Well I replaced the stats like I mentioned the other night. Took the car to work yesterday. Even took the interstate which I could never do before the rebuild. In the am drive it stayed at just under 3/4. The drive home the humidity air temps had dropped a bit and the temp stayed closer to 1/2 on the gauge.... Seems to be working ok. I'll keep watching it. Gauge on the way home Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
So this just happened..... It's always something. Don't helicoil your sparkplug holes guys. These were done before I bought them and I didn't know they had them when I bought them. Anyway long story short after cruising around a bit today the kids and I went to pick my wife up from work... We didn't make it back to the road. Barely left the lot and pop, bang, I limped into the gas station lot we just happened to be next to. So do I rehelicoil, clean up and put stock heads back on, or do I try and find a new set of heads that aren't $1000 or full of helicoils. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It's been crazy the last few days getting the kids ready for school traveling for work etc. And I never updated what happened that day. Really wasn't much of a story. Shuffled my wife and kids home with help from my dad then he and I went looking for a new insert to get me home with a fall back plan of trailering it if I had to. I was able to get it home on Sunday actually wasn't down too long was able to find a thread repair that isn't made of soldering wire. used the new plug to put it in which turns out I should have used the correct tool the set it permanently. It got me home though.... When I got home and pulled all the plugs (the new insert came out too it was stuck on the plug since I didn't use the right too to install) every one of the plugshas a helicoil in it. So I got the right tool to install the correct style for spark plugs. (Similar to your ez-lok style but they had them local) I fly out to South Dakota tomorrow for work but as soon as I'm back I'll replace all the inserts and then try to remember how to go camping before greaseramma labor day weekend. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Saturday evening set to work removing and redoing the inserts. Got 2 done went well. #3&4 things turned these 2 were wollared worse and I ended up completely stripping the holes out. Stopped there because there wasn't going to be any chance to get them sealed well enough to run. So I called it a night and started looking for another set of heads since I probably wasn't going to be able to get these ones fixed and reinstalled in time for our trip next weekend. Found a couple used sets for $400 plus shipping, just about pulled the trigger but started thinking. I was going to need to overnight them and and who knew if they would have repaired threads too and I'd be in the same boat. Plus with overnight shipping it was only going to be another $150 or so to get new ones. So I bit the bullet and get new ones... A little bummed they don't have the same old look but I'm sure they will make up for it by having clean threads and known history. They sure are pretty though. I'll have to change that. I went with Vic's block letters. Placed the order through speedway at 2 PM on Sunday and they were on my porch when I got off work today, Score! Going to go out tonight and start removing the offys and see how far I get. Wish me luck should be fairly smooth sailing. (Famous last words) I would like to have the car loaded and gear packed by the time I leave for work on Friday so we can head straight to KC after work. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Dude I’m so stoked to see you! Shitty about the heads but at least you know what you’ve got now. And you don’t have to clean them lol
Working at my usual slow and steady pace... Got the passenger side done for the most part. Drivers side tomorrow night. Pretty uneventful. Did find mind thermostats lifting again so I drilled a tiny home near the top and looped some stainless safety wire through and that runs in the outside of the neck and gets tightened up with the hose clamp. Hope it doesn't leak. Onto pictures. Couldn't just leave them alone I'm sure I'm like the 3,400,562 person to paint them like this. Draining coolant to below head level Offy off. Looks like a need to spend more time getting the tune right. Thermostat fix... Hope it works. Edelbrock on and torqued Need to get longer reach plugs. Anyone know a part number for a 3/4" reach NGK mine are the B-6L but are only 1/2" reach. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I'm excited man... Never really gone outside of town for a show. Should be fun. Plus a couple days sans kids is going to be very welcome for my wife and I. Last couple weeks have been dragging on forever. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Saturday right away is probably the busiest part of the show, everyone’s been waiting all year! Your gonna have a blast
Wow, what a thread! Just read it all the way thru. excellent work and what a read about the rain storm/flood! Sounds like you know how to enjoy your car- not afraid to use it as it was intended. Thanks for posting!!
