The steering box is 36-39 Dodge/Plymouth. They can be cleaned up to fit in an early Ford chassis cleaner that what they did on yours. Here is one trimmed up with a Model A style flange ready to weld in place. These boxes are a Gemmer II design, with a rolling sector, so they are quite an improvement over a stock Model A box.
I'd skip the parallel leafs and use 35/36 rear wishbones and a regular transverse model A rear spring if I was going to use that rearend. It's nice when you can use stuff that you have on hand, but in this case, I just don't think you're going to be able to make it work well and look right.
Managed a few hours out in the shop this weekend, mostly continued cleaning and disassembly of the 283. It's hard to convey how truly dirty this engine was/is, both inside and out, and that's after several hours of scraping, the car wash, more scraping, etc. Here's what it looked like before starting the latest round of cleaning, I hadn't started on the lifter valley at this point; After a bit of elbow grease; Removing the block heater, it was really stuck; It took heat (on the block area around the block heater) and some heavy persuasion to finally get it out, my main goal was to not ruin the block; After this I attempted to pull the lifters in anticipation of pulling the timing chain, gears and cam, but the lifters would not budge. So will soak them down with knock er loose and maybe see if I can rig up a slide hammer or similar to get them out. One of my younger motorcycle buddies was here this weekend and wanted to learn a bit about V8's, so one of the things I showed him was how plastigage works. Just did one rod bearing as a demonstration, was surprised at the result; The pictures a bit blurry, but it was indicating approx .0015", which is pretty snug for a worn out old engine. Just for fun, I'll clean the rod, cap and insert, and recheck it. The oil, dirt and debris may have inadvertently "tightened" the clearance. https://www.plastigaugeusa.com/how.html In other news, I hauled all the parts that won't be used on RPU back to the wrecking yard. While there, the owner gave me a couple of pieces, including 3/4 of a roadster windshield frame. It's rough, but I just sort of stuck it on to see how it would look;
Yesterday worked on more 283 tear down, but first poured diesel onto the pistons and into the lifter valley to penetrate the rust and help things loosen up a bit. Next was pulling the timing cover and removing timing chain. Just another example of how dirty this engine was inside; Decided to just use the death wheel to cut and remove the chain; With the chain removed, tried grabbing the timing gear and tried to rotate cam. Nope. Got a brass drift and small ball peen, and gently wacked the gear, first clockwise, then counter-clockwise. It began to move, and with each movement began to free up more and more. Once the cam would rotate freely, used a hooked pick to grab the lifters and pull them up as far as they'd go, and eventually had enough room to slowly work the cam out of the block. Picture is a little blurry, my hands were too greasy to worry about focusing; Next up was getting the lifters out without ruining the lifter bores. I was able to pull 4 out of the block easily, the other 12 were shoved down and out thru the bottom; Today was more engine cleaning and soaking with diesel, and also gave the top of each piston a whack with a wood block and hammer. In more exciting and less greasy news, tonight I brought home the camshaft for this engine. That deserves it's own post.
The famed 283 Duntov Cam. The subject came up at one of the Saturday evening cruise-ins downtown, when I mentioned building a 283 for my RPU. An older local rodder (older is relative, at 69, I'm one of the youngsters), more known for his carb building and tuning skills, said he had a genuine Duntov out of a 270 horse 283. My ears perked right up, and asked many questions. His answers led me to believe this could be the real deal. This evening we finally hooked up and I went over to his house. He'd received the cam from another local rodder he'd done carb and tuning for, and the story was the low hours 283 "blew up", had been stripped of usable parts, the original dual quads had ended up on the replacement 327 and the cam given to my friend. As he showed me the cam, I eagerly looked for the casting number, and there it was "3736098". On older Chevy parts, the official part number was often very close or just one digit off of the casting number. From what I've read, this was the correct casting number for the "3736097" Duntov Cam. Next I looked at condition, fearing whatever had taken out the motor might well have damaged the cam. It looks pristine, not a mark on it anywhere. I understand there's a risk in using a used camshaft. I'm doing it.
I've started reading your RPU build, there are not enough fabulous superlatives to describe your work. Wow. My aspirations are not quite as lofty, but it's good to read and understand how you go about your builds. Even at 69, I'm still learning and that's what keeps life interesting. I also enjoyed seeing your fathers involvement in the build. Awesome.
After reading many reviews and asking trustworthy people their opinions, found a machine shop to do my engine work. It is the old Napa machine shop in La Grande, I'd talked to them but was still unsure, then was at a car cruise and a guy had a photo album of his build and in it were pictures of his engine being worked on at the machine shop by the same fellow I talked to on the phone. The guy with the photo album was very happy with their work, so that clinched it. Took the 283 Power Pack heads in a couple days ago, the block will follow as soon as I have time to make the drive to Madras and pick up the pistons and engine kit.
Finish stripping the 283 down to the block today. My main concern at this point is the hope that the #1 cylinder will clean up with a .030" bore job, so that the Speedway kit I've located will actually work. When I started today; The "bad" cylinder; Before pulling the pistons, rods n mains, marked them front to back (just in case we reuse any of these parts); #2 rod cap off, all the bearings looked like this; The pistons all came out fairly easily (very little ridge), the biggest hang up were the small ends of the rods were pretty stuck on a few of them, but that was no big deal. Bare block, ready to have the soft plugs and oil galley plugs removed and hot tanked; I'm planning to ball hone the cylinders, just to see how much they'll clean up and just to get a better idea if the .030" bore might work. Hone is on order.
