Think Im going to be sick. brand new flathead siezed.

hey LOWS...man i hate to suggest this, but i've seen the best engine builders put the main bearings in wrong. meaning putting the bearings (without) holes on the block side. i wish you the best my friend...POP.

 

OK, I read most of the entries and it sounds like you covered all your bases. Tough man! I'd like to say it's something simple but I think it's gonna have to come apart, I have seen one little patch were a bearing just started to fail lock up an engine before so it doesn't take much. Best of luck to ya, I will say this sometimes being locked up is better than still running and destroing more.

 

"the oil pressure is the one thing I cant make sense of..stock 39 oil punp should only create 40 PSI, im not convinced it really Does crate 80 PSI, but it is a little odd."

Things to worry about, perhaps? Cam bearings in wrong so no oil going anywhere except the gallery itself??
Stock '39 pump...so no relief in pump itself, relief valve in block...could somthing there at the valve be wrong??

 

Sure seems like it spun a rod bearing for what ever reason. Locking up is not good but the way it did it I doubt it's damaged to much. On a new motor any damage is bad but maybe the motor Gods will be kind on the flatty. Very sorry to hear of your situation. >>

This one has full-floating rod brgs. They spin in the big ends as well as on the crank...

 

Regaurdless of the problems,(unknown) just take a break and re-group. Take a breather,clear your mind for any job ahead of you,and focuss. This is a shitty situation,but come back calmed a bit,and be ready for the attack. I would be pissed off too-been and done. My .03C.
Good luck,and your car is bitchin".

 

I read your post about your engine dilemma.

Before you go pulling everything apart first check the oil by draining it. If you have a bearing issue the oil will look like metal flake paint or have chips in the oil if there has been a bearing or piston failure. Most of the time if the engine is fresh and the oil is very clean it would not indicate there is a bearing failure. An engine will run for a very long time with out oil on no load and the flathead has a wayward splash oiling anyway that would half lube the rotating parts. Whatt you need to also look for is something like a broken or cracked oil pump gear which will jam up the cam and keep it from turning.

Since you already removed the starter to insure that the bendix drive wasn't stuck and pulled the plugs to check for hydro lock, the next step is to try to reverse rotate the engine.Don't go gorilla on the crank nut, a breaker bar will only over tighten the nut or snap it off. Usually an engine that runs doesn't come to a stop with out a reason.

I'm thinking washer or nut down the open carb or manifold during assembly that worked its way into the compression chamber. Since it wont turn over on normal rotation that means one cylinder of the engine will not cycle thru the upward stroke. Pop the car in 3rd gear and try to reverse the rotation of the engine by pushing it backwards. This will tell you if there is an obstruction in the cylinder.

If the engine rolls backwards then all you have to do is pull the heads to find the problem. If these ideas don't identify the problem then pull the pan.

Good luck keep everyone posted on your findings.

 

I hope you have ruled out any of the belt driven stuff, from the sounds of the muscle you put to it you probably would have turned it by now, but I got a great car for free that way.

 

This has been great reading. Better than a spy novel. I am with dick sparado something on top of piston. Good luck I got my fingers crossed for you.

 

No matter what it is,,, it can be fixed.

 

Been there man, and it sucks....take a little time off from it, and then do it right by pulling plugs, check to make sure its not hydrolocked, and if not just recheck everything...hopefully it is something simple.

 

Ouch. Anxious to know what you find...

Brian

 

Thanks again all,

Im about to pull the heads, then the sump..give me an hour..

 

dum de dumm dum.....waiting for the report

 

Man, That sucks, I'm about 3 weekends out from starting my 59B for the first time, this thread has my attention...<O</O

 

I had a similar situation several years ago with a nailhead motor. My problem turned out to be a piece of casting flash that broke loose and migrated .The good news was that we found the definitive answer. Good luck to ya, It will get better.Indy

 

keepin my fingers crossed....

 

Shit happens to the best of us.. Good thing It is just a machine.. Take it apart and fix it. I know you can do it, you got it to point where it at now..It looks real kool to me... So take take it the rest of the way.. Good luck....D

 

took off heads, nuthin, all fine.

Took off sump..nothing visible, All rods had side play (not seized) on crank.

Loosened front main cap, engine turned over freely .

took it off...bang. there it is.

Looks like it has recieved no oil, just the engine assembly lube i assembled it with...No damage to the crank i can see..Im completely confused, but the only way to work it out is remove and strip the motor. these Main bearings were old stock and had a few small marks that i polished out, but im sure this is an oiling system problem now..



engine out will be Monday.

 

Wow. Oil galley plugged? I don't know anything about flatmotors, but how does oil NOT get to the #1?

 

Could that assy lube blocked the oil from getting in, looks like a heavy coating......i spose you will find out on Monday......good luck!!

 

I dont know if both shells are supposed to have the oiling hole on a flatty, but that looks like the block half of the bearing- or am I not seeing something?

 

Both halves had holes on this set..stock ford ones do to..The cap had a 'stain' where the hole was on the original bearings.

The first pair of rod bearings are fed from the front main, and they are fine,and oily, so it was getting oil through.

the centre main cap was ok, but showed a little catching too.. the mains were checked at 2.5 thou clearance , Guess i pull the motor ,order a new set of mains, polish the crank,clean it all out and try again...

 

We drilled a hole through the gallie to the front main to check the oil pressure on our current motor. this is a 50 Ford motor and has 40 psi normally.

 

Thats a damn good idea Saltracer..Its nice not to guess whats going on in there..

Ive just had a closer look and my no 1 cyl has some scoring which is quite deep..will have to be sleeved or another fucking overbore..may have been the detritus from the front main getting thrown into the bore?? dunno, but the whole engine needs to be stripped. Fuck this Im pissed off now..if it was just a bearing issue that would be bad enough..but a fucked bore has me confused and angry.pistons and machine work are fucking expensive and probelmatic down here.fuckit.

 

Flatheads get oil to the mains through holes in the cam bearings. If the cam bearing above the stuck main has turned, or is installed wrong, the main will run dry. Better pull the cam and check them.

 

Damn bro. Sorry to hear about this.

 

All bearing were installed correctly, trust me.

I guess it could have grabbed and spun the front cam bearing? that would explain it..but if the cam span freely in the bearings before the crank went in..(which it of course did) seems unlikely.

Ill find out monday.

 

Popped back to see results. Sorry to see it wasn't something easy but from your picture something doesn't look correct. If you have no marks on the crank and even a little lube on the bearing it would be hard to lock it down tight. Now one thing in your statements was that you used original bearings. You didn't indicate if you had the crank turned before assembly so I'm assuming you didn't here. There are 10 different sizes of main bearings and oversize they look just like stock bearings. One problem with NOS bearings that the number/ letters on the box get hard to read and you could have had the wrong bearing installed. If you happen to have any of the old bearing boxes still around if you have the number I will reference it out and tell you what it is. Anyway keep everyone posted on what you found out.

Addition: you posted more info while I was typing. Scores on the cylinder indicate foreign material in the engine and bearing material doesn't score engine bores, start checking the oil pan for parts.

 

ouch

 

Man, that's a bitch... good luck figuring it out.