Ford Model A Burtz Block Unboxing, Build, First Start, and 1500 Mile Review
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- Detailing my first impressions of unboxing my brand new Burtz Model A engine, discussing the build, starting it for the first time, and reviewing my thoughts 1500 miles later.
Burtz Block Website: burtzblock.com/
Leonard Nettles Website: www.dadsvintag...
Brilliant. This is what my 1924 father would have wished that Model A's were really like.
Terry Burtz has done a GREAT job and yes, a new 59AB Ford Flathead block would be pretty sweet too!! There are a lot of bad flathead Ford blocks out there.
That first startup was SO quick and happy! It sounds wonderful.
a new block have many advantages, the first one is that the block is crack free, the secomd ome is that the design is improved by correcting the flaws observed in the life of the original engine, the addition of 2 mains and a fully counterweighted crankshaft the alloy of the cast iron to the today's standards and finally a fully pressurized oiling system.
A full flow oil filter option would have been a good improvement but today there is very potent bypass filter conversion kits that worth the installation even on an engine that is originally equipped with a full flow filtration system.
very good video.
The nice thing about this block is that it comes setup in such a way that allows the builder to do almost anything they want with it. You can use an original cam or an upgraded, 5 fully oiled bearing cam and you can build it as stock appearing or as highly modified as you would like.
It is worth pointing out that most original-style oil filter adapter kits will not fit on the Burtz block -- some additional work and different style setups are required to add a filter to the Burtz. There are a few people making oil filter adapters now, including Leonard Nettles and Dennis Kliesen. I'll add a link to the Facebook Burtz Block page, which is also a fantastic resource for people building these.
Love the car and the color. I bought my 1930 a little over 2 years ago. I have a long way to go.
I overhauled the engine two years ago, no rebore, new rings & valves & gasket set, I spent less than $200 on my engine, runs like new, put on lots of miles since the earlier post. Only paid 4100 for the car, all original, was not running. No way I'd ever spend big money on this stuff, paid 25 for my first one, back in 1948, looked like new.
Thanks for taking the time to review and offer your own experiences. Very helpful.
Nice job, sounds just like a Model A Ford. Good job, thanks for the video.
Great job, love your careful approach, keeping everything clean, measuring everything.
A question: I notice that you appear to have used assembly lube (the pink stuff) on the pistons and rings. What are your thoughts on this? I've been told that it impedes bedding-in of the rings, and that it's better to use a light wipe of engine oil in the bores and nothing more.
Anyway, great video, great engine, great car! Thanks for putting it all together for us 👍
Many rod bolts are initially installed by measuring their stretch. This is probably why the torque value was above what it will be finally installed.
Great video. I would like to suggest doing a clay job on the paint. It does miracles. 🙂
Mine's an old well used '29, I put in new rings, all new valves, fitted it to .001, put in 5-20 full synthetic, driven thousands of miles, it's still tight, don't fool yourself, ol' Ford knew what he was doing, I spent less than chump' change, far less. Driven 'em since '48, that tells it.
I hope that with the Burt’s block company being able to reproduce a 90 year block. That someone or the Burt’s block company could produce the the flathead v8
When you make the camera swim around like that, it makes the viewer dizzy.
Very interesting video. I've got a 30 Town Sedan with an ailing motor and have been considering going with the Burtz Block. I guess i can assume you give this new block a big thumbs up. The Paul Shinn issue made me stop and think. Still have concerns about what's going on there, and I guess at some point we may find out. Saw the Burtz block at a monthy Model A meeting in Baltimore in Sept. I was impressed with the look and finish. Thanks for the informative presentation.
The Paul Shinn issue really shouldn't put you off -- in the event you did discover an issue, the blocks are warrantied. You would just call John up, tell him of your issue, and it would get squared away. Paul was planning to fix anything he discovered on his own, foregoing the warranty, which made a lot of people think that the blocks came as-is and you were on your own if there were any issues. That is not the case. There are over 600 of the blocks out in the world now with a multitude of successful build stories and very few issues have come up that I've come across. Both John and Terry are fairly easy to get ahold of in the event you do have questions or ran into something off, so I wouldn't hesitate.
