VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Restoring my '38 Master Deluxe

I was about 12 years old when my Dad bought this in '77. I still recall seeing it for the first time when we towed it home. History is not confirmed, but the original owner bought it new, did not drive it during the brutal upstate NY winters, which explains the lack of rust, passed away and left the car in storage for many years until the second owner rescued it, did not have it for long, and sold it to my Dad.

My Dad's goal was to restore it back to its original Gunmetal color and condition, so he accumulated several parts over the years. Never got around to restoring it, but had to have the engine rebuilt in '93 due to a broken piston. Life got in the way, so it sat in storage since the late '90's.

My Dad would like to take it out for one more ride, so I am trying to get it roadworthy again as soon as possible.

Here is what it looked like when I towed it home:


[img]http://green427.smugmug.com/photos/i-pjBNkWx/0/XL/i-pjBNkWx-XL.jpg[/img]



Since the engine hasn't run in many years, and there is a coolant leak, I took the front end apart to manually open each valve before attempting to crank the engine.



[img]http://green427.smugmug.com/photos/i-qqPV6V7/0/XL/i-qqPV6V7-XL.jpg[/img]



Luckily none of the valves were sticking. Had to drain the tank and hand pump new fuel through the lines, and took the carb apart to clean the sticky film. Good thing fuel stabilizer was used in the 12 year old gas.

Took awhile, but finally got it started. Adjusted the timing and set the new points per spec.

I was not sure where the coolant leak came from, so removed the radiator and checked the water pump, found a cracked lower hose. Cleaned the radiator, painted it, put in new hoses & thermostat. As expected, all rubber parts are dry rotted and/or cracked, so will have to replace just about everything.

Brakes & bearings are still new, but the rear brakes are leaking. Knee action shocks leak badly, will not hold any fluid. Trans & axle not leaking too badly.

Drove her around the neighborhood to make sure things worked well. Guess I made a few jaws drop when they saw this contraption driving around:


[img]http://green427.smugmug.com/photos/i-MvzC7bz/0/XL/i-MvzC7bz-XL.jpg[/img]


Next step: Stem the leaking knee actions, and put an end to the bouncy front-end. Started on the driver's side:

[img]http://green427.smugmug.com/photos/i-7qFvq58/0/XL/i-7qFvq58-XL.jpg[/img]


Got a replacement seal kit, but unfortunately the needle bearings left some serious grooves and cannot be re-used:

[img]http://green427.smugmug.com/photos/i-pC2vsvT/0/XL/i-pC2vsvT-XL.jpg[/img]

To make matters worse, the steering arm is frozen to the shock body, and even though I used a 20 ton shop press, PB Blaster, & lots of heat....ended up damaging the threads, stupid thing would not budge:

[img]http://green427.smugmug.com/photos/i-NXQWJSP/0/XL/i-NXQWJSP-XL.jpg[/img]



To be continued.....

Sorry about the photo links, will come back and use BB coded photos...

Use the link at the top of the text box. Fourth from the left. Looks like a rectangle with two blue dots and a pink triangle. Works like this:

That's what I was using...wonder why it didn't work...can't edit the post now....will have to ask the mods if I can start over...
Thanks..

Just quoted my post and did a preview.., looks like I did the right thing, but something happened in the translation...anyway, photos below:

























To be continued.....

Looking forward to "to be continued"!!! Great looking car! Billu38

If the nut would have be loosened but left on you wouldn't have a peened over and destroyed part. Use a couple heavy hammers, one as a backer on one side and then hit the opposite side and most of the time that will loosen things up so it will come apart.

