Sticker-Shock, Flathead Engine Rebuild - part 3

MUCH different looking then before.

Early on, my friend Ed threw out some estimates of what it could cost to rebuild my 1942 Mercury short block, and I blew it off as an exaggeration. But he was closer to the truth then I though!  Given all the repairs it will to take to save the old thing, it's the my biggest expense as yet.

After getting the report back from Jeff at Jim Grubbs Motorsports, I seriously considered dumping the Merc block!  I have a budget for the engine, and it's about to sprout wings.

Jim Grubbs himself w/miscellaneous customer wearing outdated t-shirt

The report was fairly grim: cracks --a lot of them, and a lot of thread repairs too.  Cracks from the valves to the cylinders, at least two.  The repair would require drilling & welding, then re-sleeving.  Then there were the many destroyed head bolt threads, at least 9 of them.  But the news wasn't as bad as it could have been; it's all fixable.  No cracks on the main webs to the crank means the block is workable.  The cylinder walls were OK too, but it was already over-bored to 3-5/16"+.040, so it's going to 3-3/8" bore, and that's fine with me.  Jeff thinks it'll be fine too.

So after a little more sole-searching (aka, wallet-searching), I'm going to have the work done, and I gave Jeff the green light.

Sure I could have looked for another block.  But chances are every one of them could have been as bad or worse.  Plus how often does one come across a pre-war Mercury engine?  Hardly ever... that's how.

Now I need to go shopping!!!  Man-style, we're talking engine parts!  Hold on, I'm still on a budget right? --Damn.  Back on earth again, I'm searching the internet and catalogs, and concluded I'm going to have to get most of the parts from Speedway Motors.  It's not high end stuff, but it will do.

Valves, guides, springs, head studs, pistons, rings, gaskets, and more = $924.  I bought the better pistons for $250, made by Egge.  They are nice, but a bit on the heavy side I think.  Still less expensive then anywhere else.  The springs were a nice surprise, they are Iskenderian.  But the Offenhauser stud kit was a real eye-opener, I didn't think fasteners could look so bad.  The washers are black, the bolts were that gold color plating, and the studs silvery and looked really cheap.  Plus they are a 1/4" too long and are going to stick up.  I'm currently looking for alternatives.

I would recommend the gasket kits made by Best Gaskets especially packaged for Speedway. With great additional features like a one-piece front seal and better rear main seal, and it's still a better price then competitors.

Speedway has the engine parts, but I'd say they are a mid-point between great racing parts and regular restoration parts.

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On another positive note.  Gary Schroeder at Schroeder Racing Products completed assembly of my custom Sprint/Midget Type steering box just in time for Labor day.

This will literally be the highest tech part on the car despite being a relatively 60-year-old design.

Gary Schroeder, son of Gordon Schroeder, with their famous steering box (my one).

Getting Dirty, Flathead Engine Rebuild - Part 2

Alright this is my first solo engine rebuild!  You were already getting the feeling, right?  Yeah, the last was about 13 years ago with a friend who did most of the work, and that was a Ford 351 Windsor.  But I still remember the basics, and I'm reading up on it.

The start of the disassembly was going so smoothly I forgot to take pictures!  The pistons and rods were out the block in minutes and I didn't even need to use a ridge-reamer.  The reamer removes the lip that forms at the top of the cylinder on high mileage engines from piston rings.  My cylinders were OK.

Next were the valves, valve guides, and springs.  I wasn't planning to reuse any of the valve train, that's good, because I made a mess of it!

First the valve retainers needed to be removed from the bottom of the valves and from under the springs.  This is where the first of the flathead specialty tools, a spring compressor, would have come into play.  But I don't own them, so I improvised.

The spring compressor could have been used here.  But a large pry bar can be used... so I used a crowbar instead.

I took a lot of muscle to pry the springs up, the little retainers were sticky with oil --so I was getting little frustrated.  But they all came out, some with a struggle.  Little did I know even more anxiety was to come...

With the retainers off the valve can move up and down with ease.













59A and older valves have mushroomed ends, so mine just don't slip out like 8BA, Chevy V8, or any other valve newer then 1950.  These stayed in until the guides came out, which is the next step.













The guides have a retainer too, commonly called the horseshoe clip.  The retainer needs to come out first.  This is were the second of the flathead specialty tool would help --the valve guide remover.










Instead I used a screwdriver and hammer to move the guides down a bit  so the clips can be pulled.














Most moved willingly and were super friendly.  Seven valve were not so nice and stayed put.  The nicest valves & guides just about popped out the top of the block with the retainer off.

So it was off with their heads!









I grabbed the hack saw first, it was right there.  Nope, a blade went flat before I could go half way through one valve.











Next, I reached for the hot-wrench with some sort of nostalgic reasoning I thought it would work.  Nope, the valves are not steel, thus they do not oxidize and can't be cut.  That is probably why my hacksaw blade dulled, the valves are stainless or something.










Finally I picked up the grinder, which was actually my first thought, and in two minutes the stubborn-seven were headless, Eureka! And in less time then it took to set up the cutting torch.










Now I could hammer those stuck guides.  I used a socket & extension.  Done, and now with the retainers out --another problem.  The guides are only going down, not up.  And they can't go far enough down to come out either, stuck again.

