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Projects Messing Around With an 8BA Flathead

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by GreaserJosh13, Apr 17, 2020.

  1. rusty valley
    Joined: Oct 25, 2014
    Posts: 3,883

    rusty valley
    Member

    if you send it to uncle max, all those linkage parts come back freshly plated. the body looks new, and it will run perfect. max muskgrove, stromberg 97.com
     
  2. Never2low
    Joined: Jan 14, 2008
    Posts: 1,160

    Never2low
    Member

    kidcampbell71 and rusty valley like this.
  3. rusty valley
    Joined: Oct 25, 2014
    Posts: 3,883

    rusty valley
    Member

    thanks for posting proper information, max is the best
     
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  4. Aaron D.
    Joined: Oct 27, 2015
    Posts: 1,037

    Aaron D.
    Member

    The picture of the valley in the block looks amazingly clean. You might have gotten lucky on this one.
     
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  5. GreaserJosh13
    Joined: May 27, 2013
    Posts: 583

    GreaserJosh13
    Member
    from Chino

    Hey Aaron,
    Yeah. I’ve been pretty impressed with how clean everything is so far. I just got the bell-housing, pressure plate, clutch plate, & flywheel off & got the motor mounted on an engine stand & drained the oil. Next step is to flip it over & pull the pan. I’ve still got quite a bit of dirt & grease to clean on the exterior of the motor & oil pan. I’ll probably also drill out the rivers on the dip stick so I can put a new dipstick gasket. Trying to do a half way decent refresh without spending thousands of dollars. I also got a Stromberg 97 pulled apart & I’m almost done cleaning it up so that I can begin reassembly. Still have quite a bit left to do. Just trying to do a little bit every day that I can.
    [​IMG]


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  6. Josh for a carb cleaner I use concentrated lemon juice and an old pot, boil it for about 20-30 minutes and then wash it out and blow it out, works better than the shit you can buy as carb cleaner these days........ps stinks up the house so if you have an old camp stove use that........as Mom doesn't appreciate me stinkin up the house.............
     
  7. Aaron D.
    Joined: Oct 27, 2015
    Posts: 1,037

    Aaron D.
    Member

    My thoughts are that if your motor isn't all gummed up with the old paraffin based oil, maybe it had some work done on it later in its life when the oil quality was better.
     
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  8. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,408

    alchemy
    Member

    You definitely need to remove the emulsion tubes from the carbs to clean in between them. There's a few threads on the HAMB that describe the process. Look those up and follow the instructions. I know Bruce Lancaster described it, as well as others. Not hard to do and it is a requirement for a clean carb.
     
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  9. GreaserJosh13
    Joined: May 27, 2013
    Posts: 583

    GreaserJosh13
    Member
    from Chino

    Thanks Alchemy. I actually already pulled them out using Vern Tardel’s book. You can see them in the pic so posted of my disassembled carb. Was pretty easy. I’m not gonna lie though. I was a little worried I was going to strip the threads on them, but I was careful & took my time & everything came apart as it was supposed to. Thanks for the tip.


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  10. GreaserJosh13
    Joined: May 27, 2013
    Posts: 583

    GreaserJosh13
    Member
    from Chino

    My little guy was able to scrape some of the crap off of the bottom of the motor & oil pan today as well as get the oil pan unbolted & ready to clean up. I had him do half of it with a non battery powered ratchet & extension so he could figure out how to do it the old fashion way & learn how those tools work.
    I pulled the pan & everything looks great underneath. Very clean. (Forgot to take pictures/I’ll get some soon) Not really sure what else I should be looking for. Since we’re not tearing the motor down for a complete rebuild do any if you guys have any recommendations on
    1. How to scrape the oil pan gasket surface without getting crap down inside the motor &
    2. How to get the outside of the motor clean & get all the hard baked on crap off. We’ve been scraping it with razor blades & screwdrivers but it seems like a never ending battle & there’s gotta be an easier way. Maybe not.
    Thanks. [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]




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    Last edited: May 10, 2020
  11. Yes sir,,,very easy .

    First,,,replace the pan and bolt it back down .
    Take two cold drink cans,,,,,,you guys call them soda cans,,,,,,,cut the bottom half off .
    Place them over the cutoff exhaust pipes to prevent leaking into the engine.
    You might have to use zip ties to keep them on .

    Buy some engine cleaner,,,,Gunk always worked good for me.
    Spray the dickens out of it,,,,,then hose it off,,,,repeat as necessary .
    This will replace a lot of scraping .

    And the only way to scrape the gaskets and not contaminate the inside is rotate the engine stand and scrape from underneath ,,,,,,maybe messy,,,,but about the only way .

    Tommy
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2020
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  12. He’s your project coordinator, right?


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  13. GreaserJosh13
    Joined: May 27, 2013
    Posts: 583

    GreaserJosh13
    Member
    from Chino

    I’m assuming I’m going to have to reinstall the heads ass well if I’m going to be spraying water on the engine????


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  14. Not if you leave the engine turned bottom side up,,,,,,the water will run off the block and drip down .
    And besides,,,the cleaner does most of the work,,,just hose her down and blow it off,,,or drip dry .
    Also,,,,if you don’t want to use water to rinse it,,,,use a couple of cans of brake cleaner,,,,that will make dirt fall off after cleaning .

