For the American hot rodder it might not be of much interest but I have always been drawn to these cars The great thing about these older books is that the authors usually had firsthand knowledge of the cars that they were writing about Very few pictures just a lot of in-depth technical information the authors have great credentials I found this copy pretty cheap with a company called thriftbooks I also have several other old books that cover these cars written by people that actually owned and drove them
When this project was started it was just going to be a stationary engine (talk about losing focus) I had picked up a offenhauser 2x2 intake but it didn’t have the look I wanted I really like the’34 intake and have already done alot of porting for a single carb and not wanting to mess with that manifold went ahead and picked up another’34 manifold I believe you started to see the y type carb adapter coming out in the late’30s so decided to check out vintage speeds adapter for the price I am really happy It has a 5 1/2” carb spacing Will need to do some matching for the carbs and then open up the manifold face and then on the manifold I will do the runner porting like I did with the original but then open up the carb mount to an open plenum I am curious what the Edelbrock sling shot manifold looks like on the inside but have failed in finding any pictures am assuming they kept a dual plane setup but if anyone has pictures please post them If I only knew how to photoshop
Cool build, can’t wait to see more! What’s the book with the model t ascot racer you have shown in the beginning?
Thanks Here you go a coffee table book lots of good pictures A good day on YouTube today Had the Prescott hill climb and bonneville
Because of tropical storm Debby I had a couple of days in the basement on the milling machine to work on the vintage speed intake First had to do a little dremel work for clearance used a 1.250” end mill to open up the ports will do some die grinding to blend in The intake side was a little offset on the casting flycut the mating surfaces now for the intake manifold I had got this manifold because I didn’t want to mess up my other intake wanted to see how these were cast So here is how the exhaust heat riser is cast I’ve blocked off the exhaust crossover in the block so I can save this with a little jb weld I now know that I can take my good manifold and just taper the ports on the upper 1/2” This manifold also had some corrosion on the face so this was a good test of the fly cutter I had made several years ago just for when I need to mill my heads https://youtube.com/shorts/uj5G8NBi0Cs?si=3vk81_K6g5GBOF6e will need to port the runners then this combination intake will be ready for testing when I have the engine running Will be taking a little break from this project got to start preparing for my local steam and gas show in a couple of weeks Till next time
An ongoing project has been the generator Like to thank Steve Blancard who I met at the swap meet back in the spring you can see his short but informative videos on generator repair here. https://youtube.com/@steveblancard5566?si=j_r1c97fKG2FIrgp Steve kindly talked me out of using the solid state cut out and just adjusting the original Here it is after adjusting https://youtube.com/shorts/Fh_mU8E1mxQ?feature=shared https://youtube.com/shorts/1-r7QgjKnB8?feature=shared Brought out my dads old growler to check the armature https://youtube.com/shorts/tkkhzsy5mVo?feature=shared so I got a shorted armature and that’s where my generator has stalled out for now but you never know when parts will appear
We truly blessed with great weather this past week so I took the opportunity and got the engine painted Not some of my best work but not my worst either The little air compressor I am currently using just can’t keep up with my old siphon gun I’m still adapting to my new work area Engine will now be put back on the engine stand and be transferred to my clean engine assembly room (my man cave basement) So this winter I hope to get the assembly done
Needed a way to store the trans Looked thru the scrap pile for inspiration and found a brake drum from my daily driver It’s the type with built in bearings Machined it flat then welded in a piece of pipe This works great it makes a base that is small but really stable with the transmission on top and it still rotates My’35 swan shifter
Previously I had machined about 4.5 lbs off of the flywheel so I used Mart’s method of balancing https://youtube.com/@martsgarage?si=vS9HObNVopLemhMC I was afraid of screwing up so the hole I drilled I used a letter F drill which is the hole size for a 5/16” tap I could always tap the hole and thread metal back in The first hole is 1” deep the second is just a starter drill I feel real confident because my holes ended up in between what was left from the original balancing holes my holes were even biased towards the bigger of the 2 I am going to try and experiment further I found a bearing that fits on the front of the crank I’m then going to mount the crank with flywheel attached in the lathe so it will be supported on each end with a ball bearing and see if everything is still balanced Stay tuned
Continuing with the generator I went to install the field coils and found that the new screws that I had bought that were supposed to be for all flathead v8s were not the correct size Apparently later v8 had 7/16 threads my generator had 3/8 threads the same as model A I think and not wanting to buy just 2 bolts went to use some screws from inventory and found that the generator didn’t use a standard counter sink taper Standard taper being 82* generator at 60* decided to machine a new taper but was confused about how to set the compound on the lathe so had to draw it out used a collet to hold the screw new taper installed interesting new part being delivered tomorrow stay tuned
