Touring motors

[michael a]

Why do you need counterbalance weights on the crankshaft? Why cant you balance the stock crank Pistons. Rods and flywheel?

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

You don't have enough material in the correct places to balance, so you have to add material.
Ps. You don't have to counter balance. Some like it, and some don't.

[Synchro909]

Some places do a better job of balancing than others. I think a counter balanced shaft done to the same standard as a non counter balanced one will put less stress on your main bearings. I recently added even more weight to a counter balanced crank shaft. That engine runs about the same vibration wise as the others at low revs but smoothes right out once they get up a bit.

[Tom Wesenberg]

The middle two throws are trying to bend the crank in one direction, while the two end throws are trying to bend the crank in the opposite direction. To reduce these bending forces you need to add counterweights located opposite that weight of the throws. Being in perfect static balance has nothing to do with these bending forces. Even my 450 RPM stationary engine has counterweights, even if they are in the flywheels rather than the ideal place, next to the throw. Counterweights are very beneficial to the life of the babbit and smoothness of an engine.

[Kevin in NJ]

The original engines were known to run 50,000 to 80,000 miles before rebabbitting was needed. Using all factory parts the cranks, rods and such were tightly balanced- some would say you are building a racing engine if you follow the Ford prints.

You really need to look at how you intend to drive the car. If you are someone that plans on regularly touring the highways and plan on running the 60 MPH a stock A will run then going the extra bucks for counter weights may be beneficial. Most guys are just wasting their $$$ over gettting the engine properly balanced by a top notch builder that knows his stuff.

Same goes for the overdrive.

The Model A is a very capable car if you rebuild it to the factory prints.

A little aside. The AA grain trucks got counter balanced cranks from Ford. When it was harvesting time the trucks were run full speed (which for a AA was not super fast) until the crop was harvested. As I understand the first grain in got the best price.

[Dino's A]

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In California, and the idiots that drive the freeways, I don't think that even with the overdrive being able to get me up to speed, the thought of using mechanical brakes @ 60
scares me to death. Hell, @ 40mph does that also!

[RawhideKid]

Originally Posted by dino's a

in california, and the idiots that drive the freeways, i don't think that even with the overdrive being able to get me up to speed, the thought of using mechanical brakes @ 60
scares me to death. Hell, @ 40mph does that also!

xx2

[California Travieso]

Originally Posted by Dino's A

In California, and the idiots that drive the freeways, I don't think that even with the overdrive being able to get me up to speed, the thought of using mechanical brakes @ 60
scares me to death. Hell, @ 40mph does that also!

No kidding. They even drive 70 - 80 mph on the two-lane back roads during rush hour. They use the back roads as short-cuts because the freeways are too crowded.

David Serrano

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by California Travieso

No kidding. They even drive 70 - 80 mph on the two-lane back roads during rush hour. They use the back roads as short-cuts because the freeways are too crowded.

David Serrano

I find it difficult to believe those speeds. Are there no speed limits? If so, why are they not enforced? Sounds like a few speed cameras would work wonders (and make the relevant authority lots of $)
Around here, the open highway speed limit is 100kph (that's about 60mph) with one or two of the better interstates allowing 110kph. It gets very expensive to do more and depending on how much over the limit you are, you "earn" demerit points. Even 10kph over will lose you about 3 points and a hefty fine. Once you lose, I think 12 points in a 3 year period, you automatically lose your license for 3 or 6 months - no appeal, no court hearing, it's gone. Driver attitudes have improved over the past few years, I think and the road toll has fallen by over 70%. That's a lot of families still intact.
If you are driving too reclessly, you lose your car for a few days for the first time, building up to permanent loss after the third time. The car is stripped and parts sold with the money going to the State Govt. The shell is crushed and the previous owner is there to watch.
Safer to drive our As too.
Sounds to me like your authorities need to step up.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I agree with Synchro909 and many of our speed limits are too high. 10 MPH faster than the limit is pretty much the norm here, and many go even faster than that. The police also should be ticketing the tailgaters, and those that don't yield the right of way.

[updraught]

It's different here. The hospitals are paid for by the gov't. They do the sums on what each accident costs.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by updraught

It's different here. The hospitals are paid for by the gov't. They do the sums on what each accident costs.

And the fines from speeders helps pay for them. Win - win.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

I find it difficult to believe those speeds. Are there no speed limits? If so, why are they not enforced? Sounds like a few speed cameras would work wonders (and make the relevant authority lots of $)

We used to have cameras. They would take your picture and mail you a ticket. They were found to be illegal or some such nonsense. I don't remember. They have all been removed...

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

I agree with Synchro909 and many of our speed limits are too high. 10 MPH faster than the limit is pretty much the norm here, and many go even faster than that. The police also should be ticketing the tailgaters, and those that don't yield the right of way.

And those that don't stop at stop signs, or use turn signals, or roll thru the crosswalk, or...

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Y-Blockhead

We used to have cameras. They were found to be illegal or some such nonsense. I don't remember. They have all been removed...