Using Don's suggestion of 2 hammers but on the sides instead of the end (where you damaged) I have found to be more successful and doing less damage.
Tony

Green 427,

a. First, you need to be taken to the wood shed and receive a good whopping for damaging the threads. Okay, we got that out of the way so read on:

b. See if you can file away the burr or disfiguring you did to the threads.

c. If so, then get the proper die or thread chaser and rethread it so the nut will go back on, then screw the nut down flush with the top of the threaded arm

d. screw the nut on with the castellations (if any) on bottom,

e. Get a suitable brass hammer

f. Support the arm with a stout jack stand or some other way

g. hold the brass hammer against the nut

h. Strick the brass hammer with a heavy hammer, increase as needed

i. If not successful, remove brass hammer and repeat banging process

I don't know if the arm and can be carried to a machine shop or not, but you may need some heat on the thing

Also, the idea of striking on the side will work if it is tapered, which I suppose it is. Need to back opposed side with something heavy

Good luck with it. I'm sure you will get more and better advice from others

You have a nice looking car and I hope you get it in the condition you want real soon.

Good luck,
Charlie

BTW: Shop in "parts wanted" here on VCCA Chat. You may find someone with NOS replacement knee-actions or knowledge about a shop that rebuilds them, whatever...

In addition to the great advice above, I suggest spraying it with some penetrating oil. a 50/50 mix of Acetone and Automatic tranny fluid is best, but I use PB Blaster with good results.

While the oil is soaking in, every time you walk by it, just give the side a whack with a hammer (not hard) to vibrate the parts. This helps with the penetration of the oil.

Cheers, Dean

Thanks to all for the 'bitch slapping' on the back of the head that I so deserve...

I did soak the parts in PB blaster and used a torch to heat it. Some of the damage was also from a 3-prong puller, which did not help either. My next-door neighbor is a retired Chevy mechanic, he took a look at what I did and said that since the arm is an odd shape, it makes things much more difficult. He recommended that I drill and cut the arm out and replace it.

I have a NOS arm being shipped to me this weekend. will use that, and probably will hire a local machine shop to use a lathe to smooth all parts and make new bushings, and deal with the frozen arm.

There are a couple vendors that do shock rebuilding services, prices range from $400 up to $700 each.

Neighbor says he has some old tap & dies that I can use to repair the threads...

Wondering if I should create another thread with step-by-step photos of taking the knee actions apart and putting back together......I have the equipment to make short videos too.

Does that work on people as well?

Some people do need a whack now and then but they generally dont appreciate it and retaliate with similar or worse.
Tony

This is an excellant idea. The video you could also post on Youtube. Our gene pool (genius pool) is getting smaller and smaller each year. You would be doing a great service to future 38 owners who must deal with this problem. Does anyone remember if our organizations magazine "Generator and Distributor" has done a tech article on this topic?

Good luck dad's waiting, Mike

Apple Hydraulics www.applehydraulics.com does an excellant job rebuilding shocks and provides a guarantee. It might be worth your time and effort to have them ship you a rebuilt set. You would have them in a couple of days. You send them back your cores. They are in Calverton, N.Y.

http://www.applehydraulics.com/delco.htm#chevy
http://www.antiqueautoarchive.com/folders/Restoration/kneeaction/kneeactionpdfcompressed.pdf
Apple info and a link to a very good blow by blow account of a knee action rebuild. Enjoy, Jim P

Thanks, videoranger....

I did study that DIY knee action article, it was excellent, however, I would like to document how to remove parts that haven't moved in 75 years with detailed photos and/or videos using regularly available tools. I had to make a special tool just to get the tops off without too much damage. After doing one shock over about 5 weeks, I learned the hard way of which tools are appropriate, what order to remove them, etc. Sometimes pictures don't do justice.

I did bring one shock to a metal fab shop and inquired about making a nut to remove the top plug, but they were not interested in making just one, and if all I wanted was one nut with a slot key welded on the bottom, it was going to be $700.

I will start a new thread as soon as I can, be on the lookout.

If you have a college with a machine shop program you might be able to get a tool built there for a nominal charge. Offer to pay for the materials and buy the teacher a six pack.

This is the tool a friend made for me from a spare 1& 1/8" socket 1/2" drive. The key size is 3/8'' X 2&1/8" long.

