My father and I are rebuilding this old 1950 F1. It had an old 6 cylinder in it but we have a flathead v8 from a Mercury we're putting in. We have some old original offenhauser heads, 3 dueces and a mag for it. We have the frame blasted and painted, and the bottom of the cab done too. We took the old v8 apart and we're putting new rings in it and we decided to put rod & main bearings in it too. My question is, how do we tell what bearings to buy for it and what year the engine is?
Motor looks like 49-53. You can measure the main and rod journal diameter on the crank and compare that to stock specs. That will tell you what size bearings you need. The vanpelt link above will get you to the stock specs.
Please tell me you have kept all the rods, pistons, rod caps, main caps and all the bearings marked to so they can be returned to their exact original location. If this stuff gets mixed up, it's bad....really bad especially for a home overhaul. Do not rely on memory. EAC heads are 1952-53 and are very good heads. You can check bearing clearances with a plasti-gauge to see if the present bearings are in spec. The bearing may be marked on the underside. There are methods of measuring bore taper with a feeler gauge, a piston ring and some math. I'm not digging the green frame. I would cure that with a drip steaked can of semi gloss Black Rustolem, some naptha or mineral spirits to thin it and a good brush. It's all matter of personal taste. Tarps of death... If you have to store it out in the weather. Take the tarps off. Hopefully it has all the glass windows. Those tarps hold moisture. This moisture cannot escape or dry out. A tarped car can rust, seriously rust surprisingly fast. It's as bad or worse as being in the river. If you really car about the project you'll remember to dry it out after every rain or better yet put under some kind of shelter. Tractor supply has some very cheap portable tent type shelters. You could even use poles and ropes to make a fly type shelter. Just be it has plenty of airflow. Wrapping one up in a tarp is like putting a potato in plastic bag, throwing it in the microwave wave and pressing high.
Thanks for the help guys. When I got to my fathers to help he already had the engine apart. He marked everything so it can go back in the right places. He's been doing this kind of stuff his whole life so he knows what to do but it's been a while for one of these old flatheads. We usually work on Model A's & T's. The green is going to get covered, it was just what we had in the garage so it's what we put on it to keep it from rusting. The tarp was put on the day before I took the picture just in case it rained over night. It's going back inside as soon as we get some power steering in my mother's other truck. HE HAS TOO MANY PROJECTS!!! Here's a few... and there's more.
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