Model B '34 Motor?

[columbiA]

I have diamond B engines in both my A,s.I prefer them to the A engine for a driver car.While you can install the B cam,carb & head etc on the A & have the same HP as the B, you are still hampered by the A,s small brg size.The larger brgs make for a much stiffer crank Its not very often that a B will take out the center or rear main.Ford still listed rear main caps in the 49 parts book.The B,s had mild pressure to cam & mains.If you have an oil leak at rear of engine,it could also be leaking from gasket between block & FW hsg as it seals the rear cam brg..

 

[stafford]

how can you tell if a Model B crankshaft is an early non balanced one or the later counter balanced crankshaft

 

[Synchro909]

how can you tell if a Model B crankshaft is an early non balanced one or the later counter balanced crankshaft

If you pull the oil filler, you should be able to peek inside enough to see counterweights if they are there.
BTW, someone said earlier in this thread that the B engines were prone to cracking due to thinner castings. They are more likely to crack but I believe it is not due to the thickness of the casting. I believe that because the B engines were fitted with distributor with an automatic advance mechanism which was a terrible design and unreliable, the trouble started there. After a while, they didn't advance properly which meant the engine was running retarded. A retarded engine runs hot and hot engines crack.
A B engine with no cracks is a far superior engine to the A effort. I wouldn't spend money rebuilding one without first crack testing it though.

 

[RB]

While a bit off topic, at the in-season Speedway Motors coffee cruises a participant on occasion drives an original 41 ford 4 cyl pickup, I believe by this late date production, the 4 cyl had evolved to the likes of the tractor engine.

 

[alexiskai]

I believe that because the B engines were fitted with distributor with an automatic advance mechanism which was a terrible design and unreliable, the trouble started there. After a while, they didn't advance properly which meant the engine was running retarded. A retarded engine runs hot and hot engines crack.

I'm skeptical of this theory, not because the B distributors aren't dicey, but because it doesn't seem like failure would lead to the effect you suggest. First, the B engine is set to 19° initial timing, so even if the distributor contributed no centrifugal advance, the engine would still be running at 19° all the time. This seems to me like it would cause the engine to underperform at cruising speeds but not to overheat catastrophically. Second, if the engines were overheating enough to crack the block, the owners of the cars would have experienced the normal effects of overheating frequently and would have taken the car off the road for troubleshooting.