Reproduction Parts for 1916-1964 Chevrolet Passenger Cars & 1918-1987 Chevrolet & GMC Trucks


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#386451 03/27/17 09:25 AM
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Howdy all,

First, some background. As some of you know, Lurch needs an engine rebuild or a viable used replacement block. The wear in his cylinder walls are .060 inch and there are no shims left in the bearing caps, so the Babbitt needs to be redone too.

Considering that I only drive him 100 to 200 miles per year, I don't need a multi-thousand dollar engine rebuild. Besides, I don't have that kind of money laying around. So, I've been hunting for a viable used engine or block.

I noticed that there were a number of engines in an estate sale in Washington (I'm in California) so I reached out to Bill Barker and asked if he could check them out for me. He passed my request on to his breakfast buddies and Dick Olson answered the call.

Dick went to the sale with Ray Holland and Dick called me from the sale. Not only did he front the money for a block, he delivered it a few months later when he visited his daughter who lives near me. What a guy!!!

I picked up the engine from Dick last weekend. Right off the bat, I noticed that there was virtually no wear in the cylinders. Happy happy! yay

I decided to do a low-budget resurrection of this block using some parts from Lurch's engine and get him back on the road. Join me as I tear into this project. Time will tell if I made a good decision or not.

Come along for the journey as I dig into this used block and (hopefully!) get Lurch running again.

Here are a couple of pictures of the engine as found by Dick and Ray.

Notice the car dolly under the engine stand. I wanted larger wheels on the engine stand so stole two from one of my car dollys and put them under the back floor brace. Then, I bolted the car dolly to the front end bar of the engine stand to stabilize it a little.

Cheers, Dean

Stay tuned!

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]


Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:37 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Here are the next couple of pictures of the tear down. The distributor is in really bad shape. Unsavable. Luckily, Lurch's distributor is in good shape.

The picture of the front engine bracket is a clue that this engine was not in a '28 car or truck. The bracket looks like a cut off cross member from an earlier vehicle or a stationary engine situation.

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:37 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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The next picture shows the sludge in the bottom end. Only a little surface rust.

Black gold! And the smell, ahhhhh, nothing more toxic or sweeter. laugh

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:37 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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The next installment of the tear down is some cause for concern.

The oil outlet tube coming from the oil pump is bent, which would restrict the flow of oil to the oil distributor. Not good.

When I pulled the electrical distributor from the block, I noticed that the shaft on the bottom that drives the oil pump is not the same as a '28 distributor shaft. I'm guessing that the distributor and oil pump are from 1926.

Luckily, Lurch has a good '28 distributor. Also, I plan on putting a new, gear-style oil pump in the engine.

Below are a couple of pics.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:38 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Looks like a '29-'30 distributor shaft...
Does it have Aluminum or Cast Iron pistons?
What does Lurch have for an engine?...LM? 1927?

Andy

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Lurch is a '27 LM 1 ton truck, but has a '28 engine in him. His pistons are cast iron, but the used engine that I'm tearing down has aluminum pistons.

I believe the '28 truck had the cast iron pistons and the car engine had the aluminum pistons.

Interesting that you think the distributor shaft looks like a '29 or '30. Is it possible to use a six-cylinder distributor shaft in a four-cylinder distributor?

Thanks, Dean

Last edited by Rustoholic; 03/27/17 10:51 PM.

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The next part of the story is about taking the water pump off.

You can read it here: water pump story

Cheers, Dean


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The next step was to scrape crud off the cylinder walls so I could pop the pistons out the top of the block. I used the straight edge of a stainless steel fish scaling knife, which worked well.

Below is a picture of one cylinder's scraping. This operation confirmed that there is no wear ridge in the cylinder walls. Yeah!!!

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:40 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Hello again,

Time to document more of my progress.

I forgot to mention at the beginning of this series that this is the first time I'm taking an engine completely apart. In the past, I've worked with used engines, did minor repairs and got them running, but not to this extent. So, I'm happy to bring you along as I fly by the seat of my pants! laugh

After scraping the crap out of the cylinder walls, I took off the rod end caps and easily pushed the pistons out the top of the block. Piston number three is worrisome, but I'll speculate about them later when I get them and the block cleaned up more.

I got a nice surprise was under the end caps. Two of them still have shims, which means the babbitt might still be built up.

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]



Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:41 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Next I turned the engine over and was pleased with the visual; a fairly clean looking bottom end.

;-) Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:44 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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The crankshaft pulley came off nicely. I used a three-armed gear puller and some heat from a propane torch on the pulley. I was careful to position the puller arms over the solid part of the pulley, not over the holes in the web/face.

After taking off the cam gear cover, I discovered that BOTH gears (crank and camshaft) are fiber! Another clue that this engine was cobbled together. Besides the chunk of rust sitting on one of the gears, they seem to be in good shape.

Notice that the oil drain hole is not plugged. I think that is another good sign.

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:46 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Well, here's a sign that is not good. This nut fell out of the bottom end when I turned the engine over.

It obviously got hammered by something. From the dent in the hole, I'd guess an rod end cap bolt made contact with it.

I will look around for any damage and report back.

Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:46 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Are you sure the crank gear are fiber!!!

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If by chance the bottom part of the engine is 1927, the crank gear is fiber. Normally the cam gear is metal, however if changed sometime they would probably have gone with a fiber cam gear.

I assume you have reviewed the "School is in Session" recently for more tips on the engine rebuild.


Agrin devil


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1928 Convertible, Sport, Cabriolet
1933 Eagle, Coupe
1941 Master Deluxe 5-Passenger Coupe
1950 Styleline Deluxe 4-Door Sedan
1950 Styleline Deluxe Convertible
2002 Pontiac, Montana, Passenger Van
2014 Impala, 4-Door Sedan, White Diamond, LTZ
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Bluezone, yes, both cam gears are fiber.

AntiqueMechanic, good observation about the '27 crank gear being fiber. Although the block is definitely a '28, the crank might be a '27. I just wire brushed off the casting date on the flywheel and it's a '27! Another clue pointing to a cobble job on this motor.

And yes, I've read the wonderful School's in Session book a couple of times. In fact, I'm re-reading it now! I love the format, the banter with the students, and above all, the great pictures and top notch lecture material! Thanks again for this wonderful gift!

Back to my current tear down. I found one of the rod end cap bolts with some minor thread damage, so I'm going guess that is the point of contact with the squished nut. This is certainly discouraging.

But, in the spirit of adventure, I decided to make a bigger pile of used parts from which to put together a viable engine for Lurch.

I've had a used, greasy '28 engine sitting in my back shed for a few years and now is the time to tear into it. This engine is more complete than the one I've been working on, but I suspect it has more wear. We will see. At least it is not frozen and turns by hand nicely.

Also, this engine has its head on, which protected the cylinders, and has the correct '28 distributor and an oil filter. Good signs!

I suspect that before I start building an engine for Lurch, I'll probably tear down his current engine too and add it to the pile of used parts so I can pick out the best parts from the three engines.

Ever onward! Now I'll start documenting the second engine's tear down. Notice that in the first few pictures, the cross members are still attached to the motor. The front cross member is from a '24. That clue tells me that this '28 engine was either put into a '24 or was used as a stationary engine.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:48 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Below are pics of the underside of the head and the clutch plate/flywheel area.

The head shows lots of carbon buildup. The clutch plate is too rusted to be of any use. The flywheel might fall into the same junk pile. Yes, there are two broken bolts in the flywheel.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:48 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Here is the second engine up on the engine stand. This is a good picture in which to see the cross members.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:49 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Below is a picture of the underbelly of this motor. Although all sludged up, it turns by hand easily and the pistons seem to move smoothly up and down in the cylinders.

The rust on the cam lobes seems to be just surface rust.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:49 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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HOLY PIN CUSHION, BATMAN!!!

I am REALLY glad I inspected this bottom end carefully before sticking my hands in there.

There are PUSH PINS sticking out of the oil gaskets on both ends of the crank!!! The pins straddle where the oil pan lip goes, so I suspect the guy who had the oil pan off before used these pins to keep the gasket from slipping off the semi-circle ends of the oil pan. bonk

Imagine what would have happened if one of these pins came off in the oil pan while the engine was running. greenman

The first picture shows the pins on the engine. The second photo shows the pins on my workbench.

Man, this gives a new meaning to the saying 'stuck with a piece of s**t'!!

Glad I learned the trick of using two strips of gasket material (with some Permatex between them) and putting them around a coke can to make the arch. And then, using Permatex to adhere the curved gaskets to the curved engine surfaces BEFORE mounting the oil pan. Whew!

Always an adventure! laugh Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:50 PM. Reason: added a sentence

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Continuing to tear down the second '28 engine.

As suspected, this engine has more wear than the first one that I got from Dick Olson.

I scraped the carbon out of the top of the cylinders and found that cylinders one and four have wear ridges.

I then took off the rod end caps, and slid the piston assemblies out of cylinders two, three, and four. Piston number one did not come out because of the wear ridge in the cylinder wall.

As you can see in the picture below, the pistons that did come out are quite scored. Also, the wrist pins wiggle around in their respective holes A LOT, so these parts are just worn out. As an aside, no shims were found.

Next, I inspected the cam gears. The good news is that they are the correct gears for '28: steel on the crank and fiber on the cam shaft. The bad news is that the steel gear is very worn and actually pitted in a couple of places from rust. The fiber gear has some teeth that are VERY worn (rounded over). See the pics below.

I am coming to the conclusion that this engine might donate some parts to the final build, but not many.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]


Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:52 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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I always take the crank out then slip the pistons out the bottom.
Is the distributor & oil pump ok?
If you need a steel crank gear, I have a few kicking around. Think i have more than a dozen 4cyl engines in various stages of disrepair.
Andy

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Thanks for the 'take out the pistons from the bottom' tip Andy. Will do. I have to open up and inspect the main bearings anyway.

Also, thanks for the offer of the steel cam gear, but I can probably get one locally. I have one in my stash somewhere that I haven't looked at for quite a while too. And, I have yet to tear apart Lurch's engine, which was running 2 years ago, so his cam gear might be okay. TBD.

Cheers, Dean


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Hey Dean: Really enjoying your tale about the '28 engine resurrection. Thought occurred to me that at one time I had an old set of rings for a '28. Did I give those to you? If not, let me know and I'll start a search if you like. Also, while you might already be planning to, I generally hone out even a good cylinder before installing new rings; I might be able to help you there too. Cheers, Leaping Lena https://vccachat.org/images/icons/default/Clapping.gif


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Thanks, George. Yes, I have those new sets of rings and I plan to use them!

Cheers, Dean


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I have a spare crank gear if you can't find yours dean, also check the cam, i found that a few of mine were worn down, funny how age does that to an engine.

Last edited by Qman; 04/20/17 03:38 PM.

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Thanks, Mike. I did find the steel cam gear in my stash and it looks pretty good.

Eventually, I will have four piles of parts from the three engines I'm tearing down now and some parts from my 25+ year stash of rusty gold.

For now, I am eyeballing the parts in a general way, but will evaluate the parts in the four piles closely when I need to do the final build.

Stay tuned! It'll take a while, but I am having fun! Dean

Last edited by Rustoholic; 04/20/17 06:18 PM.

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The next parts to come out of the second engine is the oil distribution system.

Notice in the pictures that there are copper washers under all the bolts and fittings that go through the block, thus sealing oil leakage opportunities.

The first picture is of the existing oil lines where they connect to the oil filter (not shown). For reference, the two 5/16 inch holes in between the tube fittings are for the oil filter bracket.

The second picture shows where the oil tubes meet at the junction above the oil distributor. For reference's sake, the bracket shown in the photo is for the arm that moves the spark distributor retard/advance push rod.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:59 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Here is the oil distributor and the oil trough feeder tubes inside the engine. After all the brackets and holders are disconnected from the outside of the motor, this whole assembly lifts out.

The second picture is a closeup of the bracket that holds the end of the trough feeder tubes in place. A square nut and split lock washer is used in this spot. The bracket holds the nut so that it will not turn when tightened.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]


Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:59 PM.

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Here is a picture of the oil trough feeder tube bracket bolt heads that show on the outside of the engine block. Notice the copper washers under the bolt heads.

For reference's sake, the hole in the middle of the photo is for the dip stick. If you have trouble imagining this, stand on your head. The engine is upside down in the engine stand. laugh

Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:00 PM. Reason: typo

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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At some point in time that engine needs a good Saturday night bath.



Agrin devil



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1925 Superior K Roadster
1928 Convertible, Sport, Cabriolet
1933 Eagle, Coupe
1941 Master Deluxe 5-Passenger Coupe
1950 Styleline Deluxe 4-Door Sedan
1950 Styleline Deluxe Convertible
2002 Pontiac, Montana, Passenger Van
2014 Impala, 4-Door Sedan, White Diamond, LTZ
2017 Silverado, Double Cab, Z71, 4X4, White, Standard Bed, LTZ

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Right you are, Ray. I will 'bathe' the pile of parts that will go into the final build engine. Certainly its innards.

Lurch wouldn't be happy if the outside was too purty. devildance

Cheers, Dean


Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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good read Dean!

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HI Dean,

Nice work with the resurrection so far.

I have some food for thought in regards to any machining you might be looking at getting.

One of the modification that we have conducted on the old mans 1925 chev is to counter sink the flywheel bolt holes. This allows a modern day clutch fit in quite nicely.

[img:left]http://vintageandveteranchevy.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/blog-post.html[/img]

Also another modification we have adopted from advice is to install a lube line from your main oil pump line directly into the bottom main center cap.

[img:left]https://vintageandveteranchevy.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/centre-cap-modification.html[/img]



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Thanks Chistech and Brendank.

When I get to the final assembly, I will make a list of which parts are coming from which engine and also list any modifications that I make. Keep these good ideas coming!

Below are the pictures that didn't work in the previous post.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from 1.bp.blogspot.com]

[Linked Image from 2.bp.blogspot.com]

[Linked Image from 3.bp.blogspot.com]


Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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This is a really interesting thread, apologies if my post constitutes a hijack...

Originally Posted by BrendanK
Also another modification we have adopted from advice is to install a lube line from your main oil pump line directly into the bottom main center cap.