@@JamesSorenson Thanks for your reply and words of encouragement. Still contemplating it.
I also have been following this whole Shinn thing since it originally came out. You may already be aware of this, but if not, Tim McMaster, who is a highly-qualified builder out of Hanford, CA, recently (Dec 2022?) assembled both of the block kits that Paul Shinn claimed were significantly out of spec and individually unbuildable. He (Tim) did not need to do any machining or other kind of modifications to complete both of those build kits. Both engines are now installed in vehicles and running fine as far as I know, and I think one of them is actually in Tim's personal vehicle. If you are interested, Google him. He records a lot of interesting content on classic cars and engines.
You may have also seen it, but In VFF, Paul said he would ultimately present Tim Mc Master's findings, whatever they would be, "for the good of the Model A community". It seems like, in the end, his personal need to try and preserve his credibility superseded the needs of the community that was mistakenly misled by his claims.
Having said that, my impression is that Paul wouldn't close the loop and dispel his original claim out of his embarrassment for being completely wrong in everything he represented in his original video. In writing this reply, I double-checked to confirm that the video was still removed from his site, and again, I would assume he did that due to the fact that everything he represented in it was totally contradicted by Tim McMaster, and it has also been by many other qualified engine builders since Paul's original release of his video.
Hard to understand, but then again, maybe in Paul's mind his motivations were reinforced by the belief that there is no such thing as "bad press". Caveat Emptor. People should probably keep that in mind when taking advice from his TH-cam channel. 😉
@@wmpercival Thanks for your in-depth analysis of the Paul Shinn debacle. I went ahead and ordered a Burtz block, Touring Cam, High Compression head, and lightened flywheel. Although I'm not the one doing the assembly, the fellow who did it was very excited at the prospect. He has the engine completely assembled and back in the car with no problems. It was fired up for the first time last week and did great. Still a few more issues (not engine related) that need to be ironed out before I get my hands on it. Very anxious here.
Wow, can't believe how much de-burring you had to do for what that block cost.
Now you just need an OHV head for it. And then you have resolved all your Ford Problems,,,, poor oiling, poured bearings, 3 mains,
A friend had an A with 2bbl downdraft carb, extractors, mild cam, better ignition in a B model block. It was a 60+ mph cruiser on the highway. Upset a lot of people!
Sounds great!!
When you used copper head gaskets, did you coat both sides with Indian Head Gasket Shellac ? You could also have used soft Permatex. I have not known there to be leak problems especially with the latter, and have used soft Permatex for this purpose many times with motorcycle engines.
Amazing. Love it
Just one bit of advice, stop moving the camera around all over the place, I couldn’t watch much of it because it made my head spin. Love the idea and info of the video tho. I am sure you will get better at it.
Interesting video. Didn't know these these aftermarket existed. Very dizzy after watching video. Bit too much camera moment.
Good looking car
great looking FORD with a China motor
Would you rather Mexico like the new Fords?
So how much was all that?
What kind of fuel are you using?
Man you are all over the place with that camera.
Fix the camera to a stand! I'm dizzy trying to watch this.
what was the cost,this is remarkable,well done
It really depends on what you have on-hand and what you add-on as new items. I had a fairly new Snyders 6:1 head already on my old block, lightened flywheel, and a handful of other parts I was able to transfer over. I had actually bought the Burtz cam for my old block, before decided to switch engines entirely. I would estimate I put about $6k into it all, including the block, cam, valve kit, new oil pump, timing gears, crank pulley, and a handful of the other smaller parts. The flexibility in the build is also a fairly nice feature of these -- you can reuse or replace as much as you want.
@@JamesSorenson its fantastic,and will help other enthuseasts be able to regularly drive,great work love the car Nick Lomas London England
Thanks for sharing the costs@@JamesSorenson
are you related to "Cast Iron" Charlie Sorenson?
I'm not too familiar with the Sorenson side of the family, but it does not sound too familiar. Most of that side of the family I know of is in the Wisconsin region.
@James Sorenson I asked because I have a really interesting book by Charles Sorenson titled, "My 40 years with Ford" I highly recommend it to you or any one else interested in these amasing old cars and the role of Ford in advancing production processes in th US in general.
