Technical What did you do with your car today? * NEW*

Took the coupe to a show yesterday, was awarded 1st place. Had a nice day . Going to another show today and have some fun with the hot rod on my birthday.

 

Went to a funeral for a local car guy with tons of racing and car history around these parts including owning a car dealership (Schwister Ford) with his brother. RIP Gene...

 

Happy Birthday Mike and congratulations on the 1st place award

 

Closer on the '32, it's been driven (carefully ) in mock up. Now finalizing wiring and body work.

 

Began tearing down the 57. Cracked intake and a bad water pump. Plus I need some new brackets.

 

Thanks brother!

 

Cleaned my plugs and went for a drive to confirm that fixed my problem even if only temporarily.

 

I was frustrated with the AOD transmission that I'd rebuilt a couple of years ago but had just gotten to the point of testing it out late this winter. I couldn't get a pressure reading at the throttle velocity port and although it would go into drive, it wouldn't function in reverse. Instead of pulling the transmission out for the third time (first two times I pulled the ****** looking for a leak. Turns out it was insufficiently tightened down pump bolts. Hat tip to Saltflats for pointing me in that direction), this time I used logic, which pointed me toward the throttle valve. Once I pulled down the pan I saw that the lever to actuate the throttle valve was behind the valve and couldn't actuate the crucial valve that controls fluid pressure. I'm owning that screwup. I should have been more careful in ***embly.
I've ordered a new transmission pan (sick of getting soaked in trans fluid trying to pull the pan), a new filter and will pick up another 6-8 quarts of Mercon V. One more thing I'll be checking is the A+ servo. I'm going to compare the pin length with the original B servo as I'd ground off a smidgen at the pin's tip to get it to fit the new 2-inch-wide reverse band. I may have to replace that A+ servo if I've screwed up that, too. Stay tuned. I figure it will be about two weeks or so before I've got the time to re-***emble and test out the transmission.

 

Well, yesterday and last Thursday it was time to change the timing chain which has been there who knows how long (my estimate is 40 years or so. Not the original fiber gear one but). So far so good, nothing was really seized but the Woodruff key is literally hammered (insensitive harmonic balancer fitting) which means that the balancer was not located properly meaning vibrations and inability to ever time and tune the engine properly (other than the loose chain obviously). Started with the mind-numbing task of cleaning, hope the Woodruff key gets here from the US next week and then it's re***embly time...

 

Went to the NSRA York, was off work last week, great weather.

 

We have been on our family vacation in Croatia for the second week! Our family car for more that 11 years is the 55 Chevy. Our 4 year old son Xaver and his friend Ronja seem to like the back seat

 

Yanked the ******ed up headlight bucket out of the soon-to-be daily driver 60 Biscayne to survey deer damage and put in an infinitely better floor shifter. If the rain gives me a break, it will get a fuel pump tomorrow and it ought to run.

 

1st Generation Econoline! Love It! More Pics Somewhere?

 

Drove to work

 

Made the most of the public holiday in Scotland today due to their qualification to the World Cup.

Daddy Daughter day at the local Loch with her bike. Who says old cars can’t be practical haha!!

 

Kiddo helped me install trim over the weekend. I don't care if this car takes me an extra year with her helping, if she wants to help she will!

 

Spent a couple hours replacing my lower radiator hose in my '39 Chev with SBC swap. It was bulging and I was noticing the coolant level was down and saw some signs of seeping around the hose. Then once I replaced it and took it for a short drive to check for leaks it suddenly got even worse! Looked underneath and it was dripping coolant all along the lower tank on the aluminum radiator! I wiped it with a towel and I can see it's leaking where the core is brazed to the lower tank! So I had to put it on hold and order a new radiator to replace it. I used a good quality tig welded and brazed core radiator, and it lasted 6 years. My Griffin in my old Austin g***er is 15 years old and still in great shape.

 

So at long last all the bits I needed to complete the timing chain replacement arrived from the US and ***embly began (best was the dowel pin which had to travel from TX to FL and then to Austria via post because Fedex does not know the concept of "small package" and charges $80 to ship a tiny part worth $9). Got as far as putting the radiator back in and realized its top expansion chamber was touching a cowl designed to ensure all air p***es through the rad. Need to modify but our equivalent of Lowes is closed on Sunday. Hey I'm not complaining, there are so many things to go wrong which so far did not...

 

UPDATE:
Took the AOD transmission to Anderson's Transmission in nearby Grandview. Lynn has been doing transmissions for decades. I'd put in some mismatched parts and Lynn re-***embled it correctly. Last week I got it installed and took it back to Lynn to ensure the throttle velocity cable was set correctly. It was gnat's-*** on the money. Took it to Jim's Discount Muffler for an estimate to build an exhaust system, then back home and drove it for the first time. Steering box was WAAAY lose, brakes pulled violently to the left, so went to work solving those issues. Also put in the trans temp sender, moved the accelerator pedal an inch to the right, away from the brake pedal. Lots of small stuff left before applying for a ***le, MSHP inspection, licensing and insuring, but IT RUNS under it's own power for the first time in 52 years!

 

...my wife & I took a nice drive thru the country today;...going out of town we got lucky and found an antique milk can sitting at the curb,...it's embossed "Rock Falls Dairy",...the town about 20 miles from here where I lived til about 10 years old.

 

Got a lot done on my nailhead since I last posted here so, I will uudate in chunks.

