Willys L Head Performance Upgrade....Old Race Secret

[@timfritts4081]

It is good to find old school tricks. Thank you! T.

[@metalshaperJeep]

I have lots of them, more to come

[@timfritts4081]

@@metalshaperJeep You. Are a very smart guy. I have learned a lot by watching your videos. Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge, much appreciated by your followers. T.

[@michaelfarren3712]

Thank you for taking the time to share this. I would like to build a hot rod L head in the future, collecting parts right now. Thanks again Brian.

[@metalshaperJeep]

This one tip on relieving the block will get you on your way to a great performing L head.

[@j45acp69]

What a good video, and in perfect time as i'm putting together two L heads at the moment. I would love to see how you remove the old seats and cut the block and install new ones if you are interested in generating that content. Thanks for the great series on these old jeeps, I have watched nearly all of them now.

[@metalshaperJeep]

I will take some video of the seats going in and go over the seat cutting again in a future video.

[@nblas-6871]

I just finished rebuilding my 48 CJ engine/mechanicals. Couldn't have done it without you.

[@africanqueenproject]

Wow, I love learning new techniques ...going to watch all of your videos

[@motorv8N]

Very nice - great modification. I was surprised to see how easily that little sander trims that steel down.

[@altruismfirst6489]

My Neighbor RIP did this mod to inlet side only with straight path towards the centre or piston, also machined the seats deeper placing both valves deeper and shrouded the exhaust intentionally to force mix in and out via same channel, he added more duration to the inlet only, welded up the head area to increase compression and little tapered pocketed area on pistons facing the machined inlet area, passive ignition plugs as used on his tractor and larger custom flywheel for the hills etc. He raced a hudson engine for years and believed the L heads and flat head biggest weakness was fuel washing down the oil on the bores and his trick sent the mixture away from the cylinder walls and solving this rewarded him with less rebuild between seasons. He said the exhaust need no work to get the gases out hence the channel was only on the inlet side. He was envied and vilified by other racers for his reliable machines and bullied for his slower reaction skills as he was born with eye issues as a baby but he always spent less money overall and had the most fun having fun.

[@rayganter8029]

Thanks Brian and sharing, love your work

[@metalshaperJeep]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@XXcaesar5000]

thanks for sharing it is amazing to have a lifetime of experience a click away. your time is much appreciated!

[@m38_depotharold12]

Thank you for sharing in detail how to relive an L Head block!! I was wandering just how you knew you were at .060 and then you showed the tool. Great Video!!!

[@juanzayas7719]

Brian... Thank you for sharing this performance tip. Any other you want to share I am interested. Regards, Juan

[@metalshaperJeep]

Sure thing!

[@ronthoman7138]

That is Really COOL!! Thank you for taking the time and sharing!!

[@metalshaperJeep]

Thanks for watching!

[@geoben427]

Hi Brian, another great video! It's a great way to save an old block and pick up some power too!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@timkis64]

i did this to an old briggs 40 cid opposed twin i rebuilt for a snow plow tractor.along with smoothing rough casting areas of intake & exaust bowls & ports.it made a significant difference in torque when plowing heavy snow.i wasnt interested in hp.i needed more torque.the difference was actually surprising & welcomed.even at idle you could feel much stronger exaust pulses out of unchanged stock muffler.though i did need to richen main jet a little to compensate for increased flow.

[@metalshaperJeep]

A little more fuel and a lot more torque, that is the whole idea behind block relieving. Glad it worked out as you wanted it to.

[@lawrencemathews6182]

Keep showing us what ever you do. Love the L heads!

[@metalshaperJeep]

More to come!

[@aussiedazvk4djh889]

😲 A drag racing L head engine. 🙃 Another great video Brian. 👍🏻

[@metalshaperJeep]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@ginacoronel6872]

Always a great day when a new video from you comes up. Love to see your work and all the helpful tips you give. Thank you Brian!

[@metalshaperJeep]

Thanks 👍

[@larrychristenson5120]

Great video Brian. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@gailmrutland6508]

*Learn something new every day with JEEP! KUDOS!*

[@angiehazzard7951]

Brian, can you do the same thing to the exhaust valves on a F 134?

[@oblvnnwtnjhn]

per Brian: @metalshaperJeep 1 year ago The intake valves were moved to the head and flow very well. No need to do anything like in this video. This upgrade is for L heads only. F heads have huge intake valves and much more horsepower.

[@davidw.manning2774]

Thanks again, Brian.

[@metalshaperJeep]

My pleasure!

[@kevindouglas2060]

I remember a modern expert saying relieving a block didn't improve performance because it lowered the compression. An old school mechanic built a stock style engine. Took the compression then ran it on a dyno. Later he relieved the block the compression was indeed lower. However there was a significant increase in horsepower and performance.

[@metalshaperJeep]

milling the head and decking the block to will raise the compression ratio quite a bit and this procedure will not lower the compression below the original numbers. In fact with careful machine work compression will increase. There is more to engine building than people can imagine and a lot of planning and machine work go into an engine that gets modified. This modification, done correctly will amaze you. You can easily feel the increase in power on the first test drive.

[@wlogue]

Thanks Brian.