I got 2 parts deliveries this week The first being another vintage speed manifold This must be a early casting because it’s actually a true dual plane casting After some cleanup I will be able to bolt this up to my original manifold with no modifications This is what I was looking for in the beginning The 2nd part is a’38-‘39 generator armature Been wanting to finish the generator but haven’t found any affordable armatures After doing some research found this one pretty cheap and decided to see if I can machine it to fit check out how many times the old one has been turned the thread is the same just the main diameter and the seal diameter are different with just a little bit more length needed for the bearings I think I can just trim.040” off the key instead of cutting the key seat deeper (I would have to buy a key seat cutter) Got it set up in the lathe just doing more thinking before I start making cuts Also I disassembled the starter everything looked great so I cleaned greased and reassembled I then noticed that the terminal bolt was stripped I rethreaded it but I think what I will do is cut it off and install a coupling nut in place of the first nut and then either use a bolt or stud to attach the cable The thread under the first nut is ok You can then hold the coupling nut with a wrench when you tighten the cable to prevent everything from turning
Posting in real time today Started turning the armature down and discovered a few things The split sleeve came loose so I loctited it in place only to discover that the dimension of the shaft was already correct for the felt seal I’m getting better with my machining skills and got the proper finish dimension and because I had indicated the tail stock I had no taper (probably a first for me) fortunately I started looking at the key before starting to machine it It works perfectly without modification It’s like this armature started life as a earlier version
I don’t have much to report but I have gotten in some new hardware for the main caps and rods On these early engines the main cap bolts go thru the block from the cam valley I matched up some new bolts to replace the square head ones they came in stamped arp so that’s good Some new nuts too the threads feel really smooth should get good torque values New con rod nuts since a socket doesn’t fit well on the originals
Got the crankshaft cleaned using some oven cleaner I’ve read to take out the oil gallery plugs but these early cranks don’t have any plugs I’ve actually had a hard time finding info on these early engines The 21 stud motors particularly pre insert main bearing just don’t have the following What was the first thing you did to a’34 ford you replaced that motor with a late model flathead this is hotrodding after all I had previously polished the crank when I had disassembled the engine that was when I measured the clearances This project would have never happened if it needed new Babbitt Crank clearance measured.002-.0025 “ with the shims still installed This motor has had the crank turned and new Babbitt poured in its past mounted the crank and flywheel in the lathe on ball bearings Gave me an appreciation for crank balancing and bob weights It would always settle with the rod journals equalized I think I will deburr the crank just to protect my hands while I’m working on the bottom end
WARNING This maybe a very long post so read at your own risk of being totally confused as I’m sure I will be just writing it While researching generators (* seeprevious posts) I found that there are 3 basic types ‘33-‘39 (‘38-‘39 being odd*) 1/2”thread on end of armature, small diameter case ‘40-‘48 bigger case and armature with big diameter thread (possibly 17 mm haven’t actually measured ,electric motors bearings are always metric just like spark plugs so you never know) ‘49-‘53 the ones with the strap mount I’ve been thinking about using a mid mounted fan for radiator clearance but using a early generator probably will have distributor clearance problems but I won’t know that until I get the motor assembled Thought about using the strap mount and welding to the front end plate but that looked like it would be a mess Thought about welding pads to the front end plate that’s probably not a bad idea Picked up a’42-‘48 end plate #21A-10139 and started machining (remember from above the bigger case diameter) Then had to put in new threaded holes for assembly (find myself using the rotary table a lot) standard replacement bearing is a 6203-2rs (17mm bore x 40mm od x 12mm) I’m using the small diameter shaft so the bearing you need is 6203-15-2rs (15mm bore x 40mm x 12 mm wide) Had to turn the armature.250” further (using my burnt up armature for fitting purposes) assembled together then had to make a spacer.750” long to get the pulley proper distance used the old bolt holes to index the end plate I would be driving the fan off of the generator (no room for an extra sheave on the crank pulley) So would be machining a pulley for the generator Will the generator shaft and bearing take the stress? Don’t know but using pulley diameters I can really slow the fan down I don’t think the multi grove generator pulleys would have the proper spacing But I’m getting ahead of myself need to get the motor assembled and running
Lots of good work there. Seems like it might be difficult to get a replacement in Valentine, Nebraska on a Sunday afternoon.