@@garykanitz2826 that is a good read!
I did not know the 31's had a spare tire in the front passenger fender?
I believe the judging standards list it as an option available for all models beginning in 1928. I'm not sure if they were factory or dealer installed.
All model As van have a tire in the front fender, or two even. It was an option you could order back in the day, depending on how expensive your car is
Brother put a shut off valve between the oil pressure Guage and the block. I’ve seen the bordon tubes in gauges fail and there goes your oil pressure
What's Nettles' website?
Should be listed in the description, unless TH-cam hid it.
dadsvintageautoparts.com/
@@JamesSorenson37:14
You should be able to get a little more power than stock right? By the fact that this can rev higher due to better balance and better oiling system..
You can certainly build these for a good deal more power than a stock block. However, if configured as a stock engine, the power levels will be fairly similar as you're still limited by the original intake and carb, so you can't quite make use of the ability to rev it out further. The Burtz does have a slightly better intake port design, but the improvement would not be too significant on a stock setup.
@@JamesSorenson do you have the same valve springs. I read that the original engines were basically rev limited by the weaker than possible valve springs, so that they start to float ar high revs, never really closing properly at those speeds, and reducing compression.
Also curious how much quieter the engine is at full revs
I installed Snyder springs -- I'm not sure how they compare to the stock rates, but the higher lift generates a bit more spring tension as well, which may help slightly. I think you'd be more limited by flow than the valve train on this with an original intake setup. I suspect the downdraft or OHV cars could likely turn a bit more RPM, but that is a lot of rotating mass.
Overall noise is pretty similar, but the smoothness makes it seem quieter.
@@JamesSorenson Interesting....I was under the impression the Burtz Block offered at least 60 hp in stock configuration. It looks like I need a downdraft intake/carb and an overhead valve conversion to get a significant increase in power. Still, this is a major improvement over the original blocks. No more cracks!
@@fastmail55 That is definitely the beauty of these blocks -- you can build them in any configuration you want and not have to worry about the block. It goes beyond just that they're new, but they've also been improved. You have 5 journals now that are also larger, making sure that crankshaft is not going to flex, with the addition of the counter-weighted crank and pressurized oil system. All of this means you can build something as tame as a completely stock block or something entirely wild such as the overhead conversions and really not have to do much else other than assemble it all.
Very nice video. I plan to assemble at least four of these for myself and customers in the near future and was wondering if you would be available to chat about your experience? If so message me or contact me at Hanford Auto Supply. Thank you.
Absolutely! I got a bit busy this last week trying to get another video out and get some more seat time in the Model A before winter hits out here, but I'll try to reach you this coming week.
just can't get past " made in china"
It is unfortunate, but you would be hard pressed to survive in the present economy if you set a hard exclusion on anything foreign made. The infrastructure simply does not exist here in any reasonable method to produce these things, as sad as it is.
What a strange thing to say. Every big box store you use would be a huge amount of stuff made in China. Get over your prejudices. Go look out on the street . Asia is where your cars will come from in the future.
@@romandybala - Agreed, and many (most?) already come from Asia.
nice camera work ........ not!
How many times must it be said, use a bloody tripod when videoing. It is virtually impossible to hold a camera still so the pictures is bouncing all over the place, and trying to do something one handed makes it even worse. With the camera on a tripod you have two hands available to open boxes and unwrap items. Don't feel that I am ragging on you, this is meant to be constructive criticism, not bitch'n for the sake of bitch'n. Take care and enjoy that pretty Ford.
When you hold the camera that it went erratic and not hold it steady. That show is one of the worst channel than any other camera man. Stare at the same spot over the crankshaft will bore the audiences.
Stop moving your camera so much. After a while it hurts to watch. Have you ever heard of a tripod?
To much talk
Thanks for the nice overview. Now maybe you could hone your camera work. I needed Dramamine to finish the video.
Apologies, I usually try to have stabilization enabled, but the camera was having significant issues and lost a lot of the footage I recorded. I tried to add it in after the fact, but it was cropping out a bit too much of the video. I also hadn't considered the average age of a Model A owner when I filmed the video, so I hadn't thought to be a bit more careful with the camera movements.