E1A Major Gas vs. Diesel Blocks

Does anyone perchance know if the blocks for the gas and diesel majors were bored for the same sleeve O.D.? I.e., could you put diesel sleeves in a gas block without machining the block? I'm
kind of hoping the gas sleeves are the same O.D., just a little thicker wall.

Wacky idea, but here's why I ask: I have three gas majors. As many folks here know, some parts for the gassers are impossible to come by: Head gaskets, pistons/sleeves, and ignition parts for
the gassers are all pretty much non-existent. I have three gas majors, and one of their engines is getting really long in the tooth. Tranny, rear-end, hydraulics, front end are all tight, but
the engine is burning a lot of oil and down on compression.

I was originally going to relegate this to a parts tractor for the other two, but am not sure if I can bear to give up on it. If the diesel sleeves fit in a gas block, I was wondering about
putting diesel pistons/sleeves in her and having the hollow on the diesel pistons machined a little larger to give it a lower compression ratio - suitable for gas. I'd probably still bump it
up a little from the original 5.5:1 - probably go to something like 7:1 or 8:1. The crank and rods should handle it fine as they're the same as the diesel, and with modern fuel being higher
octane and a little playing with timing, I think the rest might be ok. My thinking is this would be kind of like the 'Fire-Crater' piston option International offered for the M's etc. - a
little more power through a little higher compression ratio. I doubt I'd get much more power with the original carb, but it might bump it up to 40 HP or so, and allow me to use standard diesel
sleeves, pistons (modified), and head gaskets.

Crazy idea? Feel free to criticize.

Yes, the sleeves will fit as it is the same block for both diesel, petrol and petrol/kerosene. Do not think that what you plan would work, however, as the head on the petrol has a combustion chamber where as the head on the diesel is flat, so using diesel pistons would drop the compression ratio way too much. Think I would find out how bad yours is worn before making a decision, if you are not getting water in the oil, the sleeves might be fine with a hone out. If the pistons are not too bad, a set of oil control rings might be your best and cheapest way out.

It might also be possible to get some pistons made/modified from another petrol engine if you know the size to compare. They will need to be flat topped though.

Think they might be available over here as we had petrol engines in some trucks fairly late on.

Ah, blast, I hadn't thought of the flat head vs. recessed head issue. You're right: By my calculations, putting diesel pistons/sleeves with a gas head would result in only a 4:1 compression ratio. Hmmm, that's too bad. I don't use this tractor enough to justify the cost of custom pistons.

Do you perchance know of any leads to try for head gaskets/ring sets? I don't even want to pull the head off to check things out without knowing whether I can put it back together again. I found a few places that will laser-cut head gaskets if I need one done, though they all want to do minimum production runs of 10 or so, and they're quite pricey. Hard to justify spending more on a head gasket than I paid for the last two of these tractors.

Don't be so quick to give up. There may be a shop who'll look up the sizes available.

You need to know the piston pin diameter, and how far from the pin to the top of the piston.
The weight maybe be a factor, but not so much in a slow running tractor engine.

For example, a Model A piston in a diesel sleeve. Or even a Dodge Brothers. they come in
over-sizes by .010 increments. Probably lots of newer models to pick from.

Don't junk it. There are people who would buy it as-is.

No problem with the head gasket, a diesel one will fit, it is what I used on my petrol/kerosene one about twenty years ago. A contact in the UK would be a company called Cox and Turner who specialise in old Fordson engines. I will have a word with some of my contacts, shipping costs might be a problem but we can only ask.

Thanks Majorman and Cdmn for the replies. Glad to hear the diesel head gasket will work. At least now I'm not as afraid to pop the head off to see what's what. I still like the idea of increasing compression for a little more HP, but that might be wishful thinking. Only reason I'd like it is to be able to run my sawmill off this tractor at shows. The 35 HP is just a little light, even for my smaller mill with a slow feed rate. 40 HP or a little more would probably be just about perfect. Maybe if I pop the head off and do a valve job I could have the head milled down a trifle.

I would be a bit careful of putting too much power into that engine if it is an older one. The early tractors had a cast crank that broke if you looked at it sideways. It was changed around 1954. We had them break, in the back of a van traveling to the repair shop. Saying that, mine is still going strong and has been reground to 0.010 thou. and is 70 years old.

Hi Brian

You are looking for the impossible there !!

Not seen any new ones for many years now ,happy to help with a piston ring set and if pistons can be reused we can always widen top groove if they are worn and supply appropriate rings to suit, may have a lead on a complete engine if that is of any use.

Regards

Martin Turner

Cox and Turner Engineering Ltd

Daniel, this is the reply I got tonight from Cox and Turner. Will try my Australian contacts tomorrow. They had a lot of petrol's over there so may have better news.

Thanks Majorman! I appreciate you reaching out to them on my behalf. Now that I know the diesel head gasket will work I think I'll pull the head and see what's up. For all this tractor does at present (a few hours on the tedder/rake each year) I'm thinking a clean up of the pistons/rings, valve job, cylinder de-glazing, and maybe rolling in a new set of rod and crank bearings will keep my plugging away for a few years yet.

That would be the way I would go. Did just that when I lost a big end bearing around 25 years ago. Got the crank reground to 0.010 thou. undersize, new rings and a valve job and she is still going strong. I started her the other day for the first time for around six months, to chip up some garden waste and she hardly went over one compression before bursting into life.

What kind/model of plow is that? A mounted plow with skimmers like that and dual crank adjustment would be a great outfit to take to plowing matches on a major.

That is a Bitsa-Ransomes, bits-a-this, bits-a-that. I bought it many years ago for 12 British pounds, from a farmer who was going to turn it into a Headland Plough. It works very well at burying weeds, I have ploughed in tall grass as high as the bonnet in the past. It was the go-to plough for anyone in the village who were reclaiming rough land.
Will try and find a Ransomes picture more suited to the tractor later.

This range of ploughs was built for the Fordson Major by Ransomes, Simms and Jefferies Ltd of Ipswich, Suffolk. They ranged from single furrow up to 4 furrow. Ransomes had an agreement with Ford to produce equipment badged and trailers. as the Ford-Ransomes range and it covered wevrything from cultivators, crop sprayers, ploughs