newbe with a 226

[Anonymous]

i'm new here. i just picked up a 50. 226 for a model A rat rod roadster project. i've been looking for info and parts for this thing?????????? can some of you guys show me some pics of your intakes i'm thinking of making my own with two bergs. and doing my own header too. the guy at cyclone told me he had the molds for the old cyclone head, and would make some if he could get 10 people to commit? they would be about 800$ bucks?! soooooo what do you think?

 

[Anonymous]

I would think you could have one chewed out of billet alum. for $800.00

 

[Fred]

For an idea on a header:
http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17640

and if you can find someone who is good at wealding cast iron (or you get good at it yourself) I would take the stock intake and modify it. The stock two barrel flathead v8 intakes have a short section just under the carb that could be cut off and welded onto the stock intake with a bit of work. I would cut off the stock single barrel riser, weld the hole closed (unless you want three twos), and grind the top smooth. Then I would cut the open the top where you want to place the two twos (or three two, which would be too much if you don't use the 60 horse carbs). I think a good place for the outer carbs on either a 3 X 2 or 2 X 2 setup is just before the intake downsizes for the last runner for cylinder #1 or #6. The biggest benefit of all this (assuming you run the stock exhaust or the above discussed split manifold) is that you can still have exhaust heat on the intake, which is a good idea unless you live in the tropics. You should be able to get the cast iron v8 intakes for just about free in the right curcumstances. Look for ones with broken flanges at the front generator mounting area (caused by not watching what you are doing when tightening the generator, fairly common).

If you go to mutiple carbs you will want to change the distributor. One solution is to use the G series distributor, timing cover, and cam. This distributor is the same as the late ( '42-'48 ) flathead eight distributor, only with six lobes intead of eight. There are now twelve volt electronic conversions (Pertronix) available for this distributor, I think. If you decide to go this route, let me know and I can do some more research first. Good luck, Fred.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks. so what is better about the early distributor? i'm going to make my own headers and intake. i will make the intake out of alum. and water heat it. don't know what i'm going to use , i would like to use three 81s, but you can't find them! and if you do they are high!. soooooooo i'm thinking of two 48 s or 97s. hummmmmmmmm maybe three ones???? also i'm going to run a reground cam. a winfield 3/4 model A grind! i would like to get my hands on an M anyone?????? i may be wrong but did the M have liners? and can you take them out, and run it with that bigger bore?i know you guys have talked about boring! but can you bore the H out to 3 and 3/8s and run v8 pistons??????

 

[Fred]

The stock H distributor is a vacuum advance only distributor designed to run with venturi vacuum from the carb. If you run multiple carbs it makes getting the spark curve correct difficult. Throw in a cam with overlap and things get downright messy. The G distributor uses a mechanical advance with a vacuum brake run off manifold vacuum (in low vacuum situations the brake retards the mechanical advance, but the brake is adjustable). You have to use the G cam and timing cover with the G distributor as the distributor bolts onto the timing conver and is driven directly off the cam.

The 97s and 81s are definitely expensive. What should be cheeper if you can find it is the Chandler Groves / Holley / Ford carb from the 60 horse. I know these are hard to find, so it may not be an option. Two carbs are probably a better idea than three anyway.

I don't think you can run flathead eight pistons in the six, the piston height, piston pin height, etc. is probably different. Besides 3/8 flathead pistons are only 3.375, .080 over H pistons are 3.380

Neither the H or M had liners.

 

[Anonymous]

so if i use a v8 dist. changed over to 6 cylinder. do i still have to change the cam and timing cover??? i was thinking about three new solex one barrels from jc W. ??? also do you know if there rome for bigger valves or hard seats?

 

[Anonymous]

Vintage Speed http://www.vintagespeed.com/ Is starting to manufacture 97 strombergs and 94 holleys. I've emailed him about casting heads and side covers for ford sixes, but haven't heard back yet. He's got some cool stuff, though. I want the edmunds air cleaner w/k&n filter...

 

[Fred]

The G series distributor is actually from a six. It shares the housing, point plate, etc. with the eight, but uses a six lobe breaker cam. In order to run this you need the cam and cover too.

you can see the area on the timing cover where the distributor bolts on. I have a friend with a G in a '47 sedan that I will likely see this weekend. I should be able to tell more then. I don't run multiple carbs so I havn't done this myself. If it works it keeps you from finding a rare (expensive) vintage aftermarket distributor, or having a later distributor machined to fit your motor and then having the spark curve changed. My parts lists, spare motors, etc. are at my parents place about an hour away. I may be able to get there next weekend (it depends on what kind of writing assignment my prof. feels like throwing at me). I can give you a difinative answer one way or the other, it just depends how fast you build your motor if I get you an answer by the time you need it.

Your motor should have hard seats, at least in the exhaust, from the factory. If you are lucky there will be seats in the intake too.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the help fred! i wonder if joe at roto-faze make a dist for the six? sooooo how about another Q i'm thinking of useing a three speed with over drive from about 85ish? hummmmm what do ya think? i'm going to run a open drive shaft. witha banjo.

 

[Fred]

I know that it isn't too hard to bolt a Ford top loader four behind a flathead eight, and pretty much anything that will bolt to a flathead eight (except the 60 horse or 337 Lincoln motors) will bolt to a flathead six. I don't remember the exact combination of parts, but it has been covered in a couple of hot rod magazines and published in at least one book. Typically it includes using a Jeep transmission top to convert the Four four to top shifting.

As to a discussion about bell housings and rear axles, this is a recent thread on the subject:
http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24525

 

[Anonymous]

i've got more fred. do you know what the 226 weighs? i need to now to find out what spring i need in the front of my A!

 

[Fred]

The H doesn't feel any heavier on an enigne hoist than a flathead eight. My best guess is that the H weighs around 550 pounds with no transmission, bellhousing, or clutch.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, an intresting 226 info. I have a 226 in my 51 f1 daily driver and recently picked up another complete engine to play with. As soon as I get a piston out of the block and find a V8 piston to compare it to I will let you know for sure it they are different. I attempted to measure the thickness of the cylinder wall. My engine is standard bore, and I get 0.180 thousands. By my calculations 330 stock bore plus the i80 brings the bore to 3.510. So if I'm correct it can't be bored to 3-1/2" 254 bore size. California Bills Speed Manual 1952 edition says it can safely be bored to 3-7/16". I'm not sure if this size piston is available, or how much Egge would charge to make them. I recently spoke to Mike Yoder at Kansas Kustoms, they will modify/split the stock exhaust manifold for $205.00 shipping included. I'm still searching for a source for the dual intake manifold. I just might have to modify my spare stock unit. Those aluminum aftermarket units sure make the engine look good though.
Please respond now and then so we can keep this post alive and share information.

Rod

 

[Fred]

I did think of one hang up about using the G distributor setup on an H or M. The G uses an oil pump that is built into the front main bearing so there is not oil pump drive gear on a G cam. You can probably machine an H cam to run the G distributor but I don't want to guarantee that. The G distributor drive is a flat offset tang milled onto the end of the cam. The H cam is flat on the end. A tang cam probably be milled onto the H cam and a spacer put between the cam and distributor. The spacer is often used by flathead eight folks when putting different distributor and cam packages together, such as putting a cam from a 59A ('46 to '48 ) motor into a prewar motor and using the prewar distributor.