Hard to believe that it was the end of June when I last updated this build. After some delays I managed to get the engine reinstalled and all of the other items reattached. Clutch engagement is better for certain but after driving the car for a few miles around town there is still a bit of chatter which is annoying but I will keep driving it to see if it works itself in. Still have a rear seal leak. Talking with Tony at Ross Racing he said he gave up on those aftermarket seal kits and now machines his blocks and crank for a custom seal that has fixed that issue. Well, that is not going to be an option here so I am going to go back to a good rope seal. I mean what other choice is there at this point! That is on the winter list now. Finally got the time to get out on the highway and run up to speed for a good distance. After about five miles at around 55-60 I had enough oil spray on my windshield that I had to stop and clean it off. Back to the garage to look into the reason for that. Found that the oil was actually coming from the oil fill tube out thru the oil cap. On further inspection I noticed that the oil diffuser that should be inserted into the bottom of the oil fill tube was not there. Found one in my stash and installed that so that may remedy that situation. However, at this time I felt it might be prudent to do a leak down test to rule out any issues. Ran the car around the block to get it warmed up, then pulled all the plugs and ran the test. Sadly, #1 and #4 are leaking by at 65 and 45 percent while the others are in the 10-20 range. I did not assemble this short block. I had the machine shop do the heads and the short block and I assembled it from there so who knows what is going on with these two cylinders other than the obvious. This thing has been fighting me for most of it's new life but you know that is the way it goes at times. Admittedly, I am disappointed with this new development but will tear this engine down this winter to see what is going on. Meanwhile, I have ordered all the material to close up the top from Brattons. Great company to work with and I should see the long grain roof material this coming week. On a recent trip up to Maine the wife dragged me into a discount fabric outlet where she could purchase some new material for her cushion project. Well wouldn't you know I managed to find some vinyl material that looks quite a lot like the early GM headliner material with all those tiny little holes so I grabbed 2 yards of it for $10 bucks. Then I found some complete cow hides that were priced at $149 each but despite the opportunity I could not find a color that I liked but that would have been a real bargain. Back in the garage now, I had some bead board left over from that kitchen project and I thought I would make an insert from it to cover the roof instead of the usual chicken wire. I like the exposed oak rails and figured I could add the insert above them after I covered it with this new material I purchased. Did a dry run withthe panels and it appears that it will look pretty good so I laid out th material and marked everything up to get it to align than cut some material. .Shot it all with 3M interior glue and slapped it together. Now I need to let it dry overnight so I can slip these two pieces in between the roof and the rails. Work on that tomorrow. Here is what the glued up pieces look like This should help lighten up the interior and will put a different spin on the interior. I made it in 2 pieces to make it easier to install. After it is in you will not see the seam as it is right above the larger oak bow. I will shoot some pics as this moves along. Still undecided on what color interior to do. Have looked at the usual colors but seem to be leaning toward a stressed brown material. Time will tell.
Roof panels dried overnight so I installed them this morning. Nice improvement for the interior. I countersunk #4 brass screws into each roof bow that really tightened the panels up. Now I am waiting for the top kit to arrive, then we can begin the long grain installation on the top. ...
That top treatment is beautiful. I like the wood with the white! Sorry to hear about the engine problems. I did the same, had the machine shop assemble the short block and heads because I was recovering from heart surgery. Normally, I would do it myself, just ‘cause. Thanks for letting us know how important that little baffle is to the oil control at the breather pipe. Sounds like you got to drive it a bit, did your transmission behave?
Thanks Bob. The trans still has a mind of it's own with regard to 2nd gear when coasting but not as bad as before. I will live with it for now. This winter I may pull the engine again and disassemble it to do some CSI. Hopefully, I will find the answers as to the leak down. This engine was a replacement the machinist had in his shop. My 324 that was to be rebuilt did not pass his inspection, so he sold me this one. Don't know if it is relative or not but I do often wonder what I ended up with
Carnak: “modern five speed transmission” Envelope: “what do old timers do when their favorite old transmissions fail to cooperate?” I’ve got a T5, adapter, flywheel, clutch and pressure plate all ready in case my beautiful old B&M Hydro doesn’t work. It’s been sitting a long time, don’t know what to expect. Sounds like a fun-filled off season….
