World's Fastest Ford Model A Engine Disassembled and Revealed
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- In this video, we will take you behind the scenes and disassemble this one-of-a-kind engine design revealing some cool stuff. You will see how the worlds fasted Ford Model A engine was redesigned by Pete Aardema and Kevin Braun. This 93-year-old engine is officially in the books as the fastest Ford Model A on the planet with a record speed at Bonneville of 238.5 MPH. Pete and Kevin we will take us through the build process and disassemble the top end and explain how they redesigned this engine which incorporates a unique cylinder head that may be the only 3-piece cylinder head of its kind the exist on this planet. For more information, please review part one of this video to hear directly from Pete Aardema how this engine design came about.
Music Title “Modern Attempt- TrackTribe 2” licensed by UA-cam free to use library.
I have a bizarrely vivid memory of this gentleman coming to my highschool autoshop. They had a landspeed car on a trailer to show us, and he explained to me the engine, and how it fit into the class rules. My crude knowledge of cars left me bewildered, but somehow all these years later I recalled him explaining the lowered deck height and piston stroke to me, and now with what I know about engines, it makes so much sense... and still blows my mind how he achieved it.
NASA has nothing on these guys. Real American ingenuity
This is American racing ingenuity at its finest.
It is for sure! Thank you!
There's nothing quite like machining your own engine parts, a sense of accomplishment that's difficult to match.
Man would I love to hang out and drink a couple cold ones with these Dudes.
This is gold. I hope your channel gets more popular. Kevin and Pete deserve to be seen by many.
Thank you very much for the inspiring words and hopefully someday a successful channel. I don't consider myself a UA-camr and this is pretty much a steep learning curve as to how to attract viewers and subscribers. I'm probably doing it wrong? We are simply reporting the facts and this is not scripted or rehearsed. I simply ask questions and Pete and Kevin do the rest. This is 100 % authentic , no tricks, no drama, burnouts or or gimmicks. Today I printed off a couple hundred comments and gave them to Pete to read. He is really enjoying reading the comments and the comments have inspired him to want to reveal more and do additional videos. Thank you for supporting this channel. I appreciate it Greg Q
No one has ever done this for all time. And ever and ever and infinity and beyond.
The reason I love street car racing is the challenge of taking something that wasn't designed for racing and modifying it to be able to perform. These guys are taking that way beyond the next level. Because we at least use race car engines. These men are using engine blocks that shouldn't even be able to survive any type of racing. It's amazing and genius.
It’s thought like this that will be lost with the younger generation if we don’t start getting them more involved. Gotta love the old school engineering these men deploy. I play with flatheads, seeing their ohv conversion, heck everything they do, it’s just awesome-
@@TheCloser1 Idk man. There's a new generation of kids doing grudge and no prep drag racing that give me hope. And these kids are fast. And there's a lot of them. Of course they use the newest technology but kids were using the newest technology in the 60s as well. Technology is all just an evolution.
And risking other peoples safety.
....yes, this is what engineering is all about, I want one😊....
The interesting thing to me is Kevin machined the heads on a manual Bridgeport mill. Reminds me of the Miller days...not a lot of folks left who can do that now.
what is sad for me to say is that....i dont see the interest in the newer generation a lot of the trade arts are vanishing. the base engineering principles are becoming lost in trends. this being lost to automation...
Miller was a very smart engineer of the 1920s without the oils fuels turbos and computers we have today he made a lot of changes in the auto industries 👏👏👏👏🇦🇺
Harry a Miller poduced an OVER head cam head in 1929 for his racing model A as well as many other mods I am asking someone to produce a full doco on Harry he MUST !!!!!! BE!!!remembered for what he did for the auto industries 🧐🧐🧐🧐🥳🥳👍👍🇦🇺
@@jackbarrie6007 Miller had an unbeatable team; Leo Goossen was the draftsman and Fred Offenhauser was his machinists. Fred machined the combustion chamber in the overhead valve engine that didn't have a detachable head on a turn-of-the century mill.
Old school skills! So cool what these guy's did with the old Ford engine.
