Re: Insert bearings
 

96 mph! That's impressive and a bit crazy. Crazy like me...I once held mine at 78 mph for a full tank of gas on a Michigan freeway; that was the speed the left lane was rolling. Other than a full flow oil filter my oil system is stock also....no pressure. I have slowed down since then and typically hold it to keeping up with the slow lane on the freeway.
BTW: I ran that speed with a stock Zenith and "B" intake manifold with the Phaeton's top up. Top up on a Phaeton = pulling a deployed parachute!
Good Day!

Re: Insert bearings
 

Yes, in 2003 august, I added a web carb it was good up to 55 mph. It would not have good acceleration if you wanted to gouge on it a little . I added the 6 volt pump and it was great. my engine didn't have inserts then. One thing I had problems with was running up to speed was Vapor Lock at temperature out side at about 85-92 degrees, the electric pump really helped then. in 2008 I had my engine inserted. All has been well. Have fun modelAtony tony white Lafayette, LA

Re: Insert bearings
 

Dave , when I would play with timing I would always go out on Interstate and open it up a little, I would always run a 2 mile hit and my buddy would always run the stop watch. The fastest I would ever go was 88 mph , one day Dennis said, was that the fastest i had ever ran ? I said yes but I had about another 1" OF THROTTLE LEFT. I said lets see what I got , Good clear Sunday no wind so we started my 2 mile run at about 55 mph. 2 mile he hit the stopwatch after pulling over I figured the time and I said, Holly Shit Dennis that's 96 MPH. Wednesday morning I was at automotive shop on dyno . 2900 rpm, 96 mph, 117 lbs torque and 65 HP .

Re: Insert bearings
 

Tony, Great stories...thanks for sharing. I have one more for you...on my Phaeton run of a tank full at 78 mph, I noticed the ride/car got real smooth and the steering very easy at 75 mph. It was like it was riding on air and I think it was. Like you, I also had a bit more pedal but unlike you, no reserve on the nerve.
Have a great day!

Re: Insert bearings
 

Tony and Dave very cool.

I cant imagine what it would be like to see an A going down the highway at those speeds.

Re: Insert bearings
 

Tony and Dave cool story,could you tell us about the fish you caught too????must be humongeous too....................

Re: Insert bearings
 

Size of fish only limited by length of arms!

Re: Insert bearings
 

Tony , 96 mph ??? what body style ??? The world record on a stock closed car flat head blown is 97.1 ?? so with only 65hp was you coming down hill on pikes peak ?

Re: Insert bearings
 

For the details, specifics look at Tony's album in his profile page

You da man Tony

Re: Insert bearings
 

Could I suggest making this run using a GPS to record the speed? Using a stopwatch and hiway mile posts leaves a lot of room for potential error. After working for AZ DOT for 27+ years I know mile posts are not accurate!
A run in both directions will compensate for any downhill effect (a slight grade is not always noticed). A cellphone shot of the GPS screen for posterity, too!

Re: Insert bearings
 

So you are saying 95mph in a stock body tudor with 65 hp what weed are you on . Sorry im a disbeliever, & I hold the record at Mojave mile in a stock body 30 cpe, with a lot more HP than that .

Re: Insert bearings
 

While all of that might be so, it is clear that he was doing a high speed - too high for my liking.
Back to the OP, I've run inserts for tens of thousands of hard miles towing a camper) without trouble. As for inserts only being available in 0.010" increments, I agree, that is a big minus. Maybe vendors would be well advised to offer them in 0.005" increments.
When i was in my early teens, I remember my father working on the engine in his Austin daily driver to work. For the bearings, he interchanged top and bottom shells and took up the excess clearance by putting cigarette papers under the non load bearing shell. Each paper reduced the clearance by about 0.001". I've heard of the same being done with aluminium foil or thin brass shim. That motor went for years until my sister got her licence and travelled too fast for too many miles when it put a leg out of bed. I haven't completely dismissed doing similar in my A engine - packing the bearings, that is.:D

Re: Insert bearings
 

Well I used to fish with my brothers quite a bit but it seemed that whenever I joined them the fish didn't bite...so I do not get invited much anymore.

But for the tale of 78 mph in a '29 Phaeton with the top up...well I did have a good bit of a tail wind as I recall. The fuel economy was terrible at about 15 mpg. But true story, I had some pedal left. The air coming in under the front fenders and the reactionary force of the top being up was lifting the front end up and I chickened out to go any faster. The speed limit at that time was 70mph but like I said, the left lane was really moving that Sunday morning. We were on our way to a National as I recall and fell behind the group we were traveling with because my wife wanted to stop and see Mackinaw Island.
I wanted to make it to the opening day swap meet.

I guess I'm not telling the whole story. I also have a counterweighted crank, a 26% Mitchell, "B" grind new cam, 5.9 Brumfield shaved once to flatten it, maxed out pistons @ .125 over by choice, performance Aries muffler, 4:11 rear ratio, electronic ignition and a "B" intake manifold with a stock Model A Zenith carb. I also have cast iron brake drums on all four wheels, set up tight and they will lock up on pavement if I bear down.

It was fun watching the double takes of the drivers in their "moderns" in the right lane as I sailed by them!
True story...honest!
Good Day!

Re: Insert bearings
 

I run and recommend all insert motors over babbitt.. if the motor is rebuilt / machined correctly for inserts your good to go. I like being able to service the engine myself and not be held hostage by the babbit gods.

Re: Insert bearings
 

That explains a bit,my thought were you were running a stock Model A with a bigger carb.
My A is done by 65 mph............

Re: Insert bearings
 

Quote from Synchro909
"Back to the OP, I've run inserts for tens of thousands of hard miles towing a camper) without trouble. As for inserts only being available in 0.010" increments, I agree, that is a big minus. Maybe vendors would be well advised to offer them in 0.005" increments."

I guess I would agree it would be nice to see sizing increments of .005" but the tooling to create another size in between the existing sizes may be costly. With the extra sizes each close size would only sell at about half the present rate. The cost of the present inserts would have to be more to cover these costs.

Having built over 150 of these engines with inserts, I think if two sizes could be added to the present mix of availability the most needed sizes would be: .025" and .035".
I find I use .020" and .030" sizes at a ratio of 2:1 over .010" and .040".

I just received an order from my supplier on main bearing inserts. The next time I talk to him, I will ask him if it would be economically feasible.

Good Day!

Re: Insert bearings
 

Thanks for all the information.

Re: Insert bearings
 

Flat ground. 31 Tudor, 3;27 rear, Mitchell, gps and always stopwatch, 60 mph 1800 rpm, I hve been thinking about my bucket list , I would like to run Salt flats just to see what happens. I saw the 30 coupe Lickety- Split set speed at around 97 mph a few years ago and last year I think I saw and last I checked it was over 120 mph. Have fun modelAtony tony white Lafayette, LA All can say what they want, The car stands on its own merit and runs as Ive said.

Re: Insert bearings
 

Well that answers my question! 3.27 rear gear + Mitchell overdrive, would that combo work
And very well thanks Tony :-)

Re: Insert bearings
 

Modelatony . yes pet holds the record at 97.1 also ohv record at 116 mph , takes around 190 hp to push a stock body too that speed , Look forward too seeing run at speed week this year , we hope to have our ,( Cyrils ), 30 cpe to run too. We should get together & chew the fat , Derek in a hot NZ