May 4th 2026 Ordered and received more Plastigage and br*** shim stock. Shims will be fairly simple. Rectangles with a half inch bolt hole for mains 1 thru 4. Shim stock is the correct width so that is one straight cut with my nibbler. My hole punch only goes up to 9/32" so it won't work. Have to price a 1/2" punch online in the office tomorrow.

Purchased a leather hole punch. It will do for all but the two thickest gauges of br*** shim stock. Started with main bearing #1. Tried several times before I came up with .002 Plastigage clearance using 0.002" shims. Bearing #2, which locked tight when torqued down, showed a .015 Plastigage clearance with 0.002" shims and now it turns freely. Bearing #3, showed a .015 Plastigage clearance with 0.002" shims.


Bearing #4, which locked tight when torqued down, showed a .015 Plastigage clearance with 0.004" shims and now it turns freely. Discussed this issue with the boys at Sunday morning coffee at Dunkin' Donuts. I call 'em the Senile and Surly Car Club. Some of them call themselves the Geriatric Delinquents and there's a decal to that effect floatin' around somewhere. They wanted to know what the Plastigage reading near the bearing halves dividing line was. Don't know how to make Plastigage stick to the journal so, I checked it once, leaving the .0015 plastigage in place. Rotated the crank just short of a quarter turn and put another strip on top of the journal. It came up .0015 as well and the existing strip, near the dividing line did not deform any further.

Bearing #5 is a special case, being the thrust bearing and the oil seal bearing. I don't want to use shims here. Decided to try Plastigage one more time without shims and, if that didn't give enuf clearance, try the old bearing half in the cap to see what kind of reading that would give. This time, I got a rch short of .0015. Good enuf. ***embly lubed it and torqued it back down. Was able to turn the crank now by hand, using the balancer on the crank snout. Rear bearing cap has to come back out to finish the oil seal and to adjust the thrust bearing alignment before torquing it down for good but I'm almost there. Beer of the day was O'Fallon Brewery's O"Fallon Knotty Pretzel Beer which I enjoyed. Has a salty pretzel flavor. Tasty. Background music was The Steve Miller Band's Brave New World.

May 7th 2026 Finished installing the nailhead rear main bearing and seal. Put the rope seal in the bearing cap and shaped it with a large socket. Removed it again and put it back in with a modest amount of Permatex Ultra Black on the back side and reinstalled it. Cut the excess off in accord with the Best instructions. Applied Permatex Gasket Shellac Compound to the bearing / block mating surface. Put motor oil on the bearing seal journal and rope seal and ***embly lube on the bearing half, including the thrust surfaces. Held the linear side seals in place in the bearing cap and slid the cap down into place. This procedure involved cuss words and several tries.

Bolted the cap down but not tight yet. Whacked the crankshaft forward and backward with big hammer and wood block to align the thrust bearing halves. Then torqued the cap down to 100 lbft. Final step was to check the crankshaft end play with dial indicator. I've only used this chicom dial indicator once before and between then and now, it's magnetic base has lost its magnetism. I had to improvise and use a vicegrip clamp to hold the base in place. Set up the dial indicator on the crank snout and used a pry bar between bearing cap #2 and adjacent crank counterweights, first one way, then the other to get an end play reading. It was 0.004". At the low end but acceptable. We're gonna put paid to this task. Beer of the day was Swee****er Brewing Company's 420 Strain G13 IPA. Background music was Pink Floyd's Animals.

May 11th 2026 Put the tools away from the nailhead crankshaft operations and started ***embling the tools for the piston ***emblies. Still waiting on a few specialized tools from Amazon. Could get by without them but I like to spread all the tools I can out on the workbench to act as talismans to ward off evil and compensate for my inexperience. I can feel the spirit of my Dad on my shoulder gently laughing. From his years of engine-building experience he could remove snap-rings with a pair of flat-blade screwdrivers and torque a cylinder head with a two foot breaker bar and come close. Okay, the tools are here. Nuthin' to it but to do it. Beer Of the day is O'Fallon Brewing Company's Smoke Porter. Background Music is Grateful Dead's Nightfall of Diamonds.

May 14th 2026 Time to establish a procedure for installing the nailhead piston ***emblies. Gonna do this one piston at a time. Step 1: ***embly lube the pin ends and torque the pinch bolt to twenty-five lbft with a dab of threadlocker blue. The piston valve reliefs and the pinch bolt are to the inside of the block. This puts the big rod end weep to the inside of the block also and the bearing tangs to the outside.

Step 2: Oil ring. Rotate crank so journal is farthest away from bore. Turn engine over and measure oil ring rail gaps with ring squaring tool and 0.015" feeler gauge. Rail gaps were good. Install oil ring with gap towards piston top. Install bottom and top rail rings and situate rail ring gaps 1" to right and left of oil ring gap.

Step 3: Second ring. Ring did not have a dot or laser mark that I could see to indicate top. Calculated gap (.0050 x 4.010 = .020). It was close. Needed just a bit of filing with the ring grinder. Install the second ring with the ring expander tool.

Step 4: Top ring. Ring did not have a dot or laser mark. Calculated gap (.0045 x 4.010 = .018). Needed some filing with the ring grinder. Install the top ring with the ring expander tool.

Step 5: Istall piston ***embly. Fit ring compressor. Wipe down cylinder bore and spray with Marvel Mystery Oil. Apply ***embly lube to the rod bearing half and sleeves to the rod bolts. Insert piston ***embly in bore and seat compressor with rubber mallet. Tap piston down into bore with mallet handle and coat top of piston with more Marvel Mystery Oil.