Thanks....great minds think alike. I used a 27mm impact socket to make the same exact thing except I used a narrow strip of stock steel, which did not work out, so I cut it out and put a piece of 1/4" key stock like yours.

In my case, the socket was too tall, causing me to lose my grip every time. My cap was never removed since the car was new, and even though I used heat and an extension bar, the cap would not budge. I ended up using my electric impact wrench, and it struggled for awhile until the cap started turning.

Talk about a good 2 hour workout: For the bigger cap, I used a Ridgid 48 inch pipe wrench, which weighs 50lbs. Had to put one front wheel back on & make contact with the floor to prevent the car from sliding sideways while using the pipe wrench.

Made a video removing the passenger side knee action spring adjustment screw. Tried the breaker-bar route, but it would not budge.

This time it went much smoother than the driver's side, as I made a better fitting key, and soaked the screw in PB Blaster for almost three weeks.

I have a bunch of other brief videos, more to come....

Just about every gasket is leaking on this car, including the water pump, which started to leak recently. Since I have to paint the new pump, I ordered the dark grey Hirsch engine paint from chevsofthe40s, and was not too happy about the color being much darker than the current paint.

Still waiting for the pump to arrive, so I went ahead and took the valve cover, side cover, and oil pan off. The drain pan was a pain in the butt to get off, had to disassemble the tie rod and the rear crossmember just to get it off. Cleaned them up, primed, and painted, although I screwed up the side cover & pan and have to paint them again:




Got the complete gasket set:




Removed the manifolds, sand blasted & primed with header primer & cast iron paint:











Oil pan had a little bit of sludge, cleaned it out, still looks pretty good:




I recall my Dad saying that after he had the engine rebuilt, he let it sit too long with old gas, which caused the valves to stick and bend some pushrods, so he had the same guy repair it, but the guy took it personal and had an attitude, took the engine out, boiled the head, and rushed the process of putting it back, which resulted in the front motor mount bolt flanges not being set, exhaust pipe flange gasket missing, and several other bolts being loose, including some manifold bolts. One of the front motor mount bolts came out using my fingers. So....it is probably a good thing I am taking everything apart, gives me a chance to check every bolt.






Oil pickup screen appears to be clean.

Replace your timing cover seal while you have it down that far. If it doesn't currently leak it will.

You SHOULD be happy as you have received the correct dark paint that is sold by Chev's of the 40's and The Filling Station.

It took many phone calls and every type of communication to get those two vendors to sell the correct paint. The Filling Station and a few individuals who knew the correct paint by match to original parts as one source to establish the correct color engine paint. Use the Filling Station paint with confidence it is correct.

I am happy about having the correct color, just not happy with the fact that the rebuilder claimed to use the correct color, which I've seen in other cars, and believed it for the last 22 years....



Anyway, while replacing the gasket on the timing gear cover, I had to stop and analyze the cam gear, which is documented as made of "fiber"....looks like it is made of a resin and has the name "Formica" on the bottom...does that mean Formica made them for GM?

About what year did they finally listen to you?

My fiber timing gear ran dry from the gunk build up behind the timing gear back plate. It has a small oil groove that get full of carbon and then the gear runs dry and fails . I replaced with the newer alum. gear and matching steel gear for the crank. Make sure you have oil flow-drip out of the little brass nozzel , I`d clean it all out since your down this far ........

So far mine is squeaky clean, it should be since the engine was rebuilt back in 1993 and has only seen less than 100 miles since. I am in the middle of replacing all gaskets & seals that have dried out since.

One item that would cause me great concern is the timing gear. It carries a very old part number of 838436. Chevrolet improved the gear and the number was changed to 3836156 back in the mid 1950's. This indicates that the rebuilder never replaced the timing gear. A timing gear failure is one of the most common major engine failures of that engine.

Either that or the rebuilder got a NOS, since the teeth seem to be in perfect condition. Now that you mentioned this, I will be losing sleep & having night sweats.

