Re: mail Digest for 5 Dec 2004 in hour 0:00

[farna@xxxxxxx]

I bid on it, but didn't get it. But here's some tips on building that engine:

The good thing is it has forged steel crank and rods. The fact is almost all engines designed before 1954 have at least forged cranks. Casting techniques simply weren't up to crankshaft demands. The L-head was made from 1941-1965. Once the tooling has been made for a forged crank it doesn't make much sense to go back and make new tooling to replace it -- not unless you know you're going to be making lots of those cranks for a long time. Most manufacturers simply designed new engines when the tooling needed replacing -- makes economic sense. So the rods and crank are plenty tough for anything, but the pistons are still cast.

You can get a camshaft reground to a "hotter" profile. I'd look to places like Crower, who I think still makes flat head Ford V-8 cams. Flat head engines don't have rocker arms -- the lobe lift is the same as the valve lift. Since the lifters are solid mushroom type you can reuse them on a reground cam. The surface that contacts the cam has to be ground level by a machine shop though. Truth be told ANY lifter, even hydraulic types, can be reused if reground. It costs as much to grind them as new ones in most cases though, and the hydraulic types can wear inside, like springs losing tension. Best to replace them. 

The head of course will limit lift some. It can be machined out to allow the valve to open more, but that increases combustion chamber area and reduces compression. 10:1 is the practical limit for flat heads, and that might be hard to get. Shrouding of the valves is a problem in the combustion chamber, and there has to be enough area between the valve area and cylinder bore for the mixture/exhaust to flow easily through. All that affects combustion chamber volume.

All the Nash/AMC flat head sixes used a flat top piston. They came as a 172.6, 184, and 195.6. All used the same 3.125" bore and different cranks. This is sort of unusual as the tooling for the forged crank costs more than the casting cores for the block. The GEN-1 V-8 used the same stroke for all three sizes so the crank was shared, but different block castings with different bore sizes. Back to the flat head six! 172.6 uses a 3.75" stroke, 184 4.00", and 195.6 4.25" (that's a long rod!). 

The combustion chamber size in the head is different for all three! If you put a 184 head on a 195.6 you'll increase compression by at least half a point. So be careful if you get an Edmunds head. Part numbers are EHMN-1 for 172.6, EHMN-2 for 184, and EHMN-3 for 195.6. I don't know if that is cast into the head or not. Nash also made a dual carb aluminum head for the 195.6 in 1955 and a two barrel (Carter WCD) head for the 195.6 in 1953-54 (for the Statesman, 100-110 hp instead of 90). Theseare both relatively rare, naturally. The dual carb head was aluminum, I'm not sure about the 2V head. 

There's really not much you can do short of more carb and a reground cam. Get a set of forged pistons ($40-$50 each) and it will take a 100 hp shot of nitrous easy enough! These aren't high rpm engines though, they are low speed "grunt" engines. My ex-wife couldn't drive my stick shift Chevette to save her life! Always doing the "jerk" when she let the clutch out on even the slightest incline. The 62 American I had with 195.6 L-head and three speed on the column she could easily drive though. It had gobs of torque right off idle -- no "jerks" when you let the clutch out on a hill, no matter what! It just slowly chugged on up. That "tractor engine" stroke  does it, and the relatively low compression. If you want to go much higher rpm, use the 184 or 172.6 crank in a late 60s 195.6 block. If you get the custom pistons, bore the thing 8.08-0.10 over. I don't have a zero missing, I mean a tenth of an inch! These blocks can be bored up to 0.125" (yep, 1/8"), but I'd have it sonic!
  checked for wall thickness (mainly core shift) if going out that far, and get a HD V-8 radiator. The originals used a two core radiator whereas the 195.6 OHV used a single core. Flat heads hold more heat. 

I have an article form a mid to late 50s magazine about a guy drag racing a 54 Nash Rambler (did they bracket race around 57-59??). He used a 195.6 block with 184 crank and rods. It had a three speed column shift with OD, so it had the 4.10 rear axle which helped. I seem to recall it being bored 0.125", but I'm not positive on that. He did pretty good, good enough to get the magazines attention anyway. 

--
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Independent 
Magazine" (AIM)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http//:farna.home.att.net/AIM.html
(free download available!)
			

 -------------- Original message ----------------------


> Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 14:32:42 -0800 (PST)
> From: JOE FULTON <piper_pa20@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: 1960 Rambler American parts needed
> To: mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> David,
> 
> I think Frank Swygert and I both bid on that head.  I
> think Frank may have won the auction.  He may chime
> ine here.  If not, contact him.  
> 
> Regards,
> Joe Fulton
> Salinas, CA
> --- david welch <gandalf_782000@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> >  Hey, I need a good pair of tail light lenses for a
> > '60 American, also, on Ebay a few months ago, there
> > was a dual carb head for 172.2-195.6 flathead six
> > engine, it was an aluminum head if i remeber
> > rightly,
> > anyway, i guess it's been bought, does anyone know
> > where i can find another one? Also, if anyone else
> > knows of any other performance parts for that
> > engine,
> > i'd appreciate knowing about them.
> > 
> > 
> > Thanks
> > 
> > David Welch