Step 6: Install rod cap. Tap piston ***embly down until it seats on the crankshaft journal. Turn block over in engine stand so crank is topside again. Remove rod bolt sleeves. Be careful not to let the bolts fall into the engine. Don't ask me how I know this. Check rod bearing clearance with plastigage. Torque to forty-five lbft. Clearance is in the neighborhood of .012" where it should be. Put ***embly lube on the rod cap bearing and a dab of threadlocker blue on the rod bolts and torque down to forty-five lbft again. Rotate the crank to check resistance and Bob's your uncle.

One down and seven to go. Beer of the day is Sprecher Brewing Company's Black Bavarian Style Lager. Background music was The Jayhawks' Tomorrow the Green Gr***. Summer heat is back in South Florida. It's early afternoon and siesta time.

 

Started on some scuff plates for my coupe. Sheared & broke some .060 aluminum
over at my son's house. Made a pattern for the bottom edge and sawed it close to shape. Then generated a bunch of aluminum glitter with a file and rigid sanding board.

Borrowed my kid's shrinker so I can contour them match the rockers; hopefully tomorrow.

I don't plan to put the mounting bolts thru the ends like the stock plates were attached Will have to see if the 4 mounting screws are adequate.

Kinda highlights the missing rubber that has flaked of the boards over the years.

 

Not my car, a friend’s. This ‘61 Cutl*** spent the last couple months terrorizing me. It had sat for a long time, and so had multiple ignition and carb issues, then throw in a couple Alzheimer’s type moments on my part, and it was a battle!
Weeded my way through the bad parts (some of them new!) and my mistakes, and I finally have it running very respectable. Owner can just hop in and drive all day now.

 

stick-to-it've-ness pays!

 

Oh, I had to walk away a few times! I actually had my friend get the car off my property for a couple weeks.
I needed a break. All great now.

 

May 18th 2026 Sum*****! I spoke too soon. Reviewing the last Deerslayer log entry, something was nagging at me. Finally saw it. I had carefully developed the procedure for ringing and installing the nailhead piston ***emblies, and then . . . gone and installed the first piston backwards! Two steps forward, one step back. This is the kind of thing that has me sitting on the shop floor, in a dejected funk, questioning the meaning of life.

First up, Remove piston ***embly #1 and reinstall in the correct orientation. Didn't go as well the second time. Ring compressor malfunctioned during installation. Had to back the piston out a bit, fix the compressor and reset it. Murphy might be my co-pilot today. Piston #2 went without incident until I tried to seat the rod end on the crank journal. There was not enuf clearance next to the installed rod cap! Just damn! After some tortured observation with my failing eyes, I detected the installed rod cap to be a fingernail's thickness out of alignment with the rod end. Took the cap off again and removed the bolts from both rods. Both rod ends would now seat against the journal. Made sure both rod bearing halves were flush and went into deep ponder mode for a bit.First up, Remove piston ***embly #1 and reinstall in the correct orientation. Didn't go as well the second time. Ring compressor malfunctioned during installation. Had to back the piston out a bit, fix the compressor and reset it. Murphy might be my co-pilot today. Piston #2 went without incident until I tried to seat the rod end on the crank journal. There was not enuf clearance next to the installed rod cap! Just damn! After some tortured observation with my failing eyes, I detected the installed rod cap to be a fingernail's thickness out of alignment with the rod end. Took the cap off again and removed the bolts from both rods. Both rod ends would now seat against the journal. Made sure both rod bearing halves were flush and went into deep ponder mode for a bit.

Okay, now the caps fit too. Replenished the ***embly lube on the journal and reinstalled the rod bolts, the easy two that is. I have to devise some kind of bolt holder to get the other two started since the allotted space is too restricted for my hands. Back to deep ponder mode. My attempts at a quik-n-durty tool were failures. I pulled both pistons again, put the rod bolts in with a dab of RTV, not on the threads, to hold the loose ones and started the piston installation with #1 for the third time. The cheap-*** ring compressor just ain't working but the sun is over the yardarm and Ill have to retreat to the Flamingo Room for siesta for now. Beer of the day is Heavy Seas Beer's Powder Monkey Pale Ale. Background music was Tommy Dorsey & his Orchestra with Frank Sinatra.

May 21st 2026 Went after the ring compressor problem a different way. A shiny new tool, of course. I'm that guy. This one worked on that pesky number 1 piston. Ditto with number 2 piston ***embly. Adjusted the procedure for the dab of RTV on the rod bolts to hold them in place. Also, ring the piston ***emblies in pairs sharing the same journal and installed both before putting on the rod caps.

After torquing the rod caps to 45 lbft, the crankshaft is too tight to turn over. I can do it but it takes a 24" breaker bar and all my strength. Not good. It's back to the deep ponder mode chair. These are the same rod bearings that came out of the engine and it turned over fine before dis***embly so I don't think it's the bearings, but I'm a novice. In the dark cloud silver lining department, at least this is giving me an education and something to write about. There's that to consider. Beer of the day is Flying Fish Brewing Company's XPA Citra Pale Ale. Background music was Creedence Clearwater Revival 20 Greatest Hits.

May 25th 2026 Decided to ring all the remaining nailhead piston ***emblies while I continued to ponder the tight rod bearing problem. Cleared all the tools from the workbench that weren't needed for the task at hand. I've been wondering why I didn't mark the piston ***emblies back when I first cleaned them one-by-one. When I went to get the next piston to ring. I put on a LED headlamp 'cause that area of the shop is dark. Yea! The storage box was numbered. Boo! I had piston #1 in #2 bore and #2 in #1 bore. Looks like both piston ***emblies are comin' out again.

