MTFCA Forum

Any reason to save heavy rods? Just stripped down another engine with a set in it . Got at least a bucket full.

Sell 'em. They're original parts.

Drill holes in their web like it shows in 'The Fast Ford Handbook' and 'The Model T In Speed and Sport'. to lighten them.

To who the Chinese? Looks like they are going to take a slow boat ride there.

It's best to keep any usable parts even if you don't need them at this time. T parts might be harder to find in the future as fewer people are in the hobby and fewer suppliers.
Norm

I know a guy that wanted his 14 full original. He had a hard time finding heavy rods.
There is a market/need, but I expect, extremely small.

If the bearings are good? I see no reason to not use them. I don't recall now which one, but I did use a set of heavy rods in one of my car's engines. I liked the way it ran. I really didn't notice much difference. I have a late 1913 engine I started putting together a few years ago that I was thinking of using heavier rods in it.

I’m unsure of the difference. Rebuilding the engine in my ‘13 last winter, it was necessary to sleeve back to standard. Just because like Popeye, “I yam what I yam.”, I opted for used cast iron pistons. They came with the connecting rods, and the bearings were better than what I pulled out, so I fit them up. I’m not an experienced connoisseur of the fine differences in model T performance, but my faulty memory tells me that it idles lower and smoother, and pulls out of low gear into high more positively with the extra revolving weight than it did with aluminum pistons. Being contrarian by nature, and literally “taking the road less traveled” (i.e., mostly dirt, gravel and cross-country) I’m perfectly happy to roll along at 20 to 30 mph, pretty much how the machine was designed to perform. I’m a happy camper with this recent “refresh” !

I like using original engine parts. Heavy rods and cast iron pistons do make the car run smoother at low rpms
IMHO. Two big issues. Hard to balance and hard to drive in California traffic. Still have a set of flat top pistons and dipper rods picked up from a gent who rebuilt his 1910.

Hey there Richard G!
How late were those flat top pistons used in the model T?

If the babbits good and they are straight, they are still usable. put them on ebay, let the buyer decide, I hate seeing the chinese melt all our old parts,

Put on Tbay, pay a bunch of fees and deal with scammers or take to scrap yard get paid??? What a choice!!!!!

Dan Hatch wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 05, 2024 8:42 am

Put on Tbay, pay a bunch of fees and deal with scammers or take to scrap yard get paid??? What a choice!!!!!

The choice would be saving vintage parts or loosing them to the chinese.
.03 cents per pound or a few dollars each and priority box shipping with a few bucks out for fees. diesel or ebay fees? .

Hey Wayne, those ealy flat top pistons were were used in 09 and 10 for sure, maybe as late as 12. Id have to check.

I have no problems using "heavy" rods in a rebuild. They are easier to balance than the "lite" rods as they have somewhat more material that can be removed and still maintain strength. On a side note, if your using SCAT rods just know they are much heavier than the "heavy" Ford rod. Imagine that!

RGould1910 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 05, 2024 10:00 pm

Hey Wayne, those ealy flat top pistons were were used in 09 and 10 for sure, maybe as late as 12. Id have to check.

Thanks Richard G. I have a 1915 engine that had iron (nearly) flat top pistons in it when I took it apart. I didn't think they went that late. The engine appeared to have been reworked a long time earlier with newer crankshaft, timing gears, and valves. Bore and bearings were all nearly perfect. The entire engine was filthy dirty, but cleaned up beautifully and assembled to one of the nicest T engines inside and out I have ever had.
The iron pistons have a slight dome, and although slightly lower in the top than typical T pistons, rose slightly above the edge of the cylinder around the outside. Any lowering of the compression is minimal at most.
The engine is in the car, but I haven't run it yet.
Maybe the pistons were some sort of replacement. The fit was too nice not to want to use them. I still wonder about them.

The issue with the early heavy rods is that it takes a heap more babbitt to re-build, making the bearing thick compared to the better machining of the later rods.