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

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