all stock A cranks were very well balanced by Ford- static balance. This is well documented in literature and photographs. Adding dynamic balance with counterweights only serves to counteract a few thousanths flex along the centerline, which cams out bearings and fatigue cracks cranks. It does NOT result in any noticable, seat-of-the-pants improvement unless other problems have been fixed concurrently. New A engines ran smooth- 'till the center main cammed out. THAT is what adding counterweights fixes- the UNNOTICEABLE crank flex along its centerline.
 
Milton answered the question very nicely. What I do to my 'A' is none of your business. What you do to your 'A' is none of my business.

I make a modification to whatever system I choose, just because I want to. Different motor mounts, yes. High Compression head, yes. Battery cutoff switch, yes. Fuse box, yes. Turn signals, yes. LED brake light, yes.

Some mods for safety. Some mods in order to keep up with the group on a tour. Some mods just for fun or to see what they would do.

If I ask a question about a mod on this forum, it is because I know that someone else has done the same or a similar mod. I ignore the smartass answers and appreciate the thoughtful answers.

Just because Henry did it or you say it is the only way, does not make it so. A person that has done 10 different kinds of mods to a distributor probably has a better feel for the difference between the original distributor and the highest priced electronic ignition system. When that person shares their knowledge with me I really appreciate it. When the answer is "my points have been in my coupe for 50 years, don't mess with the distributor" I don't pay much attention to that answer.

Using ethanol or butane or anyother fuel that "use to" be available is not a mod, it is real life, learn to deal with it (tune your car so that it runs on whatever fuel is available).
 
MikeK said:
. New A engines ran smooth- 'till the center main cammed out. THAT is what adding counterweights fixes- the UNNOTICEABLE crank flex along its centerline.
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Center mains in my original A motor are just fine and you think if you have flexing that can whip out the center main it a normal function? Your either in balance or out period. A well balanced engine which includes equal bob weights on the rod throws is the life of any motor and I can tell you now there is no comparison to good balanced motor to one not balanced.
 
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