I'm looking for an answer,,

Patrick L.

Patrick L.

Well-known member
to an age old rumor..I've always heard there is a 'modernized' Ford tractor engine[ flathead, oil filter, full pressure, inserts,etc.]that will slid right into our Model As and had this conversation with someone last night that claims to have helped someone do it when he was a youngster..Any thruth to it?? The tractor engines I've looked at don't quite look right,,but,, I don't care about looks if they'll fit..
 
Ford put the 9-N ford tractor engine in some pickups in 41/42 but they are way under powered compared to an A engine and would not be an improvement in an A.

They were not successful in the pickups either because of lack of power.
 
They were built as an economy truck, probably were but you are right about the lack of power! I'm not sure about those pickups but I think they also had 18" wheels, popular with the Bonneville crowd, even today.
 
Even 8N models and 600 series weren't all that high in horse power. I can't remember what hp the Fordson Major was but 35 comes to mind. It might be better to put the model A engine in the tractor. They will really pull stumps with a V8.

Kerby
 
The 8N's were only rated at 23 to 27 hp depending on where the horse power was measured. PTO hp was 27, belt hp was 23 etc.
Definitely better to put a Model A engine in the tractor!
 
Terry Burtz will soon have a New A Block with all the good stuff in it. It will be a A Block outside only. Inside will be all the stuff we been looking for, 5 mains, full C/Balanced, full pressure, heavy rods. Several blocks have been cast and he's been to a couple of shows with them. Iceman
 
I think I like Terry's new engine,,but,, it is going to be expensive and I wonder how many growing pains it will have.. How many A's are there in St Thomas??
 
The 9N-2N-8N engine is 1/2 of the 239 V8 so is 119.5 cu. in. vs. the A's 200.5 cu. in.; one reason for the A's superior power. About 1950 an uncle of mine built his own tractor using a Model A engine, AA trans, IH truck rear axle and other misc. parts and it definitely would outpull a 9N. He still has it and uses it to putter around his farm. It even has a genuine '32 grille shell!
 
And...while the 8N type engine is close to directly interchangeable with the flathead V8 (same basic trans flange, with relocated starter) for those who wish to really slow down a V8 Ford, it is not noticeably interchangeable with an A. Easiest way to swappit would be to get a V8 trans conversion kit and bolt the N to that, leaving you with a nice slow Model A.
 
okay....thanks all...but since the tractor motor I picked up ended up being a 40-41 truck motor - what I'm to do?....did it not pull that 40-41 Ford truck down the road?....??? just saying.....
 
The 8N &9N engines were shorter and smaller than the"A" engine and no parts that I know of interchangewith an "A" engine. Occasionally, 8/9N engines were used in midgets, and the Ferguson(OHV) engine was more competitive. There is a Ford tractor and industrial engine, OHV, more recently produced, that looks like it would be interesting if modified for use in a speedster, but it would not bolt in an"A". It would be interesting to know if anyone has messed with one of these and what its road-going potential is. That rumor that the 8/9N engine will interchange with an "A" has grown so large that it has become sworn fact to the ignorant. Now I have an aquaintance who swears that his Pinto engine is the same as the 9N and Model A. I just say, "I didn't know that", because you can't talk to those kind.
 
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