Happy thanksgiving everyone Bringing you an update while you wait for your turkey dinner Got the crankshaft deburred ,the oil passages cleaned out and the flywheel threads chased It’s just waiting for a final cleaning before installing Turned my attention to the main caps After 90 years the nut surfaces are quite distorted and it looks like somebody has taken a chisel to a couple of them took a skim cut to clean up the surfaces also reamed out the holes where they were distorted Next I thought that since I had a couple of spare parts from my generator project (front plate,old armature) that I might try to make a idler pulley or what I believe was called a cutdown generator Found this old piece in dads scrap (he would disassemble old parts and keep anything that he might want to use) the little end is the correct size so cut it off Will still need to weld up the split looks good bolted together turned my attention to the armature Removed the copper then beat the remaining off the shaft will have to cut the shaft off Then turn the end down to.625”for the end bushing I’m hoping the shaft will clean up at.625” that would make life easier I can make a new bushing but prefer to use a unmodified end plate (complete with brush holders) Can also sleeve the shaft I think this would be useful especially on the run stand where I could use a 12 volt battery and not having to buy a 6 volt battery just for running the engine Have a great day everyone
Thanks everyone Just happy to show my journey and by posting once a week it makes me come up with content so it keeps the project moving forward Continuing the crank shaft installation Looking at the new bolts noticed that there was only 2 threads left before the nuts bottomed out Found some thick hardened washers and cut the od down to fit then to make it look original drilled safety wire holes installed the oil galley plugs The front plug is a special plug that acts as a restricter going up to the oil pressure relief plunger the rear plug sits flush and gets covered by the oil pump gear housing so I cut down a socket head plug to replace the slotted plug then noticed that on the rear main what once was the drain tube after much reading over on the ford barn Learned that the tube is often broken off and the little spot welds are factory to hold the tube in place because it’s a 1/2”-32 tpi straight thread there’s much discussion about this tube and here is what I understand Ford did not have provision for crack case ventilation until’35 so all the model A motors and the first years of the v8 had this tube that drains oil from the back of the rear bearing and extends all the way down into the oil pan so it is covered in oil The reason being is that without this tube crankcase pressure will go back up the drain hole and blow oil out the rear of the crankshaft (there being no rear main seals on these motors) with the tube extending down into the pan it allows the oil to drain back without it being subjected to the crankcase pressure if you have a’35 or later block this tube is not as important because crankcase pressure has a easier way to exit the motor This motor only has 6 holes in the lifter valley for ventilation The front and rear of the crankshaft are not vented Used a 1/4” npt tap to rethread the main cap and used a a compression fitting for 1/2” copper pipe I did open up the id of the fitting to make sure had good flow the tube is 1/2” from the bottom of the pan so now you can remove the tube when working on the bottom end so the tube doesn’t get damaged I think that finishes up all the prep work for the crankshaft next I will actually be installing the crankshaft What a Christmas gift that will be
The gen/idler looks good just add some way to retain the shaft inside, like a c clip or something I built one earlier this year and assumed it wouldn't stay together for some reason and at a light when taking off the fan pulled the shaft out and destroyed the fan/radiator
That steering wheel adapter is slick. But I think those allen bolts look out of place. I think some button head slot screws would look much more correct. The level of detail you're sharing is insane. Craftsmen level work. Look forward to the result.
Took some time this week to get the generator projects off of my work table which is also my pool table (would like to actually use it for its intended purpose ) Got the armature shaft cut down for the modified generator then got the mock up armature shaft machined for the cutdown generator it had one groove that didn’t clean up I think it will do these projects aren’t actually finished but they will be going back on a shelf for the time being
The crankshaft is finally bolted in It feels really good Had to go buy me a new torque wrench also bought some assembly lubricant Checked the end play one final time safety wire starting to work on the connecting rods But now it’s time to play with some of my toys for the holidays MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone be safe and I will talk to you in the new year
Happy New Year Thought I might reflect on what I have done this past year and where I’m heading in the new year Like to start with what I consider my mission statement The Preservation of Antique engines and equipment Key word being preservation The work I am putting into this’34 flathead is not about a restoration nor is it a proper rebuild it is simply about the preservation of a 90 year old engine that will be able to preform its original purpose without harming itself in the process I would love to properly do a rebuild but don’t have the time or money to do so, that being said if the time and money became available in the future (my time and money or someone else’s) the condition of this engine will be documented right here for anyone’s reference This project originally was about the motor and making a stationary engine for display purposes, the speedster part evolved out of that Still planning on the speedster part but will finish the stationary engine part first (the reason for the overbuilt run in stand) Let’s look at some of the engine sub assemblies Valve train Cam bearings. From a previous post you can see what this engine has so for a proper rebuild new bearings would have to be machined Camshaft. Very early in the process I found a eskenderian max-1 cam cheap as an open box (things were alot cheaper back then) I consider the max-1 a stock cam