Projects Jumping in the deep end

I would fill the coolant while the pan is off and see where the water, if any, is coming from.

 

Really has me thinking, I wonder if this guy that you got it from hosed down the car and motor real good before putting it for sale to make it look better??... The water in the oil dang well looks too nice and no rust inside says it wasn't there long.

 

I edited a post above with this info so you may not have seen, but the seller said it was left outside with the spark plugs just partly threaded in during a rainy spell for several months. The water entered through the plug holes and has only been in there since November or so, hence why it looks so clean. I guess he wasn’t planning to use this engine and wasn’t concerned about it.

I filled the oil pan with kerosene to go ahead and start breaking up some of the sludge that was still settled on the bottom and will be under the car today wiping all that shit out with a kerosene soaked rag. I don’t know if spraying degreaser up in there is a good idea (not sure if the residue will interact with the fresh oil in a bad way), but I know the kerosene will evaporate.

Just to be safe since it doesn’t cost anything I will go ahead and fill the rad after cleaning the gunk out. I just hope the radiator itself holds water, I can’t exactly back it out of my garage if it starts pissing everywhere...

 

Yeah, that 'milkshake' is oil/water mix and not great. Clean everything especially the pickup.
While the pan is off and waiting for gaskets, fill up the radiator and look for leaks.
EDIT: just saw your latest post, good to go!
I'd also rotate the engine after filling to
1. Make sure you don't have water above the pistons from a head gasket
2. Look at each cylinder wall below the pistons to make sure they are good and clean and don't have a crack leaking water.
I'd spray it down with a good oil (NOT WD-40) and wipe off just before the pan goes back on. That engine rebuild video shows a pretty complex pan gasket install. Hope yours will be easy.

 

Now that looks better.

The pan install looks like it will be a bitch, but oh well.

 

If you don’t have any obvious cracks I’d say you are in the clear, those blocks are surprisingly strong and it looks pretty good inside in the pics. While you are in there wiggle the rods and verify they don’t rattle on the crank journal. If they do just take the rod cap off and peel off a shim- they were there to adjust worn rod bearings, and the main caps

 

Also the rod caps are a weird size but there is a metric socket that fits them perfectly( don’t remember which one it’s been years since I’ve fooled with one

 

aren't they 19/32 or 21/32nds. I don't remember right now.

 

Rod caps are great! No wiggle to speak of. I am thinking this engine was rebuilt at some point already.

The oil pan reinstall looks like it will be a little tedious. It's a pretty tight space back there. I think I'm supposed to remove this bellhousing inspection plate to give myself a little more room.

Scraping this old gasket material off sucks, but I'll have plenty of time to do it. Looks like the new gasket won't be here til Feb 2. Is there something I can let this soak in to make it easier to get off?

 

Elbow grease?

 

Maybe just a cardboard shield for the inside of the engine and run a wire wheel on a drill? I was thinking like these:

 

Find a reasonably cheap set of wood chisels and use them as scrapers. You can keep them sharp with a file and they do a really good job of scraping old gaskets off. If you find a set that has 4 or 5 different ones, then you have a wide variety of widths to work with. HF, or the Pawn Shop, or even where you work might have a set for a reasonable price.

I have found that these actually work better than a razor type scraper alot of times because you can apply more pressure without fear of breaking a blade.

 

My plastic scraper was obviously not up to the task after a few hours on my back so I will look into some wood chisels. I sure am sore today!

 

If you CAREFULLY apply aircraft stripper to JUST the gasket on the block, it should break down the gasket enough to scrape off. Dab it on instead of brushing, which can spatter the stuff all over.
On the pan, you can brush it on, since the whole thing can be cleaned and rinsed.
Check the pan rails for straightness and clean the hardware and threads, too.

 

If you remove a shim, it makes the opening between the rod and the cap less in distance. Which equals a tighter fit. Make sense?

As to whether or not they came from the factory, I don't know.

 

I bet we pictured the same thing (shim between cap and journal) at first.

 

If I am not mistaken, the rods and mains are babbitt bearings, which means they are "poured" and fixed in place. The babbitt bearings are not the type that you can just purchase over or undersized bearings. The shims are placed where the bolts go through the caps, so therefore the more shims, the more tolerance between the crank, and the rods or the mains. You remove a shim, and the tolerance becomes closer, or tighter. As the babbitt wears down, you remove the shims to keep the tolerances low/less slop in them.

