1954 SC engine questions

mschwartz

Member
Made a deal with a friend for a couple of SC's, enough parts to hopefully make one nice one. I have read that the late blocks with the 3 5/8 bore have a different o-ring and lower block bore differnce from the older blocks. The '54 blocks have both been busted and repaired behind the carbs but I have older SC blocks that are unbroken. If I were to have the 3 1/2 bore sleeves from the older block bored to 3 5/8 and use the aluminum pistons from the '54 would I have an engine equal to the original or are there other differences between the old and new SC engines? Cam or crank differnces? how about the connecting rods? I know the carb is bigger on the '54 but how about the manifold? Thanks, sure there will be more questions to come when I get them home and start looking them over, Mike
 
The blocks on the two engines should be interchangeable, except for the bores for the sleeves. Also, many of the earlier tractors did not have provision for mounting the oil filter canister on the block, as the oil filter was an option. You should be able to get new 3 5/8" bore sleeves to fit the older engines from several sources. Also, the factory 3 5/8" pistons were cast iron, not aluminum, for all years. Cams, cranks, and connecting rods are all interchangeable, but there are small cosmetic and casting number differences.
The post 52' model tractors have an updated oil pump and oil pan with a floating pickup which is superior to the removable screen which is found on the earlier models. This is easy to change though, since the new pump and pan are interchangeable with the old.
Case changed the manifolds for the 1952 production year, but all of the manifolds are interchangeable. The design was changed to decrease the amount of intake preheat to accommodate the new 175 deg. thermostat, and to eliminate exhaust-sharing problems from rust-through. Thus, the later manifolds are superior. Only some of the 1941-production tractors have a different exhaust elbow. If you have this elbow, you will know it, since it directs the exhaust up through the hood, rather than out from under it.
As far as carbs go, there were at least two different ones, and possibly a variation on the second. I am still investigating this, but I have evidence to indicate that the 1953 and 1954 models had different (larger) jetting to accommodate the larger bore.
 
The carburetors are bigger than the older tractors. Parts are almost impossible to find for the late carburetors. For some reason, my 51 has that carburetor. I have never had the head off to see if it has a bigger bore, but it is a strong running engine.
 
Christopher: I don't know about "all factory 3-5/8" pistons being cast iron". Parts book lists both cast iron & aluminum, but I have never had a customer w/ the cast iron pistons. I have overhauled 2 - '53's & both had aluminum pistons.
 
Johns right about aluminum. Sleeves changed from O-ring block to O-ring sleeve at 8027115, these are like hens teeth!
 
I just did a 54 SC engine and I needed a sleeve and none were to be found and the older style would need too much rework to get them to work properly. So I went to a machine shop and they made me a new sleeve for 75.00. Money I thought was well spent. You might have to go this route.
 
I had a local machine shop dry-sleeve all four original 3 5/8" sleeves in my 54' SC. They quoted me $125 per hole to do the work. I also had them pull the sleeves, replace the O-rings, and boil the block.
 
JimEvans is the air cleaner mount lowered and re-drilled to match the air piping to the different carburetor? Dad overhauled his SC and put in bigger sleeves and pistons and changed the carb, and I recall that mount had been drilled different.
 
Do you mean the CaseIH catalog online, or the original parts catalog? I have the 1952 parts catalog and there is no reference to aluminum pistons. Also, my 54' SC has 3 5/8" cast iron pistons. I know that aftermarket aluminum pistons were available, and I know that you can still get 3 5/8" aluminum piston/sleeve sets new through CaseIH (for the pre-1953 tractors).
 
The air cleaner is different on the 1952 and later tractors, but the brackets are the same. The difference is the tube coming out of the side of the air cleaner. This tube is larger to match the newer carb. It may be slightly higher-or-lower also. I think that it would be fairly easy to alter an older air cleaner to match the newer carb.
 
Interestingly, my tractor came with an air cleaner (not installed but painted to match) that looked different from any that I have seen on other Case SC tractors. It looked like the ones that are used on Allis Chalmers WD tractors (also like the ones used on SA200 welding machines), but the mountings are identical to the ones on the SC. At first I thought that it didn't fit right, but it fits no worse than a replacement that I took from a 1953 SC and installed.
I also noticed that the CaseIH site listed a replacement air cleaner as "A10285." Does anyone remember seeing or installing an air cleaner like this on an SC? I don't like it as much as the more common type, since it won't come apart so that you can remove and clean the steel wool (you can't take it apart to remove dents either).
 
I have a 52 SC enging I am overhauling to install in my 1950 SO, and it has the aluminum pistons. I am using the manifold, aircleaner
and carb off the 1950 block. I hope it will run allright if it has what you guys are calling the smaller carburator?
Dick B
 
It should run just fine. The larger carb only gives a small advantage, and you shouldn't notice any detriment to the running quality of the engine.
However, if you want the "optimum" setup, then all of the later goodies will work together to get you slightly better fuel economy, durability, and power.
 
I have never done this myself, but see no reason why it would not work. The later sleeves are very hard to find, the early sleeves are still available from Case, I believe. If you were to take a early sleeve, which has a smooth bottom outer surface, to a machine shop, they should be able to lathe the o-ring grooves in the sleeve. Then install the new sleeve as needed. They could use the old sleeve as a pattern.
 
Also, in regards to the cracked blocks behind the carb. This is a common place to crack if they were ever frozen. A good epoxy or a skilled welder will be able to fix this with no problem. We have done several, and have a couple that were done before. The repair can be done without removing anything other than the carb. I think cracks of this sort and the repairs that follow add character and history to an old tractor!!
 
A8797 Aluminum Piston. Listed in a late edition CASE S SC parts book that includes the Foot Clutch, but the front cover is long gone so I can't give the edition.
 
Well, this approach won't work. It would work if the only difference were that the o-ring grooves were not machined into the older style sleeves. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The newer blocks are also bored to a larger diameter (O.D. of newer sleeves is larger), so you would need to sleeve the block down to the older size. It is cheaper and easier to dry sleeve the original sleeves. It would probably also be cheaper to bore the original sleeves oversize and make new pistons.
 
A couple of service letters
a176151.jpg

a176152.jpg
 
Ok, thanks John, but I still wonder if any tractors left the factory with the aluminum pistons. I know that DCs left the factory with aluminum pistons, but my tractor was completed in April of 1954 and still has cast iron pistons.
 
That service letter I posted above has a Feb '56 date which would seem to say nothing left the factory with Alum, while there were still new SC's to be found then I don't think they were being built........
 
It looks like aluminum piston/sleeve assemblies were available as service items to dealers for the first time in February of 1956. If production ceased on the SC series sometime in 1954, then it is unlikely that many were completed with aluminum pistons from the factory. Dealer and factory retrofits are still possible. My tractor did not leave for the Lansing, MI branch office until mid-1956, and it still has its cast iron pistons. It did have the foot clutch replaced with the updated foot clutch while still in storage in Racine late in 1954, and the engine's bell housing is stamped "CC," after the serial number, to indicate the change.
 
My guess would be that some dealers billed aluminum pistons as an option on SC tractors in 1956, and did piston changes to help sell the old model tractors. DC Tom wrote that they did this with the DC tractors a few years earlier. However, many DCs came with aluminum pistons from the factory.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top