Pennies in block

louisb

louisb

Senior Member
Hi All,

I picked up an 8RT commercial motor to rebuild and I came across something interesting I wanted to run by you guys. I was out cleaning the gunk off the intake manifold surface trying to determine the year of manufacture and I noticed someone had pressed some pennies into the intake manifold seating area.

9702215047_b682836c16.jpg
2013-09-08 17.12.12 by louisfbrooks, on Flickr


9702214335_f8946e646e.jpg
2013-09-08 17.12.17 by louisfbrooks, on Flickr


Any ideas why this was done? Will it be an issue with the rebuild? Block passes the visual inspection otherwise. It has been rebuilt in the past with stock parts and a small overbore. Hoping to rebuild it for a future AV8 project.

There was no date code on the block, just the number 8 in a square stamped into the surface. But it looks to be red originally which I think means a '50-'51 block. Came apart real easy with none of the horror stories I have read about on here. Now I need to hold my breath and send it off to be cleaned and magnafluxed.

Thanks,

--louis
 
The pennies are used to block the exhaust heat risers to the intake manifold. The thinking is to make a cooler intake and a denser fuel charge. Anymore they are used to make the exhaust bark louder. It really works. Knock them out to return to stock, no problem.
If you wish to reinstall them after the rebuild, make sure they are the older copper pennies, the newer zinc enriched pennies will melt.
 
Thanks guys. So much to learn about these cool little motors. Pennies look to be a '57 & '61 so I think I will keep them for the rebuild.

--louis
 
louisb said:
Hi All,

I picked up an 8RT commercial motor to rebuild and I came across something interesting I wanted to run by you guys. I was out cleaning the gunk off the intake manifold surface trying to determine the year of manufacture and I noticed someone had pressed some pennies into the intake manifold seating area.

9702215047_b682836c16.jpg
2013-09-08 17.12.12 by louisfbrooks, on Flickr


9702214335_f8946e646e.jpg
2013-09-08 17.12.17 by louisfbrooks, on Flickr


Any ideas why this was done? Will it be an issue with the rebuild? Block passes the visual inspection otherwise. It has been rebuilt in the past with stock parts and a small overbore. Hoping to rebuild it for a future AV8 project.

There was no date code on the block, just the number 8 in a square stamped into the surface. But it looks to be red originally which I think means a '50-'51 block. Came apart real easy with none of the horror stories I have read about on here. Now I need to hold my breath and send it off to be cleaned and magnafluxed.

Thanks,

--louis
Click to expand...
yep an old hotrodders trick what year are the pennies
 
Mike in AZ said:
welcome to the 'Barn....have fun with flatheads...lol....Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome. I have been lurking here for a while trying to soakup all the knowledge on Flatheads. Lots of knowledgeable people here. I am sure I will have more questions as I move forward with the rebuild.

--louis
 
I would drill an 1/8" hole in both of them to get a little heat under the carb.Other wise it will run crappy till fully warmed up. OMO ken ct.
 
louisb said:
Thanks guys. So much to learn about these cool little motors. Pennies look to be a '57 & '61 so I think I will keep them for the rebuild.

--louis
Click to expand...

Louis, the pic shows the 1961 penny to have been staked in. Do this again if there is any looseness to them.

Oh, yes... 1957 was a verry good year!
 
ken ct said:
I would drill an 1/8" hole in both of them to get a little heat under the carb.Other wise it will run crappy till fully warmed up. OMO ken ct.
Click to expand...

Hi Ken, thanks for the input. I don't think the intake I plan to run has heat risers either so I am not sure it will matter.


ford38v8 said:
Louis, the pic shows the 1961 penny to have been staked in. Do this again if there is any looseness to them.

Oh, yes... 1957 was a verry good year!
Click to expand...


Yeah I noticed that as well and will do when it gets rebuilt. As for '57 being a good year I will have to take your word for it. I wasn't born for another 15 years. ;)


Thanks,

--louis
 
What ever you say youngun.i graduated HS 15 yrs before you were born. Do what ever you think is right. ken ct.
 
The pennies popped out easy enough using a piece of 3/8 rod though the exhaust port. I will give some more thought to if they go back in or not. Thanks to everyone for their input.

Thanks,

--louis
 
My Dad used to tell me...back in his day they used to match the year of the penny with the car for " Good luck"... strange why they would want the exhaust to pop in a commercial motor though? A Hot rodder that was a truck driver too I guess?
Randy
 
Rand said:
A Hot rodder that was a truck driver too I guess?
Randy
Click to expand...

Even weirder than that since it didn't come out of a car but was powering a piece of equipment. Of course who knows what it originally came in. It also came with a set of Johnson lightweight adjustable lifters. Too bad it didn't have a merc crank as well.

--louis
 
louisb said:
Even weirder than that since it didn't come out of a car but was powering a piece of equipment. Of course who knows what it originally came in. It also came with a set of Johnson lightweight adjustable lifters. Too bad it didn't have a merc crank as well.

--louis
Click to expand...
Watch your fan,some industrial units used a fan in which the blades were angled opposite to a pass car or truck and blew the opposite way,ive run across one before. Easy to mistake you got to compare a pass to one to see the diff set to the blades. Good luck in your project. ken ct.
 
welcome to the barn Louis,i,m pretty new to it ,around march when I imported my 51 fi truck to the u.k and had lots of problems I didn't know the answer to,along with my 39 coupe all questions have been answered and all the problems sorted ,at first I was reluctant to ask certain questions as I thought the answers are probably so obvious and I would feel little small asking them but all questions answered with knowledge and sometimes some humour which I like , good luck, regards jim.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top