348 in a '33 Roadster

Don Jacks

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 3
It looks like either someone floated the heck out of this engine[too many rpms],or stuck the wrong cam in there.
 
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JED

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
It looks like either someone floated the heck out of this engine[too many rpms],or stuck the wrong cam in there.

Before I bought the engine, Tom told me that the previous owner had installed a big cam without checking the clearances and that the pistons had been hit. The odditiy is that there is one piston with no impact marks and very little carbon deposits, so I am assuming that one was swapped out after the cam issue.
John
 

JED

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
I haven't been able to identify the intake manifold that came with the engine. Here is a photo and a tracing of the casting number. It appears that the casting number is 3769837, although the "8" is hard to read. The date code is "B2260".
Can anyone help?
IMG_8869c-IntakeNoTracing.jpg

IMG_8864c-IntakeManifold.jpg

Thanks,
John
 

Don Jacks

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 3
That number doesn't show up in our database.We need a picture of the whole thing.I suspect that it's a truck manifold.If so,it needs to be replaced with an Edelbrock.
 

JED

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Supporting Member 5
Full picture of the manifold enclosed. Also a close-up of the front of the manifold. Although there is no gasket in place (installed just for mock-up), there is an opening in the block that is not covered by the manifold.
JohnIMG_8867c-IntakeManifold.jpgIMG_8870c-IntakeFrontFit.jpg
 

oldskydog

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
Intake is 3769937, 61 305 hp.
1147 heads for 305hp used same springs as low hp 379 heads.
Look on bottom of intake runners and you should find 586 numbers as they were cast from the same pattern/mold.
 
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oldskydog

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 10
It looks like either someone floated the heck out of this engine[too many rpms],or stuck the wrong cam in there.
I wonder if they changed the valve springs when they changed the cam. Those original 250/305hp springs wouldn't hold the valves down much with a HL cam.
 

JED

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
I wonder if they changed the valve springs when they changed the cam. Those original 250/305hp springs wouldn't hold the valves down much with a HL cam.

I haven't taken the heads apart yet because I wanted to use them to mock-up the rest of the chassis and body items (headers/exhaust/fuel lines/ radiator/body placement/shifter location/firewall clearance/final suspension location/etc) first before I spent money on building the engine. It will probably be a year before I get to the point of tearing the car back apart for final finishing. That's when I will have the engine & trans rebuilt.
However, looking at the heads with an un-knowing eye, everything looks old, so my guess would be that little was changed when the cam was installed; however, there are some peculiarities about the engine that have been discovered as I have taken it apart that have raised questions..
John
 

Don Jacks

Well Seasoned Member
Supporting Member 3
Thanks, Cecil. The date code on the manifold is B2260. Is it still a '61 manifold?
John
Quitte possibly,John. W engines were sometimes built as much as 3 months before going into a car.Who knows,especially on a low volume engine such as these,how far advance were the castings for those iron manifolds was??
 

JED

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 5
Pat's progress on his '32 makes me look like a slacker (BTW, nice job, Pat!).

Between visits to the ER for food poisoning and a 2-week recovery, plus my wife's father passing last week, I have made little progress since I dropped the empty block and 700R4 in the chassis. However, I did mount the radiator (which must be mounted in a fixed position due to it being linked to the fender positioning) and checked water pump to radiator clearance. It looks like I will have to use a pusher electric fan on the front of the radiator, but I need to get some mechanical fan measurements before I commit to the electric fan.

Yesterday was the first day I was able to work on the car since January, and I started work on the transmission mount. Some photos of the current status are enclosed. Photo 6345 shows the clearance between the pump and radiator core. I have approx. 2" between the surface of the pump flange and the core surface, excluding the thickness of the pump pulley. I need to find a fan to see what the distance is from the fan mounting flange to the front edge of the fan blades to see if I have a chance of making a mechanical fan work. Because of personal experience, I won't use a flex fan. I also enclosed a photo of the roadster body in waiting.
John
IMG_6345c.jpgIMG_8856c.jpgIMG_8975c.jpgIMG_8981c.jpg
 

neilswheels

Well Known Member
Looking good, engine info is interesting, I was surprised by the HP figures quoted, didn’t realise a 348 could make that much with just a cam change. Looking forward to updates
 

Dean's 61 bubble

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 4
I would like to offer a possible solution for a fan that i have used on 2 W motors and that is a Speedway 6 bladed aluminum fan (w/o) clutch bolted directly to your pump, without spacers of course. These fans resemble GM fans except blades are evenly spaced and are compact and around 40 bucks. They do not make noise like flex fans and they WON'T flex towards your radiator. Unfortunately, i am not home to tell you how much clearance you would have left, if any. Just more input for you.
 
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