with more lift to help with the breathing issues “Zephyr” valve springs for the added lift Reconditioned by hand Johnson lifters (see a previous post) were already installed in engine Valves and guides. Reusing original valves with modifications and split guides ‘34 intake manifold (ported because I can) Block ‘34 pored Babbitt mains (.020” undersized) clearance checked (.002-.0025”) Ported (again because I can) Original painted on block cylinders were.030” over After honing will be using new.030”over domed pistons with matching set of domed cylinder heads to replace the original flat top This engine had one aluminum head and one cast iron head The aluminum head had to be chiseled off and cracked in two (may have noticed in some of my photos) I thought that I had messed up the block but didn’t realize until today preparing for this post that the block damage already existed and was on the side with the cast iron head as you can see in the head gasket For a rebuild it would need to be bored out and decked I do have a new set of head studs and these blocks have blind holes so no seepage problems with the head studs And I don’t see any damage that goes into the combustion chambers so head gaskets should seal Will be going into the connecting rods and full floating bearings for next weeks post For the upcoming year I hope to complete engine assembly and have it running on stand where I hope any problems will present themselves After the engine has been fully sorted out then I will look to working on the chassis again Here is a little montage of this past year https://youtube.com/shorts/ZbXHPfk9dH4?si=b-H4od4Zl8KPfKj1 Things are moving quickly now so I am hoping for a productive new year I try to show everything I do including the mistakes so that it might help someone else You will want to see next week’s posting to learn with me about full floating flanged connecting rod bearings and the cheapest precision tool you will ever own
I’m back Mother Nature had other plans last week I will just do a short post on the rods this week Cleaned up the threads using a split die (you can adjust the amount of cut) mounted in a holder for the lathe checked the flatness of the end caps with a diamond file cleaned up the nut mating surface just like I did on the main caps useed a reamer to clean up the holes had one rod that had obviously been reconditioned several times and the nut was bottoming out on the threads (the only rod that had strange wear pattern) cut down some hardened washers for that rod measured the big ends with dial bore gauge the dial measures at.0001” so each number is only.001” It will scare you if you forget and the needle moves alot The rods varied by up to.002” so in a perfect world these rods would need to be honed We will talk about rods and bearings next week This engine has a mismatch of rods I weighed them with the scales I had just bought from harbor freight Total weight ranged from 436 grams to 462 grams That’s 26 grams difference You can actually feel that in your hand I don’t know what the big and little end weights are but that is immaterial at this point Thought about using washers to add weight to the big end but 2 washers is only 3 grams (you start weighing everything when you have scales sometimes ignorance is bliss) I had numbered the rods when I disassembled the motor but somehow ended up with 2 number 6 rods (well 1 number 6 and 1 unreadable but definitely not the 7 it was supposed to be) I think it was mart’s garage that said you can tell how the rods go back by the witness marks and that helped The narrow grove goes towards the bearing flange and the wide polished area goes where the rods mate together plus I did take some notes when I disassembled that said the slit in the piston went with the slash marks on the rod the small end bushings feel good with the new piston pins so at least they are okay I’m glad that I didn’t go wild with new parts and machine work in the beginning But I still feel that this motor will serve its purpose well and I’m getting a great education on ford flatheads Till next week stay safe out there
Much has been written on floating bearings so I won’t get into what they are or how they function I’m just going to get into what I have learned Everyone agrees on how to adjust them a good wack with a soft mallet I found Ron’s book to have the best hands on explanations although I found his way of measuring bearing thickness rather difficult I think if I was serious about measuring a lot of bearings I would set up something like this with a dial indicator but in my case you will see it didn’t matter My crank journals are.010” under while my rods are standard I had purchased a couple bearings that I thought might work these were advertised by the seller as having the bearing thickness that I needed and as hard as I tried I couldn’t get them to fit This set I bought because it had.010” under written on them but again I couldn’t make them fit (All these were bought cheap I was trying to get some bearings in my hand to see what might work) After some research I found this posting on the ford barn then I understood that you can’t buy I bearing by its thickness A bearing labeled JJ would have the same thickness as the bearing I really need which is a C Even a F or K would measure close The bearings I need are a C but the only set I have found is way out of my budget I could probably get a G set to work but they are probably more rare than the C (These are ford numbers you also have all the aftermarket numbers which I don’t know how to cross reference) So I am stuck with using the bearings that came out of the motor Of course I failed to mark the location of each bearing when I disassembled it so I went about fitting each bearing They all seemed tight on the crank journal so I spread them to get a good feel The connecting rods definitely have some excess clearance (This motor will be very friction free) I found this illustration in a repair manual that states that excessive clearance will cause excessive amount of oil to be thrown onto the cylinder walls If that is the only result of excessive clearance I can definitely live with that I have taken measures to make sure that the oiling system is functioning properly (Cleaned all passages new pump and relief valve plunger and spring) The rods are now bolted in and the bearings are definitely free floating so I am pleased
The Jalopy Journal
