Got 2 out of 4 pistons that I tried out today. One I drove in the wrong direction. Now I know what "They won't all come out the same side" means. Anyways, to 4th I got to excited about and moved it to far, so the connecting rod is in the opposite piston now. Not stuck, but I need to come up with a way to beat on it. Something I noticed on the two connection rods I got out, one has the Ford-Logo cast in, the other one don't. Is that normal?
it was most likely a cobbled together engine, ive noticed that on a few flatheads of people ive known.
Well, I decides to spend some time on my truck to get it more dependable. Like putting floors in and that kinda stuff... I still got 3 pistons stuck that I'm treating with ATF and Acetone, but no luck so far. Got me the valve tool, but haven't been able to try it yet.
Find someone local with experience and a whole library of flathead valve tools...on a rusty and stuck engine, getting early valvetrain apart by the book with just the valve bar will leave you a prematurely aged, bitter, and antisocial recluse, unless you bleed to death before finishing. There are secret shortcuts and special tools that might make this survivable and perhaps quicker than the whole rest of your education. Most likely you are not planning to save any rusted up valvage, and that allows some of the more barbaric shortcuts.
Alright, so I finally got to work on this beast again! Got the last 3 pistons out and also the fuel pump and gear cover. Next are the valves. We'll see how bad that'll be. I'll try the valve tool I got and if that doesn't go to well, I'll just follow Bruce's advice I'll keep you guys posted!
There is no progress to be made with bare hands: Waiting for some tools to come in now, so I can get them valves out... Man I'll be glad once I got all that sludge out!
As Mr. Lancaster said, you might want to save the time and just cut the valves out. More than likely, you'd switch to later style valves anyhow.
dang man! thats crrruusssttyy lookin. you might want to soak that thing in some parts cleaner/diesel for a week. and yeah might as well just cut valves out at that point ****if they dont move. i got a bunch of extras ill give you! free you pay shipping.
Like I said before, I don't really have any plans for this motor, so I'm just playing with it. If it's willing to cooperate good, if not I'll something more powerful to it. For me it's the experience that makes it worth going the extra mile. If I end up with a build able block, that's just a bonus! Thanks for the offer, Johnny! I might hit you up later on...
just an FYI for those that haven't thought of it, a serpentine belt tool is great for reaching into the block to get the bolts off in the tight spots. Most auto parts stores will loan you one if you don't have one, but might flinch if you tell them what you are using it for! feelin your pain on the dis***embly, too. I had one 49 engine that I finally had to take a grinder with a 4" cutting disk on it to cut 3 of the rods in half to get the crank out, then had to put a piece of pipe on the stubs to drive the pistons out. Also wound up cutting most of the valves/springs inside the block, driving them up enough to cut the valve heads off, then driving the guides, valve, and all out by driving them into the valve gallery with a punch. even after all that abuse, the block is usable with a couple of sleeved cylinders. I still haven't been motivated enough to try to dis***emble the fordomatic that came bolted onto it. good luck with the enigine! Keith
Thanks Keith and Larry! I finally got my tools from Flathead Jack and got started right away. The horse shoe clips were a piece of cake with that special tool. But even with the valve ***embly removal tool I'm having troubles getting them out. With the valve spring retainer still installed, I can't lift the valve up high enough to get the tool working. And with the retainer removed, the guides will crack once I start cranking on the tool. With is not a big deal, because I won't reuse the guides anyways, but I hope I don't mess up the block doing it. When removing the valves, I noticed that there are a lot of different ones, different stamps on the face. Here is a little valve designation thread I started, feel free to add some information. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=597436
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