Will check to see what's available before putting the engine back together. Already put the timing cover on, another gasket wasted....

Thanks, though....

Just the texture of the surface of the gear it looks old and used. Also if it were mine I would remove the front mounting plate to be sure the oil passage on the back of the plate is clean. It runs from the timing gear opening down to the nozzel. Or at least be certain the palte was removed.

When I had the timing cover off of my '38 I took that opportunity to unscrew the brass oil fitting and drill the hole out to a slightly larger size. Since it's a gravity feed the larger hole will let more oil flow onto the gear & not be a danger for over filling. FWIW it was a good thing I did because I found a piece of red RTV partially blocking the oil passage behind it.

Chevrolet doubled the size of the nozzel opening in the later years and made other modifications to get better oil flow to the gears.

The timing gear on my 38 has "Westinghouse" logo... I imagine they had bases covered just in case..

Ollie

Chevrolet had several suppliers. There was also a ton of aftermarket available but they did not have the Chevrolet part number on them.

Many current suppliers stop listing part compatibility years at 1948, and it appears that the timing gears are of the same specs from '37 & up, correct?

Fiber, aluminum, and a "quiet" type choices are available...cost difference between fiber and aluminum is minimal, the quiet type is about 30% higher....I am more inclined to use the fiber to keep the originality and I don't plan to drive the '38 any more than a couple thousand miles a year....

I am more inclined to use the fiber to keep the originality and I don't plan to drive the '38 any more than a couple thousand miles a year....

Other than yourself its not likely that anyone would know or question what type of gear you have in your car.

The 1959 parts book lists the 3836156 for 1937-1959 except heavy duty trucks that used aluminum. The aluminum is stronger but produces more gear noise that is why its use was limited.
The steel crankshaft gear (which should always be replaced when installing a fiber gear) was different from 1937-1939 from the 1940 and up. Reason, the valve timing was changed in 1940 to give the engine more power over 3000 RPM.
That being said I ran the later steel gear in my 1939 with no problem.
The reason for replacing the steel gear is the fiber gear leaves a mesh pattern on the teeth of the steel gear and that will also cause gear noise.
A properly lubricated fiber gear will last forever.

If I leave the steel crankshaft gear in place and just replace the fiber crankshaft gear with another fiber gear, will that pose an issue? I don't want to replace parts unless I absolutely have to....

It could. Examine the wear surface on the steel teeth. It shold be smooth and shiney.

Just read the repair manual again....they are saying that if I want to remove the cam gear, I have to remove the whole camshaft and put it in an arbor press to press it out...it appears that with ingenuity, I should be able to use a puller to get it off,

I am not going to save the gear, so I am not concerned about damaging it.....

The problem with trying to remove the gear with the camshaft still in the engine block is damage to the retainer plate, distributor gear and maybe other parts. The cam gear is very hard to take off as there is not much space between gear and block. Even if it takes more disassembly I think it is worth it.

The common practice with a lot of mechanics years ago was to break off the fiber gear, split the steel center hub with a chisel, and you were 1/2 done. To install the new gear they removed the fuel pummp and had a helper pry forward on the fuel pump lobe while the gear was installed with a hammer.
you do run the risk of dislodging the plug in the block at the back of the cam. Also if the original style retaining plate was used theend play could be off. With a new gear and the new style retiner plate this would not be a problem as the new style plate comes with an inner ring that limits how far the gear can get pressed on. Still not the best practice, especially for a first timer.
What I did on my last gear installation was remove the old gear with a chisel, drill and tap the center of the cam shaft and draw the gear on with a bolt and some spacer washers. Uesd a corase thread 3/8" bolt and it pulled the gear in place with no effort. Also the cam drills very easily.