Okay, limited progress. Both piston ***emblies out again and piston #1 installed in bore #1 with, I think, the correct cap and torqued to 45 lbft. The crankshaft turns as easily as I would expect and I can move the rod back-n-forth on the journal a smigeon. I couldn't move it at all before. Piston #2 installed in #2 hole this time and torqued to 45 lbft. Turn the crank . . . Success! I live for little victories.

On to ringing the remaining pistons. Also rediscovered number stamps on rods and caps. Damn my failing OEM eyes and memory! Jeez! I had also put some of these ***emblies back together wrong. Piston #3 had the pinch bolt on the wrong side. Corrected that. Same with #4 and #8 Piston ***emblies. Got rid of the RTV to hold the rod bolts too. Don't want any of that stuff breaking loose and floating thru the engine. Used Loc***e 609 on the smooth bolt shanks instead. Ringin' all the piston ***emblies before installation gives it time to set up in my mind's eye.

My machinist friend, Jon Cary, is back from a month up north, going to swap meets and car show events, like "rainbeck", buying Model A and stationary engine parts. He was concerned about me shimming the nailhead main bearings and offered to come to the BillyBob Shop to mic the mains for me since my micrometer Kung-Fu is not strong. I declined since I'm runnin' against the clock. I'm 76 and I've got two trucks and a Jimmy engine to put back together while I still can.

Got all the piston ***emblies set up with rings and put the ring tools away to make workbench room for installation into the block. Piston installation went like clockwork until piston #6. Got stuck before the ***embly got to the first rings. Turned out to be an obstruction between the rod end and a crankshaft counterweight. Cleared it and got #6 in. Pistons are in. More resistance turning the crankshaft but not too much considering I'm rotating against ring resistance from eight pistons now. I'm a happy guy. The Loc***e 609 on the rod bolt shanks to keep them from falling out turned out to be a good idea. Time to clear the workbench for the next task I've never done before. I had two beers, one for my Uncle Anson, still out on patrol this Decoration Day and one for me. Beer of the day is Heavy Seas Beer's Peg Leg Stout. Background music was Dylan and the Dead.

May 28th 2026 The next nailhead task is the timing chain installation and degreeing the camshaft. Terra Incognita for me. Gathering tools, cleaning parts that go back on the engine and becoming familiar with new parts as I ponder how to do this. Found a suitable punch pin and drove out the rivets holding the fuel pump eccentric onto the old cam gear. Put the eccentric, rivets, oil diverter and bolts, cam bolt and crankshaft oil slinger to soak in a pan of undiluted OilEater for a session.

Removed the camshaft thrust plate. Nailheads only had a thrust plate thru 1956 and the timing chain and gear set from Centerville does not use it. Got my "universal" balancer puller out to take that back off. All these damn bolts and none fit the nailhead balancer. It was the same with the Jimmy 302. Found the closest match, probably metric, and only ran it in a few threads since the balancer was not on tight.

Next task is to get the new timing chain and gears on in the default position. Has to slide on as an ***embly as there is no slack in the chain. Has to slide off again if the crank sprocket has to be adjusted one way or the other during the cam degreeing procedure. You guessed it. Neither gear wants to slide on. The cam gear is almost there but the crank sprocket is tight. Cleaned cam and crank snouts with WD-40 and Scotchbright pad. Found my Permatex Anti-Seize and the lid wouldn't screw off. Ironic. Anti-Seize was pretty dried up but I tried it anyway. Then spent a half-hour cleaning up that mistake. Back of the camshaft key was a bit rough and cleaned that up with one of my Uncle Tom's fine files. Cam gear will now slide within an eighth inch of its final position. The crank sprocket is another story. Well, It's siesta time again. Beer of the day is Zip Line Brewing Company's Alpha Modern IPA. Background music was Derek and the Dominos Layla.

June 1st 2026 Took the nailhead fuel pump eccentric, oil diverter and oil slinger parts out of the Oileater soak, wiped them down, and submerged them in Evaporust. Back to the tight crankshaft timing chain sprocket. Tried wire wheels in both high speed electric die grinder and 1/4" drill motors. Not workable. Gonna try sandpaper drums for drill motors next. Ordered from Amazon. Probably won't get them before the weekend.

While waiting for the shipment from Amazon, I clamped my 1/4" drill motor in the vise and hunted up my sandpaper drums that were smaller diameter than those I ordered, and tried to clearance the sprocket a bit. Tedjus, limited progress. The sprocket has keyways for TDC and 2, 4, 6 and 8 degrees advanced and retarded TDC.

Cleaned up the crank snout a bit with a br*** wire wheel in the electric die grinder. A few hours into the process, I was making better progress but not there yet. When I started, the sprocket would lock up 1/8" onto the crankshaft. Now I can get it a 1/2" from home. At least I know the woodruff key wasn't causing problems, fit-wise. By high noon, I wuz three beers into the backlog and no longer safe around power tools. Beer of the day is Foothills Brewing's People's Porter. Background music was Jimmy Buffet's Coconut Telegraph.

June 2nd 2026 At the Sunday morning coffee get-together, Jon Cary told me to mic the nailhead crankshaft snout to find out if the diameter is consistent and that somebody didn't pound on it with a hammer in its history that might account for the hard start getting the sprocket on. I dragged out my 1"-2" micrometer and mic'd the snout, middle and both ends. As far as I could tell, with my poor micrometer skills, all the readings were consistent.

