RE-ENGINEERING THE MODEL A ENGINE
Terry Burtz, Campbell, CA (Copyright 2007 T. M. Burtz)
Automotive engine design and analyses has changed dramatically and is vastly improved since the Ford Model A engine was designed and analyzed in 1927. Have you ever wondered why even the best rebuilt or highly modified Model A engine has a useful life that is just a small fraction of the useful life of a modern engine? This article will attempt to answer that question and present an engineering design study that demonstrates what can be accomplished by substituting four redesigned parts into a Model A engine. By substituting these four redesigned parts, a stock appearing Model A engine can have the reliability and longer life of a modern engine, and a hot-rodded engine will have a much higher probability of staying together. Readers of this article will also learn about modern engineering methodology, understand the reasoning behind engineering design decisions, and learn how a collection of sand cores can come together to form the cavities of a complex casting. For additional information, readers are encouraged to do Internet searches on the words, phrases, and terminology used in this article. This article presents a summary of what has been accomplished. And lastly, this article has been written to determine if there is enough interest for this engineering study to continue and become real hardware. I apologize for the length of this article, but there is a vast amount of information to present.
Terry Burtz, Campbell, CA (Copyright 2007 T. M. Burtz)
Automotive engine design and analyses has changed dramatically and is vastly improved since the Ford Model A engine was designed and analyzed in 1927. Have you ever wondered why even the best rebuilt or highly modified Model A engine has a useful life that is just a small fraction of the useful life of a modern engine? This article will attempt to answer that question and present an engineering design study that demonstrates what can be accomplished by substituting four redesigned parts into a Model A engine. By substituting these four redesigned parts, a stock appearing Model A engine can have the reliability and longer life of a modern engine, and a hot-rodded engine will have a much higher probability of staying together. Readers of this article will also learn about modern engineering methodology, understand the reasoning behind engineering design decisions, and learn how a collection of sand cores can come together to form the cavities of a complex casting. For additional information, readers are encouraged to do Internet searches on the words, phrases, and terminology used in this article. This article presents a summary of what has been accomplished. And lastly, this article has been written to determine if there is enough interest for this engineering study to continue and become real hardware. I apologize for the length of this article, but there is a vast amount of information to present.