Bring back the grinder.  I cut up the springs and valve stems inside the lifter valley, literally putting the grinder inside the engine.  I was super careful, I did want to save the cool Johnson adjustable hollow lifters, so I kept them down in the bores.






Finally the valve train was out, I had some mementos, I'm talking about the old valves.  And the camshaft came out easily once all the lifter were free.
I numbered the lifter as they came out.  I had to, they match the lobe, so if I wanted to reuse the cam & lifters together it's a must.








I took the water pumps off next, or at least one of them. The passenger side inside bold that rusted & rounded bolt head, I couldn't loosen.  So I left it on for the machine shop to get off.

But look what was inside the driver's side water jacket, sand & gravel?  Literally pebbles fell out.  Could this have been in a boat and sucked up sand from the river bed.  Rust was in there too, but nothing unusual about that.





The exhaust passages are filled with sand too, as are the exhaust bolt holes, and the oil pan is caked with it also (on the outside). I think the engine may have just sat in a really dusty field for a while with sand blowing over it while inside a car --missing the headers and water hoses.  Just a guess.









Now that it was apart, it's off to the machine shop.  I drove past H&H to my favorite shop, Jim Grubbs Motorsports in Valencia.  Where they build real racing car engines, and have the latest & greatest equipment.












Soon I'll be spending good money to find out how bad my block is --I can't wait!

New 'Stones for the T

My plan for yesterday was to post pictures of the T with the new tires.  I got a little sidetracked, thanks to Ryan and the HAMB. The Hot Rod Disorder got more views yesterday then all of September & October combined.  As well as three new public followers and I hope a few more bookmarks --welcome aboard guys, I'll try to keep you entertained.  And to everybody else, thanks for sticking with me.

On Sunday I got a few minutes to repair the new tire tube I busted and re-mount the front tire on the rim.  I could then put all the tires on the T for a look-see.  The other wheels in older posts were only temporary rollers, your average 16x4" wide-5.  These wheels you see today are the ones I really had to search for patiently.

The fronts are hard-to-find 16x3.5", and the rears are even harder to find 16x5" only made for 1939-1942 3/4 ton Ford trucks.  The tires are 8.90 in the back 5.00 up front.
The difference in size is immense! It's really pushing the boundaries of what was used in the 1950's.  Fortunately both tires were available back then. But really only the richest race teams could have afforded the newest Firestone offerings in race tires.  Your average 'run-what-you-brung' kid at the track drove in on hand grooved, balding, second-hand tires --or so I've seen in pictures.

You may also have noticed the car has seats now.  Yes, they are real WWII fighter plane seats, or "bomber seats".  I bought a matching pair from an aircraft restorer.  One good seat is hard enough to find, a matching pair? Nearly impossible... nearly.
As good as they look together, they don't both fit into a tiny T roadster cab.  If this were a '32, they'd be swimming with all that space!  But if you'll remember, I'll only need one, it's a "race car".  So I'll save the other seat for my next racer.

The key to making these tires look good is ride-height, the car has to be low. These tires are almost too intense, but they are growing on me.

"Terminator"

Building the T is getting exciting! While my friend Ed Gallagher in Denver is building his 32 roadster, I felt I needed to push forward on the T.



Work continued this Labor Day weekend. I used a scrap Model A frame for cross-member supports, they are extremely strong and should help stiffen the frame.

As you can see, I’m avoiding boxing the frame. Boxing frames is a newer construction technique; it was uncommon in the hot rod heyday and so will not make into my racecar. My goal is 100% vintage or hand-made parts --save for a maintenance parts like bushings, tires, filters, or little things like fasteners.



I also took some time to trim the blue T body to fit the frame. Two-thirds of the trunk floor is now missing so the rear kick-up has somewhere to go. The hot rodder I bought the body from also had a ramshackle steel framework in the cowl to support a sprint style aluminum steering box. I removed that and a floor supports also made of steel tube.
Now the body is lighter and more stock then when I bought it. The car is going to be a simple track car devoid on many trinkets & gizmos.

Back to T2

I should call this 'Terminator', with emphasis on the 'T'. Anyway, here a view with a body sort of resting on the chassis. I say 'sort of' because the back of the body is actually sitting on the rear axle.
The car is going to be much lower the A-bone I built --thanks in part to fewer spring leaves, smaller front tires, the bigger kick-up, and the lower 1940 spring perches on the rear axle.
You can see the better body I will be using behind the red one, I plan to change the paint.

Back To T

Daytons has been eating up all my time since it came to me November '09. So I really haven't done much to the old T project out back --actually I have done nothing in almost a year.
Finally this weekend I welded up the rear cross member kick-up, once again bringing the chassis back to "roller" status. Meaning, I can roll it around instead of having it sit on stands immobile... like furniture.
The significance is twofold; finally the kick-up is off my mind, and I can move on to the next task.
Unfortunately, I misplaced the drawings I made of the kick-up, measurements, and other notes. So I spent much of Saturday re-measuring and trying to figure out what I had planned a year ago. The final look of the kick-up isn't exactly what I had in my head --a nice, gentile s-curve. Two 90-degree turns later --it's done!
Nobody will see it; it's in the trunk anyway.