Projects Mish-Mash Nash -'52 Rambler Wagon

Cylinder heads look good and are the 10.25 variety as expected:





No nuts down the intake.



Bottom end looks good, the rod journals surprisingly nice:



Rod bearings show wear, but little to no scoring:





Pistons show some significant wear on the skirts, #8, on the right in the below image being the worst of the bunch:



Broken top ring on #2:



#7 is the worst bore, showing some vertical scoring:



On the bright side, I have two blocks to chose from now, and have the heads I've been looking for, so I'm in good shape.

 

As long as the Alum isn't rotted in the block, heads or waterpump area - you're golden...
Marcus...

 

Coolant passages look good, and I even had to drain a bit of coolant out, so I'm in the clear there.

Water pump was replaced at some point, and not too many miles on it:





Considering a NOS or rebuilt water pump is in the $200+ range, I'm good with this. This one is definitely better than the other used one I have, and I can't use the later Buick 300 style due to how the alternator bracket mounts.

Timing cover is a bit worse for wear, and has some corrosion in one spot, plus, the usual oil pump gear wear:







Crank (and specifically the journals) looks very nice:





Main bearings look to be original?:

 

Yup, corrosion from wrong type antifreeze, or none at all, is the old die-cast Alum engine killer.
As for the corrosion that's there, those Alum "welding/soldering" sticks actually work well - if used correctly. Getting(& keeping) things clean & not overheating the parts is the trick. You've got a good start. .
Marcus...

 

Amazing rescue.
Keep it coming.
Thanks

 

I started cleaning the block tonight, and after knocking out the freeze plugs, had a peek inside each hole:





There was a tiny bit of crusty stuff around the freeze plugs, but the inside of the block looks good and water flowed through all passages and holes cleanly.

I got the heads 90% clean, with some stubborn areas yet to do, but no surprises, really. There are some tiny pits on the quench pad areas on one head, which only became apparent when my phone camera auto-focused:





I also took some time to button things up on the body, making sure I covered any bare metal areas. It has been humid here, especially when there's a NE, E, or SE wind blowing all of that Lake Michigan moisture inland:



I did get the new RH rocker panel fully welded in place, but I still need to add another small patch and replace the bottom of the B-pillar/door jamb (yellow arrow above) before I can get some primer on the bare metal.

I found a good deal on a Melling oil pump kit, too, which arrived the other day:

 

I found another Olds 215 locally, drove to check it out this morning, and not surprisingly, ended up bringing it home. The seller's pics were good enough to show some rust damage in the cylinder bores, and on the polished surfaces of the crankshaft and cam, so, I wasn't expecting a useable block. Everything appeared to have been sitting on a concrete floor in a non humidity controlled environment-- not ideal for bare steel and iron. Fortunately I already have two good blocks, crankshafts, and camshafts, so the condition of these parts wasn't a deal killer:







The good news is this engine is a '63 4-bbl with good cylinder heads, and as I discovered after removing the oil and water pumps, a very nice timing cover, too. The spark plugs all came out with some persuasion and multiple doses of penetrating oil, but I saw no stripped out threads in the spark plug holes. I noticed some slightly rusty valve stems, but will find out more once I break the heads down:





One bummer, however. Whoever separated the heads from the block used a screwdriver or similar, and gouged the face of the head, right across the oil feed passage. Not great, but fixable, and thankfully, the gouge isn't too deep.



I needed a second oil pan, and this one is in great shape, so I'm happy:

 

Seeing how many of the basic gaskets for an Olds 215 are now out of production or soon to be, I figured I should stock up while I'm able.



Rockauto still has a few items available, and using a 1990 AC Delco catalog I was able to find a N.O.S. starter drive, as well as freeze plugs, and a set of steel head gaskets for a Buick 215...which I think I can make work on the Olds 215.

I recall @young olds mentioned elsewhere on the web he sent a steel shim gasket to Cometic a while ago, so that might be an option, but I like to have multiple options on hand, if needed. The stock gaskets are single layer steel, and composite head gaskets are available from Best, but the composite Buick 215 gaskets were not expensive, and were easily available.

 

I did send them a head gasket so they could make me some. As I recall they told me now that it’s on file anyone could order a gasket without having to send an example in.

 

I grabbed all the usable parts off a 2-bbl '61 Olds 215 at the salvage yard yesterday, mostly for the P/S bracket and pulley, the latter of which I did not have. The timing cover is good, not great, but the oil pan is dent free, and the residue inside was minimal-- a bit surprising, actually, but I'll take it. The crank pulley is rather crusty and dented in two spots, but might be savable. Both rocker shaft assembles are dirty, but a soak in lacquer thinner should work wonders.



I also checked out a '59 Edsel sedan, and thought the tail lights might prove useful, as they are small, round, and simple in shape. I grabbed two red lenses, three bezels, and three bases:



I also found two more C-pillar mounted interior lights in a Hudson Hornet:

 

That is great that you can still find that old stuff in yards around there. Good catch!