That's an interesting mod, I'm building a slightly "warmed up" motor for my '28 Tourer at the moment. Did you put grooves in the white metal on the underside of that oil feed, or did you just leave a hole to feed the oil?

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That's not a 1925 Chev oil pump... The 1925 had an external oil pump with inlet & trough oil lines through the pan, the centre main was fed through the block.
You must have a '27 or '28 engine in your 1925 Chev.

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I agree with Termite_Delight that BrendanK's car might be a '25, but the engine is from '26, '27, or '28.

Although the installation of an oil line to the main crank bearing is an interesting modification, there is an aspect of the the oil distributor that is not mentioned much.

In addition to feeding oil to the trough filler tubes, the oil distributor has a hole on its side that squirts oil directly into the oil reservoir that oils the center crank bearing. You cannot visually see this hole unless you take the oil distributor out of the engine. hello2

Here's a thread where I wrote about a test of the new gear-type oil pump for the four cylinder engines. In the video, note the stream of oil coming out of the side of the oil distributor. This is the stream that feeds the center crank bearing in the later 4 bangers.

1928 gear oil pump test

In the engine that I am currently tearing down, this hole is complete plugged with sludge, meaning the center bearing was NOT getting the flow of oil that it wanted or deserved.

Dean


Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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HI Termite and Dean,

Yes you are correct this is a 27 engine we are building right now.
Also the old mans 1925 Tourer has a 1926 engine installed.

Dean interesting about the oil feed from the oil distributer I have not noticed any holes or paid too much attention as the oil line modification was going to be done.

Regards
Brendan

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Grease Monkey
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Hi Stuart,

The white metal is the same as standard with the X grooved in the cap.

Regards,
Brendan

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Back to the tear down.

The picture below is another clue that this '28 engine was put into a 1924 car. The casting date on the flywheel is from 1924.

Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:02 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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The crank pulley came off with a little heat from a propane torch and a gear puller. Then, I took off the cover over the cam gears.

The next operation, removing the cam shaft and crank-cam gear, require that the crankshaft not turn. It's hard to screw in a gear puller when the crank and camshaft turn easily!

What do ya do when the tool you want does not exist? Invent it!

Behold, my patent-pending keep-the-crankshaft-from-turning-by-jamming-the-flywheel sheet metal bracket. The royalty fee for using my idea is one Diet Coke.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:02 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Next to come out of the engine is the camshaft. It is held in place by two slotted flat head 1/4-20 bolts.

You can see them through the holes in the cam gear.

The previous person who touched these bolts center punched one edge to keep them from getting loose.

So, I used an old school impact wrench to loosen them. The last time I used this tool was in the late 1970's when I took a '69 Honda 750 apart. laugh

Notice the gear puller on the crank cam gear. That sucker was STUCK!!! It did not come off after a week of soaking in PB Blaster and heating the gear with a propane torch. What finally did it was to heat the gear again and melt some wax on the end of the shaft, which lubricated the shaft by capillary action. This is a trick I learned recently from the local High School Auto Shop Teacher. yay

The next picture shows the bracket that holds the camshaft in the block. This picture is showing the back of the fiber cam gear.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]


Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:03 PM. Reason: added verbiage

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Slightly out of order, I had to remove the crank pulley woodruff key before taking off the crank cam gear.

Below is a picture of the setup. I clamped a vice grip onto the part of the key that was outside the crank. Notice that I put 2/3rds of the vice grip on the key and 1/3 hanging out in space. This was to provide a place to pound a wedge (screwdriver) into so that the key was 'persuaded' out of its groove.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:03 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Next to come off was the backplate that resides behind the cam gears. Below is a picture of the slotted flat head 1/4-20 bolts that hold it to the block.

I used the impact wrench again to loosen these bolts because, as you can see in the photo, the previous guy center punched the edge of each bolt to keep it from coming loose.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:04 PM.

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With the cam gears backplate removed, you can see all the yucky sludge that clogged up the oil flow cavity. Nasty stuff! greenman

The second photo shows the cavity with some of the sludge scraped out.

At this point of the story, I'm going to take a short break. I have to pull Lurch's engine out and get it on the engine stand for its teardown.

So far, I did not talk too much about evaluating parts for the final build. I will do more of that after I take Lurch's engine apart.

Stay tuned, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:04 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Let the fun begin again! yay

I finally pulled Lurch's engine out and will now start pulling it apart.

To recap the reason for this entire thread, Lurch's engine was running, but smoking and with little power. The poor guy could hardly get on and off the trailer! The compression was 50-55 pounds in each cylinder.

So, I'm tearing apart two partial '28 engines and Lurch's '28 engine to hopefully get a full complement of parts for a good used engine.

Ever onward!

Below are the first pics of Lurch's engine. I expect to find a lot of wear, but clean innards. We shall see.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:05 PM.

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Just a little out of order, I pulled the pressure plate off before I put the engine on the stand.

I took two opposite bolts out and replaced them with two longer bolts. Then I took out the rest of the bolts, the pressure plate slide safely away from the flywheel, and out onto the longer bolts. Then clutch dropped out. laugh

Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:05 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Here are a couple of pictures of Lurch's head.

The top looks good, but I know from experience that the rocker bushings are very worn.

There is a lot of carbon buildup on a couple of the exhaust valves. I'm not surprised.

BTW, what are ya gonna do when your son moves out of the house and leaves his skateboard? Re-purpose it!!

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]



Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:06 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Can you spell WORN? Yes, this engine was running last year.

Here's a picture looking down in cylinder number three.

I'll quantify the wear when I inspect everything to choose parts for the final build.

Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:07 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Next to come off the engine is the oil filter and coil assembly. Since a new oil filter is around $100, I put a 1950's style canister-type oil filter on Lurch. The cartridges are $15 at Napa.

This type of oil filter canister was originally bolted to the intake manifold. I used a short section of one inch galvanized water pipe that is bolted to a piece of angle iron for a bracket. I cut a slot in the water pipe to access the bolts that hold the whole thing to the block. Below is a picture of the bracket. Rube Goldberg strikes again! laugh

Then I took the distributor out. This is the correct distributor (Delco 635B) for '28 engines, so I'll reuse it for Lurch's build. The driving gear is worn (the teeth are thin), so I'll probably replace it.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:07 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Lurch's water pump leaked and the pulley can be pushed in and out, so I was wondering what I'd find in there.

I was pleasantly surprised that the baffle plate was still in there, even though it is all rusted. The impeller is a little worn and the bushing (bearing) is shot, so this will get a rebuild. Below is a picture.

The water pump cavity is very clean. No chunks of rust. This makes sense since for the last 20 years, I've kept clean coolant in this engine. Time and further examination will determine if I use this block or not for the final build.

Oh my goodness, has it been that long? Yep, I got Lurch got on the road in the summer of 1995. Nobody knows when this engine was opened up before. To quote a long-time VCCA member, Mercy!!

Below is a pic of the clean water pump cavity (as found) in Lurch's block.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:08 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Like other areas of Lurch's engine, the cam gear cavity was dirty and oily, but not clogged up. The gears look pretty good and it seems that oil circulated around them okay. carrot

Below are a couple of pics.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:09 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Now to look under the beast. The oil pan is dirty, but very little sludge and only surface rust. Very nice.

Likewise, the bottom end is oily, but not clogged up with sludge and no rust to speak of.

Notice the baling wire locking the rear main bearing cap bolts. 20 years ago, one of the bolts dropped out and the other broke. Not realizing this happened, I drove Lurch with only the oil pan holding the main bearing cap in place! After I discovered this problem, I put in bolts and wired them together.

Here's the full story of that adventure: Lurch's first saga

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:09 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Time to continue the tear down of Lurch's engine.

First up is a bottom up view of one of the cylinders. Oily, but smooth and not scored. Nice!

Second photo is the bottom end with the oil pump and distributor removed. Nothing much to comment on, other than all looks nicely lubed. You can easily see the oil distributor and tubes that deliver oil to the oil troughs.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:10 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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With the camshaft removed, the lifter bottoms are exposed.

My eyes!! Too bright!! luv2

They are so shiny that they seemed to be chrome plated. This is not just flash reflection from the camera. Well, some of that, but look at the one at the far right. No reflection there. Way shinier than the lifters from the other engines.

Wow. Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:11 PM. Reason: typo

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Today my chore is to catch you up on the tear down.

Below are pictures of:

  • The front oil cavity in the block as found. Dirty, but nothing is blocked. Oil flowed freely.
  • Crankshaft with rod caps taken off. The journals seem to be in good shape (no rust pits). The crank might be a keeper.
  • Lurch's pistons. At first glance, they are in good shape. Upon closer examination, they are too worn to reuse. Also, a couple of them show minute cracks in the babbitt on the crank bearings.


Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:11 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Warning: long post. Lots of words and only one picture. Grab a cup and sip in slowly.

After taking the pistons, I removed the main bearing caps and took out the crank and flywheel, as I did for all three engines.

Tear down complete! It sure is fun taking stuff apart. carrot

Now for a closer inspection of the parts in the various piles in my work space (a covered patio behind my 8x12 shop). The piles are labeled WA (the engine I received from Dick Olson in Washington), PENN (the engine I had in the back shed that came from the Penninsula across the bay from me), and Lurch ('nuf said).

My gut feeling is that most of the parts for the final build will come from Lurch's engine, since he was running most recently and I know was well lubricated (at least for the last 22 years). There will be some new parts added to the build as the inspection dictates.

I'm going to start with the block, which will lead me down a decision path with regards to other parts.

The first decision is one of elimination: I am not going to use the PENN block (the second one I tore down). It is obvious to me that this engine was run ragged until it was being held together by sludge and not much else. The state of the cylinder walls and pistons were bad enough to not warrant measuring.

To measure the cylinders of the other two engines, I borrowed a dial bore gauge and large micrometer from my good friend Andy Shyers, the local High School Auto Shop Teacher. The dial is in .0001 of an inch. Cool!

I set the micrometer to 3.689 inches (.0015 over the original 3.6875 bore) and set the dial bore gauge to zero for this measurement. So the dial will tell me how far over 3.689 each measurement is. Some simple addition and viola, I have the current bore size.

I looked at some youtube instruction videos about this process and found that I should measure each cylinder in three places near the top, three places in the middle, and three places at the bottom to get an accurate picture of the shape and size of the cylinder. So each cylinder gets nine measurements.

To make a long story short, I chose to use the WA block because the cylinders had the least amount of wear.

Even so, the cylinders were worn in a slight ellipse and were uneven enough so that I decided to take the block to a local, highly recommended machine shop for evaluation.

Before taking the block to a machine shop, I brought it to San Leandro High School's auto shop, where they put it in a giant washing machine to clean it. See the pic below.

Wade (he's the block guy) at Hubbard's Machine Shop in Hayward, CA) is the person I'm working with. He has done work for Andy (the high school auto shop teacher) and a couple of VCCA members, so I feel confident that he'll steer me right. He's mainly a F**d guy (with many, many years of experience with the oldies), so I loaned him my shop manual and a printed out copy of the celebrated "School is in Session" book.

He did a preliminary bore and said the cylinders would clean up nicely at .060 over the original bore. I gave him the go-ahead and he told me to order the new pistons and rings from Egge.

I told him that I had heard mixed reviews about Egge. He said that in the past, those mixed reviews were true. Egge used to use ground up transmission cases as raw material and consequently, their pourings were not good quality. Evidently, they have cleaned up their act. They only use ingot materials now and have been buying up piston molds from other manufactures as they have gone out of the business.

Wade said he used to have to order two sets of pistons in order to maybe get one good one. No longer. The quality coming from Egge now is night and day from what it use to be.

I will comment further when the pistons arrive and Wade inspects them.

Here's a table that describes some other decisions I have made about parts from the three piles:

  • Piston rods: Two from Lurch, one from WA, one from PENN. Out of the twelve rods, eight had babbitt issues.
  • Crankshaft, Camshaft, and cam gears: I'll use Lurch's crankshaft, cam shaft, and cam gears. The parts from the other engines had rust pits on bearing surfaces and the gears where either worn or incorrect.
  • Flywheel: I am going to use Lurch's flywheel. From the tear downs and my stash of parts, I have five to choose from. Lurch's is in the best shape.
  • Distributor: Use Lurch's 635B (which is correct and in good shape), but replace the driving gear.
  • Water pump: Use Lurch's water pump, but rebuild it.
  • Head: I have two to choose from; Lurch's and from the PENN engine. The PENN engine's head is full of rust in the water jacket and the valves are ground low into the head. So, I'll grind Lurch's valves and put new bushings and shafts on the rocker arms. The water jacket does not contain chunks of rust and that makes me happy!
  • Oil pump: Although Lurch's oil pump consistently showed 10 PSI, I am reluctant to count on that pump for the new-ish engine. Following Ray Holland's advice from "School is in Session", I'm going to get a new gear-type oil pump.
  • Throw out bearing: Although not part of the engine rebuild as such, while I have the tranny out, I am going to replace the solid throw out bearing with a newer ball bearing type.
  • Transmission: Also not strickly part of the '28 resurrection, Lurch's 3-speed needs help. It drops out of first gear by itself and the front bearing is extremely worn. I have built up a 4-speed replacement from the best parts from two other transmissions. I believe the 4-speed was an option for 1927 and the granny first gear will be useful in parades.


That's all I can think of right now. As I run into stuff during the rebuild, I'll post it along with my ramblings and thoughts on the matter.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 02/10/20 02:45 PM. Reason: typo

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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With the block at the machine shop and parts ordered (pistons from Egge and the rest from the Filling Station), the next order of business is to work on Lurch's head. Being from California, that could mean lots of things, but not this time. dance

Below are a couple of pictures of the head before I started taking it apart. There are a few things that I noticed:

  • There are no flow inserts in the intake manifold.
  • The rocker arms are very loose on their shaft.
  • There is no thermostat in the front housing.


Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:13 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Next was to take out the valves and see what's inside the head.

With the springs off, the valves came out nicely. They look good for the rebuild.

The first picture shows some of the valves open. At this point I'm pleased with what I see.

I pull all the valves out, turn the head to look in the intake and exhaust cavities, and WHAM, I SEE A SHOW STOPPER!! ref

A BIG chunk of the valve stem casting is broken off and there is a crack that indicates another chunk could break off at any time. See the second picture below.

