My next flathead build?
- Thread starter Ziggster
- Start date
I should mention, that the pic you referred to still had the head gasket on. I was even a little confused when I looked at that pic at one point, and had to go back and actually look at the block without the head gasket. I went through all the pics in this thread, and it seems there are no good pics of the block without the head gasket. I apologize for any confusion that may have caused. Here is a most recent pic of the block without the head baskets ready to be dropped off at the machine shop on a skid.
Having said that, I’ve always been a bit confused between the difference between a C59A and a C69A and perhaps I use them interchangeable sometimes.
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Looking at the Van Pelt description, it mentions that the Canadian C59 blocks have the same marking on the bell hsg as the 59A blocks. As I mentioned previously in one of my posts, both my C59A blocks do not have this marking on the bell hsg, but have it only on the front DS portion next to where the head is located.
Also, the shape of the coolant hole(s) in the centre of the block do not match the Van Pelt description for a post war block. Again, the two C59A flatheads I have, have a large trapezoidal opening at the top, a round centre opening, and a smaller trapezoidal opening at the bottom.
Going through some older threads here on the Barn about the C69A/59A blocks, there was talk of them potentially having thicker cyl walls which can be seen apparently and measured. So, I going to try to measure the thickness of the cyl wall if I can since it seems this latest block is unmolested with the stk bore.
Also, the shape of the coolant hole(s) in the centre of the block do not match the Van Pelt description for a post war block. Again, the two C59A flatheads I have, have a large trapezoidal opening at the top, a round centre opening, and a smaller trapezoidal opening at the bottom.
Going through some older threads here on the Barn about the C69A/59A blocks, there was talk of them potentially having thicker cyl walls which can be seen apparently and measured. So, I going to try to measure the thickness of the cyl wall if I can since it seems this latest block is unmolested with the stk bore.
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So, hot glued a roller bearing to my caliper so I could reach down inside the lower coolant hole to measure the cyl wall thickness. Measured just under 10 mm (9.97 mm), or 0.393”. Not sure if this is a normal wall thickness or not, but folks with more experience should know. Seems kinda thick to me though.
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GB SISSON
Well-known member
That's a great idea with the ball glued on. I tried to do this measurement with some custom bent calipers, but got pretty inconclusive results. And I agree about the rare chance that you would end up with two of something that it seems many of us had never seen. You are really going at this thing!
Agree. I’ve read a few threads mentioning that on the HAMB. Rigged up a similar tool using a pair of dividers. A little less accurate for sure as the two larger points of contact on a curved surface won’t a give a true reading. Having said that, I measured the distance across the two arms of the divider just about the screw thread, in three places. At the top, about where I measured before, about the middle height of the bore, and as low as the divider could go which is about 4” down into the bore. At the top of the bore, I measured 0.321”, at the centre and “bottom”, I measured about 0.240” to 0.260”. There are definitely ridges/corrosion on the coolant side of the bore, so you have to keep that in mind. It is also thicker at the top of the bore just below the deck for about 1/4”. So, the first measurement is not a good point of reference. Measured the top again, a little further down and got 0.271”. I would say, at least with this block, and this particular cylinder wall, one could safely say it has a wall thickness of at least 0.250” top to bottom.
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