    Tommy
     
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  15. Ldjr003
    Joined: May 8, 2019
    Posts: 20

    Ldjr003

     
  16. GreaserJosh13
    Joined: May 27, 2013
    Posts: 583

    GreaserJosh13
    Member
    from Chino

    Well the deed is done. I actually put the intake manifold & heads back on without gaskets just for good measure. Dishes the whole motor in oven cleaner & let it sit for 20 min. Then I pressure washed the whole thing. Even after that I still had to get out the screwdriver & razor blade & scrape it. Took about 3 hours but it’s clean enough for my taste. I’m just going to take the oil pan with the wheels & get it media blasted. The crap on the oil pan was rock solid. Now that I’ve spent so much time cleaning the motor I’m starting to think I might as well paint it. I’m digging the old rusted/patina motor & really like how it looks but I also think a painted motor will be easier to keep clean. Any [​IMG][​IMG]Thoughts?????


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    Last edited: May 11, 2020
  17. Oh yeah man,,,paint it .
    A lot of guys s paint them with a brush,,,,they look great painted .
    And besides,,,,this old engine will be around for a long time to come,,,,the bare iron needs a protective coating .
    You are young now,,,,,after 40 more years go by,,,,it will need painting again .

    Tommy
     
  18. tubman
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 6,917

    tubman
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I agree. Please paint it. "Patina" has become one of the most over-rated and over-used terms in the last decade.
     
  19. Denny,,,,I agree completely with you .
    Many times what people call patina now is really just rust or some disrepair .

    The Statue of Liberty has patina,,,,because copper changes color when exposed to the elements .
    When steel or iron rust,,,,,I don’t consider that a patina ,,,,LoL.
    Please give that nice Flathead a paint job .

    Tommy
     
  20. GreaserJosh13
    Joined: May 27, 2013
    Posts: 583

    GreaserJosh13
    Member
    from Chino

    Is there anything to treat motors with for the rust before painting or just paint it as is? I’m assuming once I’ve got the intake, heads & oil pan on is when I paint it??? Any suggestions on paint type & color??
    Thanks.


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  21. Fortunateson
    Joined: Apr 30, 2012
    Posts: 5,331

    Fortunateson
    Member

    Red! No other replies required...
     
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  22. Fortunateson
    Joined: Apr 30, 2012
    Posts: 5,331

    Fortunateson
    Member

    Well the same process that turns copper green turns steel brown/rusty. Each actually protects the underlying layer from more corrosion if the material is thick enough.

    But I think this "patina" movement is a modern and not traditional thing. Paint is where it's at so get out the pant brush...
     
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  23. tubman
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 6,917

    tubman
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Bill Hirsch paints brush on well and flow out nicely. A good soap and water wash after you get the crap off of it, and then a wash down with a solvent or Ospho and you should be good to go.
     
  24. GreaserJosh13
    Joined: May 27, 2013
    Posts: 583

    GreaserJosh13
    Member
    from Chino

    My plan is a traditional pre war av8 roadster. That being said should I go with the pre war “early ford green” or should I just pick a color within the realm of Flathead colors & go with it. I kind of like the “ford bronze” color or maybe even just black. Red is cool but I kind of want something other than red. I might even go with the green color I used to paint my Flathead planter (don’t worry. The block for the planter is bad. Has I giant hole behind the water pump that goes into the exhaust port). What do you guys think on the color choices???? I’m going to stay with some type of Flathead color. I don’t want anything crazy. IMG_2525.JPG Adjustments.JPG IMG_8027.JPG


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    Last edited: May 11, 2020
  25. 51504bat
    Joined: May 22, 2010
    Posts: 4,758

    51504bat
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Black goes with everything
     
  26. tubman
    Joined: May 16, 2007
    Posts: 6,917

    tubman
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I paint all "Hot Rod" engines red. It's what we used to do, and it makes me feel good.:)

    Stockers are still the original color. I do like the 8BA bronze though. I used it to paint an SBC once. I thought it looked nice.:D
     
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  27. Garpo
    Joined: Jul 16, 2016
    Posts: 292

    Garpo

    So does red--------------!
     
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  28. Fortunateson
    Joined: Apr 30, 2012
    Posts: 5,331

    Fortunateson
    Member

    Hey, you're not paying attention! I said RED. No discussion... LOL
     
    GreaserJosh13 likes this.
  29. Don't worry about color remember:
    a4815e86b8410f591f75d847d84e01c7.jpg
     
  30. Josh ,

    Just make yourself happy on the color ,,,,,a lot of good suggestions already .
    There are many old Flathead guys here,,, ( no disrespect intended),,,,and they know a lot about this stuff .
    I am new to the Flathead game,,,,,but I try to listen all I can .
    Tubman,,,,( Denny ),,,,and the others won’t lead you wrong,,,,,and it sounds like you already have a good idea of what you want to do,,,,you said not “anything crazy “,,,.
    Pick what makes you feel traditional,,,,and go with it .

    Tommy
     

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