Winfield Eye Candy - Model A Speed Equipment

[gwhite]

I know some of you fellas are into period accessories/speed equipment; figured I'd post this...

I'm working on a WWII-era 'soup job' consisting of a 27 T Touring (front half) on a shortened A frame, 32-34 front suspension, '30 A engine & transmission.

Bought a Winfield SR-B carb & intake that I've rebuilt and an original 6:1 Winfield 'Yellow Head'. The head had a crack between the water passages on the mating surface and a hairline crack on the water inlet 'backbone' just behind the "Winfield" script. Sent it off to Midwest Cylinder Head in Nevada, Iowa for repair and got it back yesterday (total turnaround was 10 days - including 2 weekends and Thanksgiving). Spent last night prepping and painting (One Shot custom mix - Primrose Yellow, Ivory, and flattener). Should look cool on a 'Ford green' banger!

[28-31]

Looks great! Which Champion plugs are you running? And, what distributor and plug wires?

[gwhite]

Thanks! I'm running a Model B distributor with a 40's vintage Wells hi-speed cap and Champion 6-com plugs. I believe Ed Winfield recommended Champion 7s (slightly hotter) but with today's gas (no cooling effect from lead) the 6-coms should be perfect.

Plug wires are "oak" with black "tracers". They clash somewhat with the yellow but give a nice 40's look.

[ctlikon0712]

That looks great, I'd like to see the car when you are finished! I saw that head when It was forsale on fleabay. Glad someone saved it.

[road_king]

Very Nice!! Please post pics when completed,, or at least progress pics

[28-31]

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Originally Posted by gwhite

Thanks! I'm running a Model B distributor with a 40's vintage Wells hi-speed cap and Champion 6-com plugs. I believe Ed Winfield recommended Champion 7s (slightly hotter) but with today's gas (no cooling effect from lead) the 6-coms should be perfect.

Plug wires are "oak" with black "tracers". They clash somewhat with the yellow but give a nice 40's look.

Your set-up looks great. That's good to know (that you're using 6-COM) -- I have an original 7:1 Winfield "red head" and I'm planning on using Champion 8-COM plugs.

[Roadster62]

Great looking head, thanks for posting the photo. What is the history on the Winfield heads, I know there are iron an aluminum, thought there was a red head, what does the yellow have going for it? Post more photos if you have them. Bob

[gwhite]

Bob, Ed Winfield is regarded by most as the father of Hot-rodding. His Model S carburetors were used on 9 of the top 10 cars in the 1930 Indianapolis race. Soon after, he began to aggressively market his carburetors to Ford owners. In 1931, he introduced a line of cast iron cylinder heads - the 7:1 "Red Head" and the 6:1 "Yellow Head". Contemporary advertisements claim speeds of 77mph with a Yellow head and S-B carburetor and 85mph with the Red head and S-C carburetor on an otherwise stock Model A. Price was $75 for the head and carb combo, $40 for just the head.

The Winfield heads were popular with racers & hotrodders...41 of the 223 entrants at Muroc Dry Lake in 1938 used the Winfield head - by far the most numerous head among 4cyl Fords and the 2nd most used cylinder head overall (Ford V8 being most used).

Sometime in the 50's, Winfield licensed his design and it was produced in aluminum as the "Super Winfield" - an odd fact considering Winfield was known to say "if you want power - use cast iron, if you want to cook - use aluminum"

[gwhite]

Here's a newspaper article from the January 18, 1931 Pittsburgh Press:

[62pan]

Nice looking setup. Offen wondered if the Winfield name was highlighted when new. You see alot of heads painted with the name in black.

[Jim Brierley]

Winfield did say that, and he made the Super head in both iron and aluminum. In one of his papers he said you needed 1 point higher compression in aluminum to achieve the same power in aluminum as you do in iron. I believe this is due to more rapid heat transfer in the al. head.

[gwhite]

Jim,

Do you know when the Super Winfield was produced? I had heard it was the early 50's and made under contract by Bell Auto Parts - no idea if that's accurate or not.

[Hitchhiker]

Originally Posted by gwhite

Jim,

Do you know when the Super Winfield was produced? I had heard it was the early 50's and made under contract by Bell Auto Parts - no idea if that's accurate or not.

I would like to know that too!

[Juggler]

Is there an easy way to tell the red from the yellow (apart from the colour obviously) without cc'ing the chambers?

[62pan]

Originally Posted by Juggler

Is there an easy way to tell the red from the yellow (apart from the colour obviously) without cc'ing the chambers?

There is a small pad between 1&2 sparkplug holes with the serial number. The first number a six or seven is the compression.

[Jim Brierley]

I don't know when the Super was made. I do know that yellow heads, and I assume red heads, were made at first with 18mm plugs and later with 14mm, indicating they were made over a period of many years. I use Champion D-14 plugs in my yellow head. He also made a head with a crows-foot chamber, and a green head with lower compression for truck use. A bunch of us used to drive to Las Vegas to visit with him, he was the most intelligent man that I have ever met!

[Juggler]

Originally Posted by 62pan

There is a small pad between 1&2 sparkplug holes with the serial number. The first number a six or seven is the compression.

Thanks for the response. Just dug out a pic of mine. Not too disappointed as it will need a hefty skim even if it can be saved at all...