Used Gene's idea several times but does have a few pitfalls.
Tony

I have done a number of GM 2.5 cam gears very similar to Gene's above method. I tap a 3/8" thread into the end of the cam first. Then use a 1/8" drill bit to make a slot on the cam gear. The slot made by drilling holes next to each other works good to put a chisel into it so you can split the gear. You need to be real careful to not drill to far into cam retainer plate or the block. Make sure you have plenty of rags to keep the bits and pieces from going into the oil pan. I also use my shop vac to clean things as I go. I also use a dead blow hammer.

.When I worked at a garage in the 50's the camshaft was never removed. Gene's gear replacement method was always used.

The drilling and taping I learned from many of my tool customers. In GM dealerships many timing gears were replaced in the IronDuke 2.5 engines and this is what the mechanics did to beat the flat rate time.

The balancer on my 1957 283 also had a tendency to back off. I drilled and tapped the crankshaft for a 7/16" bolt and used a bolt and large heavy washer (like the later small blocks used) to solve the problem. Also works for installing the balancer.

Gene: Your idea is great, I would like to try it first before dismantling the engine covers again.

Unfortunately for me, I already put the oil pan back on, and realized that I have to take it back off in order to get those two bottom timing cover bolts off. I did some more searching on this site and found that several folks modified those bolts for this very reason....

Ordered Sealed Power cam & crank gears, they were not as expensive as I predicted...$46 for both. Now I have to get new oil pan & timing cover gaskets again.

Many thanks for all of you for helping out.


p.s. Why are front motor mounts plentiful, but rear mounts are not? Seems like only chevsofthe40s and fillingstation are the only ones selling these....

Forgot to ask about the timing cover bolt mod...I assume you guys have drilled out the timing cover holes and tapped the block holes to reverse the bolt installation with slightly larger bolts?

The rear mounts fit from 1935=1948 and even NAPA may have them.

I just did this mod on my 40. I have a picture of this mod on my smartphone but not clear to me how to postpic here. You should pull the brass oiling nozzle and drill out from one sixteenth to one eighth inch as per chevy engineering change order in 1948.mine was totally clogged resulting in a blown cam gear.

Survivor 40coupe.
Would remove the front mounting plate and clean. Wouldn't hurt to enlarge the hole in the nozzel.

Chevgene I did attempt to remove front mounting plate but the three large slotted screws were too tight for me to break free so I ended up spending hours cleaning out the bulge area immediately behind the brass nozzle. I used small wires and flexible plastic wire ties and a whole can of brake cleaner and at last success. I couldn't believe how much crud came out of that small area. The oiling groove leading to the front cam bearing appears to be totally clear as I had the cam out when I did this procedure and the brake cleaner shoots straight through to the cam bearing area which I learned from one of your older posts is the source of the oil for timing gears. I don't think this procedure would work with the cam installed and I personally would not recommend replacing cam gear without removing from the engine. In my case my neighbor pressed off the old gear and then heated the new aluminum gear and tapped on while I held feeler gauge at 3 thousanths

Good for you.Very important to have it clean and oil flowing.

Sounds like quite a job.....bet you are glad that you are done with the cleaning chore.

Got the new cam gears and a bunch of other stuff. Problem is that I don't have much free time!!!!

I ordered a quart of RSP Urethane paint from TCP Global using the original GM color chip formula.

When I opened it, I was concerned about the color, did not look right, was not sure what to compare it with, so I removed one of the headlight buckets to expose the original paint.

On the left side is the original paint, on the right side is the new paint applied with a mini airbrush. It is very close, so I am pleased.

What is the name and code of your paint color?

Gunmetal Poly, code 230, IM-1731

Sorry, my question wasn't as clear as it should have been. Is that the name and code of the modern paint you just bought or the code off your cowl tag? My 37 is supposed to be Gunmetal Gray, code 214 and I am wondering if it is the same as your 38.

The 1937 and 1938 gun netal gray has different mixing
formulas. Also the 1937 has slightly more metalic added.

Figures, does anyone out there have a 37 in its proper gunmetal gray that I can crib your modern formulation?

