FLATHEAD buildup Part 2. flatoz's roadster gets a new heart

Geez those rods look spindly! I see they're 8BA, but what's the deal with them, are they stronger than they look?

 

managed to get a few hours of toiling in the shed today. I acquired a helper today.

here he is




But I did manage to get some work done. I got the rear main seal in, which I didnt take a photo of as its boring really. but to get that in I did take the crank back out. I also smeared the loctite 515 in the grove to seal the rope seal holder into place. I cut the rope seal about 1/16th above flush to alow for crush.

then put the crank back in and bolted it down with my grade 8 bolts. I do have some ARP bolts on their way as i have decided to use them instead, but thought I would at least start with these.

it was then time to slip the cam in. I have an L100 cam moly'd up the journals and slid it in. that was after I had taken the block of the stand and put the new oil pump idler gear on. I sat the block on the tailgate of the ute, hence Peddro found a seat to rest his weary feet.

with the cam home. I bolted the new cam gear on too
but first I dismanted another original cam for the bolts and the washer. then blasted, washed and dried with air these pieces. so they look nice and pretty. you have to remember to make sure that the dot line up like with any engine. I remember after I had put the new crank gear on having a homer simpson moment of thinking that I had put it on the wrong way as I couldnt see the dot on the gear... but I hadnt!




I then bolted on the alloy timing cover. I didnt put the gasket on or anything. just put it on to hold the cam in place.



I then went to start to put the pistons on the rods. the ROSS pistons have spirolox, I have never used these before. and well the result was less that great.





I must be very lucky or they expect this to happen, as it seems that there were 17 in the pack... but at this point, I decided to call it quits as I didnt want the garage gods to get angry with me and cause more strife!

Oh and thanks to Peddro for calling around and cleaning parts today.

 

Yes they are strong, but not as strong as that grease you use in your hair

 

Thats it.

 

Henry always had good steel --- some of the best in the world at the time. Those rods are small - but pretty strong (they're also very light). I think it was Barney Navarro or Joe Reath that told me that somebody (I believe it was Winfield) clamped one of them in a huge vise and put a big bar through the pin end and started twisting a 21A Rod like taffy, and he twisted the rod multiple times in a complete circle without it breaking. I wish I could remember how many times he went around before it broke . . .

 

Hey!



...that's MY JOB!

 

as hard as he tried, he still couldnt pull it off. guess no one is as good and doing less as you brootal

poor peddro was worked to the bone, this in all honesty was shot in a rare moment of a break.

 

It's hard to find good help these days Corey...lol

These updates are great and i cant wait to see the blower bolted on again in the car.

 

Great pix dude, wont be long now !!

Whats the story with the pin bushing ?

Rat

 

Corey I think you got ripped when you got that stubby holder. Not only will it get warm there's a possobility of it being emptied..

Just a side note after a marathon 11 hour stint Saturday, with my trusty on site auto elec, Jason. I drove the EK out the garage and around the street a few times, no screens, exhaust or boosted brakes .. Gotta replace the booster and I did the water pump today because that was stuffed too.

Isn't it good to have helpers Corey! Can't wait for more updates....

 

Hi Corey,

Good to hear from you this morning, sounds like you're making good progress. Did you use your own cam bearing tool or i guess you dont have to if the motor is disassembled?

Danny

 

Thanks guys.

I am hoping it will be together soon. its just getting snippets of time to do it. thats the hard thing to come by this time of the year.

brett, photos...

 

Great looking engine!

What did you do with the crank sludge plugs? I didn't see any in the pics, may not have been the right angle tho. Or is it a SCAT crank?

 

I bought new ones, so they werent in, in the earlier photos. But they are now. loctite'd them in on saturday.

 

You suss out those spiral locks?

 

I think I have, Ron sent an email back saying that you pull them apart so their like a coil spring then feed them into the groove. I managed to get one in yesterday, but it took me 10 bloody minutes to do! watch out for a thrilling and inspiring tech on this later...

I get the feeling that they are going to be a PIA. but then again, whats been easy so far...

again , cheers for washing all those parts helped alot. You nearly pulled it off with that staged

"I'm working as hard as brootal does"

photo.

 

close, its a SCANT crank, or at least that is what my wallet was after paying for it to be ballanced.

 

Maybe I should have been admiring a watch or something far off in the distance....??? Then I could get some modelling work in Street Machine, just like Brootal!?!

 

Can you use regular retaining rings? Is the groove cut square or round (cross-section)?

 

they are cut square, but I dont have any regular ones anyway. the only ones that I have are the ones from the old pistons. I will stick with these, they obviously use them for a reason. Just like they obviously put 17 in the packet for numb nuts like me.

 

way to go...nice job. keep us posted.

Im envious. I wish I had the $$$ to do a full flatty rebuild.

 

Keep dreaming, mate!

BTW, I had a topless shot in the last issue!

 

with a child nonetheless

 

now that brootals name is in disrepute, back to the job at hand.

managed a few hours tonight. the boring tedious anoying stuff. not really the glamour photo of the build , but its all got to happen.

I spent most of the day wondering how long the spirolox were going to take me to get in, and as is sometimes the case, but not always. They went in not too bad.

I found that spreading them made them much easier to get into place, I was worried that I was going to snap one but I didnt.









you really do have to inspect everything.




so with all the pistons held on the rods it was time to move onto putting the rings on.this is one of my all time hatted jobs. I have been known to snap a ring or two before, so I am always scared of doing this job. I really should invest in a ring expander instead of using the old fingers as I have built a few motors and guess I will build a few more yet. I also hate this as it cuts the shit out of your fingers.

but finally the job is done.




and finally 8 soldiers ready to march to war at 5500rpm to fight the SBC scurge

 

Your supposed to put em in the motor, not in freezer bags!

they aint forequarter chops ya know.

 

I dunno what's worse, a photo of me with MY child, or the fact that you just admitted to reading STREET MACHINE!!!

 

no, flipped thru it at the supermarket, got as far as seeing that, vomited in my mouth and put it back. How dare you disgrace your child like that, especially when poor luka is too young to know what your doing to his reputation

 

round two after some tucker.



banged a piston home. of course you have to watch out for the ledge that the relief causes so as not to get a ring caught on it.

sorry about the photo came out dark. Not sure why. will take a better one tomorrow.

wife still wasnt home so thought I would progress further until I got told it was a school night and to call it quits.



got number 1 intake valve assembly in to check the valve lash. got 13 first try then 23. I read the book they say

13-15 for intake

17-19 for exhaust.

I have always used 17 accross the board +-2.

what do people think? any pros or cons??

 

Wow! Those coil-over pushrods are COOL!

 

one day you will actually build a hotrod instead of riding in them.