I'm glad you showed me that pic. I've never worked on an engine this old/ this must oxidation in water passages. I'll see if I can one up you. I've looked down them but get scared and stop looking...
also, not sure if you know this, but its not ok to mount in an engine stand from the back like you would on most blocks. they are weak at the rear bellhousing area and many have been known to break off and crash. use a exhaust manifold for a pattern and make a bracket to bolt to the block using the exhaust bolts, cut and weld a chunk of pipe that fits your stand, its a 45 degree angle.
I cheated and ordered one from stumpy's fab a couple weeks ago. Little pricey but great communication and arrived in 3 days!
The cracked cyl makes it not a viable block if it was mine. Likely cracked from freezing water than overheating. Those 40's trucks have a two piece hood with a chrome strip. Water can get in that space & eventually overfill the oil bath air filter and enter the carb.
Drop in a SBC and sell the flat motor parts to one of the crazies on here. Even a 265 is a vast improvement over the water boiler.
Cool project! Even if you can't save the old flathead, I'd still put in an old work duty engine. I like old work trucks to be mostly original because IMO, you build them based on vintage utility, not nessisarily speed and horsepower like hot-rods and customs.
Found a new block. Took awhile...lol. A decent 59 block pretty hard to find. About a month ago I bought this from a nice guy up in Sundance Wyoming. Health problems. Said he had it magna fluxed, crank turned, new main bearings installed out of a shop in Rapid City. Said he knew the guy who sold it to him. Came out of a running South Dakota Car.
That said, I been gathering parts and trying to come up with a plan... I also got all the old parts and some new with the engine ($1000 and I didn't dicker). Think I overpaid? The old man I bought it from freshened up the seats, bought a set of adjustable lifters (came with NIB), gaskets (came with NIB), honed it (evident) and was going to rebuild it and sell it. I measured all cylinders up and down. They all measure between 3.211 and 3.218 Pistons measure- 3.21* Appears .030 over. Came with a box of these... which I assume are for the 3.1875 bore. I haven't opened to check them out. not going to cut it. I think I want .125 over fresh bore and pistons. Extra $800-1000 I figure Knowing me I bet I have the truck along time. I still could put fresh rings in and run it. Bad news. Piston bearings. He doesn't have new ones. Said they were lost or mistakenly sold as he's been selling off his parts and engines. Mainly Cummings as was evident from my tour of his garage (some diesel guys in for a treat). The old piston bearings aren't organized. The guy actually offered to order me a replacement set if desired. 21A rods in this engine. Furthermore, I ordered a 4" Mercury crank $550 off Ebay (should be here next day or so). Their machinist anticipates it cleaning up at .010 under (sure hope so). The cam out of the old engine had more meat on the bones (within Ford spec), so I sent it in for the L-100 Cam grind.
PISTON RODS. Since I ordered the 4" crankshaft I've been looking at the rods out of the original seized 59 block harder, due mainly to the fact that they are 8BA rods. some have minor damage from their very physical extraction. I was cautious but it was a BATTLE. The second pic is the worst knick of any rod. I would like to use these if I commit to a rebuild, likely. It saves a couple/few hundred and they are original. The one there is the worst scratched bushing hopefully it would be honed out for a oversized pin. Main concern is the damage to the "nipples" on the rods. What are the nipples? Oil inlets was my initial thought. My little Ford repair manual book page 28, states "Drill the four holes in the bushing to the same size as those in the connecting rod." My manual is for 1937-1947. My set of 21A rods have 4 holes in them 2 in the nipples on the sides and two on top of the pin bore. My 8BA rods have only 2 holes in top of the rod, yet possessing these nipples that I have damaged. Does anyone know if Ford changed their procedure? Or do you think my 8BA piston pin bushing were replaced at one point and not drilled by a guy doing a questionable job? Would you guys use this set in a rebuild or stay away from them? Maybe buy a rod or two? Balance, check for straightness, fit for new pins. Would you drill the bushings if you did use this set? Any thoughts are appreciated.