Jeez Loueeze, I've been driving Lurch around on and off for over 20 years and it must've been like this all along. willy

Well, this head is toast for my rebuild, so I'll start tearing down the other '28 head that was my second choice for the rebuild.

Stay tuned! Never a dull moment!

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:13 PM. Reason: added verbiage

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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So, the head from the Penn engine has moved to the head of the line. Hopefully, this is in better shape than Lurch's head.

The first thing I notice is that the intake flow tubes are 90 percent clogged with solid sludge or carbon. Can't tell exactly what it is, but it acts like dried shellac. Makes me wonder how they got this way. The only thing I can think of is that the intake gaskets did not make a good seal, the atmosphere around the engine was dirty and oily, and the intake vacuum sucked a lot of that dirty atmosphere into the intake ports. bonk

The rockers move nicely. The bottom of the head shows a lot of carbon buildup and some rust. See the pics below.

Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:14 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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With the valves out, I can now inspect the head in more depth.

In the first photo below, two sets of valves are shown. The valves in the rear came from Lurch's head. The front row of valves is from the Penn head. Lurch's valves are in much better shape than those from the Penn head, so I'll use the rear row for the rebuild.

Hmmm. The carbon/sludge buildup is way more in the intake cavities than the exhaust cavities. I'm speculating that the valve stem guides are worn enough so that spent combustion is exhausted up the side of the exhaust valve stems and then, oil and exhaust fumes are sucked down the intake valve stems into the intake cavity.

I don't know this, but it's my theory. I am certainly open to other ideas about how this buildup was caused.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:17 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Loving this Dean, Should be taking apart mine soon so this is giving me a good "heads up" on what to expect. I also have my main engine and a parts one, hope it helps me.
Keep up the good work and ideas


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Thanks for the kind words, Steve.

As I mentioned near the top of this thread, I've never attempted a engine project like this before and I'm using this web site as a diary/discussion point for the project.

A major thanks to the VCCA and the Web Volunteers who have provided and maintain this site so that I can have so much fun with it!! thanku

Cheers, Dean


Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Ever onward!

Lurch's valves fit quite loosely in the guides from the Penn head, so I took the head and valves to Hubbard's Machine and asked them to install new cast iron valve stem guides.

On to the next part of the project: the thermostat housing.

I took the housing off of Lurch's head and the bolts broke off. ;-( Not surprising.

The first picture below shows the inside of the housing as I found it. You can see the rust buildup on the bolts. I took a dremel cutoff wheel and cut the bolts as far down in the cavity as I could. Then, they were easy to pound out with a punch and hammer.

The next picture shows the housing with the bolts removed. yay

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:18 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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There was no thermostat in either engine, so there was no thermostat holding bracket. Whatcha gonna do? Make one!

In my scrap metal pile, I have a piece of sheet brass (.030 thick) that was originally a security bracket that went around a door knob. This should work well as a thermostat holding bracket. dance

The first picture below shows the layout of the bracket drawn on the brass sheet. The square is roughly 2 1/4 inches. The hole for the thermostat is 1 3/8 inches in diameter and the two holes for the bolts are 1/4 diameter.

Notice the hole cutting bit in the picture. I used this (after drilling a pilot hole) to score the circle for the thermostat. This bit did not cut all the way through the brass, but dug into it enough so that I could then use a narrow chisel to punch through (next picture).

BTW, the thermostat is from Napa and opens at 160 degrees. It was listed in their parts book as going into a 1955 Chevy Bel Air.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:19 PM.

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After cutting out the hole for the thermostat, I drilled the holes for the two 1/4x20x1/2 brass bolts that will hold the bracket in place. For drilling sheet metal, I like using a stepped unibit type of drill bit. It cuts nicely and does not grab like a normal bit would do.

Next, I cut off the extra material using a hack saw and tin snips.

Viola!! Thermostat installed. One small step for mankind, one.... well, you get the idea.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:20 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Next on the docket is to build up a distributor.

I have two to work with: one from Lurch's engine and the other that came in Justin's engine. Seven years ago, when I was getting Justin's engine to work, I replaced the distributor with one that I had in my stash.

The distributor that was in Dick Olson's engine was a weird, rusted hulk that is good as a conversation piece only. greenman

The picture below shows the two distributors. The one on the left came from Lurch's engine.

You can see that the driving gear in Lurch's distributor is very worn compared to the distributor on the right. So, I'll start the distributor build with the one on the right. Lurch's distributor will contribute parts as needed.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:20 PM.

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How are ya gonna hold a round distributor in a square vise? A number of years ago, I invented a special holder for the 635B distributor to make working on them easier. I'm still waiting for the Patent Office to recognize my achievement. laugh

The holder is a piece of hardwood with a hole that matches the outside diameter of the driving gear. The wood is split so it can clamp onto the gear, while providing a square-ish profile for the vise. VCCA members can use this idea without paying any royalties. All others must mail me a coupon for the drink of my choice at Starbucks.

At the top of the first picture, you can see that the slot where the rotor fits has some damage. I suspect that at one time, the distributor was dropped and hit the floor at this spot. I tried to fit a rotor on there, but it will not seat properly because the plastic tang under the rotor will not go into the slot.

In the second picture, I am holding the point mounting plate. Under it, you can see the centrifugal advancing mechanism. These parts are in good shape, but there is a lot of dried grease in there, so they just need to be cleaned and oiled.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]


Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:21 PM.

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My, that is a lot of work when you can buy a repro of the original thermostat retaining bracket at a reasonable price.

You must have a lot of time on your hands.

Regards

Ray

Last edited by 1928isgreat; 06/28/17 05:55 PM.

Some say "Street is neat". I prefer "1928 is great"

I have documented my 45 years with a 1928 Chev Tourer, from 1973 to 2018, and regulary add other items that I hope are of interest to others. Your comments are most welcome.The story of the Red Chev can be viewed at http://my28chev.blogspot.com/
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Hi Ray,

I looked for a repro thermostat bracket, but didn't find any.

Oh well, wouldn't be the first time I missed something! I had fun making it, so all is well.

Cheers, Dean


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I might install a thermostat retainer as well so "Do tell", who caries them? I looked in an older FS catalog 2015 and did not find it.

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Hey Dean,

I am following your resurrecting with some interest as I will be going down that same path in the short to mid term future. Would like to do a full posting of your work on my 28 Chev blog down the track if that's ok
with your good self.

Regards

Ray


Some say "Street is neat". I prefer "1928 is great"

I have documented my 45 years with a 1928 Chev Tourer, from 1973 to 2018, and regulary add other items that I hope are of interest to others. Your comments are most welcome.The story of the Red Chev can be viewed at http://my28chev.blogspot.com/
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Hi again Ray,

I'm flattered that you'd want to post this thread on your blog. It is fine with me. carbana

I suggest you wait until the new Chatter software is in place and working well.

Cheers, Dean


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I got the block back from Hubbard's Machine shop.

Absolutely beautiful! Lurch will be giddy with a heart that is so clean and not worn. luv2

They bored the cylinders out .060 inch and shaved .010 inch off the top so that the new head gasket will seal well.

While they had it, they also took the freeze plugs out and cleaned the water jacket as best as can be.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]


Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:22 PM.

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Here's a few more pics of the block. All the oil reservoirs were clean except for the reservoir for the center main bearing. The third picture below shows the center reservoir using a mirror.

Yes, the mirror is cracked. Kinda like it's owner. willy

Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:23 PM.

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The first item to go back into the block is the oil distributor.

You can see in the photo below the two holes in the block where it mounts.

In the exploded view of the parts, there are a couple of things to notice. Under the spring-loaded valve, there was a gasket that came out in pieces. I couldn't find a washer the same size (1/2 ID x 5/8 OD), so I made one out of a flattened piece of copper.

In the oil-on-the-towel-circle, there is a small curlyque of hard plastic that was caught in the spring valve. I have no idea what it is or where it came from. rudolph

In the bottom photo, I am starting to put the oil distributor into the block. Notice the hole on the side of the oil distributor body. This hole squirts oil into the oil reservoir for the center main bearing.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:23 PM.

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With the oil distributor in place, here's another view of the oil squirting hole. You can see why it is hard to see when the distributor is installed.

The next two pics illustrate attaching the fittings that go through the block. I smeared Permatex 3 on the two copper washers to prevent oil from leaking at these points.

Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:24 PM.

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Here are some pictures of the completely installed oil distributor. I smeared some Permatex 3 on the two copper washers on the bolts that hold the oil tube brackets because these bolts go through the block and are potential spots for oil leaks.

Thanks again to Ray Holland and his 'School is in Session' book which gave me the heads up to think about all bolts that go through the block. thanku

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 10:24 PM.

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Dean

something to consider....On my last rebuild, i gave the block a nice coat of paint before i got too far along. Then as i continued with the build it was a little easier installing items that were cleaned an painted the correct color (black or gray/green)

This made it easier than masking stuff off later



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Good point, Mike, if I intended to paint the engine.

Nope. Not gonna do it. Lurch has that 'survivor' vibe going on and I don't want to disturb that.

laugh Dean

Last edited by Rustoholic; 07/08/17 09:48 AM. Reason: changed some words

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Guess when you are nearly finished with the installation you will need to squirt some oil on the engine and throw dust on the fresh oil. That way you will simulate the old original look.

You surely don't want to have a "fresh" engine take away from the "out of the barn" appearance.


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Originally Posted by Rustoholic
Good point, Mike, if I intended to paint the engine.

Nope. Not gonna do it. Lurch has that 'survivor' vibe going on and I don't want to disturb that.

laugh Dean

And as I've found out it's so hard maintaining that survivor look, every nut you undo takes a little bit away and it'll never be the same, and it takes ages for those patina pixies to put it back! :-)

Thanks for posting your progress here, I have to rebuild my 28 motor soon and I'm hoping to learn a few things.

Bernard


Whirrr whirrr chuff chuff de chuff........chuff......BRUMMMM!
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Hmmm, I have a can full of black gold (sludge). Maybe I'll smear some on the engine after I'm sure everything works. yay

Cheers, Dean


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Originally Posted by Rustoholic
After cutting out the hole for the thermostat, I drilled the holes for the two 1/4x20x1/2 brass bolts that will hold the bracket in place. For drilling sheet metal, I like using a stepped unibit type of drill bit. It cuts nicely and does not grab like a normal bit would do.

Next, I cut off the extra material using a hack saw and tin snips.

Viola!! Thermostat installed. One small step for mankind, one.... well, you get the idea.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

This is a really useful thread, thanks for taking the time to post.

I have '28 motor rebuild under way now. One of the things I am doing is fitting a modern thermostat (looks identical to yours) on mine, I have drilled a small hole in the thermostat rim which should prevent a potential air lock when filling the rad from cold, and also should allow just enough flow before the stat opens to prevent really hot water in the block being replaced by ice cold water from the rad when the thermostat does open during cold weather.

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Thanks for the thanks, Stuart and Bernard. I don't keep a diary of my daily activities, but I wanted to capture this effort, so this thread does that for me in a wonderful way!

Regarding the hole that you drilled in the thermostat flange, I understand your point, but I'm not going to do the same for the following reasons:

  • Since the new thermostat did not come with a hole in the rim (and this thermostat is for a 1955 car), I suspect the thermostat designers don't think the extra hole is necessary.
  • Since I live in California, our weather is really mild, so I don't worry about extreme temperatures. If Lurch ultimately moves to a snowy climate, his new caretaker will have to consider whether or not he needs this hole in his head. wink


Cheers, Dean

Last edited by Rustoholic; 02/20/22 06:47 PM. Reason: typo

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The next series of notes and pics cover the crankshaft and main bearings.

Earlier, I made the decision to use the following parts from Lurch's engine: front bearings, rear bearings, crankshaft, and flywheel. From Dick Olson's engine, I'm using the block and the middle main bearings.

The first picture below shows the bearing halves. When I looked closer at them individually, I noticed that some of the babbitt material migrated into the oil flow channels, thus clogging them.

I used a small, sharp hobby knife to cut and scrape the babbitt out of where it should not be. The next few photos illustrate this operation.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 10:55 AM.

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Here are some more pics of the main bearing cleanup operation.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 10:56 AM.

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Now comes a big moment of truth. Will these parts work together? (drum roll please!) Yes, but only after a few hiccups along the way.

I put the block half bearings in place and laid the crankshaft into them. Everything looks good so far (see the first photo). BTW, I had the crankshaft and flywheel balanced and polished. cool

Starting with the rear main bearing, I put some Plastigage on the crank, put the cap and bearing on, and tightened the bolts. I used around 50 foot pounds of pressure. This seemed appropriate for the 9/16-12 bolts. With no shims under the cap, the Plastigage indicated a .002 inch gap. Good to go! yay

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 10:56 AM. Reason: typo

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Dean,
I have not had good experience with plasigauge and thick babbitt bearings. It can be used as a gross indication of the gap but only that. I am thinking that the babbitt and plastigauge are both flexible enough to compress a bit where the plastigauge is installed, thereby giving a close but false reading. The setting process in the Repair Manual is the best and most reliable.

Since you have a 0.002" indicated gap between the crankshaft and bearing I suggest you obtain some 0.001" sheet shim material (brass is my choice). Wrap a single layer around the crankshaft the same width as the bearing. Lubricate with light oil. Now place the crankshaft in place, lightly tighten the bearing cap and try to rotate the crankshaft. If it does rotate tighten to your intended torque and test again. If still rotates add another layer of 0.001" shim stock and test again. Once the crank does not rotate you will have a much better indication of the actual gap.


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Thanks, Chipper. I agree that Plastigage is only an indicator. As you will see in future posts, I followed a similar vein to what you suggest.

Cheers, Dean


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The middle bearing gave me fits. This bearing came with this block, but the crankshaft and other two bearings are out of a different motor.

Mistake number one: I took the cap off the rear bearing before working with the middle bearing. I was focused on the bearing-at-the-moment and not keeping the big picture in mind. You'll see what I mean later.

With no shims under the middle bearing cap, the Plastigage indicated the gap was .004 inch . That's too big. I figured that the cap half bearing needed to come closer to the crank journal. To achieve this, I put a .002 inch shim in between the cap and its bearing half. With this shim in place, I noticed that the bearing edges were no longer flush with the cap, so I flat sanded (400 grit emerycloth laying on a flat steel plate) the bearing edges just enough to get the edges flush with the cap.

