Technical 55 royal build, or how to build on a budget and not get put on the couch by your wife.

I took that at one of my rigs.
Thought it was a cool pic.
Yea, a play on "black gold" I guess.

 

Might reduce things to where the crank might turn though.....

 

Yes I agree that if he could get 3 or 4 out and remove the timing chain he might be able to turn it.

 

Has anybody got one on an engine stand backwards?

 

Better than the engine stand just put it upside down on a heavy cardboard. Do not mix up the lifters as they must go back in the original holes.

 

If he's going to reuse the OEM can & lifters, but where it's been sitting so long I's @ least go with new lifters, or new lifters & cam.

 

I agree with you George but I think that we are looking at a minimal rebuild to see if that dinosaur tranny will work. That is why I offered the .001 or .002 bearings so as to save grinding the crank. Anyway roll her upside down and go at it that way.

 

Thanks for the offer 270!
I'll keep it in mind for sure.
I've been getting hammered at work and have t had the time to get it flipped over and look at the bottom end.

 

Oh shit I had forgotten about the work as I have been retired for about a decade .
I do not miss work, 50 years is more than enough. I'll help all that I can to get this Mopar custom running.

 

Well I got her torn down.
I'm not sure exactly what had it locked up though. No rust and rings are still shiny.
Cylinders look good. It looks like there is some bearing issues, some trash got in and possibly a main that was getting ready to go.
Crank look ok except one main is a little scored.
Once I got the rods loose she spun easy.
What do you guys think?

 

That black on the caps looks like a chatter huh?

 

I take that back, this cylinder has some rust and I can see where the rings sat.
Also there is a small "gouge" hard to see in the pic.
Fuck.
It's not real bad ,about a quarter sized "rough spot"

 

Small rust pits are a minor matter if they are not big enough to snag the rings. Pits will soon fill with carbon and polish smooth.

An old timer told me this. During WW2 when cars, trucks and parts were in short supply he rebuilt an International truck that had been left outside with the head off. The cylinders were pitted with rust but he cleaned them up, honed them and installed new rings. The motor burned oil for a while but soon settled down, stopped burning oil and ran great. A few years later he had it apart for a valve job and found the pits filled with carbon, cylinders smooth and making a perfect seal.

If the cylinders are not worn too bad, pistons ok, and it is a budget job it may be worth considering.

 

Had a similar situation with a 72 Chev pickup. It had been out of commission for years and we got the motor unstuck and running well but it burned oil. After driving it for a year or so the owner brought it back for an overhaul. We found the rings stuck in the pistons and each cylinder had rings of rust exactly where the rings had sat.

We honed the cylinders installed new rings and bearings and it ran like new and did not burn oil. Even though you could still see the marks in the cylinders.

On the other hand a vertical gouge is a more serious matter, don't think there is any way to fix that short of boring the cylinder. Slight scratches may hone out but not deep gouges

 

Back in hi-school, the group I ran with were all poor folks and having a running rig was paramount so weekend rebuilds were pretty common. Amazingly enough, some of them turned out quite well.
Polish the crank (with some luck it will still be round), put in new bearings and rings and go for it. Given the
nature of the project I'd re-use the cam and lifters unless you find any suspect lobes...look very carefully.

.

 

I agree, hit it with a hone and see how it looks. Unless it's got a big ring ridge I'd do rings bearings oil pump timing chain lap the valves and new valve seals. Fresh coat of paint and call it good.

 

Well I "have" a rebuild kit.
Supposedly a master kit.
I'm just waiting for it to get here, and it's free basically.
Trading some labor .
It's supposed to have pistons rings, springs.. The works.

 

I have used a rawhide strap about 1/4 or 3/8 wide 3 or 4 feet long with a piece of fine emery cloth torn so that it just fits the journal's width and long enough to make 1 1/2 or 2 wraps. Oil the emery, pull the strap back and forth. You'll find that you can control the strap to go evenly back and forth across the journal.

Mains
Diameter
2.3745 to 2.3755< /TR>
Maximum Allowable Out of Round
. 001
Maximum Allowable Taper
.001
Center Bearing Run-Out ( total indicator reading )
When Supported at Front and Rear Main Bearing
.002

Crankpin Journals
Diameter
1.9365 to 1.9375< /TR>
Length
1 13/16
Maximum Allowable Out-of-Round
. 001
Maximum Allowable Taper
.001

 

Good info thanks!
I got a cheapy harbor freight caliper.
I'll check it out.

My dad was a drag racer. We ran a bbc 468, we'd do bearing every season and I remember he'd "polish" out finger nail grabbers on the crank with sandpaper.
We twisted that big block to 8 grand regularly until it finally spit a rod out the side of the block.

 

I have reread my post about polishing the crank and I failed to say that the rawhide should be wrapped around the emery 2 times, Now you can walk it evenly across the journal. Old-timers disease.

 

For polishing journals you use crocus cloth and a leather boot lace. Do not use emery that is too coarse it will scratch.

Cylinders ok up to .007 taper. If piston is loose have it knurled. An old time auto machinist will know what that means.

 

I've been thinking about the direction I'm going to take the car.
No trim. Flat blue ,white roof. Black walls with the stock hubcaps I found in the trunk.
Lowered 3".
My wife does leather work and I have her looking into hand tooled door panels.
Basically the "theme" will be clean and simple.
I have some days off starting Saturday and I'm going to hit it hard and make some progress.

 

I saw a '56 - '57 red & white ragtop at the Back to the Fifties in St Paul a couple of years ago that had a late model 5.7 Hemi. It looked really good. I had seen the car there in other years but a couple of years ago he dropped the Hemi in it and had the hood open for the world to see. It was a really nice ragtop to beginning with and then WOW !

 

Cmac. I'm liking the direction you are picking. What type of blue are you thinking? A dark, light, navy?
Hand tooled leather, love it!

Please, keep us updated. Maybe start your own build thread. I'll be the first to subscribe.

Tim

 

Yea my wife is pretty good with the leather stuff. She's just never done a door panel sized piece though and getting it mounted and all that.
I'm lookin at a darker blue I think. Something like this.
Can I just turn this thread I to a "build thread? Not familiar with the rules of engagement here.

 

That color is perfect! Maybe a cream roof instead of stark white. Then lay some pin stripes on it. That would be awesome.


Maybe just change the title and you'll be cool. I'm new here too.

 

You should be able to change or just
add to the title and keep this thread going

 

I've put some elbow grease in this block and I've decided it's going to have to be vatted.
So, I'm building a "vat"
Headed out to get a 50 lb sack of caustic and some citric acid.
I'll get the ph to a 14 or so in a drum and let the block sit for a day. Same with the heads.
I'll use citric acid to knock the ph back down to a 7 and be able to safely handle the water.

 

Man, it's your thread, steer it where ya want! Start posting pictures of the build and carry on. Looking forward to see where this one goes.