Started to finally get some of the moving parts into the flathead this past weekend, and thought I'd share some of my progress. I have 3 books on building flatheads, and none of them are elementary enough for a first timer like me. A lot of calls to my machine shop guy, and other helpers, got me this far. Last time I left you, I explained how I painted the engine, and basically washed everything with some Tide, and a healthy dose of laquer thinner, to get all the dirt and stuff out. See the link below for a recap. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=299239 I started off by lubing up the camshaft with some Schneider****embly Lube, making sure all the lobes and such were coated nicely. This stuff here. Available from Red's Headers, tell him Matt Strube sent you. Then you boil the timing gear in hot water, getting it up to 200 degs, that's what the instructions said, so I did it. (use your wife's good pans, it'll make your moter have more hp) torque down the timing gear to the average of your 3 books, mine all said 20 ft. lbs, so I was good to go. Then you bend over each of the tangs to make sure the bolts don't come flying out, I used a little red loctite as well. Then you just slide the ole bump-stick in. Next up is the main bearings. Make sure to get the block and caps real clean, and don't put any lube, or materials on the metal part. Put the bearings right on top of the bear metal. I used a clean finger as a final clean up. (btw, the rear seal was installed right after the cam) Once the bearings were in, I put on a rubber glove my doctor loaned me, and applied this Schneider break in fluid to each of the main bearing surfaces. Jim at Red's swears by it. Gently lower the crank in, making sure to line up the mark on the crank shaft gear, and cam gear. (installation of the main gear was simple, just put a little anti-seaze on it and slide onto the crank) I then got my main studs ready. I put a little bit of loctite on the part that screws into the block, then put a little oil on the other end to ensure a good torque reading. Next on to the valves, lifters, and such. Before the engine went to the machine shop, I drilled an 1/8" hole into each of the lifter bosses. Don't forget to do this (refer to Mike Bishops multiple posts on this topic) One thing that I would recommend, that not many people do is to grind each of the lifter bosses down like you see in the picture so that a wrench can be used on the adjuster screw. I did a nice job on one side, but I the other side I must have gotten tired because they weren't cut as low. The picture shows how you put in a punch to hold the Johnson so that you can easily adjust them. Before you put all the valves in, and try using a 7/16" wrench to turn all the lifter adjusters down, I would recommend using a socket wrench to get them close. I would also (if I had to do it all over again, or the next time) install the first one, check the clearance, pull it out, and use my dial calipers to get them all +- 3 or 4 thousands before I installed the valves. Make sure that you put intake lifters in intake holes, and exhaust in exhaust. The intake is the one that has the rubber oil seal. (left) WHEN YOU INSTALL THESE BABIES, IT'S NORMAL (SO I HEAR) FOR A BIT OF THEM TO COME OFF AS YOU INSTALL THE CLIP) I freaked out that bits and pieces of rubber seal were coming out, but the engine builder I used for my machine work said that's ok. Here's your typical staged action shot. Note that the prybar is not in the valve guide properly. You need to have the bar in the valve guide so that you can get each clip in. Make sure that you install all the valves in the right slugs according to what your machinist marks. Once you get one, measure the lifter with dial calipers, and adjust all the lifters to that height, then you are ready to install all the other valves. To adjust each one, make sure that lifter is on the heal of the cam, and set the clearance to whatever your cam manufacturer specifies. Stay tuned for Part III
Glad to see your keeping the flat head ! can`t wait to beat you I mean race with you at little river, or somewhere west of Austin you are now on my list !!!!.... looking good man
Man does THAT bring back memories.....nice sano work dude. waitng for the next instalment hehe.... I love building fresh flatheads!! Rat
Yea, the lifter adjustment part is tedius at best. Sticking your head under the motor to find out when the lifter is on the cam heel is a pain in the rump.
I never thought it was a good idea to screw the tappet adjusters any more than necessary. The more you turn them, the looser the interference fit gets. Then they won't hold.
Drain hole? ***** am I forgetting/missing something? That's why I tried to measure them as best I could. That's a Good tip.
The Jalopy Journal
