fordson major

knares

Member
hi all
new here
i would like to ask if any one knows why there are two types of front plate to block gasket in my new gasket kit and which one i should use.
this engine has the oil pressure relief valve fitted to the front plate, under the camshaft gear
One gasket has a slot going from the oil pressure area to the camshaft locking washer, the other one dose not
thanks
about 1950/60
 

Can't find my manual just now. But in the early to mid-fifties, they dealt with a few design weaknesses involving the timing gears and the front cover. The timing gear would crack through the hub spokes. They made a wider gear including thicker spokes. They also changed
the front plate. They are in two different thicknesses. I think they made it thicker. Anyway,
it may have required a thinner gasket to keep things relative. There is a question in my mind whether the plate was to support the engine, or if the engine was to support the frame rails as they went from bell housing to front axle support.

It's a case of "not-quite-good-enough". A minor fix was tried. I think the camshaft and gear got a total remake later. The plate may have gotten strong enough, but the side rails did get stressed enough to loosen up. Come to think of it, they might have gotten thicker too.
 
There were actually three front plates.

1952 to 1954. Had wide front pulley and PR Valve in the front plate.No dowels in front plate. Slot in
gasket. Round camshaft thrust washer two pieces.

1954 to 1962. Narrow front pulley. PR Valve moved to oil pump. Dowels in front plate. Horseshoe
camshaft thrust washer.

1962 to end of production 1964. Narrow front pulley. PR Valve on pump. Wide timing gears.
Single bolt fixing cam shaft. Thicker front plate. Increased size mounting studs.
 
(quoted from post at 15:59:26 02/06/18) There were actually three front plates.

1952 to 1954. Had wide front pulley and PR Valve in the front plate.No dowels in front plate. Slot in
gasket. Round camshaft thrust washer two pieces.

1954 to 1962. Narrow front pulley. PR Valve moved to oil pump. Dowels in front plate. Horseshoe
camshaft thrust washer.

1962 to end of production 1964. Narrow front pulley. PR Valve on pump. Wide timing gears.
Single bolt fixing cam shaft. Thicker front plate. Increased size mounting studs.
Thanks every one for your replies
Looking at the 1952 1954 looks like the one, although I thought it was a 1956
PR valve is in the front plate
Round camshaft thrust washer two pieces
It dose however have two dowels in the front plate
Properly been modified
 
The manual makes it seem like you have to be careful with these engines. The camshafts changed hardness, and if you replace it, you need to replace the tappets with harder ones. [I'm not sure why] The gears were widened and made of stronger material. they also changed from three screws to a single center screw holding the main cam gear in place. A lot to be careful with if you go to salvage parts.

Mk 1 engine : before Serial Number 1,425,097 3 bolt Timing gear, thin gear, all manifold ports in a row, crankshaft front end diameter 2.500 inch. Oil pan has a clean-out hole. When servicing, the screws holding the mounting plate to the block should be replaced with the later high-tensile screws. [indicating the originals could not hold tightness]

Mk II, and Power Major engine: between 1,425,098 and 1,518,653 : Crankcase breather added.
at S/N 1,445,056, horseshoe thrust washer introduced, later changed at s/n 1,511,488. (both will work) Power Major following from 1,518,654: at S/N 1,599,502, single center screw to hold cam gears. At same time, gears widened and stronger material used. Width of cam gear = .928/.938 ,about 1/8 inch thicker. These are not supposed to be used except in sets. This may be because of worn teeth in the older gear, so you'd have poor contact to spread the loads.

For 3-screw cam gear mounting use gasket E28-CN-9. For single-screw cam gear mounting, use gasket E105-CN-9. Note, the thrust face on the single screw mount is in the front gear cover.

When you get to the front mounting cover, they get very coy. They don't say how the thickness changed, but they have 4 different mounting plates that either come with the camshaft kit, or can be ordered as replacements.
E1ADDN-6030-A (latest type).
E1ADDN-6030-B, for older engines with newer camshaft gears.
E1ADKN-6030-C for older engines with original cam gears.
E1ADKN-6030-D, for MkII engines with new camshaft gearing.

So you'd better know what you have before you order or swap parts for these engines.
Depending on the sleeve and piston, there are 4 different head gaskets.

Tractor companies don't like to make changes, but apparently they try to fix problems without too many major changes.
It is lost to history how many owners of these tractors had to take them in for "servicing"
because of these minor problems led to expensive failures.

You can apply a bit of engineering archeology in trying to figure out where and how the shortcomings arose. For example, marginal or inadequate fasteners, marginal lubrication,
marginal, or even inept metallurgy and heat treat.

Yet these tractors seem to have a warm reputation among Ford collectors. They eventually got it right.
 
hi again
on my other fordson, a newer model, a super major i think, it has these numbers
4FDD 100736 9414
these are on a plate on the fire wall
what do they mean, they are nothing like the numbers mentioned in previouse posts
 

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