Projects 41 Ford pickup finally got it home and pictures pictures

Hey, that's great idea Joel! Didn't see that in the original picture.

 

I need to shim my valve springs from about .075" to .090". exh. and int. are slightly different. Speedway has .060" shims and I would like to find .015",.030" and maybe .020" . Anyone have a source?

 

FYI I found shims at Summit; they are not exact fit for the flathead, however, the I.D. is .703 and the the guide is 1.003. I'll stack them on a spindle ( bolt , rod , etc.) and turn the O.D. to down to about .995"
All thicknesses are .99 cents ea. This gets my installed spring height at around 1.120 to 1.130 and seat pressure at 50 to 55 psi. Total cost less than $32 + shipping.

 

Opps. The installed height is 2.125 for stock springs... from my 1948 Motors book.

 

I'm using the repaired frame as a fixture for repairing the cab ( new floor pan, toe boards , bottom 8-9 inches of the A pillars with the bottom door hinge mount). No serial number left on it.

 

I finally have a little progress on the engine assembly. I'm still waiting for my lifters to come back: I took them to the shop that did the marching work on the block and the sent them to another shop that has the proper equipment.
Here are pix of my mock up of the GM alternator .

nearly finished except for a brace from the mounting plate to the intake bolt in the pic.
This is how I started with a 1/2 thick bar of 6061
Alternator clears either 97 or 94 carbs
I used a Speedway "slingshot" mount , but installed it backwards to get the pulleys to line up. I have to remove about 3/16 from the backside of the pulley also. Fortunately, Speedway left enough material to do that.

I went to this trouble to get more belt contact on the right water pump pulley. In the pic, you see the belt inside a mounting bolt(temporary). I'm considering a small ( 2-2 1/2 Dia.) idler pulley on the back side of the belt.
This is what I had to work with to start. the offset Gen. bracket came with my Edelbrock Super Dual. I have one I bought new 12 years ago. The one in the pix is one I bought recently; I was hoping to be able to use its front mount. I think with 8ba, 8rt pumps I might have made it.

 

You didn't install it backwards, you reversed engineered it...HAMB style.

 

Alternator mount is nearly finished. I have one more bolt to drill and tap a hole for; it holds the front plate to a leg that is attached with a manifold bolt. I don't want to finish that until I have installed the head. There may be some machining on the head to get the piston to head clearance I want.
I'll be putting this stuff back in their boxes until my lifters show up.

 

Looks tidy! Before you paint the block trim that gasket to match the intake. I speak from experience, hard to to later. It doesn't look bad right now while it is clean, trouble is it won't stay clean.

 

Good idea. I'm looking for things I can do until I can assemble the engine.

 

I finished machining the alternator pulley; I bought a reman alternator to finish checking the belt alignment. In the end I had to use a couple of washers in between the mounting bracket and the alternator.
I also turned the crank pulley where the seal rides and polished the surface. I'm using the one piece front crank seal. I checked the runout on the I.D. and it's within .002" so there shouldn't be any seal leaks. We'll see.

 

Good news! I got my refaced lifters back today,but I've been prepping the engine for paint. I'm going to
finish the paint first but maybe I'll have the engine together in a couple of weeks.
The color is Ford blue; it's the early one.

 

In primer and I need to leave it set for a day.
The blue is recommended to sit for a week before you can fire it. I'm not sure if heat is the problem or fluids. I'll wait.

 

I still have to paint the water pumps. I started with a brush and it was blending with the primer so I broke out a HF disposable gun. I cut the pressure and air volume way back and thinned the paint a little so the "droplets" would stay small . I used Hirsch engine paint and thinned it with alkyd enamel thinner.
The picture doesn't show it but it kind of looks like the paint and primer were mixing together. I may give it a second coat; I'll see how long it takes to set up and I have to paint the pumps anyway. Should the pump pulleys be blue or black?

 

Engine paint is done and unmasked . I used @Bandit Billy suggestion on masking and it's ggoing to come out nice. Thanks.
BTW I did put on a second coat.

 

Looks very nice! A lot of nice machine work on that block.

 

Very nice!