Couple of more hours with the sandpaper drums and, by Jiminy, I think I'm there. Both gears slide on and off now. They don't slide as easily with the chain engaged. Lined up the dots on the gear and sprocket and got the chain on. This is complicated by the occurrence of two alignment dots on the crank sprocket. Took a WAG and picked the one closest to the outside diameter to line up with the dot on the cam gear. The other sprocket dot, above the woodruff key, puts the number 1 piston close to TDC. I hope that is significant. Think this pretty much means I have to get a good grasp of the degreeing technology to get this right. Beer of the evening is ZipLine Brewing Company's Post Hype Pale Ale. Background music was Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's All the Good Times.

June 4th 2026 For years I've been trying to find the specs for the Isky solid lifter camshaft I originally got on eBay for the nailhead. I bought no less than three Isky catalogs from the same time period, also on eBay, trying to get more info, without much luck. Decided to try, one more time, with a Google AI search. Finally some luck! Hot damn! Duration and lift are close to what the seller listed on eBay those years ago.

Google AI search for Isky cam specs The original Iskenderian (Isky) E-3 solid lifter camshaft for 1953–1956 Buick 264 and 322 cubic inch "Nailhead" V8 engines features the following historic "cam card" catalog specifications: Isky E-3 Camshaft Specifications Cam Type: Solid / Mechanical Flat Tappet Application: 1953–1956 Buick 264 / 322 C.I. V8 (Early small cam-journal block) Advertised Duration: 290° Intake / 290° Exhaust (Single pattern) Duration at .050" Lift: 244° Intake / 244° Exhaust Gross Valve Lift: 0.435" Intake / 0.435" Exhaust (Calculated with factory 1.5:1 rocker arm ratio) Lobe Separation Angle (LSA): 108° Recommended Valve Lash (Hot): 0.016" Intake / 0.018" Exhaust Intake Centerline: 106°

Performance Characteristics: The E-3 was traditionally designated as a "Super 3/4" or Mild Track grind. Because early Buick Nailhead V8s feature unique small, round exhaust ports and restrictive valve layouts, this aggressive solid lifter profile was designed to significantly extend the engine's upper RPM breathing capabilities. Expect a rough, lopey idle with optimal power operating in the 2,500 to 6,500 RPM range. Note: If you are doing a vintage engine rebuild, verify your pushrod clearance. 1953 to mid-1955 Buick cylinder heads feature small pushrod holes that typically require slight enlarging or machining to clear the increased lift and changed pushrod angles of an aftermarket camshaft.

The degree wheel I ordered a few weeks ago, arrived today also. It was shipped by UPS and for reasons only known to the brownshirts, Went from Ontario CA to Jacksonville FL to Tualatin OR to Hillsboro OR back to Jacksonville FL and finally to me in Boca Raton FL. I now have all the tools I need for the degreeing procedure. Spent some time fiddling with the degree wheel to mount it. I wanted to mount it to the balancer because I like to use the balancer to turn the crankshaft but that wasn't possible without some surgery on the degree wheel. Ended up with degree wheel washers and the crankshaft bolt. We'll see if that works. I ***ume I'll always have to turn the crank in a clockwise direction so that the bolt doesn't loosen and move the degree wheel. Set up a pointer for the degree wheel with a 5/16" bolt and hexnuts and a Jegs pointer. Found my dial indicator and mounted on a deck bridge.

The crank bolt and washers degree wheel mount wasn't working. Went back and jerry-rigged the balancer mount. Set piston #1 to approximate TDC, zeroed the dial indicator and set the degree wheel pointer to TDC. Turned the crank counter-clockwise past .050 on the dial indicator then back to .050 and read the degree wheel 12° Turned the crank clockwise past TDC to .050 and read the dial indicator 15° 12+15=27 27/2=13.5 Adjusted the degree wheel pointer 1.5° to True TDC.

Setup of the dial indicator for cam lift and intake centerline presented a challenge. The nailhead juice pushrods were unsuitable for measurement purposes because they have a bulb at each end. I rampaged around in the shop darkness for a half hour or so, looking for the Jimmy 302 pushrods but have no idea now where I put them. I know I have two spare stovebolt pushrods in the BillyBob travel supplies but they are behind a big pile of stuff and Elvira trunk parts. Aw, SPIT! Just damn! At some point, I had reorganized the BillyBob travel supplies and now the spare pushrods are lost to me.

Finally jerry-rigged a small socket set extension I found in my Uncle Tom's tool chest to subs***ute for a pushrod. setup the dial indicator with a new magnetic base kit I got for the magnetic base that lost its magnetism. Rotated crank clockwise until intake lifter hit top lift and zeroed the dial indicator. Turned the crank counter-clockwise past .050 on the dial indicator then back to .050 and read the degree wheel 58° Turned the crank clockwise past TDC to .050 and read the dial indicator 162° 58+162=220 220/2=110 Since we have an intake centerline of 110° and the Isky spec is 106°, looks like I have to move the sprocket to 4° advanced. Made the adjustment. I think I'm there. Now, I gotta put some tools away. Beer of the day is Foothills Brewing's Torch Pilsner. Background music was Vivian Campbell Two Sides of If.