Yup, I remember. Those cameras were Australian designed and made. We have them in the least expected places as well as at many intersections. They are mounted on the front of cars parked on the side of the road so they move. There are fixed ones at many intersections where you can be nabbed for going through a red light or speeding by the same camera.
If somebody doesn't pay their fine, their registration number is tagged and as police cars drive about they are scanning number plates and get a warning in real time if they are close to a tagged number. Game over the driver!

[Frank Miller]

Speed limits are not enforced because they create traffic jams. The faster a car goes the less time it spends on the road. The less time cars are on the road, the less traffic. In Mass they to some degree enforce people who drive the left lane instead of using it for passing. If I am in the left lane I try and be aware of anyone wanting to pass me.
As for mechanical brakes, they are more than adequate for the amount of rubber on the road on a stock Model a.

[Bob Bidonde]

The counterbalance weights on the crankshaft counteract the cross-head loads made by each connecting rod as it rotates from TDC to 90 degrees, from 90 to 180 degrees, from 180 to 270 degrees and finally from 270 degrees to TDC.

Simply stated, the horizontal translations of the each connecting rod lower end is counterbalanced by adding counterweights to the crankshaft throws.

[Kevin in NJ]

Originally Posted by michael a

Why do you need counterbalance weights on the crankshaft? Why cant you balance the stock crank Pistons. Rods and flywheel?

No you do not need counterbalance weights for a Model A engine.

Ford built the engines with a lot of precision machining and then balanced all the parts. Rods were built to +-1 gram at each end. Piston rod assemblies were within 4 grams in an engine. This made for a fairly smooth running engine quite capable of running 60 MPH and get more then 20 MPG. Oh and YES the brakes stop the car fine for the tire contact patch (that is the limit of braking on the A).

The problem today is people do not take the time and effort to return the parts back to factory tolerances.

Yes, counterbalancing the crank would help. The problem is most guys do not drive near enough to make it worth their time and money to add it in (as well as the overdrives). You have to drive some serious miles each year for it to be worth the price.

The real key to a solid A engine is a careful build by someone that understands the Ford precision used in the factory. You are basically building the engine as if it were a race car engine.

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by michael a

Why do you need counterbalance weights on the crankshaft? Why cant you balance the stock crank Pistons. Rods and flywheel?

Hey Michael,
YOU don't need them, but your A/B engine needs them. Ford eventually put them on his C crank. WHY , after many yeas, he decided to do what he probably knew should ought to be done..probably public opinion regarding vibrations and $.


BTW...you guys live in 'law abiding' places, take note of where the guys live, who are commenting the lawlessness in the area where they live....
Yeah, lalaland left coast !!

You would soon learn the WHY of the situation , if you lived there.
Those who mention driving in traffic here with mechanical brakes...I second every word that you've uttered ! You can have the best brakes made on your antique and still not be safe at the speeds driven here. Add to the disregard for speed laws, the fact that millions are given licenses , or drive without a license and/or insurance and driver education...anyway you see it.... , it all adds up to free for all deadly situation.

When out on the streets here, I regularly see MANY who blatantly run traffic lights and stop signs. Bad traffic accidents are a daily happening here.

As far as someone saying that the police officers...have to step up ! They have families that they want to see at the end of their shifts, just like you do ! They do come to scrape those, who do not obey traffic laws, off of the streets. But, respect for officers and law enforcement , in general, is not what it used to be...at least here !

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by hardtimes

Hey Michael,

You would soon learn the WHY of the situation , if you lived there.
Those who mention driving in traffic here with mechanical brakes...I second every word that you've uttered ! You can have the best brakes made on your antique and still not be safe at the speeds driven here. Add to the disregard for speed laws, the fact that millions are given licenses , or drive without a license and/or insurance and driver education...anyway you see it.... , it all adds up to free for all deadly situation.

When out on the streets here, I regularly see MANY who blatantly run traffic lights and stop signs. Bad traffic accidents are a daily happening here.

As far as someone saying that the police officers...have to step up ! They have families that they want to see at the end of their shifts, just like you do ! They do come to scrape those, who do not obey traffic laws, off of the streets. But, respect for officers and law enforcement , in general, is not what it used to be...at least here !

Hardtimes,
I believe you are referring to my post when you mention Police stepping up. With respect, I did not say the POLICE should step up, I said the AUTHORITIES should step up. The police are only the public face of authority and the ones the public come into contact with and as you say, they are often the ones who have to deal with the mess.
I just researched some numbers to illustrate my point:
Australia has a population of 23.8 million people and in the past 12 months we had 1240 road deaths. That is 52.1 per million. For the whole of the USA (321.4 million people), there were about 40,000 road deaths in 2016. That's 124.5 per million. That's nearly 5 times the rate in Oz and while ours are trending down, your are trending up.
I won't go on because it might be interpreted as a political comment by some but I don't think the Australian public would accept such an abrogation of responsibility by the authorities as these figures indicate.

[Dick Steinkamp]

Originally Posted by hardtimes

Hey Michael,



BTW...you guys live in 'law abiding' places, take note of where the guys live, who are commenting the lawlessness in the area where they live....
Yeah, lalaland left coast !!

Massachusetts and Minnesota are left coast?

It is funny that when we were kids, we didn't have much use for the "blue hairs" and went around those slow pokes like they were standing still . Now we are one.