Manifold and carbs arrived today, carbs are a little rough and some incorrect pieces, the manifold needs a small repair where the coil mounts at rear, and missing some linkage, but otherwise looks decent enough;
I'd like to add a "disclaimer" on any comments I've made regarding the 270 hp 283, and whatever I hope this engine to be once it's installed in the RPU. As I've searched for information on my carbs, and what is needed to make them serviceable, I've ran into countless articles on what are the "correct" carbs, parts, casting numbers etcetera for either 245 hp or 270 hp 283's. My engine will be a combination of parts that are not technically either 245 or 270, but will look reasonably close to the casual observer. It will basically be a 220 hp 283 power pack with a Duntov 097 cam and semi-original dual quads.
Cylinder heads should be done soon, and as it turns out, the only thing they are reusing is the castings. As far as the block goes, finally got a ball hone so I could at least get an idea if the .030" overbore is gonna clean up the block. Didn't spend a bunch of time honing and feel optimistic at this point. Drivers side cylinders, #1 is the most concerning, this after a fairly short time with ball hone; Closer look at #1; Passenger side cylinders after a very brief hone; Will probably drop the block off for hot tanking and magnafluxing next week, then go back by when I pick up the pistons in mid September.
Some parts came in today, but before revealing them, I need to explain something. As the cam and intake were found and the engine plan was resolving, was reading more and more about 283 history and especially performance related. I kept landing on the fabled '57 Black Widow, and what a car that was! The semi factory sponsored NASCAR spec'd fuel injected 283 horse 283, close ratio 3 speed, Fenton cast iron headers, 3.90 rear gears with six lug wheels and more. I also read there were only 6 originally built but there were many clones. In a lot of cases they were converted back to dual quads for tuning purposes. Regardless, a Black Widow with Buck Baker driving did win the NASCAR championship in '57. So all that being said, I'm planning to build the RPU with a Black Widow theme or flavor. I already have a pretty clean set of tri-five steel wheels, now I have the '57 dog dish caps to go with them; Not perfect, but decent.
Thursday we head to Central Oregon to pick up the 283 engine kit, this is an old Speedway kit that is supposed to be balanced and includes crank, rods, pistons, rings, bearings, etc. When we return, these parts and the block will be taken to the machine shop in La Grande for evaluation. Like all of you, time and money is a consideration and I'm gradually fixing and selling some old bikes to help pay for the bits and pieces as I go. So progress might seem a bit slow but nothing I can do about that but slog forward. Even with the 283 engine kit, i'm trading an old bike as part of that deal. LOL Even though I may not be able to just buy everything at once, that might be a good thing as there's plenty of time to ponder what are the "right" pieces for this rod? Originally I thought buying pieces off Speedway for the suspension and steering would be easy, but now realize here are so many choices, I could use some advice. Let me explain what I have, where I'd like to go, then please give your considered opinions. Thanks! ~Starting with a stock Model A frame, that has a good rear crossmember but front crossmember is cracked and needs replaced. ~Front axle is a drilled Speedway 4" drop that was one of their clearance items (cheap) ~Rear end is out of a S10 Blazer with disc brakes I've abandoned the idea of using the S10 leaf springs and will go with transverse springs front and rear. On the front I will need a crossmember, spring and shackles, split wishbones or hairpins, small rotor disc brake kit and steering. On the rear will need the spring, weld on shackle and trailing arm mounts (?) split wishbones or trailing arms, shock mounts etcetera. I'm open to thoughts and suggestions. For me, simple is better. Thanks again, I realize there are multiple answers to all the above.
Made the trip to Central Oregon, traded a restorable '70 Suzuki TC90 and a case of beer (Irish Death) for the 283 engine parts. All the parts are still in great shape, the only exception is the crank which has some light rusting, but I'm hoping that can be polished without turning. The next step is to load the 283 block into my pickup, then take the block and all parts to the machine shop.
Suggestion on making the cab back using stuff you already had. Could use the rough leftover door to extend the cab quarter panels.
Back when I was trying to piece together a 29 rpu my original plan was to buy three doors to do exactly my suggestion. Two to use as doors and the third to split in half and make into cab quarters. May still do it someday. I still have a 29 cc cowl I got from a 29 aa truck that had been turned into a log skidder in the 50s lol
Finally found a pic of our old Model A doodlebug, our dad is driving in the local parade. The original '29 grill shell was trimmed on the bottom, turned around and used as a dash cowl, then a hood made of sheet metal formed between the '31 grill shell and the '29. Engine is red, rebuilt with Mallory ignition, seat is red naugahyde. Air brakes were home made. Model A 3 speed feeding into Chevy truck 4 speed (reversed for reduction). We used this to plow, disc and harrow and is what I learned to drive on.
So this is the one my brother and I built as a tribute to the original. It's kind of similar. Lol The bed was added to balance the awkward look and is what sent me down the RPU path.
Engine update; block has been hot tanked and magnafluxed. Block passed the magnaflux test, so it's on to machine work. The Speedway "balanced" crank has been shipped out for regrinding, at least on the main journals. Also received an unexpected gift from my old friend Bill, an avid hot rodder and Mopar aficionado who races a 426 Hemi Coronet and has taken an interest in the RPU project; These will be perfect on the little dual quad 283! Bill delivered the valve covers this weekend when he and my brother Chuck came over to ride vintage bikes. All three of these bikes were salvaged/rebuilt in my shop. The SL350 is mine, I've had many over the years and raced them from dirt track, motocross and even the Mexican 1000. My brothers Kawasaki 175 Bushwacker is exactly like his high school bike and Bill's SL175 is exactly like my dad's bike that I also rode in high school; Wild Hogs! LOL
The Jalopy Journal