June 5th 2026 Gathered the fuel pump eccentric, oil diverter and hexnuts and cam gear bolt and washer, last seen in the Evaporust bath. Cleaned them a bit with Scotchbrite buffs in the Dremal motor tool. Installed the eccentric locator bolt that came with the Centerville timing chain kit and replaces the original eccentric rivits. Installed the eccentric, washer and cam bolt with threadlocker blue. Installed the oil divertor bolts, also with threadlocker blue and lubed the timing chain with the Royal Purple ***embly lube. That completes the nailhead short block ***embly. Beer of the evening is Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company's Southern Pecan Brown Ale. Background music was Stone Free a tribute to Jimi Hendrix.

 

Stuck my kids shrinker/stretcher in the vice and started shaping the scuff plates. First one went pretty quick; second not so quick; probably just weaker from pulling on the lever for the first one. Was going to roll the inner edge over some; but no bead roller; probably over at Jeff's I guess. Think I'm going to put riv-nuts in the mounting holes; seems like there is plenty of room behind.

 

June 8th 2026 The nailhead long block is next. First task is the timing gear cover and harmonic balancer installation. Started by clearing the Hank Langsenkamp workbench and gathering the parts involved. Found the timing cover and balancer bolt and washers. The balancer was already at hand. Found the timing cover gasket and balancer seal in the BEST gasket kit and new stainless steel timing cover fasteners in the 264 322 364 Buick Nailhead Stainless Hex Engine Bolt Kit I purchased some years back. Cleaning and painting is next.

This is also the time to attend to mating the Latham Axial Flow Supercharger pulley to the harmonic balancer. Once I have the balancer installed, I don't want to be taking it off again. The Latham pulley has a standard v-belt pulley machined on the back side which will be suitable for an alternator / water pump belt and that's all I need. The Latham pulley has three mounting bolts and the pattern is close to the three bolt holes on the balancer. Close but no cigar as Slick Willie might say. I'm thinking of drilling and tapping three new holes in the balancer for slightly larger bolts. Looks like consultation time with my machinist friend, Jon Carey.

The Sunday morning coffee group geezers followed me back to the BillyBob Shop (BillyBob Museum my brother would say) for the nickel tour. Jon Carey was a**** them and he examined the Balancer and Latham pulley. He took some measurements and, down the road, I will go out to his carport machine shop and he will do the work. Right now, the balancer and timing cover are going into the parts washer for a soaking. Beer of the day is Roadhouse Brewing Company's Family Vacation Golden Ale. Background music was One Minute to One with Eddie Cochran & Friends.

June 11th 2026 When Jon Carey and the other fellas were in the BillyBob Shop on Sunday morning, Jon turned the crank on the Nailhead with the breaker bar a few revolutions and told me it was fine. I had been antsy, due to my inexperience, my diminishing strength, and how easy the cranks turned in the Cam degreeing videos I had been watching. All the guys also thought the oil diverter was too close to the crank sprocket so, after they left, got a pry bar and adjusted the diverter clearance to 1/8".

Jon texted me on Tuesday that he would be in the neighborhood today and would stop by in the afternoon. I pulled the balancer out of the Oileater soup, wiped it down and went over it with a wire wheel in the electric die grinder. Then went over the nooks and crannies with wire wheels and Scotchbrite buffs in the Dremal motor tool. Repeated the die grinder procedure with the timing cover. Jon showed up about one. He had a plate he had mocked up and he compared it with the balancer, We had a few beers, told tall tales, and he left with the balancer and Latham pulley. Beer of the day is Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company's Vanilla Pecan Nut Brown Ale. Background music was Emmylou Harris Duets.

June 15th 2026 When I got back to the Krash Kubicle on Thursday, I had a message from "322bnh" on the V8Buick.com forum that I had installed the nailhead timing gears wrong "SEE YOUR SERVICE MANUAL! Unless that cam uses a different procedure to install the timing chain, what you show is WRONG. The dots should be oriented to the right with 12 links between." This put me in a bit of a ***her because he has given me good advice in the past and I'm sure this is more of the same. Started the research to find that the crank keyway should be at "1:30 O'clock" when the gear dots are lined up with a stock timing chain set. On my set, the keyway is at "10:30 O'clock". However, I found a video of a guy putting the same Centerville timing set in a Rivera and it was aligned the same way that I did it. At the very least, I'm going to get a crankshaft socket so I can set up the degree wheel correctly to check my installation.

Evening in the shop after work turned out to be a bust. Ordered a crankshaft snout socket based on 1.375" diameter provided by Google AI. I just now measured it to be 1.5". Got to try to cancel my order when I get back to the Krash Kubicle tonite. Wanted to dip the timing cover in the Evaporust but my original three gallon container is spent, so I have to take the lid off one of the five gallon containers. Couldn't do it via the screw driver method. Curses! When fate is beating you like a rented mule, back off and come at the problem from a different angle tomorrow.

I made it to the office in time to cancel the crank socket order and, after several tries, found one to fit the nailhead's one and a half inch snout, more expensive, of course. Ordered a five gallon bucket lid remover tool as well. I'm in a holding pattern, waiting for tools. Toyed with the idea of painting the nailhead remanufactured water pump I picked up some years back but, after more thought, painting the water pump and timing cover as a unit makes more sense. A lot less masking required for both parts.

Jon Carey showed at the Sunday morning coffee getogether with the completed nailhead balancer Latham pulley combination. He drilled and tapped the balancer for 3/8" bolts and machined a centering bushing for the pulley that is a snug fit inside the balancer. It's tapered slightly to match the balancer. I need a longer crankshaft bolt now as there is no room for the short bolt due to the bushing. Found a 1/2-20 x 4" Grade 8 Armor Coat bolt in my McMaster-Carr collection that will do nicely. Just need to determine how much to cut off the end so it doesn't bottom out when torquing down into place.