8ba rods do not have those side holes drilled. When you get your crank, make sure it has 2 oil holes for the rods, not 1 like the 59a crank. Why do you want to bore all the way to .125 over? Better to only cut what is needed to clean up the bore. i would use the 8ba rods
I'm still alive and working on truck. This 46 ford will not spend the rest of its life not ruining in my shop! Engine is at a local machine shop getting cleaned, magna fluxed, and bored if my better 59 block passes the magna flux. They actually had another flathead in there, so that was comforting as they do not seem that common here in these parts here in Colorado. I'm having them do a short block. Labor $1300 with a line bore, reconditioning 8ba rods, and decking. The assembler was there and I visited with him. He recommended Speedways' front oil seal. Furthermore, they use clevite main bearings most often. The sales guy showed me a box he had handy and it did say made in USA. I'm going to get bearings (or have them order) once everything checks out. By my measurements the 4" crank mains and journals would clean up with .010 under. I don't want to order pistons and bearings until there machinist confirms some numbers with me. I also told them I prefer non-imported bearings.
While I'm waiting a few weeks for them I have been tinkering around on the truck. I have been cleaning 2" of vintage grease compound off the trans. The grease laughed at the pressure washer. Soaking with gas, degreaser, ATF/Acetone goodies works best as it doesn't gas off so fast. Got down to some paint. It appears antique ford green, so that's what I ordered from Hirsch I believe. Though their website mentions ford blue being the correct color. Local Napa wanted like $160 a quart to whip some up and Bill Hirsch was like $60—they got some of my $. This is a Borg Warner 4 speed (T9?) I believe. Super simple most interesting is the parking brake system. I wish my modern Ford had a similar system. Way better than all the cables parts associated with modern (just an additional drum with a brake on back on trans output. I have parts soaking. I noticed brass shavings in the brake pad compound. I am having my machine shop square up the flywheel and flip it around as the edge was a little chewed on. The interior of the trans looks similar but I am not opening up that can of worms. Maybe after I get it up and running awhile. I'm sure it will shift. My clutch disk looks pretty good and my pressure plate checked passed the parameters for refacing, but no-one appears to rebuild and grind pressure plates in my area. I have been eyeing the kit from Fort Wayne clutch online the last few days. It's holding oil and didn't look like front main was leaking. There was too much grease on the output to tell. I ordered a fresh output seal.
Also the past day or two I have attacked the brakes. I'm optimistic it she'll run in the next 6 months so she'll need to stop. So I popped the top on the master cylinder—of course not a drop. Filled it up pushed the pedal and no leaks, could not believe it. I would have guessed rotted out line everywhere. I got to scratching around and the lines are copper (or copper coated at least)—brilliant mid century idea. I'm used to 70's and later vehicles that are all steel and often springing leaks. I started with the front. The passenger side wheel cylinder was seized, but the pads look decent and there was a little black greasy oil in the hub seal. I took the cylinder apart, honed it, and put it back together. Toughest part on the drivers side was the lug nuts! I heated them with a rosebud, used a 3/4 breaker bar, and could not get them to budge—not a one! That's because they are left hand thread lol. Ford even put a L on the studs for idiots like me. At least I didn't break a stud. There is a little scaring on the spindle, but should not effect the bearings and races? Probably from a bad bearing at some point, or a factory defect?There was little to no oil or grease in this side. I packed it full of this stuff from Napa That's some grease. I'd never worked with anything quite like it. Front wheel cylinders move the pads now and don't leak with pressure applied. They do need fresh cup and I ordered some. I like the front brake system. Again Simple. The drums needed turned, but I think I'll rebuild the wheel cylinders and turn them after break in drive. These drums are probably junk yard finds only. I probably should replace the flex brake line hose but she's hanging on now. I wanted to install a pressure gauge and see what the master cylinder output psi. is, but I didn't have one handy. Anyone know? I'm headed to the back brakes and rear axle tomorrow/this weekend. I'm going to change the fluid in it and access back brake situation. Fronts are a victory for now! I do have brake fluid at the rear bleeds. I'm sure the wheel cylinders are seized as well. The rear axle is an Eaton two speed I believe. Hard to find info on. Would put me up to 8 gears. A pamphlet I saw online advertised like 3200ish Rpm's at 55 mph. It's a low geared ox. Ratio in higher gears 5.83, lower gears 8.11 to 1. Had to take off nice and slow loaded (10-15k) with only 100 hp.
This week I made a little progress while waiting to here back from the machine shop. All four wheel cylinders were seized. They are now all functioning and currently leak free. They were all honed with new cups if needed. The wheel cylinders on this truck were 1 3/8 up front and 1 1/2 in the back. I was an accomplishment getting all 6 rims and 4 drums off without breaking any tools or parts. This truck was last registered in 1991 and who knows when anything was worked before then.