Been working on the top installation. Tedious time consuming operation. Took the car out into the sun and tacked the long grain vinyl down in the back and front at about every three inches. On the advice of Paul Schinn, I wisely added some black silicone to the metal edge prior to tacking the material down. Put the car away until the next day and then began to add the hidem with nails at every hole that was available. I stopped counting after 300! But I managed to get thru all of it without hitting my finger so that in itself makes it quite successful! Again, I added the silicone under the hidem to ensure a water tight (if there is such a thing) seal. It came out well but I surely won't be looking forward to doing another one. I used the tape to mark exactly where each hole was making it a bit easier inserting the nails in the right spot. It also kept the rtv in check and allowed me to have a fairly good line to follow. And the finished top: ...
This afternoon I decided that the 50 Ford clock had to go. It stopped working and really isn't something that has much value as far as instruments are concerned in as much as we all carry some modern device with us that easily provides the time. I had a tach on my engine stand from SunPro which on closer investigation appeared to be just about the right size to fit in the hole of the dash. I removed the clock assembly and disassembled it leaving me with the movement and the enclosure with the glass face. I separated the two halves of the housing and then soaked the chrome bezel with the glass in gasoline for around 20 minutes. That loosened up the rubber cement Ford used to keep the glass attached to the bezel. Used a razor knife to go around the edge and the glass came out easily. Bent up a U- shaped bracket with wings to hold all three pieces together. Test fit it in the dash and I think it is going to turn out looking ok. Tomorrow, I will pull it out and rewire it for the final install. I will take some shots of the pieces for reference. This is what it looks like tonight.
Some guys have all the luck. That tach fits like it belongs there. Looks great. I have a nice early tach that’s just perfect for my Stude pickup but it can’t be mounted on the steering column and I can’t bring myself to drill holes in the dash. Yours was made for it. Very cool.
Here are the pics of the tach install. First is the old clock removed from the dash And the rear which will show the inner shell that has to be removed by removing the crimp points along the edge Now the inner shell can be installed over the tach body. It is an interference fit and once it is on it likely will not come off so ensure that the tach is centered in the correct position before you are done. Notice the glass is cemented into the front bezel Soaking the glass in gasoline for around 20 minutes allowed the glue to relax and the glass was easily removed. Now I extended the wiring harness And fabbed up a new bracket (painted it before final install) Then assembled it. Ready to be put back in the dash and wired in .....
Guess it is time to jump back in and update this thread. I have taken some time off after finishing the roof install. Been screwing around with some heart issues that frankly no one has been able to give me any concrete answer on. Going for round 3 next month with yet a new doc. So, I have been taking it slow and put the hot rod on the back burner albeit that it was constantly on my mind. Last week I went out to the shop and tore the engine apart. Determined to see why I have so much leakage in 5 cylinders. Pulled the offending pistons out and can't seem to see any reason for the problem. Rings look good, gaps are at 16 thou, cylinders appear to look good. Talked to Tony at Ross and he suggested honing the cylinders and installing new rings. At this point I don't know that I have any better choice so I have ordered Sealed Power rings and all the gaskets. While I am in there I am going to replace the rear seal as the new neoprene piece leaks. Going to try a rope seal to see if I have any better luck. Fingers crossed on that one for sure. ....
Wishing you the best on the heart issues Walt. They can be difficult to clearly diagnose, takes a sharp Dr or two. Take it easy, pay close attention to the classic symptoms and don’t hesitate to get help. I really want to see you conquer that transmission and the oil leak. God bless.
Update! Parts have arrived and I am back in the shop finally. I received a Felpro rear rope seal so we gave it a go to see if we could get the seal pulled thru using a rear seal kit. That did not go well even with loosening all the main caps to gain a bit of space. In the end it became clear we would never get the seal installed without damaging it leading to the conclusion that we may be faced with a leaking seal again so.......... Today I am pulling the engine again and will tear this block apart, remove the crank and install the seal with the hope that this will end this menacing leak. In the meantime, I bought a Offy 2x4 intake for the 324 that came in last week only to discover that it is a small port manifold that will not fit the #10 heads. Bummer! Put that on the shelf for the moment and will deal with that later. Also picked up three 4GC's from Heathen, one of which is a new unit that was provided by GM to an auto class at a school. It has never been on an engine and looks fairly complete so eventually it will go on the correct manifold and be installed on the Olds. Well back to the shop now. More to come later.