I put the cap/bearing on the block, put Plastigage on the middle journal, and tightened the bolts down. The Plastigage indicated that the gap was STILL .004 inch. What the (expletive deleted)!!? How can the gap be the same after I brought the two bearing halves closer together? wazzup

After a nap, a Diet Coke, and some intense visualization, it occurred to me that the crankshaft middle journal might not be sitting all with way down in the block bearing half. Using a feeler gauge, I found this to be the case. There was a .002 inch gap under the crankshaft. So, I raised the block bearing half with a .002 shim under it, did the Plastigage test again and now it showed a .002 inch gap. Whew!

Using Plastigage on the front bearing (with no shims under the cap), the gap appeared to be .002 inch. Cool!

Now I can bolt up the main bearing caps and move on (or so I thought). Stay tuned!

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 02/18/22 01:39 AM. Reason: added verbiage

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Thinking ahead a little, I thought now is the time to bolt the flywheel onto the crankshaft because after I put the rear main bearing cap in place, I cannot slide in the bolts for the flywheel. So, I put the flywheel in place, then laid the crankshaft in place, and bolted the flywheel to the crankshaft.

BTW, I marked the position of the flywheel to the crankshaft (with center punch marks) before I took them apart when I was dismantling Lurch's engine. This way, I can confidently bolt on the flywheel in the correct position.

Keep in mind that at this point in time, I have not tightened the main bearing caps yet after checking the clearance gaps with Plastigage.

The heads of the flywheel bolts rate a few sentences about them. They have copper washers under them to keep oil splatter away from the clutch area. Also, because the bolt heads sit snugly against the rear flange on the crankshaft, the copper washers need to be flush/flat with one of the hex sides in order to fit next to the flange on the crankshaft. The copper washer and the flat area is illustrated in the photo below.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

April 17, 2021 update:

A couple of comments were added to the post in the VCCA gallery where I uploaded the photos for this post. I am adding them here so that they are included inline with this discussion.

Comment from Chipper:
This is a great series for anyone working on an engine rebuild. A word of caution. Make triple sure to bolt the flywheel on in the correct position. I thought I had one on correctly and later found the timing mark was not in the window when I was ready to stab the distributor.

My response to Chipper:
Thanks for the kind words, Chipper.

And, a good note of caution.

I punched mating marks on the crankshaft and flywheel before I separated them, so I could put them back in the correct position.

Comment from Jim_Crowell:
My flywheel was taken off before I purchased the car. Any suggestions on how I should go about mounting it to make sure it’s in the right spot? Thanks.

My response to Jim:

The easiest process that I can think of is to put the flywheel on in any position and continue to put the rest of the engine together. When you get to the point of installing the distributor (and the engine is not mated to the tranny yet), rotate the engine so that cylinder one is at TDC on the compression stroke and then unbolt the flywheel and position it so that the U|C mark is on the pointer in the timing window of the flywheel cover.

Another possibility is to position the crankshaft with the cylinder number one offset pointing towards TDB. Then, bolt the flywheel onto the crankshaft so that the U|C mark is showing in the view window with the pointer that is in the flywheel cover. This should position the U|C mark at roughly 45 degrees down from the top of the engine on the distributor side of the engine. Keep in mind that if the flywheel is mounted like this before the camshaft is installed, the position of the flywheel might be 180 degrees off and will need to be re-positioned later.

Hope this helps. Dean

Last edited by Rustoholic; 04/17/21 10:57 PM. Reason: added comments inline that came in later

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Since I'm new to this engine rebuilding business, a little voice in the back of my head kept telling me to recheck the main bearing/clearance situation. I loosened the bearing cap bolts and, as before, I started with the rear bearing.

This time, I want to figure out the clearances without using Plastigage, as alluded to in the Shop Manual.

Since the crankshaft turned easily with no shims under the rear cap, I put a .003 inch shim in between the cap and its bearing half, thus bringing the two bearing halves closer together by .003 inch. When I tightened the cap bolts, the crank would not turn. Then, I replaced the shim with a .002 inch shim. Same thing: crank won't turn. Progressing on, I replaced the .002 shim with a .001 shim. Ah ha!! The crank can now turn easily. So, I decided to leave the .001 shim in place. See the first photo below.

On to the middle main bearing. First I verified that the crankshaft was indeed sitting against the block half bearing. I could not slide a feeler gauge in there, so I left the .002 inch shim in between the bearing and the block that I had put in earlier. I tightened up the cap bolts thinking that I still had a .002 gap, as illustrated by the Plastigage. WRONG! Now the crank was binding with no shims under the cap. I took out the shim that I had previously put in between the cap and bearing half and I slowly added shims under both sides of the middle bearing cap until the crankshaft turned freely. The end result was .005 inches of shims (one .002 and three .001).

Next, I checked the front main bearing again. Previously, the Plastigage showed a .002 gap with no shims. So, I tightened up the cap bolts. The crank would not turn. Hmmmm. willy

As with the middle bearing cap, I started adding shims under the bearing cap until the crankshaft turned freely again. The front cap ended up needing .011 inches of shims on either side so that the crankshaft could turn easily.

As an aside, I included a couple of photos showing how I cut the shims from brass shim sheet stock. Notice that I clamped the sheet stock in between a couple of thin pieces of plywood for the hole drilling operation.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 10/10/22 01:09 PM.

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Next up is the installation of Lurch's camshaft into the final build block. It is a pretty straight forward proposition.

The first picture shows the guide bolts for ease of getting the gasket on. They are 1/4-20 bolts with the heads cut off and a slot cut in the end. These guide bolts also work well when putting the oil pan on. yay

The next photo shows the gasket in place. I put Permatex #2 on the block sealing surface.

The third photo shows the camshaft gear back plate in place. You can see the two holes where the camshaft holding plate bolts in.

When I took this back plate off 2 of the parts-donor blocks, these flat head bolts were fairly loose. To fix that, I put a drop of Locktite on the threads and gave them a whack with my good old impact wrench. beermugs

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]


Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:05 AM.

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After putting the cam gear back plate on, the next item to go back is the crankshaft cam gear.

This gear is a press fit (with a Woodruff key on the crank), so I heated the gear using a propane torch and then gently tapped it on, using a 1 inch water pipe coupling and a hammer. Is using the words 'gently' and 'hammer' in the same sentence contradictory? I'll have to think about that one. idea

The second photo shows the gear in place.

As with the crankshaft, I shmeared Red Line Assembly Lube into the bearing surfaces for the camshaft, all over the cam gears, and around the cam lobes.

The fiber cam gear did not have any markings, so I used Ray's instructions from the School is in Session book to locate the correct mating teeth for the cam gears.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:06 AM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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On to the connecting rods. Earlier in this series, after inspecting all the connecting rods, I thought the rods that were in the best shape were one rod from the Dick Olson (WA) engine, one rod from the Penn engine, and two rods from Lurch's engine.

After cleaning the rods, I bought an inexpensive electronic scale to weigh them. My goal is to get them to be within 1-2 grams of each other. Their weight is as follows:

Penn rod - 879 grams (casting number 351663)
WA rod - 819 grams (casting number 346740)
Lurch rod #3 - 880 grams (casting number 351663)
Lurch rod #4 - 879 grams (casting number 351663)

Hmmm, the WA rod is 60 grams lighter than the others (roughly 2 ounces). Not good.

I looked at the other WA rods and they have the same casting number (346740), which is different from the other two engine's rods (351663). Part number 346740 is not listed in my parts book, but is elluded to in other posts in the VCCA Chat forums as being 1925/26 rods. Rather than take 60+ grams off the heavier rods, I inspected all the rods again and found a usable rod from the Penn engine, so I now am using a set that has the same casting number (351663).

The newly chosen rod weighs 874 grams. This is good news because now my set of rods are within 4-5 grams of each other. It should be fairly easy to lightly grind some material off the heavier ones to get them close to the lightest one.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:06 AM.

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I noticed that the casting of the rods have lots of 'extra' material that can be taken off without disturbing the structural integrity of the parts.

I used a 1 inch belt sander to slowly remove material from the heavy rods, measuring their weight often. On the heaviest rod, I also ground off some of the backside of the oil-splashing tang. This should not affect the splashing effect because it is the front of the tang (where the hole is) that impacts the oil in the troughs.

Ultimately, I got three of them to 875 grams, which is just one gram more than the lightest. This works really well with the weight of the pistons. Three pistons weigh 746 grams each and one weighs 747 grams.

I'll pair the lightest rod with the heaviest piston and then all the piston/rod sets will weigh the same. yay

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:07 AM.

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The next items I worked on were the piston rings.

The manufacturer's instructions say to measure the ring gap when the ring is in the cylinder near the bottom of the ring travel. The gap needs to be .003-.004 per inch of the cylinder diameter.

Since I had the cylinders bored out to .060 over the original 3 11/6 inch, the gap works out to (.004 x 3.750) = .015 inch.

As it turned out, quite a few of the rings had the correct gap right out of the box. yay

I measured the gap for individual cylinders and then marked these rings for that particular cylinder.

BTW, the oil (bottom) ring does not get gapped. I only needed to gap three of the other rings.

My grinding setup is my Dremmel tool with a grinding disk, attached via cable ties to a piece of 2x4, and an aluminum plate. Kind of a tiny table saw. I also set up a fence (a short piece of aluminum angle) that is perpendicular to the grinding wheel to guide the ring and grind it evenly.

I kept the speed of the Dremmel sort of slow so it would SLOWLY ground a small amount of material away. I found that briefly touching the inside of the ring to the grinding wheel only ground away .001 inch, so I was able to slowly creep up to the amount needed to be ground off.

The gap out of the box for these rings was .012, so I only needed to grind .003. A couple of times back and forth between the grinding and the measuring, got them right on .015.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:07 AM.

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Next in line are fitting the pistons onto the connecting rods and putting in the rings.

Three of the piston wrist pins slid smoothly into the small ends of the connecting rods, but one did not. I needed to gently pry open the small end of the connecting rod (the wrist pin clamp) in order for the wrist pin to go through. Hmmm, I need a narrow pry tool that will reach up into the piston. tool

A few years ago, I made a specialized pry tool for reaching up from under my truck and prying off the oil pan which was glued all around. This tool (pictured below) was just a small piece of angle iron that had one edge ground to a chisel point and attached to an old garden tool handle. Luckily, I put this tool in Justin's tool box, so I was able to find it and use it now. It was narrow enough to fit inside the piston and still move sideways enough to pry open the wrist pin clamp.

Rube Goldberg strikes again! Happy happy! devildance

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:11 AM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Now that the pistons are attached to the connecting rods, I can put the rings on. Following the manufacturer's instructions, I put the oil rings on first. I was worried about scratching the aluminum piston with the steel rings, so I used a feeler gauge as a sliding surface to get the rings to their slot safely. See the photo below. The red grease is Red Line Assembly Lube.

The feeler gauge slider worked well to slide all of the other rings into place too. Rings one and two for the pistons are marked 'top' so they will be facing the proper way. As per recommendations, I staggered the ring gaps around the pistons.

The local O'Reiley's car parts store sells/rents a piston ring compressor tool for $10 and you can return it within 2 days to get a full refund. Good deal! With the pistons and cylinders properly smeared with assembly lube, I put the ring compressor on the pistons and tightened it up.

I noticed that the machine shop had put a very small chamfer at the top of the cylinders, so I made sure this little angled surface had lots of assembly lube. With the rod cap and hardware removed, I used the wood handle of a hammer to gently pound the pistons into the cyliders.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:12 AM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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After a piston was in the cylinder, I turned the block 90 degrees and was able to pull the connecting rod by hand down to meet the crankshaft. Then, I put the rod cap on and tightened the nuts.

I don't think tightening the rod caps added to the friction of turning the crank, but they also do not seem loose around the crank. So I am going to leave them alone for now. After I run the engine a little and it loosens up, I'll drop the oil pan and adjust the rod caps so that they are gapped correctly.

Since I don't have the head on yet and I want to keep the cylinders clean, I cut a piece of sheet aluminum to cover the cylinders and used the old head gasket to hold the sheet down. Then, I used a bunch of the 1/2-12 short head bolts (with washers and a pipe spacer) to clamp the lid on the top of the block.

The reason for my concern about cleanliness? Check out the bottom photo. This is the work space that I'm building the engine in. Yes, I have 10 pounds of stuff in a five pound bag. There's no place like home! laugh

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:12 AM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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That's funny Dean. I remember several years ago I had bought a small sports car and was wanting to show it to folks on another forum, so I took a picture of it in my newly cleaned out and cleaned up garage. Almost all of the comments were related to the supposed disorganization of my garage, it was like the car wasn't even there. I guess one man's organization is another man's nightmare. Whatever, I'm enjoying following along with you on your rebuild.


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I looked pretty deep in my garage...Are you sure that's my garage??..Sure looks like it..good
luck


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I can say no matter how disorganize it may appear, every time I have been at Dean's he knew exactly where his stuff was hiding....

Dean - looking forward to hearing it run - are you taking both trucks to San Jose?


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Thanks for the kind words, Mike.

Yes, both trucks want to be there, so I'm scrambling to get Lurch put back together.

Cheers, Dean


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Now that the pistons and rods are in, it is time to pay attention to the oil pump.

Lurch's oil pump worked okay (it produced a steady 10 psi), but with so many new parts in the rebuilt engine, I decided to install a new gear-type oil pump, made by C&P Automotive (aka Billy Possum). This pump is a newly-manufactured replica of the pump GM offered in the 1930's as a replacement for the vane-type pump that originally came in the four cylinder engines. I have one of these new pumps in Justin and he is very happy with it! yay

In the first photo below, you can see the hole where the pump goes and also see the hole going into the oil distributor. I'll need to put in a new copper feed line from the output hole from pump to the distributor.

The second photo shows the locating pin/bolt that will hold the oil pump in place. Photo three shows the tip of the locating pin showing through the block. The pic also shows the divit in the side of the oil pump housing where the locating pin mates with the oil pump housing.

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:14 AM.