 

It really is, so I try to take advantage of the opportunity while I can. It's really just a treat to be able to walk among these old vehicles, climb into them, check out the dashboards and other details, interesting textures on various parts, etc.

I disassembled the power steering pump tonight, and it looks very clean inside. I didn't notice any obvious damage nor heavy wear, so I ordered a seal kit and will clean the parts while I wait for that to arrive.

 

New starter bushings and brushes arrived yesterday, so I continued working on the starters. I took most of the parts from the rebuilt Buick 300 starter I purchased a few months ago and reassembled them onto the Olds 215- specific nosecone, and test fit it on the engine block I had in hand at the time, confirming it physically fit.

After acquiring Olds 215 #2, and after tearing it down, I test fit the reassembled starter onto block #2 and discovered it did not fit. The starter body contacts the block's ribbing just enough to prevent the nosecone's ears from sitting flush with the block... not good.

I'm assuming the starter was upsized when the Buick 300 was released, so the small difference in main body diameter is an issue when used on Olds 215 blocks.

Reassembled Buick 300 starter parts + Olds 215 nosecone:



Buick 300 vs. Olds 215 starter armature, starter drive, etc.:



I was puzzled by the extra(?) spring present on the Olds 215 starter, too. Looking at the chewed up teeth at the flywheel end of the starter drive, I'm wondering if someone added the spring at some point to make up for the lack of engagement or...? I have no idea, and the spring prevents the starter drive from fully retracting, so if the spring is a factory piece, I'm even more puzzled.

Comparison of the Buick 215 and Olds 215 starter bodies, showing their different diameters:



After removing the snap ting are sliding off the chewed up Olds 215 starter drive, I discovered where the rear starter drive bushing went:



I bough a pack of five front and rear bushings, enough to do at least two starters, so, thank goodness for designed in wear parts.

 

Bravo @In_The_Pink
"Tenacity, plus focus, is the fuel that feeds the ultimate perfection, of the task at hand"
"Never underestimate the power and the luxury of financial stability"

Thanks from Dennis, for sharing all of the amazing details and great photos of how this build is making progress!

​

 

Another odd thing about the Olds 215 starter is the presence of a rubber solenoid boot, like so:



Digging around online I found out the rubber boots were used on marine applications, which makes sense, so I'm guessing they were used on 215s because the solenoid hangs down underneath the starter motor in the six o'clock position and is prone to getting wet? Not sure, but I decided to order some boots and play it safe, so I'll have to wait for those to arrive to finish reassembling the starter.

The power steering pump seal kit I ordered arrived today, though, so I cleaned all the parts from the disassembled pump and started putting it back together. I took pics as I was disassembling the pump, which proved very useful as I was reassembling it, but this Corvette Restoration page shows the process clearly: https://www.corvette-restoration.com/2006/08/13/power-steering-pump-rebuild/

Not difficult (once you get the pulley removed), but experience does help. I forgot to install the shaft retaining ring and didn't have the locating pins fully seated at first, so I had to disassemble things a time or two, but ultimately I got it back together. I decided to repaint it after it was reassembled, so the next time the garage is heated up (or when it gets above 45*F here-- it's currently 10*F), I will prime and paint it.

 

After a trip to the local self-serve media blaster, clean metal parts:



The lone "good" semi-corroded cast aluminum water outlet I have (left, below) looks even worse after the glass bead blasting, so a new (old stock) one will need to be purchased:



All of the alternator rebuild parts I purchased arrived by yesterday...:



...so I got busy reassembling. I found this Super Slick Stuff lube/protectant at Lowe's by chance, and it seemed to be what I was looking for to spray on the cast aluminum alternator case halves, so I tried it and was impressed. It has a pleasant, faint orange scent and seems to do what it says, so we will see how it holds up long term:





Alternator reassembly was straightforward, but I forgot to bring the pulley along to the media blaster, so no front view yet:



One slip ring has a few very shallow grooves, but otherwise both cleaned up fine:





Also shown above is the sub-harness I purchased, since this is a '75 10SI internally regulated, 37 amp output version. Might need to upgrade in the future, but it should be fine for now.

I also discovered some heavy wear on the ends of the starter clutch fork, so not feeling great about reusing it. New 10MT fork on left below, worn 8MT on right:





Not sure if the same fork was used on other GM 8MT starter applications, so looks like I have more research to do.

 

I found and purchased a N.O.S. shift lever on eBay, so the starter is back together after some paint work.



New vs. heavily used shift lever:







Tested and working, too. It turns out the GM H-bodies (Vega/Monza/Astre, etc.) used the 8MT starter, so good to know if and when I need another.

I cleaned up the alternator pulley, fan, and nut with a wire wheel then painted and installed them on the alternator, so that is finished, too:



Not sure if this is the correct fan for this alternator as there is a slot for a woodruff key present. The shaft in my alternator does not have a keyway/key, but the fan and pulley nest together perfectly, and everything snugged down properly, so I'n not gonna worry about it.

