Pistons going back in. I have this neat old Blue Point tool that makes it easy to pull the rod onto the crank. The pan is back on. Neat how the pickup tube is external. I decided to go ahead and fill it with oil now, and see if the upper oil feed works, by turning the oil pump with a drill. It does. I also checked the timing mark, it looks like TDC is right where it belongs. and the neat Ford trick that you have to put the head gaskets on the right way, I wrote FRONT in black sharpie so I'd remember. Heads back on, ran the drill again and it gets oil running out the pushrod side of the rockers.
Other than Ford's different idea of how to skin a cat. That thing screams Old's/Cadillac from that era. Hmm ? 1955, oiling issue's at the cam outside of the bearing. Another Hmm ? While some point to making rocker ***embly mods, is this where the correction should be made ? I think your onto something Jim when you mentioned using a wider cam bearing earlier in this thread. It's funny to say, but the 55 Chevy 265 had a wider rear cam bearing. But was it wide enough also ? What I'm getting is this. Not Enough Bearing Surface to combat excessive bleeding of oil/pressure. There is much more I can point out in detail on both engines but the heart of the issue is sending the oil out of the galley into an open environment then returning it into another galley !
I don't know, but the patent calls it a Connecting Rod Tool. From the 1950s. Blue Point CF-65. See if you can find one, you'll really enjoy taking pistons in and out of engines if you do. The only problem with it is that it only fits 3/8" and smaller rod bolts, it won't work on my L-88 and LS-7 big blocks with the 7/16" bolts.
Just found this at Summits store on flea bay. Appears to do the same job. Looks like it would make it much easier, especially if you are working alone. This one fits 3/8 and 7/16. Summit Racing Part Number: AAF-ALL96480
That's a good start...but the neat thing about the old tool is that it actually grabs the rod bolts, so you can pull the rod into position, you don't have to push the piston down. It's really fast. read the patent, it's interesting. (link in my previous post)
I see what you are saying. I looked at the diagram. It has 2 pawls that clamp down on the bolts. Very nice.
I got a clutch disk, (thanks clcrown!) and so I plopped the engine back in the car. Almost all connected...except a few minor things like needing a driveshaft, and the "new" older 3 spd od transmission has some interference problems with the floor. And waiting on the new water pump, and I need to figure out the gas tank and fuel pump situation.
Good work! Now for a driveshaft.What are you planning for floor interference? Will the torch and big hammer process do,or is it worse than that?
I don't know yet...the governor will need a little bump, the solenoid will need a big one, maybe I'll do some surgery. The speedo cable will probably just get a little hole in the tunnel, and run inside the car. I gotta hack something on this car.
yeah, it gets oil pressure! I ran it again today for about a minute, sounds a little loud but the muffler is original, and kinda rusty. I still need to get the driveshaft shortened, hopefully by the middle of the week that will be done, and I'll get the new gas tank in the mail, and figure out how to install it (65 Chevelle tank is what I ordered, it measures right and the filler neck is in the right place). I got the transmission details all done today, including cutting a hole in the floor for the overdrive solenoid, modifying the speedo drive gear and drilling a hole in the floor for the speedo cable, installing the overdrive lockout cable, moving the transmission mount holes and bolting it in, etc. Getting close...
Please let us know on the fuel tank fit. Since they dont repro a tank for the 59s a lot of people in Edsel world are looking for an answer. Oldmics
The Ford tanks filler neck is too short. What some of the Edsel guys have done is remove the original Edsel filler neck and graft it onto the 59 Ford tank. Its a job easier said than done however Enough of the hijack. Lets see what squirrel comes up with. Oldmics
I would just cut the filler neck, and add a piece of rubber fuel filler tube to make it work...at least, that's what I have in mind for the Chevelle tank. I would have got the Ford tank, but it costs twice as much, and I'm already over budget!
Remember when you're putting the intake on, use a liberal amount of RTV and teflon tape on those intake studs/bolts. That hole is threaded into the water jacket, and once the system pressurizes, it's going to be a steady weep of coolant that will confuse the hell out of you as to where it's coming from if you're not looking for it.
I got the gas tank in, put the driveshaft in, put the leaky old lower radiator hose back on and filled it with water, and went for a drive. The engine runs good (after I switched 6 and 8 plug wires, which I had mixed up somehow), nice and smooth and peppy, no smoke. The muffler looks to be original, and it's a little loud. I put about 30 miles on it. One oil leak...the vally pan gasket is leaking oil pretty good. I was thinking that I really need to get those bolts tight when I was putting it on, I guess they're not tight enough. I didn't use any sealer on the cork gasket either, I guess I'm going to be pulling the intake to fix it. I can maybe tighten the rear bolt with the manifold on, we'll see how that works out in the daylight tomorrow. The clutch is nice and smooth, the column shift works great, the turn signals even work nice (after I spent some time fixing grounds). This is going to be a fun car to bomb around in.
Squirrel: I for one applaud your sensible and thrifty approach to this rebuild. I've lost count of the number of driveway engine overhauls I did that provided many pleasurable miles for not much Dinero. Nice going.
Yup, that happened to me 'back in the day'. I had the engine upside down on a bench when I timed it and had the timing marks on the opposite (wrong) side. I managed to get the thing started and was lucky not to bend any valves. As a side note, it wasn't the first time my Dad said to me; 'too bad stupidity isn't painful'.
You can actually get to both bolts on the valley cover.You need a long open end wrench at a funny angle .I use an old tappet wrench.Most of those covers I see are warped from being over tightened
But imo much more beauty than a ford. Very cool car. Famous last words "budget overhaul". Just saying. I'm guilty of this over and over again.
It looks like it was warped, I got it pretty straight, I'll see how it does with just a little bit of tightening.
The leak is mostly fixed, still looks wet up there, but no drip anymore. I went for a little drive to Bisbee, about 50-60 miles round trip. Car worked fine, the overdrive is nice at 65-70 mph. I might head up to Tucson this weekend and see how it does in traffic on the freeway. Should be exciting. That's about 150 miles round trip.
the trip to Tucson was pretty boring, the car worked fine. The oil level was down on the dipstick maybe 1/4" after I got back. The new 8 track is in the car, with the new used speakers, the radio works, but the tape playing part isn't. It worked when he tested it on the bench, of course. We'll keep plugging away at that. And the new AC unit seems to work, although it leaks a bit. I did a rough mpg calculation and it's right close to 14, which I suppose is not too bad for a big pig like this. The sway bar needs to be working, so I started on it it, got some bushings to get it mounted again (one bushing and support bracket had been removed by someone, but the bracket was in the cars still fortunately, they're weird). I need to pick up an end link at the parts store.
The Jalopy Journal