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The first photo below shows the pump in place. The two red circles illustrate where the new oil delivery tube will go between the pump and the oil distributor. As per the manufacturer's instructions, I'm putting in a larger (3/8 inch) copper tube than was in there orignally. This is so as not to restrict the volume of oil going to the oil distributor.

The green circle shows the inlet hole to the pump.

Good thing I have smallish hands! The input fitting for oil distributor is down in a tight area. In order to tighten the compression nut on the fitting, I had to cut off an open-end wrench and also grind the sides to make it narrower. Another specialty tool that will not be used again (if ever) for years.

If anyone wants to use this or any other tool of mine, the rental cost is one Diet Coke. thanku

The third photo shows the oil screen housing and input nozzle in place. In the installation instructions, they said to make sure the connection of the nozzle to the housing is air tight, so I put a little dab of Permetex #3 on the threads of the nozzle.

The last photo shows the finished oil pump in place.

Cheers, Dean
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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:14 AM.

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To finish up messing with the bottom end, my next area of focus is the oil pan.

After cleaning out the oil pan, the attachment lips need to be straightened. The 1/4-20 bolts that hold this pan to the block always seem to distort the lip because the steel that the pan is made from is REALLY soft. I guess you could use some body repair tools to hammer the lips flat, but I used a piece of scrap steel clamped in my bench vise and a flat-faced hammer. See the first pic below.

In preparation for putting the pan on and aligning the gaskets, I have some 1/4-20 bolts with their heads cut off as guides. They are showed in the second photo.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:16 AM.

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Before I put the pan on for good, I used the pan to test how deep the connecting rod tangs dip into the oil troughs. If the tangs do not dip into the oil troughs enough, they will not spash the oil enough to lubricate everything that needs it.

Here are the steps for the tang dip test:
  • Smear some chassis grease in the troughs
  • With the crankshaft offsets parallel to the ground so that the tangs are not in the full down position, screw the pan onto the block, but spaced away enough to simulate the thickness of the pan gasket material. I used some flat washers as spacers.
  • By hand, turn the crank 1/2 turn which will dip the tangs into the grease once.
  • Carefully take the pan off and measure the depth of the groove in the grease created by the tangs.

As it turns out, the depth of the dip in the grease was 1/16 inch or more, so the dippers are dippin' the way they should (groovy)!! drink

If the dip was not deep enough, I could have raised the offending oil trough by bending it a little.

The three photos below show the grease in trough before the test, the flat washer spacers, and the tang dip grooves in the grease after the test.

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 11/20/20 10:19 PM. Reason: typo

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So, it is time to button it up.

One of the challenges of this operation is to get the gaskets on the front and rear to adhere around the curved surfaces next to the front and rear main bearings. Following a tip from Ray Holland's 'School is in Session' document, I did not use the short 1/4 inch thick gaskets that came with the engine gasket kit.

Instead, I made my own. I used two 1/8 inch thick pieces of gasket material, smeared some Permetex #2 sealer between them, and tied them onto a drink bottle to dry. This way, the gaskets will be curved and will be easier to work with. See the first photo below for the patent-pending gasket forming tool.

Then the gaskets were glued to the block with Permetex #2. To seal the corner where the curved gaskets meet the flat gaskets, a tiny bead of sealant was put where they meet. In the photo, I have not yet glued down the curved gasket.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:18 AM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Being an easy going guy, I always try to make sure nobody gets bent out of shape. Agrin

To that end, I don't want the holding bolts to bend Lurch's oil pan lip anymore, so I drilled some holes in 1/8" thick by 1/2" wide steel strips to act as big long flat washers.

Another consideration in installing the oil pan is that the front two and rear two 1/4" bolt holes are open to the inside of the block (the oil splash zone), so I put some Permatex #3 on their threads to help prevent leaks.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:18 AM. Reason: typo

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That is a very nice touch to make the long reinforcing strips to hold the pan on.

All of your work has been top notch as you go along.


Agrin devil


RAY


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Thanks, Ray. I appreciate your kind words. thanku

I learned from your and others' previous posts and am trying to add a bit of common sense to the project.

What would they do back in the day on the farm, with only themselves to rely on? This is the thought that comes to mind when a problem or roadblock appears.

All my best, Dean


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Originally Posted by beachbum
I might install a thermostat retainer as well so "Do tell", who caries them? I looked in an older FS catalog 2015 and did not find it.



I just ordered one this week from Gary Wallace, he has them in stock. pipe


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The saga continues with the tear down and rebuild of the water pump.

My main concern when taking apart the water pump and reassembling it was that cast iron parts can easily crack if not supported properly. You'll see how I supported various parts in the photos that follow.

The first operation was to push the water pump shaft out of the pulley. This was accomplished using a press that's in the basement of my good friend George Childs (see the first photo). The water pump housing is supported on both sides of the impeller and I used a short 5/8 bolt (sanded down from .625 to .610 inch in diameter) as a pushing rod.

Now to get the old bushings out of the housing. This is where the cast iron housing must be supported properly. I started with taking out the small front bushing. Since the bolt that I used earlier slides inside the bushing, I placed a short steel sleeve over it (1/2 inch electrical conduit) that will push the bushing out of the housing.

I used a gear puller that was anchored on the front bushing housing, thus not putting a strain on the main pump housing. This setup pushed the front bushing out nicely.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:19 AM.

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The next step was to remove the rear bushing. After removing the rusted-but-still-there baffle plate (see the first pic below), I took the housing to my buddy at the local high school and sandblasted the inside. I certainly don't want to clean up the outside!! laugh

In order to support the housing close to where the pressure was to be applied, I used a short piece of water pipe with a chunk cut out to go around the grease-hole arm in the casting (see the second pic below).

In addition to the water pipe support, I propped up the inlet to the housing so the whole thing would stand upright on a scrap steel plate. After heating the housing with a propane torch, I used the same sanded-down bolt, but this time inserted into a longer piece of conduit (and a thick washer), and knocked the bottom bushing out with a 3-pound sledge hammer.

The last photo shows the completely disassembled water pump, along with my patent-pending bushing removal tools. dance

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:20 AM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Dean,
when you installed your thermostat and bracket, were the holes where you put the brass screws threaded? or did you just use self threading screws?

I got my bracket from Old Chevy Parts but the screws he provided are not self threading.

Jeff


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Hi Jeff,

The holes in the housing are threaded 1/4-20. They can be cleaned out using a tap. Do it gently! You don't want to break off the tap and create a bigger problem to fix.

Cheers, Dean


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Ever onward!

Before putting new parts into the old water pump housing, I inspected the surface where the housing meets the block and decided it needed a little flat sanding (emery cloth on a steel plate). See the first photo below.

The first new part to be installed is the large bushing. In order to support the housing to avoid cracking it, I set it on the steel plate and propped up all the outlying parts (inlet pipe and unwebbed, open area) with some wood and chunks of steel.

The bushings are press fit into the housing. To help make the large bushing a little smaller, I put it in the freezer for a while (don't tell the boss). Right before gently (well, maybe not so gently) pounding the bushing into the housing, I heated the housing with a propane torch to help expand the hole.

Next, the small bushing goes in. Using my patent-pending bushing removal parts (sanded bolt, chunk of electrical conduit, and a thick flat washer) and a large C clamp, I pushed the bushing into the housing. Again, to help with the process, I put the bushing in the freezer and heated the housing. It slid in smoother than the last popsicle I sucked on!

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:21 AM.

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The instructions that come with the rebuild kit says that the bushings might need to be reamed out after being installed. Yep! The large bushing worked as is, but the new water pump shaft would not go into the small bushing.

I guess the correct tool to open the bushing a little would be an adjustable reamer. Well, I don't have one. However, I noticed that the end of the old pump shaft, where the pulley had been, is the same original diameter. Sooooooo, a few cuts with a cutoff wheel later, I've got me a reamer that is the correct size. yay

Still having fun! Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:22 AM.

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Before reaming, I drilled a hole in the small bushing so that it oil could flow from the tiny reservoir to the water pump shaft. See the circle in the first photo below.

Then, the new reaming tool took a small amount of material off the inside of the bushing by turning it by hand and keeping the end well lubricated with cutting oil. The reamer opened up the bushing enough so that the new shaft went through, but it was still a very tight fit. So I opened up the hole a little with fine reaming tool (short length of copper tubing with a slot in the end to hole some emery cloth).

The next step was to dig out the old packing material and put new packing material in the brass nut that came off the old water pump. I used two of the three lengths that came with the rebuild kit.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:25 AM.

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Now comes the final assembly of the water pump. Yeah!! laugh

The first photo shows all the parts laid out before putting it together. They are, in order:

-Pump impeller and shaft
-Fiber washer
-New baffle plate
-Old housing with new bushings (the brass nut is loosely on its threads)
-Steel washer (to space pulley out from housing)
-Old pulley

I assembled everything by hand and stood the whole shabang (with the impeller on the steel plate) for the last operation: putting on the pulley. In order to keep the new baffle plate in place, I put a single, timy dab of Permatex #2 between it and the housing.

I heated the pulley with my trusty propane torch to expand it and gently pounded it onto the end of the water pump shaft.

Whew! That's a whole lotta work for one small subassembly!

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:25 AM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Ah, but the fun with the water pump is not over yet! The mounting surface on the block is very pitted and I suspect would leak if it is not repaired.

First thing to do is clean it up using a wire wheel and my drill.

Next, I smeared some of my favorite 'go-to fix 'em-up stuff' on the surface: JB Weld. After letting it dry for a day, I stuffed shop rags in the water jacket and flat sanded the water pump mounting surface. The JB Weld filled the voids and now I have a smooth surface that will seal properly. ;-)

Lo and behold, the rebuilt water pump (with its gorgeous patina) is mounted on Lurch's new block.

Ever onward, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:26 AM.

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Wow, December already! Time flies. Period!

I've been doing a bunch of work on Lurch's engine, but have not stopped to document it, so it is catch up time.

Since the block is basically done, I put it back in Lurch. From this point on, I'm working in the open space of my driveway, instead of the cramped covered patio in the back yard.

The next sub-project is the head. It cleaned up nicely at the machine shop. ;-) The valve stem guides were too loose, so new guide inserts were put in. The valves were in good shape, so they were ground and the valve seats were ground. See the first two photos below.

Even though the head was 'hot tanked' and the guy spent a lot of time digging crap out of the water passages, I dug around some more with a straightened coat hanger and coaxed some more rust particles out of the deep recesses.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:27 AM.

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In keeping with the 'cleaning' theme, I decided to clean out the spark plug holes. The threads go down into the head way farther than the spark plug reaches, so the bottom threads are caked in carbon and rust.

I don't want to run a tap down those threads and run the risk of screwing them up, so what to do? Make a tool!! One of my favorite distractions.

I took a broken, old spark plug with the correct threads and busted the plug up leaving only the thread portion. Luckily, the center hole in the thread portion was 1/2 inch in diameter so I welded an old 1/2 inch bolt to the plug threads. Then, with the help of my trusty 4 inch grinder, I cut flutes in the threads and viola, a 1928 Chevy spark plug thread chaser was born! See the first two photos below. Stardard disclaimer: patent pending. Royalties for use is one Diet Coke to me.

Now that the bench cleaning was done, I put in the valves, springs, spring caps, and keepers.

Before putting the head on the engine, I put a couple of old headless head bolts in the block as guide pins for the head gasket and the head. See the pic below. With a thin coat of spray Permatex Copper sealer on both sides of the new head gasket, I bolted the head onto the block. I followed the head bolt tightening instructions in the repair manual.

cool Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:28 AM.

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My attention then turned to the rocker assemblies. The bushings were worn enough so that the lifter body would 'lift' up when adjusting the valve clearance. Not good. With a rocker rebuild kit in hand, I proceeded to get the rockers back into specs.

The first photo shows one rocker assembly that is disassembled. The rocker bushing holes measured .006 inches larger in diameter than the rocker shaft. No wonder I could not adjust them properly!

To press out the old bushings, I cut off the stump of a 5/8 (.625) inch bolt and ground/sanded the shaft down to .578-ish. I had determined that the old bushings had an OD (outside diameter) of .582 and an ID (inside diameter) of .538-ish. To hold the rocker back and allow the old bushing to pop out, I used a short length of 1/2 galvanized water pipe.

With the parts mounted in my big old vice, the old bushings pressed out nicely.

Before evaluating what is necessary for pressing in the new bushings, I cleaned out the hole in the rockers. There was leftover scrapings from the old bushings in there. So, with an adjustable reamer clamped in my vice, I gently cleaned up the holes by hand. The rocker holes are .582 inches in diameter (important number).

Notice in this photo that the tip of the rocker has been ground clean. The tips had round marks dug into them by the top of the valves. This round mark would make it difficult for a feeler gauge to move smoothly between the rocker tip and the valve end to adjust the rocker/valve clearance.

I just used my belt sander to 'touch up' the tips of the rockers. Freestyle. I tried to keep the rocker tip at a 90 degree angle to the belt sander and gently ground just enough material away to get rid of the spot that was worn into the tip by the valve ends. I also put a very small curvature on the surface of the tip that I was grinding.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 04/15/20 12:34 AM. Reason: added some info

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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The new bushings that came in the kit measured .595 inch in diameter. According to my research, for a press fit into a 1 inch diameter hole, the part going in should be .001-.0015 inch larger.

Hmmm. The new bushings are .013 larger in diameter than the rocker hole. The instructions in the kit just said to press them in. I'm not comfortable with this large of a difference, so I decided to turn the bushings down on my lathe to .585-ish.

What I need is a bushing-holding lathe jig for this operation. I dug into my scrap box and came up with a short length of an 13/16" bolt. I cut it down in my lathe so that it will hold the new bushings while I remove roughly .010 from their outer diameter.

See the pics below that illustrate the making of this bushing holder jig. The photo with the colored elipses show the finished product:

- The shaft in the red ellipse is .585 inches in diameter
- The shaft in the green ellipse is .521 inches in diameter
- The end of the shaft (in the blue ellipse) is thread 1/2-20

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:16 PM.

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Now I am ready to turn down the outside of the bushings. The first photo shows a new bushing in place on the jig. It is being held in place by an old rocker bushing and a 1/2-20 nut that is hand snug. The next photo shows the bushing after being turned down to .586" diameter.