 

V8Bob came over to day and showed me how to work the bar to remove/ install the guide retainer clips. We used his tool to compress the springs and install the keeper. The first 2 exhaust valves fought pretty hard, but we won. After that it got easier and we had a couple of cold beverages.

I need some more shims for the intakes.

 

This is the cam rotating device that V8Bob made and it worked great. All the valves are adjusted.

Except the #8 intake. They are all installed now.

I re-installed the crank and Checked the rod bearing for fit and side clearance. I made a spool to hold the bearings and cut .008-.010" off each set.
I'm re-cleaning the piston ring lands and the rings and hope to install the pistons in the next few days.
I'm going to use the top and second ring from one set and the oil rings from another. There is a cracked spacer in the oil scrapper in the first set and it is 5/32 thick. I been looking for a few days and it seems no one makes 5/32 oil scrapers any more. My second set of rings has all the oil scrapers in good condition, but older technology I think. It's only a flathead in an old truck.

 

Here is a quick update; The pistons are in and I'm going to install the oil pan next.

With the oil pan on and crank pulley, I can mark TDC for timing purposes. I also want to check clearance on piston to head and valve to head.

 

painted pump pulleys and crank pulley.

 

I marked TDC on the crank pulley and made a pointer for timing.
Checking the chamber volume on left head #5 is 64cc and #8 is 64.5 cc.
#1 is 65cc and #4 is 65.5cc.
I got a new PP and disk from South Bend Clutch but they didn't have a diaphragm housing that matched the holes in my flywheel (11 inch long style PP) . They made me a 10 1/2 disk that's flat on the flywheel side so the flywheel bolts don't hit the center of the clutch disc as it wears.
Tomorrow I should get the flywheel installed and finally the oil pan on.

 

I took the picture after the fact, but I'll explain what should have been in the pic. I put a piece of .005" shim stock in the space between the piston and cylinder above the top ring. The purpose was to seal off the relieved and the area around the valves (below the deck) and try to determine how much volume it adds to the chamber that I measured in the head. I first tried guestimating that volume using math and I got a number, but it didn't include the space around the valve seats. I decided to try to pack the whole area from the shim stock I still out with silly putty up to the deck level; that took about an hour. To convert the volume oy putty to cc , I carefully pulled it out and squeezed it into a ball and rolled it into a string about 5/16 in diameter, drained 20cc out of the burette and lowered the string into the burette until the putty was completely submerged. The burette level rose 8cc.
The red sketch is the approximate amount that the intake valve sticks up above the deck. I still have to figure out the piston dome volume above the deck. After I figure the piston dome volume above the deck, I will know how much to mill the heads. Right now the CR is about 8.1:1; I'd like to stay between 8 and 8.5.

 

I should post in the morning. My last post is confusing. All my figuring was done with no gasket ; rather than spend time trying to measure or figure the gasket ( compressed thickness .052"), I think cutting .050' off the head and adding the gasket should give me approximately the same compression ratio. I also want .050/.060" from the piston dome to the head.

 

The flywheel is on and the crank pulley is on. I found a formula on the internet for calculating the dome volume of the piston ( above the deck). The CR would be just under 9.5 with no gasket; if I cut .050" off the head, but the gasket compresses to .052" that is still near 9.5. I will get a more precise number before I start cutting.
I rigged up a one gal. garden sprayer to fill the oil galleys full of oil and prime the oil pump.
Priming the pump.
Filling the main galley to the bearings. The filter will be on the firewall . I have to make up the hoses before I can finish filling the system. BTW @v8bob gave me the idea and it works well. Thanks,Bob.

 

Just found this thread, love these trucks looks like I’ve got some reading to do!

 

Hey guy's, I just finished a 59A and wish I documented the process like you did. I am building a 41 Ford truck as a project to learn body work, welding sheet metal and painting it's been fun just wish the shop was heated. I haven't started the engine yet just finished repairs on the frame and waiting on weather to paint hopefully soon. Good luck!

 

Late to your party but that alternator sure looks too close to that carb. I want at least 1/4 inch if not a smidge more for vibration etc.

 

Adjusting the belt too