Did anyone order a milkshake? 1930 Ford Model A.

[RDY4WAR]

A friend of mine, a fellow veteran and the owner of Veterans K9 Solutions, recently acquired a 1930 Ford Model A. He requested my help with the odds and ends it needs to be road worthy. One of such issues was coolant loss and overheating which we were able to figure out pretty easily was a bad head gasket. The coolant was going into the oil. He replaced the head gasket while I tackled the oiling. Here's what came out of it.

We sloshed some mineral spirits around in the pan and scrubbed it out. I put it back on and filled it up with 4 quarts of Havoline Syn-Blend High Mileage 10W-30 and 1 quart of High Performance Lubricants SAE 30 EF which is 100% ester with a CI-4 add pack. It runs smooth now with no leaks.

 

[RazorsEdge]

Nice work

That's the worst milkshake I've seen for sure!

 

[tyman]

Today: OP was neat af

 

[SlavaB]

Send it to the Project Farm guy and let’s see it racing Mobil1

 

[Jocephus]

it would be awesome to see a UOA of that.

 

[jhs914]

Did the Model A have babbitt bearings like the Model T? If so I wonder if the milkshake mixture damaged the bearings.

 

[SR5]

Great pictures, thanks for posting

 

[ecotourist]

I think of the Model A as the first modern car - the brakes, clutch, and gear shift are at least recognizable.

There may have been something earlier - anyone?

 

[BigCahuna]

If whoever owned it in a past life left water in it during the winter, it may have a cracked block. The good thing is if that is the problem, you may be able to get it repaired. Surprisingly those motors can be found within old car clubs. It would be a shame if that was the case, because that is one sweet looking ride.,,,

 

[ad244]

Any brand 0w-20 you like

 

[53' Stude]

Great pictures and keep us updated

 

[Dinoburner]

Minus some sort of oil filter (bypass) a straight wt 30 would be better INMHO. Believe the A had babbit bearings and with the pan down an inspection to include Plastiguage would be advised. Glad this one hasn`t been butchered.

 

[Zee09]

A beauty

 

[addyguy]

Beautiful car!
Neat to see it up on ramps like a modern car!

 

[RDY4WAR]

Nice work

That's the worst milkshake I've seen for sure!

It's not quite the worst I've seen, but it's up there for sure. It wasn't too hard to clean up though.

Send it to the Project Farm guy and let’s see it racing Mobil1

It wouldn't surprise me if it showed a smaller scar than oil by itself, and his cult-like following would start pouring coolant in their crankcase.

it would be awesome to see a UOA of that.

I considered it.

Did the Model A have babbitt bearings like the Model T? If so I wonder if the milkshake mixture damaged the bearings.

Yes, babbitt bearings. I hope not. It's running good and quiet (as it can) with the fresh oil in it so I'm hoping they are fine. If not, I'll be pulling it and rebuilding it for him over the Winter. I'm trying to talk him into letting me do that for him anyway simply because I've never rebuilt something this old.

 

[PimTac]

It's not quite the worst I've seen, but it's up there for sure. It wasn't too hard to clean up though.



It wouldn't surprise me if it showed a smaller scar than oil by itself, and his cult-like following would start pouring coolant in their crankcase.



I considered it.



Yes, babbitt bearings. I hope not. It's running good and quiet (as it can) with the fresh oil in it so I'm hoping they are fine. If not, I'll be pulling it and rebuilding it for him over the Winter. I'm trying to talk him into letting me do that for him anyway simply because I've never rebuilt something this old.

I know someone who owns a old vehicle that had the motor overhauled. The bearings were Babbit in that case too and they had to bring in a retired mechanic to do that since nobody else had ever dealt with poured babbit bearings before. That was about 25 years ago.

 

[RDY4WAR]

I think of the Model A as the first modern car - the brakes, clutch, and gear shift are at least recognizable.

There may have been something earlier - anyone?

We drove it around a bit yesterday evening. It's interesting with the idle and spark timing levers on the steering column. It's fun to cruise around in though the manual drum brakes give me anxiety.

If whoever owned it in a past life left water in it during the winter, it may have a cracked block. The good thing is if that is the problem, you may be able to get it repaired. Surprisingly those motors can be found within old car clubs. It would be a shame if that was the case, because that is one sweet looking ride.,,,

No cracked block, thankfully.

Minus some sort of oil filter (bypass) a straight wt 30 would be better INMHO. Believe the A had babbit bearings and with the pan down an inspection to include Plastiguage would be advised. Glad this one hasn`t been butchered.

Pulling a rod and main cap would've been the ideal thing to do. We'll see how it does with this oil that's in it now. It's not showing any indication of a major issue from the coolant so hopefully he dodged a bullet. If not, well then I get to rebuild it.

 

[RDY4WAR]

I know someone who owns a old vehicle that had the motor overhauled. The bearings were Babbit in that case too and they had to bring in a retired mechanic to do that since nobody else had ever dealt with poured babbit bearings before. That was about 25 years ago.

If I do rebuild this one, I'll likely convert it to insert bearings.

 

[Propflux01]

If I do rebuild this one, I'll likely convert it to insert bearings.

I was gonna say, I wondered if there wasn’t some kind of “conversion kit” or something to do just that. Seems it would last much longer than the babbit type, and easier to mess with.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Any brand 0w-20 you like

That’s way too thick. It’ll end up with too much startup wear. I suggest a 0W-16