After turning down the outside of the bushings, they pressed into the rockers nicely. yay Notice that I am using aluminum covers on the jaws of my vice so that the bushing ends do not get damaged.

Also notice that the oil hole in the bushing is lined so that it will align with the oil hole in the cast iron rocker. Some bushings in the kits do not have this hole, so remember to drill it before moving on to reaming the hole for the rocker shaft.

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:17 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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I look at some of the things you come up with and do and I wonder what in the world I'm doing in this hobby. Sometimes I think I'm in way over my head. Thankfully, there are folks that can do the same things that you do and will gladly take my money to do them. I always enjoy your posts.

wave


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Next on the to do list is to ream the rocker bushings. The new rocker shafts are .531" diameter and the hole currently in the bushing is .521". I got a cheap set of adjustable reamers and I found that the blades on them are not parallel. Grrr.

So I worked a rocker onto the reamer by hand and when I got close to the size I wanted, I flipped the rocker over and then reamed it from the other side. In this way, I was able to open the hole so that a new rocker shaft would go into each side of the hole, but the middle of the hole was binding on the shaft.

To ream out the center of the hole without taking more material off the side ends of the hole required another tool. Using one of the old rocker shafts, I cut some cutting flukes on the end and used this 'reamer' to take just enough off the inside of the bushing so the new shaft would slide inside the bushing.

Then, I polished the inside of the bushing using my patent-pending ID polisher: a piece of 3/8" copper tube (mounted in a drill) with a slot in the end for a short piece of used emery cloth.

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:18 PM.

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The refurbished rocker assembly sure is purty sittin' on top of the engine! bana2

Now to adjust the valve clearance (according to Ray Holland's 'School is in Session') to .006" to begin with. After they warm up I'll adjust them to the .006" for the intake and .008" for the exhaust.

I have a tool that is very handy for the valve adjusting operation. It is a 5/8" hex socket and screwdriver-with-mushroom-head combination. The notch in the mushroom head indicates the orientation of the screwdriver blade. Things are moving smoothly. ;-)

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:19 PM.

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Originally Posted by Rustoholic
The refurbished rocker assembly sure is purty sittin' on top of the engine! bana2

Now to adjust the valve clearance (according to Ray Holland's 'School is in Session') to .006" to begin with. After they warm up I'll adjust them to the .006" for the intake and .008" for the exhaust.

I have a tool that is very handy for the valve adjusting operation. It is a 5/8" hex socket and screwdriver-with-mushroom-head combination. The notch in the mushroom head indicates the orientation of the screwdriver blade. Things are moving smoothly. ;-) I have two of the valve adjusting tool. If anyone wants one get in touch with me.

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

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Well, I spoke too soon. togo curse

Three of the eight rocker adjusting bolts are not adjusting smoothly: something is binding.

I took out all the adjusting bolts and found that some had broken threads. After cleaning up the bolts and replacing three of the locking nuts (due to damaged threads), the valves are adjusted and I'm ready for the next stage in the resurrection!

Cheers, Dean

[Linked Image from vccachat.org]
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:20 PM.

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Howdy all,

I realize that I skipped over a few things that I did before dropping the engine back into Lurch, so let me document those items now.

First, I put the flywheel cover on. Notice that on there is a small wedge-shaped cover plate bolted to the block that butts up against the flywheel cover (circled in red). There is one on each side of the block. These little cover plates cover up holes in the block and help prevent oil and other junk from getting into the clutch area.

Next is the front engine mount bracket. One of the bolt holes is open to the oil splash zone in the block, so that bolt needs some sealer on the threads. Permatex #3 to the rescue!

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:21 PM.

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Next on the build docket is installing the distributor. I'll say up front that positioning the distributor correctly as you slide it into the hole will test your patience!!

I started with rotating the crankshaft so that cylinder number one is at the end of the compression stroke and is at top dead center (upper center mark on the flywheel - U | C). This is anticipating wanting to get the points to be just opening for cylinder one when the spark lever is in the fully retarded position (when starting the engine).

Before dropping the distributor into the distributor hole in the block, I put the distributor body bearing/spacer on top of the oil pump shaft. This washer/bearing prevents the distributor body from dropping down too far and, therefore, spaces the point mounting plate above the centrifugal advance mechanism.

On top of the distributor hole goes the advance/retard clamp plate. This plate clamps around the distributor body and is connected to rod that ultimately is connected to the spark advance/retard lever on the steering column.

Cheers, Dean

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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/17/18 09:22 PM. Reason: added photo

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As I mentioned in the previous post, positioning the distributor correctly is a bear! willy

Consider the following items in order to achieve a successful distributor installation:

- As the driving gear meshes with the teeth in the cam shaft, the distributor shaft rotates a little as the distributor goes into the hole.
- The pin inside the distributor driving gear has to line up with the slot at the top of the oil pump so that the distributor will go all the way down in the hole.
- When the distributor does go all the way into the hole, you want the distributor body to be positioned with the cap clips at a convenient place when you are done with the timing.

It took me well over one hour of in-and-out to get the distributor in properly. Whew!

When I hooked up the advance/retard actuating rod, I noticed the hole in the distributor body clamp plate was quite worn. To take up some of that slack, I put a sheet brass shim around the rod.

refMarch 2022 update: Evidently, the distributor was NOT fully seated when I installed it in 2017. The result was that 5 years down the road, the distributor disengaged from the oil pump! Here's that story and the fix: No oil pressure in Lurch's engine and the fixes

Cheers, Dean
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[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 03/15/22 09:33 PM. Reason: updated

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What a great suggestion with the rod wrapped in brass to take up some slack.


Agrin devil


RAY


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1925 Superior K Roadster
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2002 Pontiac, Montana, Passenger Van
2014 Impala, 4-Door Sedan, White Diamond, LTZ
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I sit here thinking...I should have thought of that...And then the little light bulb came on. And I said to self...Not in a million years...YOU are a wonder. Happy New Year


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Thanks for the kind words, guys. thanku

BTW, the red goop is RedLine Assembly Lube. I've been smearing it on all moving parts as I assemble them.

All my best always, Dean


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Hi. When viewing the head pic I noticed the intake port has a fluted insert. Is that common to all these 4 cyl? I a 27 superior v and I am just wondering if it has these and what purpose they serve?
Thanks in advance.


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Hey DMD,
I knew I had just seen this somewhere, not sure if all the 4's had them or not, but here is some further explanation as to why they are there....

inlet passages


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I believe the air diffusers were only used on the '28 engines. After all, the '28 boasted 35hp, whereas the '27 only had 21hp. laugh

Here's another quote from Chipper on the subject:
Quote
Now for the air diffusers. What do they do? How about reduce turbulence? Good answer! Long relatively narrow passages (length vs width is the key) can quickly reduce turbulence and produce laminar flow. So even though the diffusers take up space in the intake they may be very beneficial in engine performance. At least the '28 Chevy engineers felt that way. Otherwise they would not have put them in. Particularly since they increased the cost and increased cost with no benefit was not a Chevy engineering policy.

Cheers, Dean


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Thanks. I am looking for some extra power so I think I will pull the intake manifold and see if there are any in there. Ours is rally a 1927 model titled in 1926 so Dad always called it a 26.


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Is there a reason you are not cleaning the parts as you reinstall them. Example the clutch housing?


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http://www.vccacolumbiariverregion.org/



1925 Superior K Roadster
1928 Convertible, Sport, Cabriolet
1933 Eagle, Coupe
1941 Master Deluxe 5-Passenger Coupe
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1950 Styleline Deluxe Convertible
2002 Pontiac, Montana, Passenger Van
2014 Impala, 4-Door Sedan, White Diamond, LTZ
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Yes, glad you noticed the grime.

I am cleaning the inside of the parts to ensure good mechanical operation, but not the outside of the parts to preserve Lurch's history and patina.

When I drive him around or take him to a car show, it is important for every part tell the story of his past.

I know, you'll say that I'm smoking the wrong kind of stuff out here in California. Nope. Just giving respect to my babies.

Cheers, Dean


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I wholeheartedly agree with your procedure. Retaining the "patina" is important in an attempt to give observers as accurate an impression of the vehicle as possible. Restoration destroys history.


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Patina versus restoration..... would make a open ended conversation with no agreement from both sides.

From my perspective, not a fan of patina.

Regards

Ray


Some say "Street is neat". I prefer "1928 is great"

I have documented my 45 years with a 1928 Chev Tourer, from 1973 to 2018, and regulary add other items that I hope are of interest to others. Your comments are most welcome.The story of the Red Chev can be viewed at http://my28chev.blogspot.com/
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I understand the position of not maintaining patina. You have the right to your opinion and what you do to your car. I have two survivor Chevrolets that I feel that maintaining them as best I can even though they have their defects is important to show what happens to Chevrolets that are 50+ years old even with reasonable care. Once restored they are no longer representative of older maintained vehicles.


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Time for the oil filter and coil assembly to go back onto the block.

This is a setup that I put together over 20 years ago when I first built Lurch. I didn't want to pay the high price of a correct oil filter, so I found a 1950s era oil filter canister and used that. I can still buy a filter element for this canister at Napa for $18 USD. BTW, The last filter element I bought was a Napa 1006.

Before going into details of the mount, let me point out that the two 5/16-18 holes in the block go through the block and into the oil splash zone. Therefore, the bolts that go into these holes need to have sealer schmeared on the threads. See these holes in the first photo below.

Now, on to the goofy mount. ;-)

The 1950s canister originally clamped onto the car's intake manifold, using U shaped clamp bolts. Sooooooooooo, to simulate the intake manifold, I used a short piece of 1" galvanized water pipe as the clamping mount foundation. I nestled the pipe onto a piece of angle iron so the weight of the canister would not put undue rotational stress on the mounting bolts. The backside of the angle iron is large enough to reach the raised, flat areas that are in the engine block. The pipe is bolted to the angle iron from the bottom and the two 5/16" bolts that go into the engine block go through both the pipe and the upright part of the angle iron. See the second pic below.

This photo needs a little explanation.

1. You'll see that I cut a retangular access hole in the top of the pipe so that I could get to and tighten the 5/16" bolts that go into the engine block. I cut the hole with my 4" angle grinder.

2. The green arrow points to the top of the angle iron upright leg. The green ellipses show the top of the two bolts that hold the pipe to the bottom of the angle iron.

3. On the left side of the photo, you'll see that I mounted a flat plate for the coil, using the extended U bolts from the oil canister. The coil is mounted to this plate on the left side of the oil filter canister.

4. Keeping in mind that the coil mounting bracket needs to make a good ground connection to the block for the spark system, I connected the coil mounting plate with a wire (see red arrow) to the pipe/simulated-intake-manifold to ensure electrical continuity. In addition to the wire, I used star washers all along the way which dig into the metal parts and help keep the electrical connection viable. The red ellipses illustrate the star washers.

The third photo shows the whole assembly mounted to the block.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 01/04/21 06:16 PM. Reason: added some info

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Hi Dean,

Excellent idea with the oil filter. I have a similar one, but mounted on the fire wall, as I have an expansion tank for the coolant recovery position mounted where the original oil filter was.

You are making great progress and very interesting reading.

Regards

Ray

Ray


Some say "Street is neat". I prefer "1928 is great"

I have documented my 45 years with a 1928 Chev Tourer, from 1973 to 2018, and regulary add other items that I hope are of interest to others. Your comments are most welcome.The story of the Red Chev can be viewed at http://my28chev.blogspot.com/
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Can you tell me how the rear main seals? I do not see a rear seal in your pics. Is there a seal? I see the groves art the rear of the bearing and wonder if they serve that purpose?? I have rear crank shaft leaks. Thanks.


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There are no crankshaft seals on '28 engines. Both ends have slingers to direct oil away from the ends of the shaft. For the rear the slinger is a raised ridge between the bearing and end of the shaft. As the shaft spins oil is thrown off the edge of the ridge into the groove in the block and cap. A passage in the cap directs oil back to the pan. If the rear main bearing clearance exceeds 0.002" more oil can pass by the bearing than can be directed back to the pan.


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Thanks. I will have to get under there and see if is the pan gasket or the rear of the bearing. I would believe the 1926 is the same.


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Hey Dean,
I was just rereading a portion of your recent update. I came across another tidbit that was aggravating to me. The little spring that goes on the bottom of the spark linkage, it kept falling off my linkage. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get it to stay on. I thought I might have to find a replacement. I just noticed in your pic that there is evidently a place for a small cotter pin

woohoo

I didn't know there was a hole in the linkage for a pin. You have unknowingly come through again.

Happy New Year

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An item that many may not know was used is the spring on the timing retard/advance as well as the throttle linkage. It also was used on the foot pedal linkage to the carburetor. Not exactly sure when the spring, held in place by a washer and cotter pin started or stopped. My 1928 thru 1931 had those springs, washers and cotter pins. Apparently they were often discarded by mechanics so many vehicles are missing them.


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Chipper, you mentioned oil slingers at both ends of the crankshaft. I didn't see any of these slingers in the three engines I torn down.

Please explain a little more about these slingers. Are they a sheet metal ring that slides onto the crankshaft?

From what I saw, the oil that seeps out of the front bearing ends up in the cam gear box and from there flows back into the block.

The rear of the crankshaft is smooth and the oil can naturally 'sling' off as it attempts to migrate past the three oil-catching grooves that are in the rear main bearing. As you mentioned, the bottom rear main bearing half has an oil tunnel that allows the oil in the grooves to drain back into the oil sump.

Below are photos of the rear main bearing areas that I took during my final build. I don't see any slingers.

Thanks! Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:33 AM.

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Dean,
My bad I was thinking early 6 not late 4. You are right that the rear main has the grooves that lead to the drain hole. The front uses the crank and cam gears to route the oil away from the hole in the crank gear cover.


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Thanks, Chipper!

All my best, Dean


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Although I know that it is not nice to take pictures of patients while they are in surgery, I don't think Lurch will mind.

The first photo shows him in my driveway awaiting his new engine. laugh

In the second photo, I've lifted the engine off the engine stand and temporarily placed it on my open trailer. This is so I can put the clutch and pressure plate onto the flywheel before dropping the engine into Lurch. You'll see in the pic that I have the input shaft from another tranny to use as a centering device for the clutch.