Mocked the balancer Latham combo up on the engine with the timing cover and water pump in place and see right away that I need a special water pump pulley made if I can't find one. The water pump pulley that came with the Latham might work with a spacer. Beer of the day is Roadhouse Brewing Company's Wilson Mountain Style IPA. Background music was Steppenwolf Born to be Wild / A Retrospective 1966 - 1990.

The crank socket arrived today along with some Testor's Model Paints. I used Testor's white to paint the ignition timing mark on the nailhead balancer. Don't have the eyes or hands of a pin stripper so there were mishaps and I had to touch up with the Testor's black. A bit of luck in that it is a reasonable match for the Duplicolor Satin Black. The timing cover isn't ready to come out of the Evaporust soup yet so, we'll give it another night.

Pulled to timing cover out of the Evaporust. The Evaporust didn't do as well as I had expected but it got the worst of the rust. We'll finish up with more wire wheel work. I couldn't budge the heater fittings with a breaker bar so I went hunting for my Bolt Buster induction heater. Turned them red hot and had them loose in less than two minutes. Not gonna be a heater in Deerslayer so I'll replace these with br*** plugs.

June 22nd 2026 After another wire wheel session, dropped the nailhead timing cover in the Evaporust soup again to get the remaining surface rust in the nooks and crannies. Put the new crank snout socket on and secured it with the set screw. Put intake and exhaust lifters at number one piston and rotated the engine two revolutions and made sure the number one piston was at TDC on the compression stroke.

Found the timing chain illustration in my Dad's '59 Chiltons manual ('53 thru '59 nailheads). It shows the cam gear and crank sprocket with the alignment dots at 6 O'clock and 12 O'clock and the woodruff key at 10:30 O'clock (just like the Centerville timing set, the same way I set it initially).

Installed the degree wheel on the crank socket, fashioned a new pointer and set up the deck bridge and dial indicator on number one piston. Zeroed the dial indicator and set the degree wheel pointer to TDC. Turned the crank counter-clockwise past .050 on the dial indicator then back to .050 and read the degree wheel 8° Turned the crank clockwise past TDC to .050 and read the dial indicator 20° 8+20=28 28/2=14 Adjusted the degree wheel 2° to True TDC.

Setup the dial indicator to align with piston #1 intake lifter. Rotated crank clockwise until intake lifter hit top lift and zeroed the dial indicator. Rotated crank clockwise two rotations until the intake lobe hit zero on the dial indicator and read the degree wheel at 106°, the Isky cam spec. I think I'm good. I'm movin' on. If I'm wrong, we'll find out when this baby fires up for the first time, or not. At that time, I will apologize to those who tried to steer me away from disaster. Alright, I've had three craft beers. I'm toasted. Time for siesta.

 

I got the new gas tank, sending unit & stainless brake lines on the 64 G.P. yesterday.

I will get Dad to help with the brake bleed today & then a major cleaning will happen as I only have till 5:00AM Sunday before I leave for the Dayton Concours d'Elegance.

Probably should have just put the new sending unit in & saved the money on the rest as the tank & lines were fine, but the "Show Bug" bit me some..... the tank had a fist size dent & was painted black as well as the brake lines. I know this car will never win anything at a Concours type show, but still wanted to make a good showing anyway!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Put away the cam degreeing tools. Pulled the timing cover out of the Evaporust soup and began paint masking operations. Masked off the machined surfaces, PRE paint prepped the timing cover and water pump together and gave it two coats of Bill Hirsch Buick Green Late Engine Enamel. Beer of the day is KC Bier Company's Hefe-Weizen Bavarian-style Wheat Ale. Background music was Endless Highway, The Music of The Band.

June 25th 2026 Separated the nailhead timing cover and water pump, turned the timing cover over and rattlecanned the areas missed in the initial painting with the Bill Hirsch Buick green paint. Pulled the crankshaft oil slinger out of the Evaporust and cleaned it up with the wire wheel in the electric die grinder. Fitted it on the crank snout. Drove the timing cover BEST oil seal in with a small hammer and a wood block as none of my seal installers fit it. Placed the BEST timing cover gasket on the front of the block and worked the timing cover into position.

Loosely threaded the seven stainless bolts and washers that aren't shared with the water pump into timing cover and block. squirted a few drops of oil on the oil seal and started the balancer onto the crank snout with more oil on the seal mating surface. Once it was in, the stainless bolts were snugged down with ZDBB Copper anti-seize. My friend Jon prefers this stuff to the Permatex "Tin Man" anti-seize. I must agree that it isn't as messy. Bolts will be torqued once the water pump is installed.

Found the BEST gasket for the water pump and placed it. Put the water pump on and loosely ran in the four 1/2" stainless bolts that ran thru both the water pump and timing cover with the copper anti-seize. One odd length 1/2" bolt below the water pump outlet didn't want to seat. There's always one. I'll come back to that later. The five remaining 7/16" stainless bolts in the stainless set were run in the same way. Being sloppy in the fit up, I didn't get both flat washers and lock washers on all the bolts so, they were removed one at a time, and re-inserted with both washers. I used my Uncle Tom's ratchet as it is an older, better Craftsman and the operation went faster.

