Had a really long and smooth drive today including a tow for a stranded Suburban that was waiting on AAA but stuck facing up a hill at an intersection. But upon returning the truck was pissing oil like nobody's business. The oil level is quite a bit higher than it was after changing it the other day so I am assuming the head gasket finally let go and I have oil up above the rear main. Not overheating but I do see a lot of yellow sludge accumulated in the filler neck... so we are doing the head gasket one day this week. I "should" have done this already but it will hopefully be easier now that there have been a few hundred heat cycles since sitting up for decades.
Looks better than I expected in here, but the head gasket was definitely blown & came out in 3 pieces. It was as easy to remove as I'd hoped - let it warm up this morning while spraying the nuts with PB periodically and everything popped right apart - so now it's just cleaning and reassembly. I filled the water jacket with evaporust. Expensive but it needs it.
Great to hear! I was hoping it wouldn't fight you. Looks like pretty even burn and no obvious toasted valves either. Can you get a straight edge to check? Looks like #2 was where it leaked, between it and #3.
Yep, #2 had the worst of it. It looks good to me overall... The head is straight so once the evaporust works on the water jacket for a while I'll get everything cleaned & bolted back up. I was not expecting this engine to be this clean inside!
Back in service! Everything went fine. I "resurfaced" the head on the nice new flat concrete at the shop and banged it back together. Fired up first try and runs great. We'll stretch her legs on Wednesday when I'm back at the shop, re-torque and should be good.
By chance on a roadtrip to get parts for my coupe, I encountered the other AA that was for sale around the time I bought mine. I seem to recall this one was a little more expensive - the seller knew that it had run recently - but I thought the yellow one looked like it was better off overall. I think I came out ahead, but the guy that wound up with this one is planning a driver resto on it. Nice guy and cool to compare notes.
Oops! Spoke too soon. The horrible oil leak persisted (even worsened!) even after draining the water out and it also developed a knock. Model A guys know what this means. The remnants of the rear main bearing are collected in the pan. We are out of service for a bit. I could probably swing a Burtz kit and just build the thing myself... or I have another banger in my T-on-A that I know for sure is healthy, and just find something else for that car... it's going to continue to be laid up for a while anyway.
My two cents is get the truck back up and running ASAP with the other motor. You have 3 projects and right now, none run. You aren't going to get back to the other one, so having parts for it (not running, back of the line) that will take a day or two to make the truck a runner is obvious.
Went ahead and drove it to a car show put on by the local high school's automotive program. It was a hit. Lots of kids asking questions and wanting to sit in it, hear it run, etc. Didn't win anything but it was a good time.
My friend & always-on-call Model A guru George found a short block in his shed and told me to come get it. It had been sitting for a while and got some water in the valve gallery but it's not too bad overall I think. I was careful not to spin the crank as it came apart and I believe these bearings look good - still had all the shims so should be lots of life in it. It has been sleeved, pistons do not seem to be stamped so I'm assuming back to standard bore. Got everything out except the valve guides - I made a valve guide tool but it only worked once so will just order one. I will have a machine shop run through this & polish everything, hone it & deck it. Trying to figure out what all I should order and what is OK to salvage off the AA's engine...
Finally got the valve guide tool in & knocked out the remaining valve guides. Dropped the pile off at the machine shop this afternoon. They are going to clean it, deck it, hone it, polish the crank and cam, and reassemble the rotating assembly for me. I will do the valvetrain myself.
This from the guy that wondered how to check his engine a few years ago! You got this, just take it slow and steady. Don't know if you've heard of these guys. https://www.youtube.com/@strongsgarage/videos
Thanks! I feel confident I could do the rotating assembly but might as well let the machine shop set up the bearings while they have it. I don't want to have to do this twice.
You should have them check the manifold surface too. Better to get it straight before all the rotating assembly is in. Clean, clean and one more time. Every threaded hole, every gallery, every surface. Then do something, do another task then go back and recheck. Don't flat-rate it! With the big truck back in service, you won't have to do multiple trips in the roadster. Yeah, that's no fun!
Since the truck was a hit at the local show maybe try this on for size. Take the engine that is coming out and maybe put some clear plastic on the valve chamber/head/oil pan and bring it to shows to show the kids how it works? I think the truck can handle the weight. Mike
I've been trying just about everything to fix this thing cheap and it just isn't happening. The bearing in the AA's rear main cap is gone. The machinist doesn't like the block I got from George. I bought four more engines from a horse barn and got 3 that would rebuild fine but won't run as is. I found a guy in College Station (3 hours away) that will do the babbitts in the AA's engine for $1000. The local club recommends him highly and many of his engines tour. I guess if I wanna play I gotta pay.
Posted in my T RPU thread about the engine score, so I won't retread that ground here. However, we spent some time cleaning up the engine and painting it today, then cracked it open for real. This thing looks like I picked it up from the machine shop yesterday. I can't believe my eyes... The engine has an August '30 cast date and is bored .060 over. Since our target is to have it in the truck and running tomorrow, I didn't waste time looking for the correct Ford green paint and instead am going with silver and blue to keep it simple. I'll post a picture when it's back together.
Get 'er done! 2 posts back, it was "I can't afford to rebuild" now it's "gotta stuff it in"! Great to hear, and it seems like you are getting good deals locally, something that was a concern at the beginning. If you haven't yet, keep an eye out for brake upgrades for the truck. It may be lighter than more modern stuff like the 50s but with the new power, you will want to stop well too. You got the T going, now the truck. Super job! I still wonder if this could even happen?
Pulled the oil pan. Everything is definitely brand new but, weirdly, there are no shims. A nut on one of the rod caps was loose. I pulled that cap & everything looks OK. It is babbitted and the babbitt is new. But it has no shims. Weird...
Fire up tomorrow hopefully. My helper broke the crank pulley but I'm gonna send it. Smoothed over the sharp edges... should be ok lol Still need a starter but I know how to get around that problem
Stupid question; are you able to swap now before it's all buttoned up, and with those extra engines, do you have a spare to toss on? I get the 'push to the finish' but who wants to take stuff back apart when it could have been handled while you are already there.
The one that came on it was broke... this one was a good one I salvaged off one of the other engines, and the only good one- the others are all broke worse. There is one on the old engine but I think it's different somehow, maybe not? I'm gonna check when I get home because yeah, this is the time to change it.
Sorry, I can see where that's a sore subject! Ask your helper to try to find another one. They may locate an old tin vein of ore you haven't found yet!
Well, as good as it runs sitting still it sure seems to have no power going down the road. Can't pull hills and barely seems to have any torque even on flat ground. We were super busy so I didn't have much time to tinker with it, but I'm drawing a blank here. The carb is the one that was on the truck before. The distributor is the one that was in the engine, but I cleaned and set the points & it delivers a hot blue spark. The engine has ample compression and will hold the truck on a steep hill in 1st or reverse. The clutch feels different... like really soft compared to what it was. Used to take a lot of leg and now it feels like a modern clutch. But I can't figure why or what that would have to do with it. It's the same clutch/pressure plate that were in the truck before. I did not swap the truck's flywheel over so maybe I should have adjusted the clutch fingers or something if they machined the flywheel? But I feel like if the clutch were slipping it wouldn't stall so easy and boy does it stall easy. Before, you couldn't stall it... you could idle it down as low as it'd go and dump the clutch in 2nd and it would lurch & walk away.
The Jalopy Journal