I will have to look at the can for any more info, however, I chose the RSP-UB-C paint and since it comes in basecoat (no color), I selected the Chevy factory paint codes, and I believe they used the existing formula to mix.

Took me two hours to get the original timing wheel off, as I was careful not to beat the camshaft too hard.







Drilled into the center to tap






Supported the engine and took the front plate off. In this photo, you can see the 'oil channel' from the camshaft hole down to where the drip spout chamber is located. Notice the big hole above the camshaft...What I don't understand is why there is a hole there and no place for the oil to flow down if that is the purpose of the hole....it appears to be dry...




The timing gears get their oil from this tiny chamber...I am surprised the GM engineers came up with this...all you need is a little bit of sludge to plug the tiny passageways...





Cleaned it all up:




Maybe I am stupid, but, why is the new gasket's oil channel not following the path of the plate's channel?





This is the other gasket that seems more in line with what the chamber is, however, the cutout is still different from the plate's design:





I went ahead and modified this gasket a little to ensure there is no interference...maybe it was unnecessary:





Installed new motor mounts. Those big brown things you see are pieces of 4x4 lumber holding the engine up while the oil pan is off:

The surprising part is the same system with several minor improvements was used from 1929-1962.
The are two different mounting plate to block gaskets .One covers 1937-1948. The shape of the passage(bump in the plate) was changed in 1949 so 1949-1962 used a different gasket. The change was to eleminate plugging up. It helped a little.
If you bought a new front plate for say a 1938 after 1949 you got the new and improved plate. The the new style gasket was then required.
as per the parts book the note warns that the later gasket must be used with the later plate which has a straight oil grove between the cam opening and the nozzle. Cutting the gasket as you did was the best thing to do.
The mystery hole on top is for cooolant flow for the block.
Did you get the new cam retainer plate with the "loose" inner spacer ring?
With good moder oils and the way our old cars are driven that will never plug-up again.
That is the method I used to replace teh cam gear on my "50. I didn't remove the front plate as the engine had only 36,000 miles on it at the time and good detergent oils were used in it most of its life and it was spotless inside.

Thanks for that new info.


Supposed to arrive today. I am glad I ordered it; even though the plate I have is still good, the spacer ring will come in handy so I don't have to use a feeler gauge to find the right clearance....


The experience I am getting working on this 216 should come in handy when my brother gets around to restoring his '46 Chevy PU, which is all original and he has a garage full of spare parts....

How Chevrolet described the "improvement" made in 1949.
Pressure lubricated timing geat teeth. It is improved in 1949 by changing the timing gear lubrication from gravity to pressre. A drilled passage in the oil gallery, n the cylinder block extends along the left side of the engine as before. Drilled holes in the oil gallery lead to the groves in the main bearings. .......A passage from the front camshaft bearing leads oil from the front camshaft bearing between the front plate and the cyl block. From that point a nozzle directs the oil to the timing gear. (prior to that the over flow from the front cam bearing supplied the oil)
the nozzel opening is enlarged four times and the passage from the front camshaft bearing to the oil nozzel IS OF UNIFORM WIDTH n consistant with the size of the nozzle.
Previously the passage led to the enlarged pocket in the front mounting plate. because this pocket was large, sediment in the oil settled to the bottom and ocassionally clogged the passage way and the nozzle....Sediment is separated from the oil and removed when the oil is change."...(slightly condensed)

It helped but was not a 100% cure. Especially if the oil
was not changed often. Also another reason a "heavy" oil should not be used.

Lousy week for me....got sick, working overtime, etc....when I finally had time to put the new timing gear on, hit a snag...

Cam gear stopped moving with about 3/8" left to go. It is so tight that all the bolts I used on the tapped cam end have been stripping... I looked under the engine and studied the camshaft...it would be easy to take out, but, I am not looking forward to unscrewing the lifter adj screws in order to pull all 12 pushrods up.

It has been years since I adjusted valves...I know they have to be adjusted when the engine is warm, but, what about when the engine is cold? Is there a cold clearance to use after a rebuild?

