VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Who's got a real early Parts Book?

I am trying to avoid giving some bad advice here, and I can't convince myself if I am right or wrong.

Is a Model H (1914, '15, & '16 Baby Grand or Royal Mail) Cylinder Head identical to an early 490 Head? I know a 490 Head has a Part # 407. Is that the same as the Part # on a early Baby Grand or Royal Mail?

Is there such a thing as a 402 Head?

I am about to tell someone to buy a Head or not, and I want to be sure I am correct. My early Parts Books are 490 only. Thanks.

I have a 4 cylinder parts book dated Feb. 1, 1931. it stated the following,
H,F,FA,T,G,490 Head, Cylinder, with Push Rod Holes (T, 1919) 12.00 #333776

FB, T head, Cylinder (3 Port-1922) 15.00 #381099
That's the best I can do.

The 407 head is common to H series and early 490, up to about 1919 from memory and is interchangeable between these models. The rocker gear is also interchangeable, and possibly the push rods if you shorten them slightly, and the cam followers possibly, even though slightly different.
I recently bought a 1919 490 engine complete and removed all the above parts, then onsold the rest of the 490 motor.
The 490 cam followers are on the bottom like the H series but are slightly longer and have a better oiling system, and will interchange (I think) but because they are longer you'll need to use the shorter 490 push rods or shorten the H push rods
Chris

Thank you Guroo, this is exactly what I needed to hear. I just wasn't trusting my memory with respect to if there was an earlier version of Heads on the Model H's. I had some half-remembered idea of a "402" Head, don't know where it is coming from...

This is just about the Head - a fellow (or a bloke, if you prefer) needs a Head for a '16 Baby Grand, his is badly cracked. He has all the rocker assemblies, pushrods, etc, just needed a Head. So it's not about my 490s.

I also convinced Dan O'Day to pull the rocker cover and have a look earlier today on his '14 Royal Mail, and sure enough it says "407".

And thanks to you for having a look, too, Back Roads.

Today I ordered a reprint of the 1914-28 Master Parts Book with Illustrations, so I can look for myself!

I just didn't want to give bad advice.

Where abouts can you get that reprint as I'd love to get one.
I do have an original H series parts book but it's not illustated
Chris

Hi Guys,

Would this help anyone.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/1916_28parts/index.htm

Cheers

Ray

The link is helpful Ray, yes. I checked it earlier. But if you look up Cylinder Head, it does NOT show Model H listed with the 490 Head. Yet it does show the head gasket being the same for the Model H and 490 (and many other 4 cylinder models). That added to my concern that there might have been an earlier Head - and since that particular book only goes back to 1916, it leaves a question mark for 1914 and 1915 on the Model H. Thus my posting.

Guroo, the 1914-28 Master Parts Book was reprinted. The Filling Station used to list it at $25, but it's not in their current printed catalog. So I called them and was told that they no longer have a source for the reprint and it is out of stock. A Google search showed that Faxon Auto Literature lists it, but they are at $49 plus shipping.

So I checked out Gary Wallace's website, and he has it at $40. Still not cheap, but I ordered one from Gary.

What I'd really like to find is an original (Master) Parts Book from around the late Teens, that would show me the original 3 digit Part Numbers for both Model H, 490, and so forth. I'll be looking for one at Hershey in a couple of weeks.

Guru, it's Guroo, which I had to misspell as you'd already grabbed the proper one.
According to my 1914, 15 and 16 "Combined Parts List" of 56 pages. The cylinder head is part no. 407 and the head gasket is part no. 487
According to my undated, but early illustrated "Price of parts of 100 pages. The cylinder head is part no. 407 and the head gasket is part no. 487
So now we all know for sure that they're interchangeable for what I know for sure is up 1919.
One thing good about the H series vs the 490 is that we can hide our later head under our rocker/valve cover whereas the 490 diehards have to use the exact casting year, or like one of my mates did, he ground the date off.
Chris

That's it, and thanks for that final confirmation. Also Ken Kaufmann sent me an email with a scan of an older Parts Book page that shows the application as well.

Now see - I always just figured "Guroo" was the correct Australian spelling... Kind of like a Kangaroo, instead of the Yank version, Kangaru.

I have a scanned copy of what I believe to be a 1922 parts book on the net. go to www.reginaantiqueauto.ca and click on tech files.