The 1988 Mercedes Benz 300E AMG Hammer 6.0L V8 has 2 piece cylinder heads with similar in design to what they've done. AMG converted the SOHC M117 engine to 4 valve per cylinder.
So this is the result of a machinist that owes you a ton of money
These guys are genius.
12:24 I like the way Pete and Kevin are open minded about adding the best ideas from European and Japanese engines and incorporating them into their own engines along with NASCAR valves and other available parts.
Yep, this is how they do it. They don't discriminate when it comes to using proven designs and parts from various manufactures Thank you for watching!
These guys are not only smart,they'er very cunning...Not only stretching the mechanical limits but the rules too.!!...Love these blokes.
Just absolutely incredible. At 73, I still remember, when VERY young, perhaps 4-5, riding in two different Model A's one a pickup/ flatbed, the other an AA dump truck.
It all about making memories! Thank you for watching our videos! Greg
Those Mono heads , Nice ! Ideas are always forming when i watch you guys. Thanks again for all the brain food!
That dang cam lobe is huge... man this is cool af
Kevin takes his camshaft deigns very seriously. Thanks for watching!
Wow, what a treat. This is incredible. Thanks to Pete and Kevin for even being willing to talk about this engine, let alone tearing it down and discussing all the craftsmanship involved. This is just something special. Thanks for taking the time to do this and share this amazing creation.
That kind of stuff makes records. Minds & skills.
Im glad he mentioned the short lifespan of the Offy radius buckets. That was my first thought when he said they were keyed. Very cool stuff thank you for sharing!
These guys are Magicians ! Real clever Cheers from New Zealand 🇳🇿
That’s pretty bizarre Pete
“Thanks”
Freakin legend man 😂👌🏾
I could videos of these 2 for hours
I can barely draw a circle or a square.
I understand the internal combustion engine very well,
But this build is entirely out of this world insane !!
Thank you Mr. Quirin, these videos have changed my life.
God bless all involved, especially Pete and Kevin.
Our pleasure! Thanks for watching! Have a great Day
About 12-15 years ago I had a wire EDM cut a solid billet head in half so I could mill a coolant jacket in it to help cool the seat area to solve a valve life problem. What they did here took that a whole lot further. Very awesome!
Thanks for this info and thanks for watching!
The innovation of the individual modular cylinder heads and engine perimeter clamp, brings me hope for the future of engine builders. The Ford Model A itself is one of the coolest motorized carriages (cars) ever built.
Thank you for watching!
What a fun shop it would be to work in.
It would be interesting to see the disassembly of the block as well, to check the extra mains and girdle. Thanks for sharing!
I droped everything i was doing to watch this video
Thank you for sharing the knowledge ! Love it
Glad you enjoyed it! and thank you for watching our videos! Greg
Great video, I would love to hear his explanation on how he manually machined to combustion chambers on a the Bridgeport 👍👍
MeeToo thanks
Brilliant 2nd part, will there be a 3rd showing the bottom end.
I'm not sure but I think they do have a CNC mil.
Amazing design and engineering, Thanks Pete, Kevin and Greg. Great video. Just shows, where there's a will, there's a way
Thank you Denny! We appreciate your kind words! Thank you for watching! Greg
True craftsmen
so cool to see the whole assembly of the head, never seen a 3 piece like that
I'm glad you got to see it, Thanks for watching! Greg
Those valves are almost as big as 351 Cleveland 4V valves which are 2.19 factory size. Very cool to see how that was put together. I'm glad you are doing these interviews so we can see and hear from the creators of this cool machinery. All too often these things get lost to history or are unearthed and you don't know the history behind it. Keep these great videos coming.
My first car was a 73 gran torino 4dr with a 2bbl cleveland an yep thems big valves
Lots of ingenuity & a lot of hard graft. Imagine how much swarf was created just milling one of those heads! Very capable guys.
Awesome!.............. The sound track at the end gave me chills though 😎
Glad you liked it! the sound at the end is Pete and Kevin's 4 liter v8 back in November when it made the pass at 226 MPH
Love the video! I always enjoy the "enginuity" involved in making these old engines perform!
