Projects My GN Cycle Car tribute build

Got the correct castlenuts. They were M8 x 1.0. Also, got some hose for the radiator overflow fitting. It’s 5/16” OD, but hoping I can heat up the hose and slip it on.

 

Just got back home with the T5. It was 10 hrs door to door. He said all the stuff that came with the trans was still good, so no new parts from him except new main shaft input and output seals. He also suggested Mobil ATF fluid (2.7 L). Will install tomorrow morning.

 

No progress to report on the speedster, actually just removed the T5 from the trunk of my car! Been up to my eyeballs working on the Allen Syncrograph. Good news is that it seems to be all working, I have a crab style distributor mounted to the fixture to see if the machine would actually work. Will continue to test the crab distributor, and once confident that the machine is really working, I’ll pop in my helmet style one from the speedster to test. Hoping that happens this week. Then back onto the speedster and installing the T5.

 

Trans is back in place! Will re-install the cross members, add trans fluid, and ****on up the coolant system later today. Looks like the rear output shaft with the huge flange will clear my battery/battery box.

 

Got the crossmember installed and ****oned up the coolant system, but not before making a huge mess. Forgot the drain pet**** was still open. As I’m adding coolant through the rad cap opening, I hear a tricking noise and figure it’s just the sound of coolant circulating through the rad. I do this this for a bit and then start thinking this doesn’t sound right. Look around and see coolant ******* onto the floor. Move around and get under to close the pet**** and end up breaking off the handle as I’m never sure which way to turn those damn things. Mop up, lick my wounds.
***ess the cheap a$$ pet****. Make a field repair by hammering down what metal was left from keeping the handle on. I foolishly thought maybe a screw might be used to attach the handle and was looking for it initially.
Round deux. Thinking all is good now with the handle re-attached, and the pet**** closed, I again start adding fluid. A few seconds later, I hear that same trickling sound. Look down, and it’s ******* out again. Well holy hell! I thought I had closed this damn thing, but it was still open! Was going to add the trans fluid, but after this fluid filled debacle, I decided to call it a night.

 

Drill holes both sides, use to attach larger handle marked “ on-off “. Add body glue so never lose handle

 

Just removed the helmet distributor for testing tomorrow on the Allen machine. Have a thread on the Barn in which I’ll post the results.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352175

 

No more room to add a larger handle because of interference with one of the frame crossmembers. Already had to notch it so I could rotate the handle, but I do need to do something as I really don’t trust this thing now. Maybe just put a plug in it?

 

Good thing I pulled the helmet dist. Discovered no continuity between each set of points when closed. Some emery cloth solved that issue. Still in the process of testing it.

 

Finally got the continuity between the contacts sorted out and was able to test the distributor properly. Dwell is set at 22 and 35 degrees respectively for the RHS and LHS sets of points. Advance is working as it should with around 11.5 degrees total with the advance set at 2 degrees initial on the advance plate.
Testing of the advance vacuum brake will need to wait until Sat. Once that is completed and tested, the distributor will be re-installed, and then I’ll double check the carb settings and fuel lines for leaks. Next will be adapting the wheels from my 850 lb capacity cart to the ch***is so I can wheel it outside for its’ initial start-up. Maybe Monday will be the day!

 

Distributor is finally back in. Was a royal pain. Thought everything was GTG, then noticed the “holder” for the plug wires on the PS wasn’t seated properly against the housing. Had to remove and redo.
Couldn’t complete the advance setting of the vacuum brake because the vacuum pump on my Allen Syncrograph decided to stop working at the most critical moment. Did the old “one and half turns” trick for now on the adjusting screw. Can’t be that critical (I hope). lol!
Luckily, I had a spare gasket for the distributor, but it was for both the 2-bolt (crab) and 3-bolt. (helmet), and I ended up cutting off the correct ear. D’oh! Thankfully, the rest of the gasket is what mattered, but I still stuck the cut off piece of ear under the distributor and held the two pieces in place with some small dabs of gasket maker. Also tore the gasket between the cap and the housing for the PS cap when removing it. Noticed that all the intake manifold bolts seemed loose. Tightened them up, but will double check with a torque wrench. Probably have over-torqued them now. Also noticed that the V-belt was loose. Damn! I used my hoist to pull up on the generator when I tensioned the belt.
At the last minute I wondered if the bolts to hold down the distributor required sealant. There was none on them when I removed them. Checked the cam gear cover from my other flathead, and both distributor bolt jokes were through holes. So, added some thread sealer to all three bolts. Was then worried if distributor would be properly grounded, and checked breaker plate continuity with engine ground strap and had some, so that is one less thing to worry about.

