Technical What did you do with your car today? * NEW*

I have them organized by size, in small zip-loc bags, in the supplied oil. That way they are ready for install, anytime.

Got that tip from my Grandfather.

 

Got new viperblades for my Morris. The n ew ones are 1 inch longer (9 inch) so so mayby I can look out with both eyes at the same time.

 

Doing upholstery repair today. There are some minor bubbles in the kick panels and some stretching that needs to be done in the headliner. Its supposed to be 109 here today so I may not last long.

 

Just got my plates and insurance
Going for a cruise !!!!!!

 

You have to have a line lock ! how about a vintage NAPA brake lock. And hit the local Flea market and got these valve covers for $10.00

 

Today I remembered the equation for Gay-Lussac's Law, and that I, an actual test engineer, failed to record the ambient temperature in when I started my AC system pressure test.

The system has been pressurized for 24-hours, and the gauge went down 0.5psi.

Now, it is cooler than yesterday, so that would more than explain the miniscule pressure drop, but it's bugging me.

I recorded the ambient temperature just now, and will check the gauge again tomorrow.

The formula indicates that a temperature change to what it is today, to what it might have been yesterday, only a 2.42°F decrease in temperature would have been required to make that pressure drop, so I might be ok.

Still bugging me, though.

 

I washed the bugs and road grime from driving it in the rain off the truck. Other then that the toughest thing I’ve been working on is which one to drive….

 

Gave the block one final hot ! hot ! water and soap scrubbing. washed the crank again after having it balanced
and polished. For those who are interested , make sure to clean and flush and clean the journals in the crank. The blue pad goes in the drain of my parts washer and you can see all the grit that came out of the journals from the polishing. I probably went through them 5 or 6 times flushing and using a gun cleaning tool until they were clean. And the crank was clean already as I had put it in to check the clearances. But I like motor work to be super clean. I got the crank bolted down and it is as smooth as glass ! you can turn it with no effort.

 

drove my hopped-up AA truck to a big model-t estate auction of a local collector today. . Alot of old T s and parts and collectables. I managed to keep my cool and not come back with too much, but got a few things.

 

More sanding. Mostly 320, then 600, with a little filler and 80 grit thrown in. It was fun for the first hour or so.. It'll be black again, so trying take my time.

 

I confirmed that my new AC system in my Falcon had no leaks, put a deep vacuum on it, and then charged it.

It blows pretty cold. How cold I don't know. I dropped the thermometer on the concrete, and it broke.

Feels good, though.

 

Going to Church in mine soon...

 

Started trying to fit all the body panels together. Seems everything has to be modified at least a little. But then again everything is aftermarket made by many different companies, located all over the country. No complaints, I couldn't afford to do this at all with all Gennie parts.

 

Got my 1937 ford coupe painted!!

 

Nice!

 

Still have to do the rear fenders and hood.

 

Drove mine to church today, then to my sons house.

 

Nothing. I did nothing on my car today.

Today I passed on some juice brake parts for the build undertaken by @J.Ukrop (and no, he's not as cool as he comes across on the board. He is easily 2X cooler.)

Then I rolled to out to Bayview to Guido's to grab the water pump from the Von Zipper (1933 Chrysler CT Straight-8) for a rebuild.

For no longer being in this business, I sure do have a lot of business!

 

From the BillyBob Shop log

September 13th 2021 Summer isn't finished with us yet. It was a scorched earth weekend here in South Florida. Made the decision to clean and inspect both heads together to save some time. Applied Kroil penetrating oil to the spark plugs, valve cover studs, plug wire cover studs and the valve stems. At minimum, one of the exhaust valves is stuck.

Made short work of getting the studs out except for two of the spark plug wiring cover studs, One loosened up enough for the stud extractor after heating with MAP torch and quenching with Kroil penetrating oil. When I popped my back I lost about eighty percent of my wrenching strength and, as a result, my 24" breaker bar has become my new best friend. Unfortunately, it's use twisted the other stuck stud off. Oh well, we'll circle back to that later.

Started the first cleaning pass of the combustion chambers with a brass wire wheel in an electric die grinder.

Beer of the day was The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery's Hoppy Bunny American Black Ale. Background music was Link Wray Be What You Want To.

 

If you have an Edelbrock C4B, then you understand the bent oil fill tube. The cap wouldn't stay on mine, so I tied down the spring and welded a "ring" to the ID of the tube for the cap spring to catch on. Once I got it to where I liked it, I shook the snot out of it and the cap didn't fly off. I guess I'm good. Added some fresh paint, I'll pound it into the manifold today.

 

Well, former owner had welded a sheet of 1/8 steel plate in bed as floor. As a winter project I intend to replace floor, replace front panel which is crap and replace all 4 stake pockets.The welds as you see in pic were aprox 2 inches apart . I carefully ground these welds with a 4" diamond blade . Cant see in this photo but the bed sides are wavy somewhat right at the area where the bed sub frame is riveted, caused mostly by trash , dirt or whatever getting between sub rail and actual bed side. Will end up removing sub frame frame rail from bed side , work on getting bed side strait ( rest of bed side is strait) re rivit , add new front panel, pockets and floor. Already removed a few rivits from rail/ sides.

 

Cleaned and started assessing the floors on the 59 Ford, I am pleased over all with the condition of the sheet metal on this car. Not perfect but much better than the 56 wagon I just did. Found an outfit that makes floor panels for these old beasts , It will be a luxury to weld in a new panel rather than what ever I could find. There isn't a lot out there for the 59s.

 

Removed bed side , was going good , removing rivits till saw that someone welded the bed side to the bed sub frame right at gas tank outlet, and about 6 inches from the rear so ended up removing gas tank and got the welds ground / sawed

 

From the BillyBob Shop log

September 14th 2021 My valve spring compressor tool is not a good one and I don't have the strength to lock it down so, I tried placing it in locked position and compressing the springs with the adjustment screw. that worked and I didn't have to fall back on my other valve spring tool that I affectionately call the palm bruising star of pain.

Hopefully, not many of the valves are stuck and I will have them out in short order as well. Beer of the day was made for me, Adelbert's Brewery's Sip and Ponder Philosophizer Saison Ale. Background music was Dire Straits Brothers in Arms.

 

I have been moving forward, crank is in, 3 thou. end play. Rods and pistons are in, 18 thou. side clearance. Slid the cam in to check valve clearance in a couple positions and as seen in the photo that the push rods I have are to long. No big deal someone I know will have a set.

 

Ever remove valve springs just with a sharp rap on the retainers with an old socket? Done it many times, keepers fall right out. Just don't bang the valve heads on the bench.

 

Is there a dumb shit of the day award around here? Got back from a cruise in the '56, coolant leaking under the engine, uh oh. Crawled under it, one of the block drains was dripping. Came right out, still only dripping. Figured it must be all full of crap in there. The second I poked it, it let go. Face, hair, shirt... good thing my mouth was shut.

Good news is the block threads are good, new plug in place. Just hope it's not the tip of the ice burgh.

 

Built the motor mounts for my coupe this past weekend. Was going to run the Hurst mount, but didn’t want to have to run additional bell housing mounts, so went with side mounts using early Ford style pads.

 

Started back on assembling a motor that I was building about a year ago. Since I sold the vehicle it was going in, we are now buttoning it up for my 16-year-old sons car. We got the timing cover and pan on after the pic. Just need to prep a set of heads and we are about done. Notice my sons safety shoes...

 

Wait until he drops a cylinder head on his toes...he'll learn! Remember Dad, he's at that "invincible" age, and safety shoes ain't cool.