info on a banger motor

I never understood calling the Model A engine a "Banger"?:confused:

If the engine is a banger, then you need to fix the loose rod bearings.:D

As mentioned though, Jim wrote a book on souping up the engine.:)
 
The Ford A Speed Technology group (F.A.S.T.) does a lot with performance modifications you might seek them out. www.hotforhotfours.com PO Box 220058, Newhall, CA 91322 Or Secrets of Speed www.secretsofspeed.com 3860 Cain Run Rd, Batavia, OH 45103 513-724-0700. Both cover most of the things would would be looking for on building a Model A with a little more performance.
 
Sorry ... I have to respond to this one with Tom . I don't understand and never heard the term "banger" referred to on these until the last number of years. It makes me cringe and is an incorrect reference and if I can say incorrect and disrespectful. If it is banging fix it. If it is not then enjoy your Model A engine. Henry or Edsel would have cringed at the reference . I am glad we have younger generations coming in . We just have to educate better on them and their terminology

It's like dizzy , that's another one. It's a distributor!!
Call it what it is


Happy Model A motoring
Larry
 
so sorry i did not mean to offend anyone by using the word BANGER. my dad used it over the years i just picked it up from him. i thank those of you who responded to my post. i just wanted some kind of book where i read then i could do the building on my own. i believe it would be more fun that way. love model a's and always will. the first time i ever heard one start up made me fall in love with the car, the first time i heard a hot rod version run i was blown away.
 
Maybe it has to do with Laurel and Hardy driving that model t and having it backfire while they were driving. :eek: Just a thought. :rolleyes:
 
bmita said:
so sorry i did not mean to offend anyone by using the word BANGER. my dad used it over the years i just picked it up from him. i thank those of you who responded to my post. i just wanted some kind of book where i read then i could do the building on my own. i believe it would be more fun that way. love model a's and always will. the first time i ever heard one start up made me fall in love with the car, the first time i heard a hot rod version run i was blown away.
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That's also what sold me on the A's and made me buy my first one. I heard a car driving through the tunnel and chugging up the hill at the old race track at the Minnesota state fairgrounds. I had to turn around to see what kind of car was making such a beautiful sound, and said I need to buy one.:D

As Benson said, I do remember also that some of my classmates refered to the 6 cylinder engines as "6 bangers", but never heard the "banger" in reference to 4's and 8's.
 
The name banger was around in the 50ts when I was growing up. But I never used it. To me it is like calling brake shoes, pads. Just not right. I have built my share of hot 4 cylinder engines, but never called them bangers, sounds like a bad gang.
 
In the early days of hot rodding and until the 4 barrel carburetor came into common use the 4 cylinder engines were called 4 barrels. After that the derogatory term banger or 4 banger came into use. Back in the day it was a derogatory term as a car with a blown muffler would be a banger. Kinda like a rat rod now.

I have a copy of Jim Brierley's book and it is full of information for those who want more power from their flathead A or B engine. Easy to understand and written for the average owner /mechanic.
 
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There are several terms which irritate me. Yes, BANGER is one of them. A well maintained model A is ANYTHING but a banger, they are smooth and mellow, no banging. Barn Find is another one, it has absolutely no reference point to anything, it was found in a barn... So??? Doesn't mean a thing. I've got several old cars, all stored away in a pole barn, some are beautiful, some only beautiful in my own mind.(that is to say a piece of junk in reality) Another one is "Abandoned". Just because no one is living in the old farmplace, doesn't mean its abandoned. I know several old places around that no one lives in anymore but they are owned by someone. Often times they are used for storage, waiting for the owner to repair the property to be livable again, or deteriorating into the ground. In all the cases I know, abandoned does NOT mean anyone can walk in there and look around, take stuff etc. Sometimes people think that they can do that, someone owns it and pays taxes on it, leave it alone unless its yours..... OK, I'll now get off the soapbox... talk about getting off subject!!!
 
V4F said:
maybe "banger" is a rat rod thing , kinda like "A bone"
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or stocker, deuce, ragtop, hotrod, gowjob, more door, dizzy, 4 banger, long roof, how many more do you want? These are ways to describe cars that have been going on since the conception of the ride of your choice. Purest's use the purest of terms and the ones that enjoy their rides have many ways to describe their version of excellence . which way is right---I think they are both right and not worth a second thought. Anything that was modified the least little bit when I was young was a hoodlums car, times have changed.
 
To answer the original question, yes.
If you go to the public library and look through the card file, (computer these days) you will find quite a few on the shelf. Mostly old and out of print but the info is still valid.
You may even find some info that can't be found on the internet. (It's true)

To comment on the off topic comments, every social culture, hobby or business has always had it's associated slang terms. Some of which are sometimes rather obnoxious and vulgar.
Some just irritate certain people. (logging cable splice)
Much of the slang will only be used or popular in certain geological areas.
This even holds true for the normal everyday language.
I saw and learned this first hand when growing up because we moved all over the country many times. Why this happens has been the subject of countless social study papers and may never be fully understood.
 
Boy, did Eagle hit the nail on the head! Property is NOT abandoned just because no one is living there. Trespessers need to be prosecuted because most of them are there to steal and destroy property. Ask questions and find the owner if you want to look. The owner may or may not want to show or sell what he owns.
 
I recall that back in the late 50's we called motors 4-bangers when they were 4-cylinders. I always thought that it referred to the number of cylinders firing.

AL
 
I remember the term 4-banger from the 50s and 60s. Not necessarily derogatory, just another way of saying 4-cylinder. So, if a 4-cylinder is a 4-banger and a 6-cylinder is a 6-banger, etc, then what is a "banger" without a number? Any engine? Without the numerical modifier, it seems completely meaningless.
 
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