I hate to say it but I'm afraid you are never going to get to drive this car. Beautiful job you're doing though. I guess I like driving them more than working on them. Sorry if I'm negative.
Why the Offy 4x2 manifold? It looks like you’ve got a nice Edelbrock 4x2 setup on there now. Are you looking to try Rochesters instead of the 97s? Nice to have options for sure. Good luck with the main seal.
Wouldn't say your being negative, rather a good observation clearly! This project has had its challenges for certain. No one to hold responsible other than myself. Hindsight is always 2020 as they say. Most likely my lack of experience in some matters added to the pain but that is just how it is. Just like options I guess. The plan at the moment is to go back to 3x2's with the 97's. The 4x2 set up kept the generator too high and interfered with adding a hood whereas the 3x2 will just fit with a hood and keeps the generator under the hood. Got the engine out and torn apart yesterday. Got that down to a science! Takes about three hours as a rule although with the heads off it seemed to be quicker this time around. While it is out I may do a repaint. Thinking Gold would look good with the car being black. And might try switching up to an all synchro top loader That would be neat.
Engine is out and blown apart. Honed the cylinders yesterday and installed the crank this morning with a new rope seal. Started cleaning the pistons and then noticed that the rings I had purchased are Sealed Power vintage pieces with ductile iron rings. While I am certain that these were used back in the day I wonder if I should be using a more modern design like the chrome moly pieces???? I do not do anywhere enough engine work to feel like I know the benefits. May as well look into this now rather than proceeding with the vintage set. I bet you guys can straighten me out on this subject
Well there you go! Guess there are moly rings and chrome rings but not necessarily chrome moly. Looks like I need Moly rings according to a post I found. Now to locate them.
I have been following your build. I am 73 and decided that I couldn’t finish the restoration of my grandfather’s model A. I sold it along with several truck loads of parts. A hot rod popped up on one of the auction sites that I watch. It was in Texas and was affordable with the money I got from the sale. It’s not perfect but it is drivable. I love reading about the work you and several others are doing with their hot rods. In my younger days, I used “single” moly rings rather than chrome because chrome takes longer to seat in. I have been told that chrome rings are harder on the block, wear. I am trying to keep going with having heart problems as well, one chamber doesn’t function properly.
@vtwhead , Your perseverance is inspiring! Thanks for all the detailed posts in this thread showing all the work you have done. You have built yourself one nice Hot Rod and hopefully it won't be too long before it's running and driving down the road again.
Thanks fellas, for the input and comments. Always appreciated. I got a text from our resident expert (Tony) which said MOLY! Called Sealed Power and the tech said the rings I have are moly. Imagine that, the stars aligned finally! Yesterday I installed the new rings and put the pistons back in except number 2. It has a rough looking insert. Maybe some crud left over from the engine rebuild snuck in there and cut some grooves in the shell. Going to source one bearing tomorrow, I hope. Put the timing chain cover on with a new crank seal and painted the oil pan after flattening out the edge from years of over tightening. Ah, also located a 303 top loader from a 68 stang that is close by so I may just pick that up and rebuild it as an alternate for the near future.