The Kaase engine mentioned was a MEL that he made an insert that gave him a modern combustion chamber. He made these out of Brass or Bronze.
A design only useful for the rulebook in many ways, but great engineering.
You can really see how long the stroke is even when shortened.
Thanks for sharing this bit of history!
Pete has got it up there. Up there in the brain. He is sharp.
He for sure has the gears turning all the time up there!. Thank you for watching
would love to hang out with these cats.
So interesting...these guys are Great and Thanks for sharing this very unique information!!!
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks Greg, and thanks Pete and Kevin!
Smokey Yunick type free thinkers, not many left.
Yep! Pete and Kevin are pretty unique guys!
It’s kinda sad watching stuff like this because wen this gentelmen pass on his Knowledge of this stuff goes with them you’ll never see stuff like this again it just disappears but hopefully has many more happy years in them
Amen. I hope he's made apprenticeships for a new generation.
Great stuff! I have been watching the Cleveland headed 300 straight 6 fords, imagine what you could do with a head like that on a big inline 6
so totaly cool!! had no idea this even existed!!
Lots of great stuff! thanks for watching!
I had to stop the video near the 1:50 mark. Pete using the air-powered rattle gun signifies a well seasoned mechanic. Most videos recently produced display battery powered tools. Though the battery tools have their advantage in confined quarters, air tools do not suddenly quit.
Personally, I do not have any battery powered tools in my tool chest. I do have shop air.
Just my 2¢ worth.
Keep these videos coming. LSR has always been my passion.
*EDIT*
At timestamp 16:30, Kevin began using a battery powered socket driver to speed his work. Props to Kevin🏁
I admit, the preference of tools is an individual concern.
Gentlemen, continue with your craft and creations, giving us viewers something to admire and study👍🏻✔️
Battery power is awesome for apartment life though working on car in the alley. Wish I had invested many years ago for sure.
That turnbuckle with different threads is genius. Great video
Thanks!
That is a very clever engine. Great work guys! When he was explaining the block clamp device and said "the blocks break like potato chips" I laughed so hard 🤣
Tossing my vote in the hat for an entire episode on making custom cams.
I know Kevin is going to work with the local cam shop Schneider Racing Cams to have the cams ground. I'm hoping I can film a bit of the process.
Interesting stuff. It was good that you spent some time just with Kevin so he could explain how he built those heads. Some good learning opportunities there. Thanks for posting!
id love to meet these guys.
I love all of the detail that you go into with these guys in relation to their engineering ingenuity.
Their builds are astounding 👌🏻
Thank you and thank you for the encouraging and positive comments. I'm learning as I go and figuring out how to improve with each video we make.
@@GregQuirin you’re doing a damn fine job so far Greg, my only wish is that I could be there for some of the videos in person as I have so much interest in hearing pretty much every detail.
The pinnacle of making horsepower old school.. a lot of head scratching in the making.. future engineers could learn quite a lot from these older guys.. not everything is on a computer model the younger generation will never even be in the same league these guys are experts in their own field..
Those heads look like the ford 3v heads on the mod motors.
3v makes sense
It's fascinating to see the thinking and execution that goes into this kind of project!
i wanna hear the raw engine sound of that thing. wow. 💯🔥
Here is video of the model A when it set the record. ua-cam.com/video/5np5XvEaBPI/v-deo.html
So cool you guys share your innovations and skill. How those heads wore done on a manual mill amaze me.
Kevin does some amazing mill work. He is a true genius!
"Opportunity" is what Greg said at the end and it is true. I learned a lot from watching the videos of Pete and Kevin, thank you, all of you. You show me that anything is possible, of course your experience and knowledge is an important part, but I really appreciate the inspiration, a real eye opener! Sportive greetings Martin Lennon #373
Pete and Kevin are fantastic.Thanks for the video.Extremely informative and interesting.