As soon as I had sunlight to work by, opened up the BillyBob Shop east door and began transferring my old oil collection of bio-degradable quart containers into five gallon cans Dave ***ton gave me for the purpose. He found somebody to take the oil and may be by later to pick it up. It's in excess of sixty-five gallons. After I recovered from the exertion, I went back to the nailhead. Fixed the bolt that didn't want to seat. Turned out to be the wrong bolt. Too short. Torqued all the 1/2" bolts to 20 lbft. The 7/16" bolts were spec'd at 6-8 lbft and my torque wrench didn't go that low. Tried to do it by feel but my inexperience led me astray. I twisted one, maybe two too far. Gonna have to ponder how to rectify that now.

Mocked up the Latham crank pulley again, along with the water pump pulley that came with the Latham to see if that would work. It's tight but I think workable with a water pump pulley spacer and a smidgeon shaved off both the water pump pulley and crank pulley v-belt flanges. Have to consult with machinist Jon on that. "It's never easy" - Captain Dylan Hunt. Beer of the day is Salt Flats Brewing Company's P1 Pilsner. Background music was George Thorogood & The Destroyers Ride 'til I Die.

June 29th 2026 Time to put away tools and clear off the workbench again for new nailhead tasks. Okay, backed the 7/16" gently out of the water pump. They are all the same length. I hadn't twisted any of them off, after all. However, one bolt hole is too loose to hold any of the five bolts so, something is amiss. I'm scratchin' my head over this one. Taking the washers off allowed the loose bolt to get a grip. I may install these smaller bolts with one washer only. That will wait 'til next week when a smaller torque wrench that can handle the 6-8 lbft of these bolts arrives.

Waiting on parts and tools now. Time to start the nailhead long block bottom. Got out the oil pump and oil pan. Pump shaft is frozen but it wasn't when the engine was dis***embled. Gonna put it in the parts washer for a couple of days. Wiped down the oil pan baffle and started hitting it with Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner spray. Then I gave it a few cycles of the Scrubbin' Bubbles cleaner I use in my Caddy wheel cleaning ops. Planned to finish up with 2" Scotchbright cookies but I couldn't find 'em. Went to Scotchbright buffs in the Dremal motor tool. If the cookies don't magically appear when I no longer have need of them, I'll order a new supply.

The Scrubbin' Bubbles was a mistake, left a residue that the buffs didn't like. Used a Scotchbrite pad with WD-40 to clean up. Then wiped down with PRE Paint Prep. Not painting this but it is a good final cleaner. Searched the McMaster-Carr bolt collection for new bolts matching the baffle bolts but didn't find any. Knocked the dust off my Eastwood Tumbler, put the baffle hex bolts in it with green pyramid cutting media and Eastwood Metal Wash. Set it to tumblin' for ninety minutes. Pulled the bolts, wiped them off and snugged them in place.

Started reviewing parts that have to go on the engine. I found the generator bracket. Didn't remember I had it. That's the good news. Looking it over, I see it uses the p***enger side motor mount. Looked for my Hurst motor mounts next. Found them, including the instruction sheet. That's the bad news. I can't use my generator bracket. I have to find a '57 Buick generator bracket which is attached with special head bolts. Joy, joy! We will wait on that. The Latham tensioner pulley may interfere with a generator mount on the p***enger side. Jon Carey took the Latham water pump pulley with him after the Sunday morning coffee meet to shave a sixteenth inch off the flange to see if that will give it enuf clearance to fit.

Spent the rest of Sunday doing preliminary cleaning of the nailhead oil pan inside with Oileater spray and Scotch paper shop towels. Substantial sludge in the deep end of the pool here. After a few cycles had softened it up, I quit *****footin' around and got out the putty knife and scrub pad. Turned the oil pump over in the parts washer as well. Beer of the day is Heavy Seas Beer's Pounder Pils. Background music was Electric Light Orchestra's Ole ELO (this album has my fav ELO song, their cover of "Roll over Beethoven").

July 2nd 2026 My bolt recognition Kung Fu is not strong. I am either dead nuts on or lightyears off. There is no middle ground. Often I confuse thread size and wrench size, as some of the readers here may have noticed. I went looking for a crutch to help me identify bolts and avoid losing time and funds buying the wrong ones so often. It was delivered Monday at the Krash Kubicle and, back at the BillyBob Shop, It's first use was the nailhead oil pan drain bolt. I want to order a magnetic drain bolt and now I know I need to order a 3/4-16 thread bolt.

Went over the outside of the nailhead oil pan with Oileater spray, scrub pad and Scot Shop towels. Wasn't too bad. None of it was baked on. Wire wheel work is next, both inside and outside. Turned the oil pump over in the parts washer soup again. I open the washer when I'm in the shop and turn on the pump to circulate the Oileater-water mix while I'm working. The "waterfall" sound reminds me to turn it off when I retreat to the Flamingo Room.

New magnetic drain bolt is on the way. Screwed the original in from the inside to act as a paint mask. Die grinder wandered off the oil pan a couple of times and wrapped itself up in the bedsheet I use as a workbench cover. Took a few minutes and removed the sheet. Ran thru a couple of wire wheels and I was done.

Cleaned the workbench top, laid down some masking paper, and PRE Paint Prepped the oil pan and gave it a coat of Eastwood's Self-Etching Primer Gray. Waited the required two hours and spray-bombed the oil pan a couple of coats of the Bill Hirsch Buick Green Late Engine Enamel. Running low on this stuff, time to re-order. I'm one cigar and three beers down and it's insufferably hot in the BillyBob Shop. Time for siesta. Beer of the day is Zip Line Brewing Company's Oatmeal Porter. Background music was Songs of the Forties, one of three CD's my Mom mixed for me when she was still with us. The songs she and Dad danced to on Saturday nights at the Elks Club.