Projects My GN Cycle Car tribute build

Pretty much have gone through my checklist. Manifold bolts were loose. All oil pan bolts were loose. The lower bell hsg clutch inspection cover had a few loose bolts. Exh t-bolt clamps were all loose. Some up to two complete turns. I think the flex pipe “gives” after a while. Tested coolant system again under pressure. Had 3 leaks at clamps.
Only things left are:

1. Pressurize engine oil.
2. Install battery and complete wiring.

I have some “loose” wires from the last time I worked on the electrical system, and don’t recall why they’re like that, so will have to go through my notes and thread to see why. Also gave move this stuff out if the way. To top it all off my kiddo took off…

 

Re-connected my Home Depot pressure bottle. This time I used a quick-connect. Added about 1 quart of oil. Was very hard to pump it in initially. Only went down by about 1/2”. Added more pressure. Went to bleed the line to the oil pressure gauge and noticed oil dripping. As I was about to loosen the nut, I heard this loud noise, and all of sudden all the oil was ****ed into the engine. Geeze! By the time I swung around to the other side of the engine to disconnect the quick disconnect pretty much all the oil had been pulled into the engine. Tried to see if there was a reading on the gauge, but it did not appear to move. I’m guessing there is oil everywhere in the engine. lol!
Checked the dipstick, and it still shows “safe”. I think I originally added 5 quarts, plus whatever I added last time I tried to pre-oil the engine. Has to be at least 6.5 quarts in it now for sure. Mark on the container.
Will now look into electrical, but it’s a no go for today and tomorrow. Damn! Not happy!

 

I think I sorted out the wiring. The “extra” wires were for the “BATT” gauge which I ******ed up earlier this year. I had removed it, so wires to it are no longer required.
Too late to switch the power on for electrical system, so will have to wait. So, essentially, there are only 4 tasks left:

1. Polarize the generator.
2. Confirm function of electrical circuits.
3. Fab up some sort of battery hold-down strap.
4. Check vacuum line fittings.

 

Well, another day down the tubes. After dropping my kiddo off at the airport, had a haircut appt later in the morning. Got home after lunch and started to work on the list. Tightened up the vacuum line fittings, and then decided to check on a fuel leak that I thought was solved. Nope. Digging into it, seems I have the wrong “fitting”. Started a thread on the Barn about the fuel leak. The link is below:

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352302&showall=1

Bottom line, went into town and couldn’t find the correct fitting. I doubt it exists outside of a speciality Ford parts store like Vintage Speed or 3rd Gen. Will now have to McGuyver something up. Recall now when I ordered a bunch of stuff from 3rd Gen, the mess of threads on the subject over the years. Damn!

 

Hang in there!

 

Well, no luck today. Had a late start after picking up the kiddo from the airport at 1. Spent the morning hunting down a br*** hose barb fitting to address the leak at the sediment bowl. Fixed that leak.
Cleared away the **** that was in the way to get it out of the workshop. Laid down some 2” x 10”s on the floor to help support the weight and add some height to get it over the door sills. Raised the ch***is and removed the jackstands. Now she’s rolling on the cart wheels.
Quickly checked the wiring, and the ign system works!
Gave it a few seconds to crank to see if it would build oil pressure, but no movement on oil pressure gauge. Then smelt gas and noticed fuel line was leaking at carb inlet. Futzed around with new nut and new ferrule, and was still leaking during more cranking. Still no oil pressure reading on the gauge. Then realized I hadn’t removed the spark plugs! Battery was already sounding tired. Removed all spark plugs. Removed oil line at bell hsg to see if oil was coming out. After more cranking it finally started to slowly push out of the fitting at the rear of the block. Check oil pressure gauge with shop air and it (needle) moved, so no issue with gauge.
Should note that during this whole time the positive wire to the distributor coil was removed.
Fixed leak at carb inlet with an adapter taken from the carb off of my second flathead. Leaked solved, but then started leaking at the fuel pump outlet fitting. Double damn! I’m beyond fed up with these freaking nasty Ford fuel fittings. Will post all about that in my thread on the Barn about fuel leaks.
At this point decided to call it a night. She’s leaving tomorrow for a weekend of moose hunting 5 hrs away. So, will have to wait until she gets back on Monday.

QUESTION 1. - How much cranking should it take for oil pressure to register on the gauge?

QUESTION 2. - Do I need to purge the line from air?

QUESTION 3. Did I ****** anything when all the oil was suddenly ****ed in from my pressure container? Pulled in about 1 quart of oil.

QUESTION 4. - The oil that was pulled into the block did not move the oil level on the dipstick. Where did that 1 quart of oil go?

 

While moving the ch***is around in the workshop, the lower flange on the front crossmember just bent like a pretzel where the front axle pivot bolt is mounted. It just bent downwards as I was using the axle handle to push the ch***is. Will now need to fab up some gussets and tack then to the to flange. Moar futzing…but first have to cob up a fuel fitting.

 

Think I might have finally fixed the last (3rd) fuel leak. Now back to the ch***is. Will add some angle iron to the rear axle to keep it from folding over.

