VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1929 Running Hot - Overheating

Assuming the head gasket photos are in the same order as the cylinder photos is exactly where the head gasket had failed on my '32 which I bought with a stuck engine.
A head gasket failure between #4 & #5 cylinders was the cause.
Mine has a '33 head on a '32 block.
I had the head gone through.
Tanked, fluxed, new guides, valves, exhaust valve springs and the head was not flat so it got ground as well.

It is common to have leaking between cylinders 2-3 and 4-5 with any warpage in the head. If I remember correctly the compression test was around 50 psig on each cylinder suggesting little to no leakage.

With the head removed blowing air into the coolant holes will quickly give an indication of the crud in the cooling passages. Good idea to put rags into each cylinder to keep stuff blown out from depositing in them. After you finish blowing out the coolant passages then blow out the cylinders and rotate the engine to clean them up.

well taking a few days away as i am planning on going up to Hershey for a few days. walk around the fields, talk to some friends, maybe make a new one or two.

initiate talks with local shop here to clean and then magnaflux head as it is off the car. that is where i am going to  start. then i will be pulling the engine, and having cleaned, magnafluxed then bored, honed, decked, crankshaft checked and balanced. put in new oversize pistons and rings. validate the valve job or redoing the valves altogether. developed a plan of action and goal is to get it all done by spring. that is if i can afford it. hoping the babbit is good, has only about 30  miles on it or about 2 hours of run time total.

they are going to clean out all water and oil passage ways. to ensure good flow is permitted with little resistance. 

Looks like EGGE is bout the only place to get oversize pistons, pins, and rings for this car. 

also talked with J&M Machine Company as well as Columbia Classic Cars in regards to rebuilding the engine as well. 

Open to other options as well, shops that is...

Rebuilders Choice have pistons for this. Just google the name.

I am just wondering if the engine was actually rebuilt and never had the head retorqued. If there is no ridge on the top of the cylinders and the pistons look like new I would check them for clearance . I see no reason not to re-use them if everything is within spec. Changing parts for no reason does not guarantee a good result it just increases your expense. AS posted above if all is within spec I would hone the cylinders and re-ring.

ok, tried to post these pictures last week, but the WiFi at the campground was horrible. (hey trying to keep up while hanging out after dark)

You can clearly see the difference in the cylinder walls, there is a clearly defined lip/ledge near the top where the rings do not run. the pistons are sloppy in the bores. do NOT have a mic to measure the inside, but will get the shop to do that for me later, once i pull the block.

you can also clearly see the scoring and pitting in the walls as well. 

There is no doubt that it was NOT rebuilt at any time as it takes a lot of miles and running for the walls to wear and the top ridge to form. I know it's not what you wanted to do but when you are done I am sure it will be a first class job.

dropped off the head at the shop during my lunch, and just got a call back, head checks out fine, no cracks and intake and exhaust hold a vacuum. so the seats are sealing. however the head is 'warped like a banana'

so he is going to mill the head flat, also check the manifold surface and machine that if NOT flat.

also asked him to pull the valves and check the guides and the seats, inspect and check everything and let me know the outcome of the valves and manifold surface...

thanks called them and talked with the guy there. he did some searching and gave me prices, they have pistons, rings, and valves. they have them custom made as he told me. however they are aluminum alloy

they have some NOS, NORS but a lot of what they get is sourced from other places (whom ever still makes it as he told me)

Another supplier is Egge in (https://egge.com/) South California. I bought pistons from them a couple of years ago and were very satisfied with them. My machinist said that Egge used to have quality issues, but have changed their ways and have been excellent for the last few years.

Cheers, Dean

Aluminum exactly! They are about 1/3 the weight of the original cast iron and lessen the load on the crank and bearings especially at high speed. I am using aluminum in my 29 block as I rebuild.