Another thing to mention is that I put a new transmission shaft bushing in the end of the crankshaft. I soaked it in oil and put a dab of bearing grease in it before pushing it into its hole.

While the engine was sitting on the trailer, I also installed the starter. It worked in Lurch so I just put it back in as is (famous last words!). It's easier to do this while the engine sits on the open trailer instead of in the engine bay.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/18/18 11:34 AM.

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The next step was to install the transmission. This operation is simple, but trying because of the limited work space (under the truck).

Before putting the transmission in, I changed the throw out bearing to the new ball bearing type. I like the idea of not worrying about the old solid bearing getting too hot. Below are a couple of pics that show loosening the throw out bearing clamp bolt, the throw out bearing actuating arm, the old throw out bearing, and the new one.

For installing the tranny, I used a floor jack with a piece of plywood bolted to it as a platform for the tranny to sit on. I then was able to easily raise and lower the transmission, slide/roll it into position, and bolt it to the flywheel cover on the block.

Regarding the tranny itself, I took a 3-speed tranny out of Lurch and am replacing it with a 4 speed. The new tranny I put together with the best parts from two transmissions. The difference between the 3 and 4 speed is that there is a granny, super low first gear in the 4 speed. Lurch wants to be in some parades, so he asked me to put in the 4 speed so he could cruise super slowly. carbana


Cheers, Dean

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Time to put on the head.

When I took Justin's head off a few years ago, I took a couple of old '28 head bolts (1/2-12) whose threads were stretched and made them into guide pins. I put them in my lathe and turned down the heads (pun intended) and cut a slot in the top so I could take them out easily with a screw driver.

Anyway, I dug those bolts out to use them in this rebuild. See the first photo below.

With the guide pins in place, I sprayed Permatex Copper sealant on both sides of the head gasket and slid it onto the block. See the second pic below.

Step number three was putting on the head itself. I tightened the head bolts using the sequence described in the shop manual.

Cheers, Dean

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Next on the agenda are the lifters and push rods.

The first photo shows a lifter as it came out of Lurch's engine and another one that is cleaned up. The second photo shows the lifters in the block (with RedLine Assembly Lube smeared on them), the push rods, and the push rod caps in place.

The third photo shows the rockers in place. Notice that there are felt washers under the rocker adjuster bolts. These washers get a squirt of oil when you oil the rockers. The user manual says every 50 miles, but I give the rockers, washers, and the front water pump bushing some oil every time I take my 4 bangers out for a drive.

Ever onward! Dean

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Dean,

I'm confused about the head bolts. Did you use old head bolts that were not stretched or new ones. If you used new ones where did you get them?

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I used old, stretched bolts for the guide pins. The way I determined that they were stretched was to first clean out the threaded holes in the block with a 1/2-12 tap and then try to screw in the old bolt by hand. It became stuck at the point where the threads are stretched.

To hold the head on, I purchased a set of new bolts from the Filling Station. A friend of mine, John Thorpe, who is a certified Caterpillar Mechanic, said that he was taught to replace any bolt that could be stretched.

Cheers, Dean


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Dean,

Did you use a USS tap or a British Standard tap? Did you use The Filling Station's tap? When you chased the threads did you cut any metal? My understanding of The Filling Stations head bolts are that they are cut to a British Standard thread which has a 55 degree thread angle instead of the original 60 degree angle. Were you able to run the bolts down with your fingers before you chased the threads?

Rob

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The tap that I used to chase the threads says 1/2-12 NS on the side. I've had it in my toolbox for years and I cannot say whether it is USS or British.

I did not try to screw the new bolts into the uncleaned bolt holes because the block threads had a lot of rust below the level where the old bolts had reached.

When I chased the threads, no metal came out of the threads, just dirt and rust. And, yes, the new bolts screwed in nicely by hand after chasing.

The new bolts from the Filling Station torqued down okay and I'm happy with them.

Cheers, Dean


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Dean,

Thanks for the info. I need to rebuild my engine in the future and my concern is that I don't want to do any more damage to the vehicle than what the previous owners have already done. It appears that as long as the thread angle is less than the original the new bolts will work without damaging the block. I think there could be a problem with the bolts loosening up in the future due to the 5 degree thread angle difference because there is less surface area contact between the bolt and the block. If you monitor this in the future I would be interested in the results.

Thanks........Rob

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If the bolts are torqued using the proper technique there will not be a problem from the 5 degree difference. The proper technique is to tighten in several steps. At each step tighten to desired torque, back off, tighten again, noting the amount of additional rotation from the last one. Repeat until you no longer get much rotation. The bolt is then properly seated. What is happening is the threads on the bolt and hole are working off the differences and that maximizes the contact area.


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Great info Chipper!! yay

Thanks, Dean


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Dean,
I should have included to be sure to lubricate the bolts & holes. Light oil up to may be 30 weight is best. Dry parts will not result in the proper torque.


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Hi All,

I converted to Stainless Steel Studs back in 2012, best thing I ever did.

Perfect head relocating every time, and as they have a finer thread on the head end, able to torque down a bit tighter.

This is a link to when I first got the studs made http://my28chev.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/2011-27th-october-head-studs-for-future.html

This is a link to when I did a head change in 2012, with one of the pictures showing the studs in place. http://my28chev.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/head-job-for-red-chev.html

6 years later, all is well

Regards

Ray


Some say "Street is neat". I prefer "1928 is great"

I have documented my 45 years with a 1928 Chev Tourer, from 1973 to 2018, and regulary add other items that I hope are of interest to others. Your comments are most welcome.The story of the Red Chev can be viewed at http://my28chev.blogspot.com/
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Moving right along, the push rod covers go on next. In the first photo below, you can see the clean inside of one and the 'patinaed' outside of the other. Needless to say, I left the black gold on the outside. devildance

The second photo shows how the exhaust gaskets fit under the push rod covers and are held in place by nuts on 3/8-16 bolts. This is so that the gaskets will be in aligned properly when I put the exhaust manifold on.

The third photo shows both push rod covers in place. You can also see how the rocker arm cover fits on the outside of the push rod covers.

Hint: Notice that the oil return line (under the water pump) dives under the side of the engine. Up and coming attraction!

Cheers, Dean



Attached Images
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Lurch is a cool cat and I want to help keep him that way. cool

There have been MANY discussions on the VCCA web site about engines overheating and what to do about the many possible causes of the problems.

One thing I've done on both of my 4 bangers is to plumb an oil cooler in the oil return line as it leaves the oil filter. I cannot say with certainty that this helps, but I feel that it can't hurt! I suspect that if the oil is a little cooler, it will help cool the bottom end of the engine.

In the pics below, you can see where I mounted the oil cooler so it is unobtrusive (below the front cross member and just behind the front axle). wink

Cheers, Dean

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I noticed there is a 'Like' button now, haven't figured out yet where it shows the number of likes, but it does show that I liked it beermugs


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Next up is the exhaust system.

The top of the heat stove had rotted off, so I put a new end on it. This is just an exhaust pipe adapter from the local auto parts store. See the first photo.

I cut some slots in it to allow the smaller end to slide into the heat stove and then I put some sheet metal screws in to hold it in place. KISS priciple (keep it simple, silly). laugh The second photo shows the assembled part ready to be installed, along with another heat stove that I used for reference. The reference part is paper thin, so it is not viable to put into service.

The third photo shows the exhaust manifold and horn mounted. This location for the horn is not correct, but what the hay! This is where I mounted it over 20 years ago and to respect Lurch's past, that's where it goes back. Besides, the horn bracket was already bent. While I had the horn off, I took off the motor cover and put a few drops of 3-in-1 oil on the motor bearings and made sure that all the electrical connections were clean.

The fourth photo shows the heat stove pipe and exhaust pipe hooked up. The last photo shows that the generator and intake manifold have been installed.

By golly, we're getting close to a first fire up!

Cheers, Dean






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While the radiator is off and access to the front of the engine is good, I flushed the water jacket out with clean water from the house.

I put the thermostat housing on (temporarily) without the thermostat in it and clamped it on with a couple of long 3/8-16 bolts with nuts to hold the housing in place. The brass bolts that I'll use for the housing had not arrived yet (purchased them on ebay). The first photo shows this setup.

The second photo shows the garden hose hooked up to the water pump (with a shut off valve inline) and an old bicycle inner tube clamped onto the thermostat housing, the other end of which was placed in a plastic bucket. With this setup, I can quickly turn the water on and off (shock the rust particles) and see what comes out in the bucket.

After water blasting a few times, I reversed the hoses so the direction of the water would be reversed too. See the third photo.

I guess the machine shop and I did a good job of cleaning out the crud that was in the water jacket! Just a few particles of rust came out. beermugs

Now I felt confident enough to put the thermostat housing (with the thermostat) on permanently. Notice I used copper compression washers under the heads of the bolts to help prevent leaks. I also schmeared Permatex #3 under the heads and all over the copper washers.

The last photo attached to this post shows that I hooked up the carb, vacuum tank, and flexible heat tube. The carb is the same one that Lurch has been running with since 1996; a Stromberg OE-1. The original application for this carb was a 1925 or 1926 Franklin, but Lurch seems to like it. I made an adapter for its intake to accept the crankcase ventilation tube.

Cheers, Dean

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 02/08/18 12:08 AM. Reason: added some verbiage

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Racing ahead (Lurch, racing?), the radiator goes on. See Lurch grinning in the first photo. carbana

The engine compartment is pretty tight, so the water pump inlet is VERY close to the bottom radiator outlet. I went to my local car parts place and rumaged around to find an off-the-shelf radiator hose that has a 90 degree preformed bend to fill the bill. The next two photos show the installation of the lower radiator hose.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!

I primed the vacuum tank with some gas and finally tried to start Lurch's engine for the first time. Yea!! But, no go. Chug,,,,,,,,,,,,,,chug,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,chug,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,no pop. curse

The starter turned the engine over really, really slowly. Putting the starter back in without completely checking it out first was a mistake.

I could smell gas getting into the cylinders, but I wasn't sure about getting a spark. Here is a video of the startup attempt: Lurch's first attempt at waking up

Okay, breath deeply, go take a nap, and drink a Diet Coke. Time to reflect and plan the next steps.

Bummed, but we shall overcome! Dean



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Last edited by Rustoholic; 02/15/18 01:59 PM. Reason: Added verbiage and link to video

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A few days later, I ran across a posting by Chipper about how to check an engine's ignition system. Excellent information!! thanku

Here's a link to this valuable info: Chipper's instructions for checking engine ignition system

Turns out that the wire going from the coil to the distributor was not conducting. Proof positive - no spark.

Whew, one more problem licked! Next on the to do list is to fully check out the starter motor before attempting another startup.

Ever onward! Dean


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The procedure comes from 20 years of VCCA tours and trying to diagnose problems when Chevys balk at the side of the road. Between several of us we have gotten a bunch back running so they can complete the days run. Helping fellow VCCA tourists is very rewarding.


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As I mentioned earlier, the starter worked, but VERY slowly. All my cables are super thick, the electrical connections are clean, and the battery is fully charged. So, time to open up the starter.

Good thing that I went this route. One of the bolts that hold the kickback spring was loose. See the first photo where the bolt is circled in red.

The internal parts look okay, but the commutator needs to be cleaned up, so into the lathe it goes. I only took .015 inch off the surface to make it nice and shiney. I bent the tip of a toy scribe to clean out the spaces in between the commutator bars. Some of the copper from the turning operation was bridging over from one bar to another. This little hooked tool dug/scraped the in between area well. See the tool highlighted in the photo below.

The brushes are in good shape, but they are dirty. I sprayed some electrical cleaner on a Q tip and cleaned them off.

When I reassembled the starter, I put a smidgen of high temp bearing grease in the two bearings and then oiled them with a few drops of 10-30W oil.

Then I put the starter back into Lurch's engine and hooked it up.

Next up, a second attempt at starting (fingers crossed).

Cheers, Dean

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Dave,
I have not found any engineering references about the intake deffusers. The 1928 engines had them, I know a fellow that left them out and ended up with a cracked cylinder head, Having said that, there is some discussion about leaving them in for that reason, by the 28 owners I know. I'm going to use the ones I have.

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Sit back, put your feet up, and grab your favorite beverage. The next few posts are going to be long on words and short on pics.

But as always, it's an interesting ride so hang in there!!

After fixing the non-conducting wire from the coil to the distributor, I got a good spark. bana2 After cleaning up the starter motor, the engine turns over much better. So begins round two of waking up Lurch after heart (engine) surgery.

BTW, I put some Lucas TB ZINC-PLUS in the engine oil as per the advice from Hubbard machine shop. Wade, who bored out the block, showed me some solid lifters that were mushroomed over due to lack of zinc in modern oils. This is particularly the case here in California because the zinc was found to destroy the catalytic converters. So, to have clean air, CA drastically reduced the amount of zinc in all oils sold here.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE (again). Whirr, whirr, chug, chug, chuff, chuff, cough, cough, brumm, brumm! It started!! Oil pressure is good and the amp meter is showing 10 amps. Yeah! carbana

Joy for a moment, then dread. I hear a couple of engine knocks. Not engine-destroying-sounding-knocks, but knocks that need to be addressed. @@#%%!!! They sound like they are coming from the front and middle of the bottom end. Since the pistons and wrist pins are new, they are not part of the problem.

Okay, since Lurch is running and the engine does not sound like it is going to explode, I decide to drive around the block let things settle in a little. Another problem presents itself: the clutch will not disengage. This is frustrating! I changed the tranny and put in what I thought was a newly relined clutch (this part came with Justin). I did grind the gears and get Lurch to back out of the driveway, but that was it. greenman I turned him off and, with the help of a neighbor, shoved him back into the driveway.

The plan of attack is to drop the tranny and fix the clutch problem. Then, work on the engine knocks, which I suspect are being caused by too much clearance in the bearing caps.

To drop the transmission without taking out the engine, I jacked up the chassis so that the rear axle will hang down far enough to allow the u-joint to be dismantled and the torque tube dropped. Actually, I raised the torque tube up and supported it up against the truck bed to make room for the tranny to slip out and down. Below is a picture of how I supported the right side of the rear of the chassis.