That you I hope to have a new video uploaded in the next couple days
Very interested in this content. I build my engines love the one off stuff. ❤
So cool to see these guys doin this stuff for so long and still in business and loving it !! Greets from Holland ( fellow Dutchie as Aardema ;) )
Thanks Greg for another great video. Really enjoying the in depth technical content. Cheers from Australia.
Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the positive comments form the other side of the World! Greg
Such an amazing group of guys. Thank you for these videos.
I purchased several of those titanium Dale west valves penny's on the dollar great content very much enjoy your ideas
And I was just wondering if anyone had tried adapting and overhead value head to a model a engine
Wound up watching a great how to make your model a go 250mph
Thanks for that upload
What a great video with a lot of ingenuity involved. I heard the gentleman speak of Jon Kaase. Jon isn't really known for his FE engines, but more known for his BBF engines and EMC entries. Jon did an EMC entry with a Modular Ford, where he employed this same technique for *adding* deck height to the block, so that a much longer stroke crankshaft could be used. Thinking outside the box.
In New Zealand back in the 50's a local company was offering two piece heads for Ford Flathead V8's .Cast in Bronze ,they were intended for boat use. That's the only other two piece heads I have seen .
Thanks for sharing that information. Kevin is a boat guy so I will ask him if he knows about the bronze 2 piece heads.
Great video! Would like to see how two mains were added, too.
These guys are amazing.
Them guys are true backyard shed geniuses ✌️🇬🇧
Thank you Mark, Cheers!
@@GregQuirin I strongly suggest you go and watch “Allen Millyard” he’s the guy who built the Viper V10 bike, which is self explanatory and the “Flying Millyard” a 2L engine he made in his shed from 2 cylinders of a prat and Whitney radial aircraft engine.
He’s now in the finishing stages of completing a H2 Kawasaki triple into a inline 4- 2 stroke 😅
Then there’s the V12 Kawasaki that’s on display at the Barber museum in Alabama.
They’re but to name but a few, but yes mate he’s definitely worth a look. 👍✌️🇬🇧
Will there be a part 3 explaining the bottom end and rotating assembly?
I'm not sure, Pete put the engine back in storage. I will for sure document the bottom end on the new 2 liter for you guys.
Very cool, there were some race only Porsche engines (935/78 and 959) that had multi-layer heads that were water cooled while the rest of the case was air/oil cooled. Kind of similar to what was reviewed in this video. Thanks for sharing
Monster lobes on those cams!
I applied for the patent for the 2 piece cylinder head in 2003, and never could find anyone that wanted to take on the project on so I never followed thru on it. I keep telling people it was workable and now I am so happy to see that you guys made it work. I still feel it is the very best way to build cylinder heads. The heads can be made from 6061 which is 6 times stronger than castings. So you can make a head that is both lighter and stronger. The only problem is you have to have all the head bolts holding the 1/2 together.
I had a similar idea around the same time, 2007 I think, of milling from the top and then using o-ring/ silicone type seals around all the water passage stuff and fastening down a block off plate to enclose water passages and rocker stands bolt down through plate into meat of the head, blah blah blah.
Obviously it was just dreaming,,,lol.
I’ve seen not to long ago where Steve Morris, I believe, is building a completely billet motor with water passages milled in with plates and o-rings sealing it up.
I was like,,,, it CAN work,,,, .
How these guys are doing is different, if just proves that the concept can work. Maybe not for a production vehicle, but it’s viable.
I’m going to look for that SMR video now,,,,,,
Found the link. ua-cam.com/video/TqGVvmn9buU/v-deo.html
@@shakeydavesr Like they say there is nothing new under the sun. When we did a patent search for a 2 piece cylinder head, only Ford was doing this and it was only used for rapid prototyping. I have $10,000 invested in the patent and never did anything with it, and now the patent has expired. But I sure would just love to build a pair of SBC heads and prove it can be done. One thing I disagree with you on, is I believe this would be better for mass production than what it takes to cast and do all the CNC work they are doing now anyway. You start with 2 plates do all the internal CNC work press them together and finish the external, 100% CNC. The very best part is that all your tooling can be short and very rigid, so the cycle time can be very fast saving money on production.