Many resellers use the Egge pistons. When I searched for mine I could not find any other manufacturers. That is what is in my car and so far (19 years) I have had good luck with them. The .030 oversize seems to be the most common. They will come with std pins but on many early chev rebuilds an oversize is necessary .

My rebuilder used aluminum pistons on my engine. They seem fine, although I have only driven a few hundred yards. I don't know where he got them.

yeah i have called many places, and they all stock or get them from Egge, I asked. not many places that make them anymore. there are a FEW places that will make custom ones for you, but about 3-4 times the cost. a set of Egge Pistons direct is about $220 w/ pins.

I would like to put in Cast Iron

I have heard they are the best and work the best in the old Chevrolet's then i hear that the Aluminum are better as they are lighter and less stress and wear on the block... so It seems it is a toss up ?@?

I am on a search for .020 .030 .040 Cast Iron Pistons with Pins and Rings...

Hoping the valve guides and seats are in good shape

Probably if you want the cast iron you will have to search for a NOS or NORS set. I have seen them crop up from time to time but mostly semi finished which can cost you as much as a set to get turned to size. Remember Chevrolet used aluminum in the earlier 4 cylinders and probably went to cast iron as a cost saving more then any other reason.

IMHO theres no good reason to put cast iron back in once you have bored and can no longer use the original pistons. 6 cylinder engines are inherently balanced (as long as the rod weights and piston weights match each other), and lighter is better. Yes, cast iron was probably more reliable in 1929, also way less likely to be noisy then. Piston technology has come a long way. Any weight you can take out makes life easier on your lower end, especially the rod bearings.

I have no opinion about Egge. If you don't trust them, then spring for the custom pistons, and ask about modern rings and grooves while you are at it. It could easily result in less blowby, and less bore wear too.

Ditto!

Thanks Guys

original Pistons were Cast Iron and Rings were 5/32 5/32 5/32
Egge pistons are Aluminum Alloy and Rings are 1/8 1/8 3/16

I just want to get a smooth reliable efficient running engine in the car

the machine shop should be machining my head soon :) starting pulling parts off the car last night so that i can get ready to pull the engine and trans.forgot how much stuff has to be removed to get the engine out.

well night two of disassembly. man i forgot how many parts i had to put on after the engine went in. going to take a few days to remove everything and clear the path for the drivetrain to come out.

well got everything else removed, and engine is ready to be pulled ( i hope and think)

should be able to sling it and lift a tad, then pull straight out the front.

pulled the radiator core out the shell, and going to drop it off with the radiator shop tomorrow. they are going to give it a once over. flush it out good, check flow and such, then clean it up. figure while it is out again, will have it double checked and validated. the local shop here is one of 2 in the area that build and do custom radiators. been around since the 1940's they build custom radiators, heat exchangers, they are the ones that have the caustic tank that cleaned most of my sheet metal parts. old school shop, very nice people and have been good to me and fellow old car people around the region. 

plan to get it pulled this weekend and then talk with machine shop and see what all they want, so i can take it as it is or strip it down to minimum. going to also see if they can balance the flywheel and such, check surfaces and see if they need to be machined.

plan to call them tomorrow and check on my head, and see if they are ready for engine on monday.

Radiator is at the Radiator Shop...

see what they say about it next week hopefully

well spent a few hours in the garage today, stripping down motor and car to remove engine. attended our local AACA region Chili Cook off and hung out for a few hours there. then back home dinner and pulled the engine & Transmission. it is out of car and generally stripped down !!

did not take any pictures as i was working too hard and making sure i was doing things safely and correctly.

going to load it up and drop it at machine shop on monday. go over things to do and cost to do them. as well as timeline and time frame. once they get to the bore the cylinders i will KNOW piston size. hoping on .020 no more than .030 !!

maybe take some pictures tomorrow when i get out there once again.

here are a few of the engine with sling ready to be pulled

few picts of the parts and pieces all over the garage, and just o think i JUST got it all cleaned up and organized with the car together !!