I also checked out my upcoming fuel situation. It has a pump like this... I discovered its an AC Delco. I believe it was made by Walbro though. Fuel tank was dry. I blew out the old fuel lines with air both ways and poured ten gallon of gas in the tank. I then hit this little fuel pump with 6 volts. Started spitting fuel all over the floor. Good news and bad. The pump was leaking within itself and pumping fluid out an air relief hole. I disassembled this little pump and felt confident the Walbro/Dupree fuel pump bellows would work in this guy. The one in this pump was melted to varnish. I plan to just use it for priming if needed. Ordered a $12 kit from fisheries supply and I keep flushing fuel through the tank. Its looking pretty clean and never honestly looked that bad. 1991 would of been pre-ethanol to help me out. Small victory for now and I have acquired about 20 gallon of dirty gas scattered about my garage in buckets with parts soaking.
I through some grease in the rear bearings. It seems guys sometimes do, and do not grease them on this axle. One of these had some shotty grease in it and one did not. The one that did not has had the inner grease seal on the drum replaced so I can tell someone has been in there. With a full floating axle all the weight loaded in the rear end is ultimately being applied to the hub bearings. I through some grease in there. I pulled the rear differential cover as I let the axle drain for a few days but could still stick my finger up in the drain hole and feel a .5" drilling mud like sludge out of the bottom of it. To discourage changing it was a huge bar for the rear axel wheel camber perfectly resting on directly in conflict with the drain plug. I had to loosen the tensioner. That took probably 2 hours of heating and working back and forth a little bit at a time. You can see the tensioner here. I had to move it like two threads to acquire enough play to pull it off of my drain plug. I need to pull it over and tighten it back and tack weld it to that piece of metal. I don't know how it was originally. That may be a farmers project because he was chewing through a lot of uneven tires? I know I don't like the tensioner bar there. I also applied some ford red paint on that cover. That Eaton axle was actually once reddish orange. I'd like that whole axle painted now (if anyone knows the original color or has pics of it that would be great). The same color was inside the differential as well so I'm confident it was original. The rear axle and leaf spring package are one of my favorite practical features of the truck.
I also finished cleaning up the gearbox today. Before: After: Clean parts are so much more fun to work with. Probably 3-4 hours cleaning and prep work there on the trans. That grease pack was like roofing tar. Scrape and Soak—Scrape and Soak That paint there is Hirsch Old Ford Green. It looked black at first but started growing on me. I think the color on that trans originally had a little more green and less gray from what I could tell. I'm not necessarily going full restoration anyway—focusing on operational; but while its out it does make it much more pleasant to work with a fresh coat of paint and less grease (plus I'll be able to find all my leaks easier!). There was no sign of old ford blue anywhere in the trans and numbers on the trans do match the numbers on the rails so I don't think it was ever blue in 1946.
This battle I'm not ecstatic about. Some hero drilled out the tumbler at some point in the trucks history. He barely got into the rod that goes up and down locking the wheel. I may be able to get away with putting a new tumbler in but the mechanism doesn't spring up friskily (it feels exhausted). I neatly removed the remnants of the ignition lock that was in there. I have a parts guy checking his yard for a replacement in Kansas tomorrow (no way he'll find one with a key). I took the horn button off and steering wheel retaining nut but couldn't get the wheel to unseat. I looked at a diagram and I'm not seeing another faster. Maybe I just need to get more aggressive? I don't want to damage anything. I may want a smaller wheel for drivability anyway. I'm 6'4 250lbs. and that wheel feels big in there with me. The cord with the horn switch is still present. Is there a trick to unfastening the switch from the cord or do I have to cut the cord to replace the drop ignition column bracket (if I go that route)? I want the truck to have a working ignition/key as designed. Any thoughts/feedback are appreciated guys Travis
Travis, you should be able to get a lock cylinder from Mac's ford parts. There is a serated push pin in the bottom. That needs to be removed to get the cylinder out. Whoever drilled it. Didn't know how to remove the cylinder. I drill a small hole in that push pin. Tap it with a #4 or #6 tap. Find the right size screw. About 1" long. Screw it all the way in. It will start to push the pin out. Go easy because it's a small screw. You don't want to break it. Put oil on the threads if need.
The Jalopy Journal
