[eystein]

Thought I'd post some photos of a marine converted model A engine. I came across all the parts that had been stripped off a model A block, which the owner was going to replace in his car. The conversion parts were going to be thrown away which I thought was too bad, as this definitely represents rare technical heritage. There were a lot of these marine conversions around in fast small boats from the 30s onward, but now you hardly see them.

I arranged for the parts to be given to a local museum of marine engines and I supplied them with a Model A block and head which I would not be using.

I think that the guys at the museum made a good job out of putting it all together for display !

The design of the kit is interesting. Since the propeller axle needs to come out to the rear of the engine as close as possible to the bottom of the boat, the flywheel had to be moved to a special housing at the front of the engine, A special low oil sump was cast from aluminum and also encapsulates at the rear a planetary gear for reversing thrust. The cooling system is interesting, where the water first is sent to an oil cooler, then through the block to cool the engine, then through a water cooled jacketed exhaust manifold and finally into the exhaust path itself for sound deadening.