Projects My first build. 1929/31 model A

More parts coming in: Johnson lifters

 

I have spent my Saturday doing some kind of inventory on my stuff. Will be going to LA in January and will stuff my Rambler wagon with tons of parts, then ship it to Sweden.



Took a peek at my flathead blocks. The two blocks that went to the welder have more cracks, they didn't look good enough and now they need to go back again. I also gave them a four banger head for welding on the outside, and that's been done. However, they missed that the head is cracked across one of the combustion chambers and it's probably just junk.
This is the motor I bought that was supposed to be checked for cracks. Only 14 broken studs in this one, plus cracks the welder didn't fix. They did fix the long cracks between the mains and the sump.





This is my Mercury block with a cracked valve seat, I found two more in this one




And this one was also supposed to be crack free after repair, but I found a couple more. This hasn't been to the welder, it was done by the previous owner in the U.S.



The upper water p***age to the pumps are blocked, is that something I should open up? I also think this block is unevenly top decked, left side has been surfaced down to the valve seats, and the right hand side valve seats are sitting lower compared to the head gasket surface.

This flathead thing is getting frustrating...

 

Bought a Magnaflux spot check kit so I can detect cracks myself. Decent price on Amazon, $90 shipped inc Ca sales tax.

 

After a couple of days off work I had to do some hot rod stuff. I started with trying to find out why it was lower on the drivers side, and upon closer inspection I saw this



As you almost can't see from my way to dark picture, the spacer under the spring is visible on the p***enger side, but not so much on the drivers side. I released the spring and used the torch to heat the crossmember and "adjust" it a bit. Now it's only 5 mm difference in height instead of 15 mm to start with. I'll try to find the last 5 mm in the next round with the project.

I realized I have a digital camber/caster angle finder and it could be handy to set the position of the engine. I found that the engine was lower in the back and the total angle was 3,3*.



I used my jack and raised the engine/gearbox as much as possible, but the center crossmember was in the way to achieve the 0* I was looking for.



I relieved the crossmember a bit and gained some extra room to hit 0*.





The cuts in the crossmember was more of an experiment so I took as little as possible. New cuts will be made and the crossmember will be reinforced to deal with the extra weight from the gearbox. By pure luck I found woodlouse 's tech week thread "AV8 from start to finish" and I will copy his solutions to get this project going.

 

I thought I bought a 39-40 pedal box on eBay today, but on closer inspection I think the seller is wrong. The pedal box looks more like a 35-38 for cars without hydraulic brakes when I compare pictures I've googled. I won the auction before I realized something looked funny. I've sent the seller a message but haven't heard from him yet, hope he will cancel the auction since it was advertised wrong... I think I'll pay a visit to the early ford store in San Dimas and see what they can offer. Second option is Bob Drake and buy their pedal box with double bolt patterns for $275 :-/

 

Why are you looking for the engine to set exactly level? There are a few flathead manifolds that have the carb mounting faces parallel to the block top, but to my understanding, they are quite rare. Stock and most aftermarket manifolds have a built in forward tilt to them and work best with an engine that sets lower in the back..

 

Hmm, I guess because I don't know better . How much angle should I be looking for?

 

The seller was kind enough to cancel the auction so I didn't have to go thru with the purchase. Lesson learned, always check the pictures thoroughly before bidding!

 

If you have a manifold you can set on the block, put your level in the carburetor mounting pad and get that level. I think it's about 3-7 degrees depending on your manifold. Too bad you already cut the crossmember.

 

Thanks for the info! One of the reasons for setting the engine level was the angle on the torque tube. I wanted the torque tube to be angled upwards to the gearbox to keep the oil from running away from the banjo. Maybe better to build a Tardel style baffle in the tube?

The only manifold I have is one from an early 21 stud and one from a 59AB. Might work, I'll check the angle on them.

Well, I'm getting used to make mistakes and fix them afterwards, why should this be any different? Learn by doing

 

Keep the faith on the flathead Bro!...every nerd's "streetrod" has a ME TOO sbc heck they are even named after ****** rodents!....love your wagon by the way and even tho I haven't posted I am following too! Keep at it your doing great!

 

Thanks! I'll try to buy everything I need in the US and bring home with me.

Just got word from my friend yesterday that the wagon looks good and that's good news. Looking forward to check it out in reality!

 

Spent a couple of hours in the shop today and did some metal work.

Tried to put lead on the fuel tank where I cut the filler neck. It will take more then a couple of attempts before I can change my middle name to lead slinger...

And after I "fixed" it...


After sitting and thinking for a while I decided to tack the roof parts in place to see what it looks like. Someone chopped the doors and the windshield frame, but I don't know how much.



Will measure tomorrow but I'd say 3-4" chop on the doors. I'm looking at patch panels but I'm also thinking about selling the project. I've estimated I have roughly $13.000,- in it so far, and I expect to spend as much to get it done. The kind of money I have in it now will buy me a running and driving model a coupe, even here in Sweden. Another aspect is time, this build won't be done in several years and that makes me a bit frustrated. Of course I like the building part of it, but when I'm missing parts and it takes tons of money and long time to get it, it becomes a turn off for me.

What's the procedure with the body wood when a top is chopped? Is there any point in spending $450,- on a wood kit when I want to chop it a couple of inches? Feels like a bad idea to spend that money and start cutting it to prices right away. Use steel tubing instead maybe?

I will continue thinking about what to do...

 

Oh, and I spent a couple of hundred dollars on eBay again. Bought a timesert kit for fixing the threads for head studs in the blocks (cracked between threads and water jackets), and a quick center kit for drilling the 14 broken studs in the 59ab block.