 

Ain’t pretty but should do what I need it to do for the test. Only thing left is to polarize the generator.

 

Off again into town to get a new fire extinguisher. Fuel fitting still seems to be holding. Battery is on charge. Now starting to think of what’s next on the to do list ***uming all goes well tomorrow. Think next will be front suspension, but will first need to buy this straight axle from Speedway. Will likely also order the open drive kit for the Model A rear axle at the same time. Will be heading to TROG in a couple weeks, so that should give me lots of inspiration to keep plugging along.

 

Kiddo just got home two hrs ago (a day late). Been raining all day, so today is a wash…

 

Still raining…

 

Stopped raining, but then my kiddo decided to take off again, so decided to just get on with it. She’ll be back shortly. Got some fire extinguishers from Costco. Will set up the garden hose as well. Will also set up a table with tools etc.
Polarized the generator, and removed the spark plugs to check the gaps. All were good at 0.025” (NGK 6-BLs). Torqued back to 20 ft-lbs.

 

Well, not sure if things can get any stranger. Decided to check the fuel tank, and there is no gas left! WTF!? That’s about a gallon of gas that has just disappeared! I was having leaks at all the fuel fittings, but cannot believe I lost a gallon of fuel from them, but it did take 3-4 days to fix them all. I’m worried the fuel got into the engine somehow.
F’k! Just checked the dipstick and it smells like gas! Holy hell!

 

Started this thread to get more attention.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/flathead-first-start-up-fuel-in-oil.1341416/

 

Finally got her running! Posted same pics in the above thread.

 

It’s a freaking miracle! Thank God my kiddo’s boyfriend was there to lend a helping hand.

Prior, I added this angle to better support the from crossmember flange.

 

Being the monkey brain that I am, it just occurred to me that the coolant gauge didn’t register anything initially because the sensor is mounted downstream of the pair of thermostats!

 

Just realized in all the excitement, I never bothered to check the oil pressure or vacuum gauges. A screen shot from one of the vids shows this.



Judging by the position of the needle for the oil pressure gauge (upper right), it seems pressure was about 60 psi at approx 2,000 rpm, and the vacuum gauge needle was around 18”, so not too bad. lol!

 

Tomorrow I’ll check to see if there are any oil leaks at the front and rear main seals. I was never really sure if I installed them properly.

 

Little bit of oil at rear clutch inspection cover, so probably a small rear seal leak. Front seal seems to be ok. Slight leak from oil dipstick tube base which was bolted to the pan. There’s threadlocker on the screw threads, so no point in trying to tighten them. A bit of “soot” on the dipstick when I ran my finger across it, but oil looked clear.
Had to add about 6L of water, so at least that much came out of the overflow bottle. Some air escaped from the bleeder valves after adding 4L of water and then opening them. So, got the additional 2L of water into the radiator.

 

The SS “wool” stayed in place inside the the breather cap.

 

Fuel line connections are dry, and I don’t see any other signs of oil or coolant leaks anywhere. Kinda surprised there were no vacuum leaks in all my “fancy” lines. Fuel tank valve is closed! Haha!
Going to take a break from this now for a few days.

 

Picked up this piece of galv to make up a shroud to go around the rad.

 

Created a YT channel called Daddydogood Garage. Vid of engine running is posted. lol!

https://youtube.com/shorts/F-BkIh1ZcGo?si=SlJLi688-T8esIgr

https://youtube.com/shorts/C2F91yiyOc0?si=gKOfkipFxExdRW6m

https://youtube.com/shorts/3Qs7K2NaHK0?si=jiMvxtPG0EDNNPQW

 

Sounds great! Way to go!

 

Thanks! First time posting anything to YT. Sound seems muted on my phone though YT, but sounds much better on a set of speakers. Haha!

 

Ordered some more Lucas oil. Arrived today, and I think I’ll drain out the oil in the engine tomorrow.

 

Still haven’t changed out the oil. Been busy as my eldest is moving out to Edmonton, AB on the 9th. Her new boss said he bought some fire trucks in Montreal and stopped in Ottawa so she could load up some of her belongings so he could bring it back with him to AB (he and his buddy were driving these m***ive trucks all the way there!). Wasn’t expecting to see this! lol!



Heading to TROG this Sat, and then to Hershey after that for some parts. Hoping to find another Kelsey Hayes 15” x 6” Wide-Five rim like the one I picked up there in 2023. Will also be on the lookout for a vintage 2-carb intake, and backing plates etc. as I got to start building up the axles/suspension/spindles, etc. Will be picking up another Holley 94 carb from Montreal when I pick up my youngest for Thanksgiving break on the 10th. Will be lots of driving between now and then.

 

Made it TROG! Left at 3:30 am yesterday morning and arrived at 2:30 pm. Caught the last bit of racing on Sat. Cannot believe I’ve waited this long to come. Was smiling ear to ear. Awesome weather. Awesome people. Awesome event. Met a couple from Nova Scotia, and he raced here in the past. I wish my speedster would qualify. lol!