I’m as confused as you are. But I’m sure it was oil. I had already wiped my finger through it but you can still see it beading on the serial plate.
I got some pictures of the finished header/intake manifold from my buddy and I am super excited. Not sure if I should wait til they're on the car or go ahead and share? Anyway, I'm getting ready to reinstall the head now. Some guys say the A head gasket should go on dry, others say to use Permatex copper spray, others say to use a smear of chassis grease?? Does it really matter or is this a "what kind of oil should I use" kind of question? I have two new head gaskets... not sure where either of them came from. Both are copper.
You may have just solved the oil-leaking head gasket... Is it possible what you're seeing is a 'smear of chassis grease' that finally seeped out? Just a thought.
I got around to cleaning up the fusebox. Twelve circuits is probably way more than I will need, so this should serve me well. I want the battery out from under the car, so will probably put it in the trunk and install this nearby. I cannot stand the look of modern fuse blocks/panels, even in modern cars they are ugly electronic visual vomit. I'm real pleased with this.
Location should be determined by; Shortest length of circuits for less wiring (weight and cost) and to reduce voltage drop, Access for servicing and testing, while also protecting from damage.
Life stuff is forcing me to reconsider my plans for a second rod, but I'd still rather have a truck than a coupe. Gonna try to trade the coupe shell for a truck body and see where that gets me. With the body off the frame I'll probably disassemble the whole chassis and transfer everything to the nicer frame that was intended for the V8. That will be a good opportunity to properly investigate the transmission and replace anything that needs it. I'll hang on to the V8 for now - I got it so cheap it might as well have been free. No reason to get rid of it. Maybe I'll drop it in a shoebox or something down the road.
Been busy, I don’t think I have even laid eyes on the car in a week. The head is still off and I don’t have the new manifold yet. Been spending time with the girl I love before she moves away for good, wouldn’t miss that for anything. Thanks for checking in, hope to get moving again soon.
Little progress update. It's not much but it's something. Got everything cleaned up and ready to reinstall the head. Waiting on my head gasket to come in.
I’m no expert, but, if that was my motor I would pull all the head studs and clean the threads and then reinstall them with sealer so I would “know” they weren’t leaking…. But, like I said, I know nothing about this stuff….
I got some tail light lenses for $20 today. I think they're early 60s Galaxie? Anyway I figured for $20 I'd slap them on the car and see what I thought. Too big, I think. But I have an idea.
5 minutes in photoshop later... If I cut a smaller hole and mount them inside the panel, I can hide the reflector rim on the outside of the lens with the bodywork and fit a chrome trim ring around it. That improves the proportions and I get to keep the cool turbine element in the center. So I think I can still use these if I can find a piece of trim that will fit.
As odd as it sounds, you might look at different size stainless dog bowls. Pretty sure I saw that on here once. Various sizes and usually not too expensive. Just find one that fits and cut off what you need
Good idea about the dog bowls. I wasn't sure where to look. I bought a sandblaster today, but I need a way to get moisture out of my air lines before I can really use it. This old Sears compressor makes a lot of water. I think this will be a big help once I get the moisture situation sorted out.
I kind of had the same thought when I stepped back and looked at it. I admit I have no idea what to do here and have yet to be struck with inspiration for the tail lights. All I know for sure is I don't want the same 50 Pontiac lights everyone else has - they look nice enough but they're not that interesting on their own. I think big, flush fit lights like this are the kind of thing you'd find on a 60s style, chopped/channeled/lowered/32 frame kind of car. Which is not what I'm doing. But I'm not sure what to do. I'm definitely not cutting holes in anything til I've settled on something. I already know what I'd do if I had the truck body I was after...
Trevor, as we talked the other night, I am kind of shooting for an early/mid 60's vibe with my car. I think it's important to sort of figure out what era you want your car to represent and use that as your deciding factor. If you're wanting an earlier vibe with the eventual A-V8, something more like the '39 teardrop or '48 chevy tail lights are easy to get. Chrysler airflow tail lights are beautiful as well. There have also been guys who used 48-51 Hudson lights. I like the turbine look, but let your timeframe decide. PS, as a side note, I think I'm going to keep fighting this 3x2 carb setup for a little bit and see if I can get it dialed in. I've already ordered a wideband O2 gauge (temporarily installed) to help me get it figured out.