 

I can understand your frustrations.
These things take a long time, and sometimes a lot of money.
Being in Sweden obviously makes it tougher to get parts.

I'll keep watching to see if you buy another or keep going on this.

 

I got two blocks and one four banger head welded and this is what the head looks like...

If you're a professional you should be able to tell the customer that it's no use to fix this. But first of all, you should give the customer an estimate when he asks for it before you begin welding. Especially since the customer (me) asked four times. This head cost $580 to weld, and as you can see it's cracked in one of the chambers as well as between cyl 2 and 3. A brand new head is $490 here in Sweden... Of course I told the welder that I don't accept his invoice.

 

Back from GNRS and I found a lot of stuff to bring home. From Brookville I got cowl panels, full length subframe, patch panels for quarter panels and doors, new skin for the deck lid, new wheel wells, subframe connector, body/frame wood blocks and complete floor panels.

From Speedway i got aluminum bomber seats, Isky cam and springs, dual carb kit with intake, oversize pistons, valve guides, timing sprockets, gaskets, headers, more or less everything I could think of to rebuild one of my engines. I also bought new truck water pumps and a set of used 8BA heads from H&H.

I managed to stuff most of it in my '65 Rambler wagon (that was better than I expected) and the rest in my '64 F100 (found on Craig's list) and they are both on their way to Sweden in containers. Since I bought all the engine parts I found a complete and running 8BA for sale here in Sweden that I had to buy, so when the parts arrive I'll probably end up selling some of them.

Pic of the engine

 

Been following your thread however just received notice of update this morning. Many post from earlier for my review.
You have my respect for following thru on your flathead. Think I'd given up long time ago. Come to think of it-I did in the early 60's.
Like your wagon container also. Niffty idea filling it with parts.

Earl

 

Tjena Tobbe

Nice Build!...I haven't seen it till now!

Sounds like you goit a lot of goodies from Amurrka..
I'll be following your build...Keep up the good work!

Aloha Tommy

 

Thanks! I was about to give up, but I decided to give it one more try. Flatheads are ridiculous expensive to work on, and the hp vs $ spent is astronomical. Still I have rebuilt two BMW M3's of the very first generation but they are definitely shy of the hot rod build.

Rambler wagon stuffed with parts

Ford F100

 

Tjena! Är du svensk boendes på Hawaii?

Thanks, trying my best as a newbie!

Yep, I always find a lot of nice stuff when I go to the US, the problem is always time, space and money (not necessarily in that order).

Impatiently waiting for my parts to arrive so I can start working on both the ch***is and body.

 

Nice looking wagon and F100!
You really packed the wagon up with parts!

 

Yup...been on this rock for 25yrs.
Nice Rambler / F100!
Why pay container freight x2 when you can get car with it!
It's always exciting to wait for parts!!!

Aloha
Tommy

 

My 8BA finally arrived!

 

Thanks! The truck arrives in Sweden today, and the Rambler is about 3-4 weeks away. This is going to be great fun!

 

I'd be pacing the floor until they arrived--lol

 

It has arrived! Drove it from the shipping agent, after fitting a new battery. The generator and regulator was worn out, so I upgraded to an alternator with built in regulator from a Saab 900. Free from the neighbor.







Have spent ten hours trying to fix the "electrical system". Someone "installed" a 16 circuit EZ-wiring system and it was a bit overkill since the original system is a 5 circuit. After frying the coil I decided to redo the whole thing, and I'm just about finished. I might add that the pictures above illustrate the previous installation, I've eliminated a lot of cables, joints and other unwanted stuff. Will update when it's completed.

Good times!

 

The truck is done and ready for its inspection and registration to become a legal Swedish citizen on Wednesday morning.

No more cable chaos


Picked up the Rambler last Friday. Something seems strange with it though. I drove it in LA for a while and had a 38 mile trip in 80*F to the shipping agency, and no problems. The engine was running smooth and the temperature stayed within limits and it didn't overheat. When I picked it up on a 60*F day it ran really rough and refused to idle, was hard to start, starter sounding bad, tingling sound from rear left wheel and it sounds really bad in the rear brakes. On top of that it started overheating after a couple of miles and finally I had to call a flatbed to bring it home, cause driving it wasn't an option. Now the temp gauge doesn't work, it seems like the head gasket is blown, and I see traces of rusty water that has been flowing over the right hand side of the car and under the hood. The tingling sound was the cotter pin for the castle nut that was broken in three pieces. When I had the wheels off before the shipping it was intact, and I have a hard time understanding how a cotter pin can break by itself while the car was in the container. Same thing with overheating, the gasket could hardly blow while in a container.

Nevertheless, I got my parts for the build. Gasket set, pistons, bearings, camshaft, Johnson style lifters, bomber seats and the sheet metal parts for the body. Maybe I can get something done on the project?

 

Tried to get the 8BA running today, but it wasn't ready to wake up just yet. Cranking nicely, some weak attempts to start but fueling problems made us give up. Acceleration pumps squirts in all directions except down the barrels, so we will address the problem and give it another try next week.

 

Can't seem to get the iPhone app to behave as I wish, last try for tonite:

Laid the subframe parts and floor panels out today to see what I have.



I discovered that the front cross channel is way too wide compared to the original piece, the reliefs cut in the rails and the space between the floor panels. Should be 75mm but it's 110mm wide.



Two rear floor panels are really warped and I don't know how to m***age them straight, unfortunately way past my knowledge in metal working.



I pulled the body apart to use the original subframe as a template for holes and measurements.




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