Projects The Adventure of a Boy and His Edsel

So...finally jumped back on the engine install tonight. First thing we did was try to rotate the motor to install the other two torque converter bolts which is where we left it Saturday. And...the motor wouldn’t turn over even after pulling the plugs. That sinking feeling all the sudden came over me that the engine was stuck and we never verified that before putting it in?!?! What kind of idiot am I anyway?!?! I started to consider what to do next and running through in my mind anything that could be binding it up. I asked Silas if we had ever turned it over and he said we had. So...I had more hope than at first and kept looking things over. All the sudden, I remembered that we had two sets of bolts for the flex plate between the two engines. I looked up to see that it appeared the bolts went through the crank far enough to touch the back of the block. I was relieved, but we had to pull the engine back out... Anyway, didn’t make it as far as planned, but maybe we can get it buttoned up tomorrow night. I need to source some carburetor gaskets, a heater hose fitting, some tubing for the alternator bracket we never really finished, get an ear welded back on the starter that appears to have broken off a while back, etc. tomorrow. Getting closer all the time if we can quit backing up. Hoping to have it ready for a cruise this weekend.

 

Sometimes backing up provides the most lessons. At least Silas now knows where to look for the binding when he is doing this same thing with his son in the far far future.

 

That'll make your heart skip a beat! Doing things twice seems normal for me when working on old stuff.

 

Congrats! A quick prayers always shines a light on projects.

 

That's the way I do it! One step forward and two steps back!

See ya's in Dewey?

 

Not sure about Lead Ain’t Dead yet. We have something every weekend in September it seems... I think Silas may make it, but not sure whether I will or not.

 

Hopefully we bust it off today. Got close last night but finally threw in the towel a little before midnight and went to bed. The list is getting pretty short on what is left to install. Install starter, fuel line, and some wiring that we are trying to clean up at least a little as we go.

 

First drive!

 

Please cover that carb before you drop a screw down it. That be my suggestion. Lookin just fine tho & makin progress. Quit taking a page out of my book, I was adjusting the valves on my flathead & had a pair of vice grips on the front pulley. Went in for the night & next morning I couldn't turn the engine over to get the next group of valves. Johnson lifters with the valley bosses drilled for 1/8th holes. Couldn't find anything binding up so figured something on bottom inside. I had 1,000 break-in miles on a fresh rebuild. I pulled the engine & staring me in the eye was a pair of vice grips. I had already pulled the heads & intake. I just put the 21 stud back in & the 24 stud hi-po job is on an engine stand waiting to be assembled. Probably end up selling it. I only have 6$$$$$$ grand in it. Kinda makes ya weak in the knees. Oh how I miss my memory brain.

 

The smile tells all...
God on you guys!

 

Reminds me of a time in high school (60's) when one of my friends had his car in a bay of the local Mobile station. Remember when you could do that??? I don't remember what he planned to do on the 340 Plymouth engine, but he took the air cleaner off. A local dork grabbed the wing nut (the one from the air cleaner stud) and said "let me put this back on the stud so you don't lose it. You've already guessed by now what happened. Yep; right down the carb it went. To get it out eventually the intake manifold had to come off. BUT; the wing nut wasn't lost.

b-t-w; good job on the Edsel. I'll be lookin' for it in Dewey next year.

 

That’s what I call a “shit eating grin”.

Good job dad!

 

Successful first trip. Headed to the cruise soon.

 

Ahh yeah!! Good job boys.

 

It's a great feeling when you have a fresh engine in an older car and there is an adventure to embark upon, with a confident smile !

 

Yep, it wasn’t open very long. We just had it uncovered for the first startup to make sure the idle, etc. was set right. It was actually running in that pic but hard to tell unless you look at the fan. And, you don’t know how many times I have told Silas my own stories of buddies dropping nuts, etc. in an engine. Thanks for the reminder though and story about having to pull an engine for something similar. Seems we all make mistakes at times which is what I also keep trying to teach my kids. We had that conversation today actually.

 

I'm a bug about open anything on engines. Including ones in storage. But the mice always find a way in...

 

Great job Guys! How does the 312 compare to the 292 power wise? Is the 312 all stock?

 

The 312 is all stock. It does seem to have more power than the worn out 292 and is also a 4-barrel as compared to the 2-barrel. I haven’t driven it, but Silas says it has more power.

 

Well, the report from the cruise which was 30 miles away was that it will cruise 80 on the highway no problem and doesn’t get over 150 degrees or so other than sitting in traffic where it will hit 180. He picked up some friends from vo-tech to ride with him and I ended up staying home. Lots more to do, but seems pinky is getting more reliable all the time.

 

Proud dad moment today! Silas calls me from church saying pinky wouldn’t start. He said when he was driving there, it made a noise like the starter tried to engage then he smelled burning wires. Anyway, I messed up my leg yesterday and am laid up so couldn’t run to help like normal. He called a buddy that is also a gear head and between the two of them they identified it to be a bad solenoid and they pulled the cable off the solenoid running to the starter and jumped it to the battery to get it started and back home. I happened to have the old solenoid I pulled off my 56 a year or so ago when I ended up having to rebuild the starter so told him he could swap to that one. He swapped it and got it running again by himself. Sometimes I wonder if I don’t help too much and not let him learn. I was pretty proud that he figured it out and fixed it even though it was something pretty simple.

 

Bravo Silas!
As cool as it was that Pinkey went down the road, with a fresh engine, and with out Dad following along, Silas learned a lot on this trip!
Ya gotta be very proud of the fact that, that Silas dealt with it and got safely back home, and the car is okay!

 

What a great job! But just remember, do not put tools on the fender wells. You will be driving down the road and hear an ungodly rattle... not that I have ever done something like that.

 

See! I told you it was Pinky and "The Brain"!

 

I carry 2 spare solenoids in case someone at a cruise night needs one. Glad it was an easy fix.

 

The Smith boys ride again....congrats. Keep up the good work Silas, love the smile in "the first drive post"! God bless you fellas!

 

So, yesterday Silas called on his way to vo-tech and said it was raining hard enough that folks were driving about 25 mph on the interstate. He had just applied a fresh coat of Rain-X so could likely see better than cars with wipers. One trip back and forth to vo-tech (about 70 or so miles total) with the new motor down with no issues so far. Anyway, sounds like our next “opportunity” may be the transmission that is apparently starting to slip... We may consider converting it to a 3-speed manual. Sooner or later this car will be new again.

 

Sounds like everything is going great.

if you want to buy some time with that tranny, the Lucas additive stoped my slip for quite awhile.

Also wondering, which fluid are you using?

 

That is a good question on the fluid. Thus far, we have only topped it off with the same thing I have been running in my 56 which is Dexron or ATF. I first assumed my 56 used Type F since all my other Ford automatics from the 60’s used that, but I was wrong. I suppose I have never looked up what this transmission takes...so, I told Silas to figure it out in his spare time today. I did a quick search, but haven’t found a definitive answer yet. I figure we should probably drop the pan and change it soon anyway. So, anyone want to tell me what the ‘59 2-speed aluminum mile-o-matic takes for fluid?

 

I did a lot of research and came up with dex/merc also. Type F didn’t come out until 67-68 I believe.

I havnt had any issues running it in my 59 auto