I used my floor jack (with a small piece of plywood bolted to it) as a platform for the tranny to sit on when I lowered and raised it out of and back into the truck.

Not fun. The four speed tranny is VERY heavy. Luckily, Lurch sits high anyway so when he is on jack stands, there is a lot of room to work under him.

After adjusting the clutch eye bolt all the way and dropping the tranny a couple of times, I determined that the new linings on the clutch were too thick!

FLASH! Then I remembered, six years ago when I first got Justin running I had the same problem, the clutch would not disengage. At that time, since I needed to take the tranny out anyway, I bought a new clutch and throw out bearing for Justin and put THIS clutch off to the side. I rediscovered it in my stash of stuff and put it into Lurch. Dang me!

I measured the thickness of Lurch's old clutch and it was .320 inch. The thickness of the 'newly lined' clutch that came with Justin was .380 inch, so I put Lurch's old clutch back in since it seemed to have a lot of good material left in the linings.

I'll gather my notes and tackle the engine knocks in the next post.

Ever onward! Dean


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I know that this is imaterial and not pertaining to your problem. The valve spring pressure is very weak in an engine of the '20's and '30' compared to modern V-8 engines. An oil additive is not necessary as the oil is a thousand times better than it was in 1928 and the cam to lifter load is very low. When these engines were new the oils had no additives and the oil became contaminated with dust and gas etc. and the lifters never had a problem.


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Good information is never immaterial, Chevgene.

Thanks, Dean


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Warning: another long post.

With the starter cleaned up, the engine turns over nicely. pineapple

Now to figure out where the engine knocks are coming from. It sounded like the problem was under cylinders one and two. If you recall earlier in this series, I put the rod end caps on without any brass shims in because the rods did not seem to put a drag on the rotation of the crank, but didn't seem too loose either.

So, I drained the oil and dropped the oil pan for the first engine-knock go around. Yes, I'll be draining the oil and dropping the pan a few times. I like to approach figuring out a problem in small increments, so I usually do things a number of times before I dial into the real fix. Oh well, it is good exercise to get down and up from being under Lurch in the driveway! Besides, I can take a nap under there and anyone looking will think I'm really busy or dead! laugh

The first thing I noticed with the pan off was that the gasket around the front main bearing was messed up. See the first couple of photos below. As I mentioned before, these gaskets around a curved surface are a booger to get right. It looks like the oil pan has actually sliced through part of the gasket. I'll have to make sure that the pan has no sharp edges and put the pan on nice and straight next time.

Then, I used Plastigage to get an idea about what the clearances were between the rods and end caps for cylinders 1 and 2. The squished plastic said that both gaps were .003 inch. Okay, a little loose, but not too far off.

Since there are no brass shims between the large end of the rods and the rod end caps, there are two ways to close up the gap around the crankcase journal: either sand some material off the end cap or sand some material off the steel spacer between the rod and the cap. I decided to sand the spacers.

I measured these spacers to be .126 in thickness. I put a sheet of fine emerycloth on a steel plate and hand sanded .002 off these spacers. See the photo below showing an original and a sanded spacer. Then, I put them back on the engine and tested with Plastigage again. Now the clearance showed .0015 and the crank still turns easily. Good 'nuf!!

I put the oil pan back on, put new oil into the engine and fired it up.

The engine knocks were certainly diminished, but still there. Now they seem to be coming from the front of the engine and the middle. In the next episode, I'll check the front and middle bearing clearances.

Stay tuned! Dean


Attached Images
Step26a-1.JPG Step26a-2.JPG Step26a-3.jpg

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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Another LOOOOOOOONG post that is heavy in verbiage and has only one photo.

I dropped the oil pan again and focused on the middle main bearing. In order to play with the middle bearing cap easily, I also took out the oil pump. Theoretically, it will be easy to put back in and I won't have to mess with the timing of the distributor. Cross your fingers!

The first thing I did was take out the spark plugs, put the hand crank in, and turned the engine over to get a feel for how easily it spun. Feels good, nice and smooth.

In the initial assembly of the engine, I determined (incorrectly) that .005 inch worth of brass shims were needed on each side of the the middle bearing cap. So, I started this time around by taking off the bearing cap, removing these shims, and putting the cap back on.

Turning the engine over by hand again, I found that it still spun easily. Okay, the bearing gap is still too large.

Taking off the bearing cap again, I separated the bearing half from the cast iron holder. Still in place were the two .001 inch brass shims I placed in between these two parts earlier. See the pic below. I noticed that the shims did not cover the entire backside of the bearing half so I theorized that the shims were pushing up only on the center of the bearing and the bearing might be flexing around the crankshaft.

To prove or disprove this theory, I replaced the two little .001 shims with one large .002 inch shim that did cover the whole bearing back surface. I reinstalled the cap and hand cranked the engine again.

Ah ha! The crank still turns, but now it seems to drag a little. Okay, now I'm getting somewhere.

I added back in one of the .001 small brass shims in between the bearing cap parts, put the cap back in, and viola, the engine turns over freely again. YEAH! The third time really is the charm!

After reinstalling the oil pump, putting the oil pan back on, filling up the engine again with oil, I started Lurch again! Yep, reinstalling the oil pump did not disturb the distributor. wave

The engine knocks have diminished again, but there was still one knock left.

I drove Lurch to the high school's auto shop and using Andy Shyers' stethoscope, I identified the problem as being with the front main bearing. I speculated that the front bearing clearance around the crank was too large. BTW, these stethoscopes are really cool! You can clearly hear all the mechanical thingees going click click and VERY precisely locate an engine knock.

Another step foward, but the final destination has yet to be arrived at.

(now regularly chewing my fingernails!) Dean
[Linked Image from vccachat.org]

Last edited by Rustoholic; 06/02/19 11:38 PM.

Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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I am following your "voyage" though I don't have a four . I am curious why you are not shimming the bearing until too tight and then removing one at a time until it spins freely? Your patience is truly admired.


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Steve D, adding shims will make it loose and removing them will make it tight.
It works opposite of what you are thinking.
Steve


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Double Steves, you are both correct. More or less bearing clearance with respect to the crank shaft depends on where the shims are placed.

When new babbitt is put in the bearings, brass shims are placed in between the bearing halves (around the bearing cap bolts) to space the halves apart and create the correct clearance to the crankshaft journal. As the babbitt wears, you remove these shims to tighten up the clearance.

When all the shims are gone, but there is still some usable babbitt in the bearing, you can add a shim or two between the bearing half and its cast iron holder, thus bringing the bearing halves closer to each other and tighten up the bearing clearance around the crank.

This latter situation is the case with Lurch's middle main bearing (and the front main too, I suspect).

This does mean, however, that the next time this engine needs a rebuild, it will need new babbitt throughout. I did not go down this path this time to keep the cost down. Since I only drive Lurch a couple of hundred miles per year, I suspect (hope!) that this rebuild will last for the rest of my days.

Thanks for your thoughts, Dean


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This post is to state what was written above another way and hopefully help those reading these recent posts to better understand.

Shims between bearing mating halves will increase the ID of the bearing. Removal of shims between bearing halves will decrease the ID and therefore tighten the bearing on the shaft. That is true for all bearings.

For bearings with inserts (for example the main bearings on most Chevrolet engines) shims between the insert and bearing halves (block & cap) will decrease the ID of the bearing and therefore tighten the bearing on the shaft. It will be necessary to remove a proportionate amount of metal on the ends of the inserts particularly if the shim is greater than the crush that will occur with adding the a shim between the cap and insert.

Yes it is possible to only add the shim material between the removable cap and insert. If the majority of the wear is in that area of the bearing it can be a reasonable "fix". That is normally the case with the crankshaft bearings. [It is NOT the case with rod bearings.] Just remember adding the shim may stress the shaft and bearing if it causes the shaft to move versus the other bearings. Center main bearings on three main bearing engines are particularly susceptible to crankshaft bending which increases the wobble and therefore wear on the center bearing. Only adjusting the bottom half will not be a long term "fix".

Bearings can also be adjusted by filing the bearing cap. It is necessary for that to be flat and parallel to journal on the shaft.

Be aware that the above adjustments DO NOT result in 100% circular bearings. Proper machining, like line boring is the only way to get the "total" contact. However the small "gap" is not significant for our low output engines. Different story for highly stressed, high HP, high RPM engines.

Caution: metal removed from the bearing cap or insert may render them useless for future use.



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Chipper, you could'a/should'a been a teacher. Great explanation.

I should mention that when I first put the crankshaft into the block, I made sure (as best as I could) that the crank journals were sitting firmly against the upper bearing inserts. This was to help ensure that the crank would not 'bend' as I bolted up the main bearing caps. I'm crossing my fingers that this is the case.

Only time will tell.

Thanks, Dean


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LAST EPISODE!! beermugs

As I mentioned before, only one more engine knock to take care of. It is coming from the front main bearing.

For the umpteenth time, I dropped the oil pan again. Amazingly, the front main bearing cap can be taken off with the engine in the truck. Whew! See the first photo below.

When I layed the crank in the back yard, I put a lot of brass shims in between the front main bearing cap and the block: .017 inch worth - one .005" and four .003".

I took out all the .003 inch shims (leaving the .005" in), bolted the cap back on, and hand turned the engine with the starter crank handle. The engine turned over easily.

Okay, I jumped (slid) back under the truck and replaced the .005" shim with a .003" shim. Now, the crank felt like it was dragging a little, so I took out the .003" and put back in .005".

Presto bingo! The crank turned free again. ;-)

With trembling hands and a sweaty brow, I put the pan back on, oiled it up and started Lurch's engine. NO KNOCK!

I drove him about 12 miles around town. Nice and strong, and sounds great!

We're back! The 10-month engine rebuild adventure is over. Total cost around $2300. More than I was hoping for, but way less than I could've spent. At the bottom are a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure!

Happy happy, Dean carbana

And now, a few words from Lurch:

Howdy y'all,

I am itchin' to get back onto the open roads!!

After limping around with a wore out heart for over 20 years, Dean FINALLY put some effort into giving me a heart (engine) transplant. I'm out of surgery and am now recovering nicely. Thanks for asking!

To celebrate being mobile again, I'm gonna drive to the Niles Depot in Fremont, CA, on Sunday, May 27, 2018. That's Memorial Day weekend.

We'll be leaving Dean's house in San Leandro at 9am. The plan is to tootle slowly down Mission Blvd. and arrive in the Niles District of Fremont around 10am.

Join us!! Let's hang out in the parking lot of the Niles Depot and wow the crowds with mechanical wonders of yesteryear.

Let Dean know if you're gonna be there so we can try and save some parking spaces. 1-510-919-2833

Happy trails to you,,,,, Lurch
Old and ugly is beautiful!!


Lurch's first excursion after rebuild (engine still knocking)

Lurch's engine rebuild is DONE! ;-)

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Last edited by Rustoholic; 03/04/18 01:34 PM. Reason: typo

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Sounds great. Your series will help numerous others to decide to take on a rebuild project and succeed. Thanks for sharing it with us.


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Dean, I have enjoyed watching your progress, good job. I'm glad to have been a small part of the project. Good to know you were able to use the engine block from Washington. Dick


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Thanks guys!

I'm planning for Lurch's first long distance run (50 miles round trip) for April 1st to the Blackhawk Car Museum's Cars and Coffee event Cars and Coffee in Danville, CA

It should be fun!

Cheers, Dean

Last edited by Rustoholic; 03/11/18 01:16 PM. Reason: added link to event

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Another proof that Lurch is alive and well. Last weekend my son and I drove him to the Oakland Aviation Museum.

Check it out: Lurch, Josh, and Dean out for a drive

Cheers, Dean


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Update on Lurch's heart (engine) transplant (rebuild).

We've been driving and showing and he's been running fine. ;-)

One problem, though, the engine leaks oil. I suspect that when I took out the front main bearing cap to eliminate the last engine knock, I disturbed an oil seal somewhere.

I decided to quantify the drip, so I put a cookie pan under the engine, drove 10 miles, drained the pan and measured the amount that the engine lost. It lost 50 ml. over the 10 miles. So, that breaks down to 1 teaspoon per mile.

Okay, it's not catastrophic, but still bothersome.

While Lurch napped under his blankie (plastic tarp) during the winter, I dropped the oil pan, cleaned up all the surfaces I could reach around the front main bearing cap, and smeared some Permatex #2 Form-a-Gasket sealant on all potential leak spots.

After putting the oil pan back on, I put the cookie sheet back on so I could measure if there was any improvement.

Yes, 20 percent less, so now he leaks only 0.8 of a teaspoon per mile.

Time to drive him and enjoy the ride. We can live with this leak. To keep it from going onto the road, I added another baking pan under the cookie sheet, so now Lurch has an oil pan diaper. ;-) The cookie sheet is a drip pan and the baking pan is a reservoir space.

Attached is a photo of of the drip catching attachment.

Ever onward! Let the driving and showing season begin!

Cheers, Dean

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OilPanDripCatcher.jpg
Last edited by Rustoholic; 02/16/22 10:24 PM. Reason: typo

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Dean when the driving season comes to an end and you still have your leak, try this. Clean off all surfaces with a dry solvent like brake clean. Get a can of foot spray powder (about $10.00) and cover the oil pan, front cover etc with powder. Take it for a ride around the block and check for wet spots. This method will pin point the spot your leak starts at. It might be coming from the lifter. Good luck.
Steve

Last edited by SSG26K; 06/02/19 11:20 PM.

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Thanks for the foot powder idea, Steve.

The oil is running down the front of the oil pan. Maybe I didn't seal the oil pan lips sufficiently. The curved surfaces on the front and rear main caps are a booger to seal. Once the oil pan is in place, you cannot reach these areas to smear on any extra sealant.

The area around the oil filter is definitely not leaking.

Cheers, Dean


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Time for an update.

A couple of weeks ago, I started Lurch up for a short drive and found that I had no oil pressure. Not good!

The problem seems to be that I installed the distributor incorrectly and it was now NOT driving the oil pump shaft. Here's a link to that story: No oil pressure showing for Lurch's engine

It's always something! Fix it and keep on trucking!

Dean


Dean 'Rustoholic' Meltz
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