 

Intense heat turned out to be the missing ingredient. I dug out my heat gun to good results.



My parts order came in earlier than expected. I now have working spark advance from the steering wheel, a new spring on the choke rod, a boot on the ignition coil wire, a bracket for said coil, and a complete gasket kit. I wasn’t expecting this for almost another week! Time to get busy. Additionally my brake rods should be shipping some time next week.

I'm a little perplexed by this whole rope seal business. Do I need to soak the rope in oil? Glue it in place? Or does it just press in and hang out?

It turns out I had the linkage for spark advance all along - it was crammed down in the seat. It’s all bent up now anyway so I went ahead and installed the new one I ordered.

A coworker knows of a local junkyard where a mid 90s Caravan sits, and the owner owes her a favor, so I might be able to score that sweet sweet middle seat.

 

Also, I couldn't resist making this out of a video I shot a few days ago. You don't get to see this angle too often and it's always cool.



Now that it's cleaned up, I'm planning to record another video of it turning before I install the pan... I'll probably make another gif like this then. I love this angle - you can see almost every moving part in the engine.

 

True rope seals, not the teflon rope kind, should be soaked in oil for a day before pushed into the groove with a socket the same size as the crank. Then they are cut off just a little higher than flush with the housing or pan (gasket in place so you get that thickness too). Then the ends give the slightest squish together to seal up and hopefully won't leak past. You do realize there is another half to the rope seal on the front cover, right?

 

Thanks. The rope I was supplied looks like the teflon kind. Yep, I know there's one above the crank pulley too. I suppose I should do them both.

 

Found this after a 3 minute search

Unfortunately it refers to a magazine article for the gasket part
Do some more searching to make sure you have a plan.

 

https://modelatouringclub.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/leakless-pan-gasket-article.pdf

This is the article it refers to. Looks like it's as easy as A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T.

Yep, I am not looking forward to doing this by myself on my cold ass garage floor...

 

While you have the pan off, take a look at the rear main. The rear main bearing has the thrust surface to keep the crank where it needs to be. If the crank can move too far forward to back, it will pump oil out the rear main. I do not remember what the tolerance is. Move the crank all the way forwards and then move it all the opposite direction. Measure the difference.

If you take the cap off you can see the condition of the babbitt. Do not be surprised if there are some cracks or pieces missing.

 

I just spent the last hour or so reading this thread. First of all, it think that it is awesome that you are getting into this at such a young age. I wish that I would have been exposed to it a lot sooner. Kudos to you for jumping in feet first and for having the willingness to listen and a want to learn attitude. Just remember, there are no stupid questions. If you come at this with humility, and folks can see that you are truly wanting to figure all this out, then you will continue to receive the help and guidance that you have received so far. I think it is wonderful that @RMONTY has been able to be there to help so much. Don't get discouraged. I have been fortunate to have a great mentor (70 year old plus hot rodder) who has been open and willing with share all of his years of knowledge with me. It seems like I learn something new every day. There is no substitute to hands on experience. Having the will to work, and the access to the wealth of knowledge that is found on this site, is priceless. I currently have (4) flathead V8's and haven't heard any of them run yet!! I live near Decatur and would like to meet you at the Swap Meet if you end up going. Keep up the good work. When you finally get to drive something that you built, it is a feeling like no other!!

 

Thanks, Low-Blow! I really thought I'd get laughed out of this place. I'm glad I took the leap anyway. The folks here are just swell. The passion and energy here is great and the knowledge is absolutely indispensable. I'm going to do everything I can to make Decatur. I have plenty of stuff I can do a little horse trading with. I'll see you there!

 

I don’t like how the steering box behaves when the wheel is turned while unsupported, so I went ahead and fixed it up with some ugly machine screws I had sitting around. I will replace these with pretty screws when I have the money for such frivolous things.

Two questions: The center hole on the column totally does not line up with anything on the dash, what gives with that?

Second, is that it? The column just chills there with a half inch gap above it? I feel like I’m missing something but I can’t find anything in the restorer books.