[@metalshaperJeep]

thanks for watching.

[@zackrygrooms7879]

great video sir!

[@metalshaperJeep]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@garryfarnham7485]

That’s grate information thank you for your time

[@metalshaperJeep]

Glad it was helpful!

[@williamlongyard5887]

Excellent video Brian! I had never heard of this before. Keep up the great work.

[@metalshaperJeep]

Good to hear from you Bill. This type of modification/work has long been forgotten and you don't see or hear about it any longer. makes me feel like I am getting old, so I figured I better let another secret out of the bag in case there is another generation interested in rebuilding these old pieces of history.

[@rayiveson1951]

Yes I would like to see the video on the valve seats I assume the valve seats go down just Ted farther or would you keep them the same spot any performance upgrades that could be done to one of these motors would be great to know I've been thinking of it adding a turbo to my 4-cylinder to try to bump horsepower up to about a hundred horse I have a set of 427 gears to put into the axles plus add a overdrive so I can drive it down the road

[@metalshaperJeep]

a hopped up L head and 4.27 gears will make a great combination. Keep the compression low and add the turbo and you should have lots of fun.

[@michaelcagney1517]

Thank you for sharing

[@joegelencser2571]

What you tested that's already Initiated in the head I don't understand please please explain what is this craziness ???? God-bless everyone

[@pete6152]

So this is like getting .60" additional lift throughout your entire cam duration?

[@kevincowan4887]

Hi thanks for the video also where are you located and how much do you get to rebuild a L134

[@metalshaperJeep]

I am in Connecticut and rebuild engines from all over the world. Every engine is different and I can't give a price until I open up the engine and inspect it.

[@patkelley2190]

Right on more power.

[@RADIOACTIVEMASCULINITY]

That’s extremely fascinating! Does the compression drop slightly from removing that material?

[@metalshaperJeep]

The compression drops just a bit, but I take a little bit more off the head when milling it to make sure I over compensate for the material I removed on the block.

[@RADIOACTIVEMASCULINITY]

@@metalshaperJeep I suspected there was some compensation in there from milling the head. This was a really cool video! Thanks for sharing !

[@Huffy_Turns_a_Wrench]

what about the pitting between the In and Exhaust at the TOP of number 4? why wouldn't that be a problem?

[@douglaspiercy3996]

Great video thanks 👍

[@markaubuchon7197]

Can you give an idea how much the head needs to be milled to maintain compression.

[@I-apologize-in-advance]

Do the new seats seal off the e4 pitting on the coolant side? I am also curious to know how racers cut them back in the day?

[@joegelencser2571]

Are you sure ? how much do you take off the head to compensate for the compression loss ? and doesn't the head have that shape ? I don't get it could you please explain this doesn't make any sense ??

[@rolandtamaccio3285]

Got no dog or experience in this endeavor, but I would luv to see what Smokey did to his 308 Hudson .

[@TheOldaz1]

Nice work, been a long time since I've seen this done. Are you going to match the ports as well?

[@metalshaperJeep]

Ports are already perfect so gasket matching isn't necessary. Some blocks need it and some don't

[@johndicks1381]

What about that pitting on the other side of the valve? By the way great video! Thank you for all of the information!

[@jeremymasterson5818]

I know that freer breathing is always an improvement but doesn't this relieving of the block deck increase the volume of the combustion chamber? This would reduce the compression ratio which would seem to cause a lowering of the performance. Any comments?

[@metalshaperJeep]

Milling material off the block and off the head increases the compression ratio much more than the amount of material removed during the valve relief process. By taking material off the deck and cylinder head you can tailor your compression ratio to what you want.

[@johndicks1381]

What grit sandpaper did you use? By the way great video thanks!

[@metalshaperJeep]

60 grit belts to get the reliefs cut in.

[@johndicks1381]

@@metalshaperJeep thank you! Man your videos are a life saver. I'm rebuilding my 1944 mb engine right now and I'm finding the knowledge you share invaluable. Thank you and please, please keep it up! Saaalute!

[@davewinstead4834]

Do you do this to F head engines as well?

[@metalshaperJeep]

No just the L heads. F heads have huge intake valves and breath much better than the F heads so no need to relieve the block in an F head engine

[@scottpinardi4991]

Brian would that work for an F head or is it not necessary?

[@metalshaperJeep]

The intake valves were moved to the head and flow very well. No need to do anything like in this video. This upgrade is for L heads only. F heads have huge intake valves and much more horsepower.

[@retiredafce3373]

That’s cool

[@metalshaperJeep]

This is the type of upgrade that you can feel in the seat of your pants when driving. Very common back in the day but very labor intensive and not well known these days.

[@retiredafce3373]

@@metalshaperJeep I’ve seen it done on other flatheads. Very old school!

[@ShnitzlHaus]

have you ever tried it with a router and grinding stones.

[@metalshaperJeep]

I don’t like using stones. After trying just about everything I have settled on the belt sander and use it exclusively.

[@sumanthnaidu4272]

❤️

[@metalshaperJeep]

thanks for watching.

[@ronaldrey8474]

Why not just grab a Super Sonic Kaiser Car Head & gain 1-point compression from the junkyard CHEAP