This is what's great about cars. Over 100 years ago that motor was driving around and now it's alive once again. I always like how something that might be junk the one person is a treasure to another.
And today it really doesn't matter much if you are a Ford or Chevy guy. All that matters is that you can appreciate what was old is new again.
I really enjoyed your video and I definitely hit the thumbs up and subscribe.
More correctly the fastest Model A short block !. Excellent engineering to get that speed. Reminds me of a Twin cam Mini 1000 back in my youth that could beat the Lotus Cortina on most Australasian Circuits …
I just built an engine with Del West valves. They were over $1,000 per set.
Pretty badass Kevin
thanks for sharing
the kaase engine you referring to I believe is a MEL
Thanks for the info!
Amazing videos thank you, & with the split cylinder heads I believe some aspin rotary valve heads also do split, but certainly are not layered
I would leave my wife and children on Christmas morning to get a job working in this shop
this is one of the topics i state in engineering. is the fact the discussion of new power plants vs old.
design is design. i believe that this represents that older block design with new engineering can outperform a lot
of newer blocks. it isnt that it is newer or older it is the design of the engine that matters.i am a firm believer that older power plants can be modernized cheaply to outperform and outlast a lot of new power plants. i would love to see this visited with the 350 sb chevy the ford 302 and 351 and the chrysler 318 and 340 i believe the performance and durability would astonish a lot of people
There is nothing cheap about modifying a block originally designed for 40 hp to withstand 500 hp +. The block originally had 3 main bearings and 3 cam bearings, a girdle must be made to add 2 main and 2 cam bearings if needed, they are using bolts thru the valve guides to help support the girdle. It is allowed in the rules (Bonneville) to run 4 half inch bolts per side from the head to the girdle to help support the forces. Most of these motors never go 60 total miles so durability is unknown. The cranks cost about $3500, rods $1500, pistons $1200 this is for a 4 cylinder. Cheap it ain't.
I have worked on a record holding Blown Fuel Lakester with a Model B flathead that went 181mph on the short track.
i love watching these videos
Glad you are enjoying them Lee. I hope to have some more uploaded soon!
god bless your soul.
they do not make hard working free thinking people anymore.
You should check out the blue Summit house brand coolant.. It's meant for racing and is legal on most tracks, and probably would help the corrosion problem there too, not to mention its affordable too
I will mention it! Pete probably will lean towards water as it is cheaper at the moment, however with raising water prices in Sol-Cal it might be cheaper soon to run coolant :-)
After your video I can't say I'm a engine mechanic:))) I'm how my father say (changing parts mechanic)Thank you for the video ! ROMANIA (EUROPE)
That is awesome! and thank you for watching all the way from Romania! This is exciting for Pete and Kevin to know they are being watched from all over the world! Cheers! Greg Q
loved the screaming engine at the end of the video.
Here is a link of the run with the 4 liter - I sampled the engine sound from this clip. Unfortunately the ice-cream truck was passing by an messed up the full audio experience. ua-cam.com/video/5np5XvEaBPI/v-deo.html
I have a couple box,s of NASCAR valves from Hendrix and they look the same way. You have to remember the engines are run on ethanol with a perfect tune up.
Thanks for the info. I figure that was why they are so clean and new looking!
GEEZ...these guys are amazing....
Pretty cool stuff, amazing know how. Most 4 cylinder motorcycles are 1 2,4,3 firing order
Now let's see that bottom end.🙂👍
Much simpler, but in the 2 stroke snowmobile and motorcycle world 2 piece heads are used in race motors.
The original, Brit-based Royal-Enfield Interceptor verticle twins had separate heads, so if one side experienced more wear/failure, you could replace one side without a complete tear-down.
EMD is one that you can pull what they call a power pack ...each One of the cylinders is a individual engine...an they all sher a common crank an crank Case..but the head's are individually attached for quick replace ment....
fascinating. Thank you.
What an awesome video!! Thanks
Glad you liked it! Thank you for the positive comments!