Not to spoil it but he made it here and back Car looks fantastic in person! Maybe I should wash mine lol
Lol I'm so bad at remembering to post stuff. Same with FB and Instagram. By the time I remember it's way past time. So when I left off I had the passenger head on. I'll make a boring story short. The next night I got the driver's side on. Gotta love the simplicity of a Flathead. O'Rileys had the correct length spark plugs in town so I didn't have to wait the normal 12 hrs to get them from speedway. She runs but is leaking a decent amount of water. I recheck the studs are all torqued. After messing around a bit I realise it's coming from the lower rad hose connection where I have the t stat tied down. Which was an easy fix just had to move the clamp down a little. There was also a little coming from the upper clamp on that same hose. Which wasn't bad but now that we're home I need to get fixed, shouldn't be bad just isn't sitting in the exact same spot as before and is seeping. Aside from that the car is running fantastic. New heads seems to have completely eliminated the running hot issue I'd been having. While in KC we drove the car from Platt City to Lee's Summit at 65 (would have gotten hot immediately before) and the temp never even got to mid way up the gauge. It stayed right between 1/4 and 1/2. The old heads had also apparently been leaking some compression through the plug holes with the wrong style inserts. There was some soot on both the head side and the plug side if the inserts. With the new heads it starts easier, idles more consistently and just runs better. Which really isn't that surprising. New parts work better than crappy used ones. Now in typical fashion the car wanted to fight one last time before we left for KC. I drive it home to wash it (and annoy my yuppy neighbors). When I'm finished I go to start is and it just cranks without even trying to fire. Tried for a while and eventually called a friend to tow me back the 3 blocks to the shop where I had light and could work inside and away from mosquitos. There I find water under the distributor cap... And in my attempt to start like this I'd flooded it. Get that all sorted, found a busted terminal on the cap but was able to get it running. From there I went ahead and loaded it on the trailer (steady backfire on the cylinder with the broken terminal and all). Next day over my lunch break I drove across town to get a new cap from my buddy Gene Cross. After selling me the cap he let me know I could have just got one from O'Rileys as they are stocked in the distribution warehouse. Oh well I'd rather help out a friend anyway. To be continued Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
So Friday after work... My wife drips the kids off with her parents. The dogs go to the kennel and the car is already loaded and ready to go, I even took the 10 minutes to swap the new distributor cap on before we left (I know big deal right) I may have mentioned this before but since hitting a few deer in a consecutive years like 8 years ago my wife get really anxious and upset if we're still driving after dark. We'll it got dark like an HR before we got to our campsite But we made it and she only mentioned 30 times that we were going to get murdered in the woods as we pulled up and set up camp. The Basswood turned out to be a pretty nice place in the daytime and once she saw it lit up it wasn't so bad at night. Saturday we took our time getting over to the show since it didn't open until 11 anyway. We pulled in just after it opened with a bunch if cars we met on the road.of course I didn't get any shots of my car but we parked right next to a hamber (can't remember his handle but I met him at the Goodguys Meetup this year) he's the guy who owns the yellow 35 that was stranded in the flood last year in Des Moines. There was a lot of cool shit at the show it was nice being limited on what gets in. After only a couple hours we left and headed down to Lee's Summit for an appointment with @TimM @4 to start a half sleeve I've been thinking about for a while. This is the part of the trip that I was most impressed with the new heads. The drive according to Google was just over an hour. I knew the car probably wouldn't get there that fast. We took back roads and 2 lane hwy and after stopping form some BBQ we made it just after 4:15. Timm took a couple videos of me rolling in I'll try to post later. We only really had time to start the tat. But we started with the best part IMO. After he was sick if drawing on my arm we followed him to his place to check out his cars .. and meet family and his parents. This is the real crazy bit. His mom grew up and went to school in the same tiny Town in the middle of nowhere NE as my dad. His aunt graduated with my dad. From a town of less than 300 people. We didn't know any of this until I was sitting in his operating chair. Once we got to talking back at Timm's place his mom starts naming off my grandpa and uncle other family and friends who still live there. it was wild. And this was just day 1 Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
So with the cliff hanger lol day 2 wasn't any crazier than day 1 there were a lot less cars at the show but Timm and his family met us there and we walked around meeting new people and with fewer cars we could spend more time looking over the details of each one. All in all it was a fantastic trip. I think it was the first time I've traveled out of town for a show and after this I will be going out more often. Being a lot more if a traditional focused show made it much more enjoyable to me. Anyway more pictures. And there is a few more on my FB page Adam Bjornsen. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Last pics before loading up for home. Had to get some Instagram pics for the Basswood which doesn't have an IG lol Had to throw some axes before leaving the campground for the last time... I wasn't very good. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Appreciate it man. Like most I tend to over scrutinize my stuff. So it's nice to hear some people dug it. Love that RPU. It'd drive the hell out of it. Which it sounds like you do. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Lol I hadn't even checked yet. Just assumed they wouldn't. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Regarding your earlier post on temps, my car runs a little over half when it's in the nineties outside, it runs a little under the half way mark on cooler days. Your car is looking great.
