I saw this beauty parked along WestEndAvenue the other day.
“just a little Deuce coupe with a flathead mill”
Ever wonder what that means?
A “deuce” is a 1932 Ford and the “mill” is the engine (never motor, motors are electric).
“Flathead” was a 1930‘s engine design that required the gas and air mixture to take a tortuous U-turn path as it was delivered through the four-stroke combustion cycle. That complicated path hindered airflow and horsepower, so...
“Ported” means taking a small grinder and a steady hand to remove extra material inside the intake manifold and exhaust passages to improve breathing.
“Relieved” is a similar process, but around the valve seats themselves.
“Stroked” increases the length of the combustion cylinder and therefore lengthens piston travel to increase torque, while “bored” bores out the diameter of the cylinder to increase displacement. All seek to gain interior volume to create more power.
Drag slicks (the wide rear tires) give better contact with the asphalt to improve traction “comin’ off the line when the light turns green.”
But this creates a problem.
An internal combustion engine that has been ported and relieved and stroked and bored is likely to run very hot, in effect a short but merry life. To address this overheating, our featured rod runs on Liquid Salvation with an improvised radiator overflow to allow more coolant than the radiator was intended to hold.
“She’ll do a hundred an’ forty in the topend floored.”
Don’t bet against it. :-)
nice ride
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see before-and-after diagrams elucidating port-and-relieve.
ReplyDeleteOh I'll JUST BET you would. lol
ReplyDeleteThat is not a flathead ford, it is a firepower hemi produced by chrysler. Note the distributor in the rear and the fact that is has valve covers. Flatheads do not have valve covers.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, and some of those old hemi's in the 335 to 362 cu in range have been known to put out more horsepower and torque than a big block ford or chevy. But back to the flathead, the reason the heads are flat, and the reason the engine runs hot, is because the intake and exhaust ports run through the block rather than the head, hence the huge radiator for cooling. The benefit is that configuration produces more low rpm torque, and when combined with the horsepower increase from boring, stroking and porting, you end up a fairly powerful little engine.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great explanations! It's my favorite song for working out, and I like the words because I'm little but exceptional also!! and humble.
ReplyDeleteBet she hauls ass.
ReplyDeleteWow do I feel stupid. First I had duplicate comments then I had none.I was trying to say thank you for the interesting information :-)
ReplyDeletefun little package
ReplyDeleteYou might also wonder what they mean when they say "I got the big slip, daddy". They're not saying "pink slip" as a lot of people think. Pink slips, or pinks, is the title. Mentioning that at that point in the song would make no sense. They're referring to the prized Chevy/Corvette/Mopar limited slip differential, which is a superiour piece of equipment that guarantees top notch performance and an even tire burn. That's the "big slip".
ReplyDeleteThat is what I always thought as well. Big slip, daddy.
DeleteThanks for that last bit of info. When i first googled the lyrics I got the "pink slip" answer. I didn't think it was right -- i thought it was "big slip" and that it was a transmission. Glad i kept looking!
ReplyDeleteanon knows what he is talking about.probably is a fair mechanic.
ReplyDeleteYep, Anon can Google with the best of 'em.
ReplyDeleteThey are talking about the practice in that era of running for pinks or betting car ownership in a drag race.
ReplyDeletePink slips are insurance papers
ReplyDeletePink slips used to refer to your copy of proof of ownership.
ReplyDeletePINK slip you morons! California title!
ReplyDelete