I think you're right. I'm gonna kick these frisbees down the road and look for something else... I dig the turbine look but it's not really for this car. All the lights I really like from the 30s are big $$$$, so I'll probably set up a simple, single, license plate mounted light for now.
Keep looking, something will turn up. This pair is here on the HAMB www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/ford-1932-tail-lights-used-1940-tail-lights-used-1937-lh-tail-light-new.1236606/ Too bad this is a single, but they do have the part #, which makes searching for another a bit easier... www.ebay.com/itm/194281181437?hash=item2d3c0f90fd:g:RhUAAOSw8MNhEuM6
Found something better. I think these were intended as marker lights, but they will look great as tail lights on my A. They are from the 40s or 50s.
Here, roughly mocked up with tape... I duplicated the better one with photoshop. I like these a lot, I think they are perfect! The rougher one will need a little attention to make it shine but they are gonna look great. The rest of the car is still kind of stalled. I'm waiting to put the head back on until I can actually run the engine and heat cycle it, which means I'm waiting on my new manifolds to ship. In the meantime I've been experimenting with my sandblaster, mostly just making a mess.
Cleaned up pretty nice, but with most of the plating gone, it doesn't match at all. Hate to strip the plating off a NOS part but I don't think I want to pay to have the other one re-plated. Guess I could rattle-can it silver but that would look like shit in pretty short order. Hm-hm... A fun note: the NOS unit and the used unit both have the same lightbulb in them, and both light up just fine, so the used unit probably ran on a truck for who knows how long with the original lightbulb that shipped in it and still works today.
1936 transmission for $20 - probably junk but for 20 bucks it’s an opportunity to take an early transmission apart. Best case scenario it’s salvageable and I can run it behind my banger since it is synchro’d. Worst case scenario I learn things… I’ve wasted $20 on worse.
Please check on gaskets and videos/manuals/forums before taking apart. There are usually tricks to disassembly and ASSEMBLY to help a first time, and it can go behind the flathead, too. No reason to 5 year old it and have to source another 90 YO assembly just because you got it cheap. Those are marker lights, so you may want to replace the sockets so you can run dual element bulbs (tail and brake/turn). Check the bulb size first; if they are 194s, an 1157 may not fit.
Yep, I am picking it up this weekend. Will probably fill the case with vinegar and let it soak while I study up on taking it apart since it is stuck. I was already planning to replace the sockets. Should be pretty easy. Right now I’m just trying to decide if I want to go ahead and run LEDs in them.
You can get small globe dual filament bulbs for your marker lights if you go that route. Common motorcycle items, check Dennis Kirk online
Thanks Aaron! I'll be studying. I went and picked it up today, here's some pics. Seller's images: He said it was stuck, so I was assuming the worst, but for $20 I knew I could use the shift lever if nothing else. When I got there I found that the input shaft turned by hand with no resistance and the output moved with it, and the clutch lever moved, but the shift lever was stuck fast and wouldn't budge. I threw it in the car and took off back home. After unloading it, I started blasting. Mostly because I wanted to try out my sandblaster on something serious. After getting bored of that, I went ahead and removed the shift tower. I was expecting MUCH worse. Some water in the bottom but it wasn't all crusty and seized up. I pulled the drain plug out and flushed it with brake cleaner and here's the assembly all dried out. Some chipped teeth, but the assembly looks pretty nice and turns smoothly. I didn't see any shrapnel in the bottom of the case. Here's the real problem. One of the forks can rotate, but the other is totally seized. I have it soaking in Kroil right now to see if it will free up. I assume this was caused by water in the case evaporating and condensing on the shift tower while the gears were mostly protected by the oil at the bottom. As luck would have it, it started pouring, so I packed it in for now.
Ahh the teeth are not chipped, they were manufactured that way from 36-39 per Vanpelt. http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_transID_3speed-gears.htm Feeling pretty good about this 20 bucks. I guess once I get the $600 adapter kit I'll be good to go. No one told me hot rodding was gonna be expensive!!! I'm thinking that the detent is frozen in the shift tower. The fork will move just a little but can't slide. Can't get the plug out. Here's hoping the Kroil finds its way. I also realize now that this detent is probably not functioning correctly in my A and may be responsible for the spontaneous loss of 2nd gear. Further research required.
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