I see you didn't get the trans. No good? When you go to change the water pumps be advised that there is a bolt in the lower inlets that are sometimes very difficult to remove. Do not strip the head of the bolt as you only get one chance, use a 6 point socket only.
Thanks, oh a hidden bolt what a treat! The trans was what you mentioned it should, be, but he wanted nearly as much for it as the engine.
I would say that at least you have options at hand while you are mocking things up. What ever works the best for your build should be used so you have more stuff to try out during the process. Truck pumps are a lot more common and are still being manufactured in the restoration parts business. I rebuild my own pumps for the 49/51 Mercury application since they are a lot harder to find in an exchange part basis and no new ones are being manufactured. The fan set up may also work in the confines of a 32 engine compartment. They are a bit too long for an AV8 without modifications for space. If you have troubles with space you can always convert back to the 37 to 48 pumps with some mods to make them fit an 8BA style block. Some folks prefer the crab type distributor anyway. A Chevy or Chrysler distributor can be made to work on the 8BA style block and can even be set up for vacuum advance with multiple carbs. There are a lot of options with an 8BA style block since it uses a seperate bell housing. The 49 thru 51 Merc oil pan is a good fit in most of the early Ford bodies. The old Mercury Borg & Beck clutch is also harder to find parts for but they work really well since they are a 10-inch. I get my covers & plates rebuilt by Ft Wayne Clutch. There are places for 9 springs in the clutch cover but FoMoCo only used 6 for the Mercury cars so the pedal is easy to operate due to that. The F150 Tremec 3 speed with overdrive can be set up for torque tube drive. It gives the old timey shift feel like a 39 3-speed top loader with a modern 4-gear selection and synchronized to boot. It all depends on how you want to build it.
[/ATTACH] Bought an 89 s10 t5 Spent an hour or so cleaning it up tonight Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
R Pulled the pan on the flathead Fortunately no surprises None of the manifold bolts came out without breaking off used an old trick to get them out Threaded a nut on them and then using high heat welded the nut to the stud Get it really hot... All but one came out that way, the last one I slid a tight fitting washer on the stud, then welded it repeatedly until I had enough metal built that I could grip it with a vise grip Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Mike: I certainly wish we had been introduced at the nats last August. I admire your work, your drive and vision. Hopefully you'll be back. Has Martin said anything of a return trip? We enjoyed having them around. Tim
I would have liked to meet you as well. Martin was in Sacramento for at least a week and a half , posted pictures of the car show and activities on his face book page. I agree Martin is a Hoot, What a friendly guy to be around! Thomas and Bjorn were with him in LA, great meeting them as well Yes I did buy the bell housing as well, he was selling it separately.
Going to put the pan on today, soaking the seals in oil overnight. The Dipsitck tube Boss is toast, tried removing the broken thread portion of the tube from the Boss with absolutely no luck. Need to see if they make a 50 merc version, I see up to 48 listed on a couple sites.
I know enough about these early Ford's to be dangerous. However, I'm glad I at least have a coupe even though its just a '31. I can't hang my Balls on the same side of the room AS yours. That sounded like a healthy flathead. Grats!!!
She is hitting on 8 so that's a good thing. If she was holding water before then it still should. The old L-head blocks like to crack when they get too cold or too hot. Mercury dip sticks are marked with an 8CM part number so they are a bit different than a regular Ford or Ford truck. With the right length of tube (10-11/16" long with 7/16" worth of thread on the one end), you can fabricate a dip stick tube. The aluminum oil pan tube bosses are all the same in the 8BA family and you can use screws instead of rivets as long as they have a good quality locking nut on them.
Thanks for the input , I am tempted to plug the outlets and fill it with water to see what I have. Won't be under pressure, but should give some sort of an Idea whats up. Where do they tend to crack at? there was a small amount of water in the oil pan when I drained it, figured it was condensation. maybe an ounce or 2 Any other ideas?
Thanks Guys!!! Sure was fun , my boys were all in the shop watching as she came to life!! What a thrill
Most engines will condense some and flat heads definitely will. It also could have a bit of a head gasket leak but few ounces isn't all that much. A whole half a pan full is bad news. Heat cracks generally always show up around the exhaust valve pockets if it has been overheated. Sometimes they will crack between the center head bolts and the deck water ports but many times these don't go very far and can be lived with. They can even crack down in the siamese center exhaust port and you can't see them but you can see the water run out if it's cracked very bad. Freeze cracks can happen about anywhere but most of the time they are in the pan rail structure where the water jacket forms a V shape inside the casting. Since you've had the pan off, you've probably already looked at the rail surface pretty well. Those cracks are usually pretty well visible too. Sometimes a head will crack internally but not as common as the pan rail area. When a person overhauls these old cast iron wonders, it's a real good idea to have the block pressure tested. That may not tell you where a crack is but it will let you know it ain't holding its mud like it should. Spray the soapy water around an they will eventually show up. I would pressure test before even considering magnaflux.
ran down to the hardware store ann grabbed a couple 1 1/2 rubber pipe plugs screwed the on the water pump outlets also plugged the heater hose oulet on the right pump. left side holds water the right side pump leaks like a crazy....hmmmm
rotorwrench thanks for the info!! I would certainly think you would have had more water in the pan than that if something was ascue You are correct i looked thinks over pretty well when the pan was off, everything looked good guess i could have smoked the waterpump seal starting it dry?
I replaced more than one flathead pump back in the day. It was likely on the way south before you purchased the engine. The type of seal they have shouldn't be affected by a short dry run. I always figure on rebuilding them at engine overhaul anyway. I think the last overhaul kits I purchased were $29 each and that was only a few years ago. It takes a press and some tooling to do the job though but it's not a difficult job. The hardest thing is when you have to repair corrosion damage. I just bead blast the castings and braze the bad spots back up then grind & file them back to a usable configuration. You may want to use different pumps anyway.
I rebuilt some '48 style pumps with a kit from Mac's, a large vise, and a few sockets. Took maybe an hour each but most of the time was cleaning them up. I blast the insides with my beadblast cabinet to remove the rust. Make sure to clean all the sludge/oil/gunk from the cavity behind the bushing as well.
Rotorwrench mentioned earlier that "The Merc waterpumps set the engine low but they are adaptable to early fords using spacers. Truck pumps are more common so you don't see too many folks use the Merc ones." The truck pump sure seems like a better alternative to make this engine fit a 32. advice? .
Oops, sorry I forgot you have a late model flatty. Yes a truck style late pump will give you a mount more like the earlier flathead, which fits better to the early chassis. But you would need the corresponding wide pulleys from a truck for the crank and the generator and fan. Using the thin belt pumps and pulleys can be done, it just takes a bit more research to make sure everything is going to fit in your chassis before you build your mounts. I'd suggest mocking up the engine in it's new home before you buy new parts for it. I'd hate to buy stuff that's not gonna fit the car.
How am I just now seeing this? I'm ashamed of myself. Ambitious and inspiring all at the same time. Amazing the work you have done which shows in the right hands anything can be saved.
The Jalopy Journal