Also...I am not sure about that loose spacer that came with the new thrust plate...if I put the thrust plate on a table and put the spacer inside the hole, it looks like the spacer is shorter than the thrust plate....what good does it do if it is supposed to maintain a clearance between the cam & thrust plate?

The ring is a few thousands thicker than the plate.Use a micrometer to measure it.
To remove the cam you don't touch the rocker arm adjusting screws. You unbolt the rocker arm assembly, four bolts and two studs. Remove the lifters making shur they go back in the same oles. remove the fuel pump.
Gear should slide on easily unless there is a high spot or? Use a better quality bolt.

Thanks, Gene, will do this. I assume I have to evenly unscrew the 4 bolts so that the rocker arm assembly does not warp from the different tension points?

I got the bolts from Home Depot, wondering if I should have gotten a 'real' hardened steel automotive bolt instead?

Go to a hardware store that sells several grades of bolts. Get the hardest non-stainless bolt. Also I hope you threaded the hole with corase threads. The fine SAE mat not have enough holding power. Also if I remember correctly i used a 3/8" bolt.
Also, yes, if you do need to remove the rocker assy. back of the bolts evenly with in reason.

I found this on the engine from my '37 "white car" after the buyer brought back the engine/trans because he didn't need them.

I realize this is not a true fix or original to the engine but thought it was a neat set-up. The pic below shows a fitting brazed to the timing cover to supply oil to the timing gears. It was plumbed from the oil distributor by "T"ing into the supply line for the valve train. As you can see from the grunge on the timing cover it had been installed a long time ago.

That was sometimes done years ago. To do it properl a valve can be installed to regulate the flow so too much oil cannot be delivered. If too mucn it can not return fast enough when cold.

Hello Gene,

This engine ran really well. It has the exhaust valve rotators that you had told me was used on the 216 trucks. I do plan to open it up to see what was done to it, if anything.

I'm thinking it may have had timing gears replaced and this add-on was used cure the lack of lubrication that may have occurred. Again this is all speculation until I take it apart.

Do you have any pics or description of the type of valve that was used. ?

DFD: thanks for showing that pic....interesting remedy.

Gene: I went out and got automotive grade bolts & nuts, and three hours later, both bolts were no good, but I finally got the cam gear in. Thanks for the advice.

Got the new cam gears in. The brass nozzle holes were enlarged to 1/8" in the center and side.








Removing & reinstalling the oil pan is a real pain in the [bleeped], and in order to remove the timing cover, you need to remove the oil pan to get to the two lower bolts. Well, I don't want to go through that again, so I reversed the orientation of the bolt holes, now I can remove them from the front of the engine:





Got all the parts back on the front of the engine and painted them.

Before I put the nose back on the front, I sealed and painted the inside parts with the new paint that I plan to use to paint the body.







It was warm today, so I went ahead and cleaned up, sanded, primed, and painted the firewall. Some spots need to be fixed, but at least I got most of it done so that I can put the front end back together.

She's coming along nicely. Keep up the good work.
Mike A

The timing cover bolt fix is good and I did it to my `40 a couple summers ago. Then last year I decided to adjust the mains and rods and the reverse problem arose.....to get the front main bearing cap off , I had to get the bolts out from the front of the timing cover .....and that was a real -----, without removing the balancer.....so , end the end , I would have rather left the bolts in their original position ,from inside the oil pan ....easier to drop the pan for me

Jim,
Did you thread just the front mounting plate or thread the holes in the front main bearing cap?

Threads were made all the way through the bearing cap. The bolts will move freely through the mounting plate holes (timing cover holes too).

The bolts stick out about 1/4" on the other end.

Hope I did the right thing????

Maybe it is because my engine was rebuilt, but I was surprised that my balancer came off without resorting to brute force while using the HF bolt puller, so that is the route I will take if I need to remove it again (hopefully not)...