Moving along slowly. Nothing happens quickly it seems when it comes to working on these Olds engines, Finally found a rod bearing over on the auction sight. That took a week to get here, but in the meantime all my gaskets and push rods arrived thanks to Tony at Ross Racing. I installed the rod bearing and installed the oil pump and then the pan. Worked on cleaning and prepping pieces and parts for some primer and Gold paint. Sprayed the block and pulled it off the stand to mount it on the engine run stand. This morning I painted the heads so I will wait now until tomorrow to do the final prep prior to mounting. I am waiting for a friend to help me figure out the compression on this engine. There is 0 quench as the block and the heads have been resurfaced. The block ID on the lower tab is completely gone as a result of the resurface. The #10 heads were known to raise the compression by a point from 8.25 to 9.25 when used as a replacement for the earlier heads. These have also been resurfaced so this is a gray area in my mind as to where the compression is currently. Think it is worth checking before we go much farther. I picked up that top loader and have located an adapter from Olds to Ford. Now another learning curve presents itself as I know nothing about these Ford top loaders other than what I have read in posts here on the forum. This one is a RAN-S out of a 68 Mustang with the 9 1/4 case that will accept the Jeep 150 shift tower. @51box runs one behind his Cad in his new roadster so I have reached out to him for some additional info.
Yesterday I got the heads finished and bolted them on to the engine. Things are moving right along now. Max sent me my last 97 base that he performed his magic on so things were looking good..............then when getting ready to put the valley cover on I dropped one of the bolts right into the valley and the bitch found it's way past everything straight into the pan! Tried for a long time to retrieve it. Drained out the 2 quarts of oil in the pan and fished around with the magnet but nothing was within reach. Today I will have to pull the pan. I am glad I am not a "drinkin man" Oh well, stupid mistake on my part. Just pushing too hard to get this done.
More productive day yesterday after removing the pan and retrieving the aforementioned bolt things progressed rather well. Got the intake on and the carbs mounted. Now it is down to the simpler items that seem to take too much time. Will mount the radiator with the electric fan and then need to wire up this mess to fire the engine and hope my rear seal leak has disappeared.
I see you didn’t get a response to you comment about “zero quench”. If the block was zero decked, whatever the compressed thickness of your headgasket is, will be you “quench”. If you know the combustion chamber volume of your heads and valve relief (if any) volume on the pistons, you can get quick and dirty results from the Summit racing calculator. If you know the actual head gasket bore size, you can get the results from the Wallace Racing calculator. You will need cylinder bore size and crank stroke in either case as well. Keep on at it, watching TV sucks. Edit: I’m assuming flat top pistons (in the pic it appeared so). Otherwise you have to add some more numbers for dished pistons. But sorry, just relooked and expanded the pic. There are no pistons in your pic.
Thanks for the reply, Budget. After researching all the criteria for determining compression ratios and looking at a few web sites I arrived at around 10:1. The quench ended up at .045 which is the compressed thickness of the old head gaskets and the heads I cc'd at 73. However, considering I am known for overlooking stuff in the end I called on our resident expert in Ohio. Tony asked a few questions and included his knowledge of the Best gaskets said I am good at right around 9.25. Works for me, onward we go.
Update. I have run the engine and have only a few water leaks that I am dealing with. Got the 97's fairly well balanced and am playing with timing and advance points at the moment. Picked up a T150 shift tower today at the local yard that is destined for my new top loader. Got the trans all apart and am waiting to take the case to a shop to have it vat cleaned. Looks like the shifter tower will need forks as the existing one are worn rather badly. They are readily available so that does not present any issues. Got the top loader tail stock completely detailed and painted. Still have to order a rebuild kit for the top loader. Found a 304 adapter from Offy on the left coast which was shipped yesterday so things are progressing fairly well. In the meantime, I have a 51 3100 Chev in the garage that the owner wants me to get running so I have been toying with that in my spare time. Stocker by every means and a 216 at that. Great little motor. Don't know why the distributor is 180 out. Maybe that is why is sets in my shop. Actually in great shape. I was pleasantly surprised by its condition. More to come.
Work continues on the top loader. My 304 adapter is due to arrive Tuesday so this weekend I took the top cover apart so that I could replace the 2 shifting forks and to get it cleaned up for a fresh coat of paint Got the shift lever detailed and into primer as well. Then cleaned the inside of the case and built wood covers for it so that I can hit it with black beauty this morning. After that I will get it into a fresh coat of paint. Then I will order a rebuild kit from Novak or one of the quality vendors that support the top loaders.
Hey Walt, the gold looks great! Can’t wait to see that beauty in the car with the white firewall and the black. Totally classic look.
Thanks Bob! Might be a while though as I am now installing that top loader which will require considerable reengineering
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