Been a few months... Car is running great. Temps are staying down. Drove to work a few times, always fun seeing the surprised looks of something different on the morning commute. Even took the interstate which is both good and bad. Means I don't have to block out as much time to get to or from the office... But also kinda miss the back road cruising so I still go that way if I have the time. I had been delaying posting about my big adventure in early October when I drove the longest trip in the car since I've owned it. Chump change to most of you HAMB guys but I drove 80 miles from Des Moines to Fort Dodge in basically one stretch for the Cruise to the Woods and then back. Whole boatload of cars I didn't take any pics of. If you don't know, there is a bunch of cruise routes from all across Iowa and surrounding states that all meet at the show in Fort Dodge. Lots of OT, modern, Muscle cars, and some HAMB stuff. Little chilly at first ended up a great day beautiful drive, and great memories for the kids. I tried to take timelapse video of the drive. Turns out I don't know how to do that... I borrowed a couple GoPros from a buddy but all I got for the effort was 14000 pictures (one pic every 10 seconds for a couple hours) and a bunch of 12 second clips from inside that shows me driving but nothing outside. Lol I'm an idiot. The same friend was trying to render the pics into a timelapse but couldn't figure it out. Hense the delay. Now it's getting cold and she's just about out away for the winter. If you remember way back I talked about a local oldboy hot rodder Gene Cross, he called a few weeks back about another local guy trying to set up a machine shop specializing in flatheads and old got rods that's getting started up. Gene is hosting a meet n greet at his place this weekend with a group of local flathead guys. As long as it's not raining I'm planning to take the sedan down and I'll be sure to remember the pics for that. Last thing we had to put one of Boxer down this week. Not really unexpected but still stinks. She had a large tumor in her head that had started to push outside of her skull giving her a very large lump on one side of her face and causing issues with hearing and pain. We're thankful we got 10 good years with her. Maxwell her companion husky mix has been mopy and sad laying around the house ever since. Sounds weird but since we knew it was coming my wife has been looking around for a rescue pup for a few months, now she keeps sending me pics. So I'm sure it wont be long and we'll be back in the puppy stage. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Great trip photos, I chuckled at the photo of them sleeping. The rumble of that Flathead at speed has got to just turn into a white noise drone. Good luck with the pup transition that’s a rough one either way you look at it :/
Oh yeah if they're in there more than 15-20 minutes they'll usually fall asleep the one above it they were holding their hands up like on a roller coaster. And then sleeping shortly after haha. I've only had to put 2 dogs down myself dad always did it when we were kids and we didn't know any better. We out our other boxer Guido down a little over a year ago. And that was an easy decision the day of when he woke up completely not himself after we think he had a stroke or an aneurysm in the night. Hard but easy to know it was time... Carys this last week, we had been noticing changes but she was still fighting through the pain and still pretty active and lively. A vet checkup helped us make the decision but then we had to schedule it and know for a couple days what was coming up... It was just different. I'm the type it's just a dog but they're still part of the family for a decade or more so you feel had when it comes to that. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Read the entire thread. I kinda like those bulbous old Ford sedans. Had a black 41 in high school with a 53 merc motor. I see you were wearing a Husker shirt in Iowa...........very brave.
I ain't scared a those fighting chickens in Iowa City.... Though maybe I should be after we've dropped 4 in a row to them. I'm always wearing either husker stuff or car stuff. Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
As promised small update from the Flathead Meetup at Gene's place on Saturday. Drove the car, the car loved the cool 25* morning air. When I pulled up there was already 15 guys and about half drove their cars. There was a few shoeboxes, a few fat fenders including mine, a glass 32 and a sweet aV8 sedan showed up a little after me. Lots of bullshitting in the shop. Lots of checking out the cars. But the main reason for the meet was introductions. An Aussie transplant to the central Iowa area named Glen recently purchased a lot of the machine shop equipment from another local guys estate after he passed last summer. Glen currently does a lot of work for the Sprint car crowd as well as racing but wanted to get into the niche of flathead work with his newly acquired equipment. Gene Cross whom I've mentioned previously organized a meet n greet of semi-local flathead guys. One guy brought his running 337 Lincoln He had to replace 1 piston after he got it... Check out the corrosion on the slug that came out. Other wise it wasn't too bad Gene has had this for years but this time around it was together and running Some of the graffiti on Gene's sedan Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
And Bob's '32 We run into each other around town pretty regularly. Didn't get a pic of it just a video. Also I was a bit behind in all the videos didn't start recording until after they were all running need to work on being aware happening around me lol Sent from my rotary phone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Very cool, thanks for the videos! That little T coupe is full of details. I’ve looked it over a few times. Think it was at Pete and Jakes open house a few years ago
The Jalopy Journal