 

Play in V-belt.

 

Fuel line between pump and carb re-installed. This is the second attempt because on the first one, the ferrule was halfway past the end of line going into either the carb or pump IIRC. The ferrule going into the pump is right at the end of the line. Hope this doesn’t become an issue.

 

Next is to double check out carb and make sure the settings are GTG. Will get fuel tomorrow and fill up the tank and check for leaks.

 

Forgot to mention that I re-tensioned the V-belt last night using the hoist. Much better. Also, checked and adjusted carb idle mixture screws to 1.5 turns “out” from seated position. Now off to get some fuel, and then to McGuyver a way to attach the heavy duty cart wheels/axels to the ch***is. Can’t believe I’m finally so close to firing up this thing.

 

Ok, I’m confused. Added fuel to the tank. About 1” from the bottom. At first no flow into the filter. Then after a minute or so, it slowly started to trickle into the filter. Now has stopped at halfway. Figured I needed to “burp” the line, so loosened and removed the line going into the fuel bowl at the fuel pump. Made no difference. Am I missing something? Maybe I’m confused again with the fuel pet**** shut-off under the fuel tank. Damn! Nothing is easy peasy…

 

Confirmed pet**** is opening. It’s leaking a bit. Decided to just add some fuel to the sediment bowl and to the float bowl in the carb. Was thinking of pushing the fuel through the lines with some compressed air, but then remembered in some vids I watched yesterday, that one shouldn’t really have more than 2.5 psi in the fuel line. I’m hoping this is sufficient and once the engine starts to crank, the fuel pump will do the rest.
Also confirmed the acceleration pump worked and fuel came out if the squirters.

 

Got 91 octane although I know it’s not needed, but I think it’s more stable over longer periods of time. Also fuel tank is almost full now. Used pretty much all the fuel I bought. Cost around CAN$8.35. Was CAN$1.78/L or about US$4.83/gal. Ouch!

 

Never was really comfortable with this mess. When tapped filaments and **** would fall out. Bought this pack of SS scrubber sponges. Cut off a chuck and pushed it into the breather. Will probably do something to keep it from sliding back down. I think the orig breather caps were missing from my two flatheads, or at least can’t find them.

 

Throttle and choke cables re-installed. Had to solder the end of the choke cable as it had become frayed and wouldn’t p*** through the br*** piece on the choke lever.

 

Next is installing the coolant overflow “bottle”. I’ve had this thing since I was probably around 10 yrs old when my father picked it up at an auction, so has some sentimental value in the build. I have an identical one with the canvas webbing/case I picked up in Hershey a while back.

 

Overflow bottle installed. Drilled a small breather hole near the top.

 

Should have spent a few more minutes thinking about how I was going to attach the cart wheels/axles to the ch***is. I have bolts I could use for the rear, but I don’t have the correct nuts. These bolts are the same dia as the main bolt for the front steering pivot, but not long enough. Did get some smaller bolts last week, but they are no good. Will have to wait until tomorrow and head into town.
Will go through the wiring instead, and transfer the battery from the Allen Syncrograph machine to the speedster, and hook it up to a trickle charger.

 

Smelled gas in the workshop. Checked fuel lines, and there was a pretty good leak at the fuel sediment bowl inlet. Tried tightening, still leaking. Remove nut and ferrule, and ferrule is just sliding on the tube. Try a new nut and ferrule. Still leaking. Remove them. The new nut and ferrule are again sliding on the tube. Decide to push the tube in all the way and then tighten things up. Much better, but still a film of fuel seems to be staining the nut. Before there would be periodic drips. Also noticed the edges around the fuel pump diaphragm were also “wet” looking. Decided to replace all the br*** screws with the original screws. Did the same for the top half of the carb.

 

Decided to throw this onto the shifter base. Shifts nicely in all gears. Was thinking of adding fluid to the trans, but the guy who rebuilt it told me the output shaft has to be installed. I’ll need the output shaft to look for a U-joint,

 

U-joint is MOOG 355, so will pick this up in town this morning as well.

 

Front axle installed. Will add some wooden blocks on each side of the bolt to support the lower flange.

 

Rear axle installed. Will check out wiring tonight. Didn’t get a chance yesterday.

 

Kiddo wants me to go into town with her. D’oh! Tomorrow she is heading to Edmonton for a job interview. Damn!
Did get the U-joint yesterday, then “lost” it. Just found it under some ****. Oh vey!
The check list is long…

 

My thread on pre-start checklist is here, but will post progress in this thread.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/ford-flathead-first-start-up-advice.1341044/