Bill Stewart

Somewhere I read that the correct color for the engine area including firewall on the 36 is black, not the body color. True?

Thanks. The combustion volume (shape) of your head is quite different than mine. Yours does not have the "bulge" below the spark plug that that intrudes into the combustion chamber. That bulge appears to be partly machined away on my head resulting in a flat crescent shaped area in the same plane as the surface of the head----and gets hit by the piston. Kind of hard to describe----I hope that's understandable. I sure would like to see a picture of the underside of an unaltered 1936 320 cu. in. head.

I'm quite sure the proper pistons were installed, but its obvious they travel too far. The area they hit below the plugs is a flat crescent shaped surface flush with the rest of the head, as though it was originally raised but has been machined flat along with the rest of the head. It looks like it could have originally been rounded. I can hardly believe that so much might have been taken off the head. Maybe someone could provide a picture of an unmolested head showing that area? I do have access to another head but it is likely to have its own issues.

Good ideas. I am a member of the36-38 club where Jon Kanas has been more than helpful to me. To answer your numbers-- 1. I can think of only two things that could account for the problem--too much removed from the deck and/or head, or, less likely, a very thin gasket. 2. Hardened seats seem to be properly placed. 3. Valves are still in the head. They look perfect so far. Valve action looked fine when running, tappets correct, etc. 4. Clay is a great idea! Valves don't seem involved with my problem, but couldn't it be used to check clearance between piston and head? 5. I've learned that the 38 domed pistons will work. I do have an extra 1936 head still on a parts car not run since about 1956. My wife thinks its possible to have too much of this crap lying around.

I recently purchased a mostly original 1936 Roadmaster. An inspector said it was "smooth and quiet. It was not. It has four broken pistons where they have hit the head on the rounded area below the plugs.Two pistons have an additional break and one has lost both compression rings. Surprisingly, cylinder walls and valves are undamaged. Seven cylinders had about 80lb. compression and the "ringless" one had 0lb. The head gasket seems thinner than normal and does not have the copper on both sides that I expected to see. Can that account for this? I wonder if the head has been shaved considerable to correct a warp. Does anyone know the original vertical dimension of the head? Are there thicker gaskets? can I carefully grind material away where the pistons have been hitting? Will newer design domed pistons fit? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. This is my first(and unexpected) shot at engine work.