 

Now that's how to post!
Identify the problem, present the solution with pictures, part numbers and applications!
Future HAMB searches will provide a gold mine here.

 

All presented on clean linen towels to boot! Thanks for letting us follow along!

 

Only the finest Egyptian cotton backdrop for this crowd.

I dug out the distributors I had on hand, hoping to find enough good parts to assemble two solid distributors. One turned out to be for a Buick 225 odd-fire V6, another for a Buick 300 (not surprising, I had two at one time), but the remaining three are all Olds 215, so I disassembled the cleanest looking one and started there.
A good lacquer thinner wash of the metal parts and some light wire brushing, and I was ready for reassembly:



The grease well was filled with vintage Sears white lithium grease...:





...then the plastic cap covers the well, sealing it off:



Below you can see the two ports where the grease can escape the well and provide fresh grease to the shaft:



Next, the felt washer under the breaker plate was soaked with oil:



There is a small wavy snap ring which holds the breaker plate in place, but it was surprisingly robust (it "felt" like spring steel) and went off and back on without issue:



All back together:



Should be enough here to assemble a second, spare distributor:

 

You have a do-it-yourself sandblasting place in Milwaukee? Or was that just a joke I didn't get? Super nice detailing on all this small stuff so far.

 

No joke, though technically in Butler, WI: https://www.u-spray.com/rentals

I think it's $2.00/minute now, IIRC. The pile of parts I showed earlier cost me about $80 to blast.

 

That's pretty cool. Sandblasting makes such a mess and the gear can be a hassle to get working smoothly. I've got my own stuff but I can definitely see where that would be really nice to use someone else's shit sometimes.

 

nice job.

 

Thank you. We'll see how well I did if it fires up on the first try.

The convenience of having a blasting setup at home would be great, but I don't need it that often, and the space requirements and noise that come with the in-home cabinet make the occasional trip to U-SPRAY a better choice for me.

I got into the three water pumps tonight, starting with the most corroded one. The heater hose stub was brittle and crusty, so would be okay I broke the pump body disassembling it...:



That shaft was not budging, even after multiple soaks with penetrating oil.



Some rust on the shaft between the bearing and seal, above.

The aluminum impeller was a bot corroded, too, so I went in with slim hopes of being able to salvage it..:







I was not expecting a (two-piece?) impeller, with a splined iron (looks like sintered iron, maybe?) core, but, there it is. Not sure why it was done this way, but pump #2 has the same impeller, so I will be more careful with that one if I decide to disassemble it. After what I saw with pump #1, I am leaning toward leaving it together, especially after applying penetrating oil to the top (forward) end of the bearing and spinning the shaft multiple times.

One thing I did notice, however, is the seal is on backwards on #2. Not sure if it was rebuilt at some point or what, but here's seal #1, with the splined end for the impeller at the top:




Then pump #3, with that same gold-tinged seal flange visible:




And the seal on pump #2:



That looks upside down to me. I think a leakdown test is in order, and if it passes, this could be my backup pump for now.

 

You know how it is, the magician shows you the trick and then you want to know how.
Press and blocks? Puller with jaws?
Looks like it's a delicate process with special setup and/or tools required.
I guess you can be glad it's not some formed in place plastic!

 

Correction-- four water pumps, and thankfully, I forgot I had the best used one stashed away, so I'm in much better shape than I thought.




I ended up buying some NOS water pump parts for future emergency repair use, but after trying to press one of the old bearings off the shaft with my 12 ton press (and being 100% unsuccessful), I am going to hold off on any more water pump work. My spare water pump spins freely with no bearing noise, so I'll test the seal at some point and hopefully it doesn't leak.






I also had a multi-piece diaphragm style fuel pump I acquired, so I took that apart, expecting the rubber seals to be dry rotted, but they were in very good condition. I am still looking for a modern rebuild kit, but the pump was very clean inside, so nothing really needed beyond the rebuild parts. I think it's an Airtex brand pump, so I should be able to find something which works:

 

"Everything old, is new again"

 

I purchased a new windshield gasket from www.nashramblerrubber.com and it arrived a few days ago. Very pleased with the quality, and a great company to deal with, too. It matches my dry, brittle, original gasket nicely, so I will store the new one in a safe place until it's time to install the windshield.









The original (might actually be a replacement, PPG Duplate, with a 5-62 date code?) windshield glass is still in decent shape, but some water and dirt got in between the two layers along the bottom, so a new one is probably in order. I was able to get the chrome trim pieces removed from the old gasket without any damage, so I should be able to clean up and re-use them.





Also took the plunge and purchased a medium sized ultrasonic cleaning tank, so that should be here soon. I have a bunch of small aluminum parts to clean up, so hopefully this method will work well for the final cleaning stage.

 

Are new windshields being produced for this car? Glad to know I can get a windshield gasket if I need one in the future, would be nice to know the same for the glass.