A Forgotten Update

Whoops, I forgot to post my most recent modest bit of work from Saturday (didn't go hiking, but didn't really get to spend a lot of time in the garage, either). No excuses, just didn't get a lot done, BUT did primer and paint the timing cover the correct "Antique Ford Green" according to the aerosol can. Oh well, small steps.


Also, forgot last week when posting the engine stand photos to include the photos below of a valve lifter remover tool I got somewhere sometime (vague, huh; yeah, just can't remember). All sorts of variants of these things from the era, but thought you'd enjoy seeing another one. Sorry for the somewhat blurry photos; just using my iPhone - it's the only digital camera I've got.

Also pictured is a Plomb (yeah, I spelled that right) valve lifter tool. Plomb is the predecessor to Proto. You can learn more here and here. I love my Plomb tools. Have a bunch from various places, including my bro-in-law's grandfather, who was a tank and heavy machinery mechanic. Haven't spent a lot of time hunting down more to complete my collection or build a period-correct tool kit for the hot rod, but it crosses my mind on occasion. When I'm ready, here's the place to troll for them.






Looking forward to my upcoming three day weekend. My girlfriend will be out of town visiting her folks, so I'll be spending the weekend with my fickle mistress Twice Lucky.

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Metal Has a Memory

Tonight I spent a couple hours in the garage. Got a late start, but no matter. Decided I'd straighten the double pulley I got some time ago, as it was bent up a little upon removal. I've always been afraid to beat on sheet metal with the collection of body hammers and dollies I have, but just kept my uncle's words in mind tonight as I pinged away on the pulley: metal has a memory.

And it does. Alas, I neglected to take "before" pictures, but these pulleys were bent outward in a couple places. In the photo above, I began with a pick, and moved to a ball pean hammer, starting at the initial "impact" of the dent and worked it out. While somewhat slightly dimpled afterward, the major dent itself is gone.

For the work below, I just found a curved-face body hammer in my toolbox and proceeded to tap on the outside edge of the pulley; lightly at first, then with greater force and confidence until, after repeated checking against a straight edge and then a piece of steel plate, I'd straightened them out! (The slightly shiny edge in each photo shows where I worked on them)



While I'm sure it would be possible to go too far, or tap too much and go past where you should, generally the metal (in the case of body panels and such) is stamped at such a ridiculously high pressure, the metal retains a memory of it, so using the hammer and dolly just brings it back into shape.

I first learned this from my uncle from stories his mentor told him, and demonstrated, by pounding a fender out on the front lawn with a mallet! I used this advice to pound back into shape a pair of 1929 license plates, followed by a pair of 1926 plates, using just a rubber mallet and a floor mat on the concrete floor of my garage. To my amazement, after pounding and flipping the plate back and forth, it straightened right out until I had what appeared to be matching pairs of freshly stamped metal; and that made me a believer.

After tonight's little bit (and I mean little) of sheet metal work, I got out the timing cover and distributor parts for kicks and started assembling them. As you can see from the picture, I have my bead blasted timing cover, recently rebuilt distributor, and NOS (new old stock) rotor and cap (with the Ford tags still on them!) ready for assembly. Also found and wire-brushed the proper shoulder bolts to mount the distributor.


If the weather is inclement Saturday, I may be back out in the garage again. If not, then I'll be hiking.

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K.R. Wilson Engine Stand (Finally)

OK, so let me lead off by saying 1) I don't believe this is really a K.R. Wilson flathead engine stand, and 2) this won't be that comprehensive of a post, but conclude by saying 3) if you've gotten here by a Google search (and I know I get a lot of hits from that search string), you'll soon find - if you haven't already - that for some reason there just doesn't seem to be a lot on the 'net about these things, and seemingly fewer pictures. So therefore, I've tried to shoot some pictures of mine, and throw in a few links for good measure. Oh, and the color's not original. The original was a darker (purpler?) red; I painted this one with several cans of International Harvester Implement Red paint from the local Ace Hardware.

I welcome comments if you have any info on my stand and its attachments, or have any other good references on these things, or simply have something to contribute to the conversation. Thanks in advance!

So I first mentioned my engine stand back in this post. However, since that time, I've been meaning to get some additional photos taken and posted to help you see what these things look like, along with a few of the attachments, which maybe you can identify, 'cause I sure can't.

The Stand (and its crazy locking "feet")





The ratchet/position lock (for lack of a better name; you can see here how mine differs from the KRW model, seen in the links at the end of this post)



The mounting plate. As I stated in my original post, I got the plate from Vern Tardel, then had my friend the welding instructor and his students cut down some heavy wall pipe and weld it to the plate.



The engine lift block; cast iron and mounts in the lifter valley. You can buy this brand new from Specialty Ford Parts in Rosemead, CA (doin' it old school: no website)



Can be positioned to balance just the motor, or the motor and transmission. (I stamped the indicators in mine)




And now, the other accessories:



Mystery Attachment 1. Made for KRW as you can tell by the "cog" end. It's incredibly heavy cast iron and stamped with the Ford oval and labeled "T54L 6005C USE WITH T52 T6005 CJD OR KJD" and "K.R. Wilson 6005" (I believe 6005X is the number for the engine stand). A local car museum has one of these in its "shop" display, but does not identify it.





Mystery Attachment 2. With "cog" end as Attachment 1. It's cast aluminum and stamped "FO-MO-CO T54L-6005-E"






Mystery Attachment 3. Might be shop-made, but fabricated to fit my engine stand. No markings. Heavy plate steel semi-regularly drilled; welded to a keyed shaft that fits the "cog" on my stand.


Mystery Attachment 4. Fits on the shaft to which I have the motor mount attached. No markings. Simple curved steel tube with flat plate ends.


Here are some other K.R. Wilson engine stand links:
Check out these posts (one) (this one's great), (two) and (three) on the HAMB, if ya haven't already - great meeting place for the traditional rod and kustom guys and gals.

A few folks (one) and (two) out there have K.R. Wilson tool catalog reprints for sale. I've never bought one since they're all pre-war, so the accessories I have are unlikely to be in them as I believe they're post-flathead era.

Well, that about wraps it up for this post. Again, if you've got any feedback, I encourage you to comment below. Thanks!

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A Very Busy Weekend

Did a bunch o' car things this weekend: drove a Model A coupe, worked on Twice Lucky's flathead, documented my KR Wilson flathead engine stand, and attended the first local circle track event of the season. So here we go:

1. My Uncle bought and sold (flipped, if you will) a local Model A coupe in one day. Before the new owner came to pick it up, I went by to check it out and he offered my the chance to drive it. Never one to turn down another entry for my car-driving "life list" (á la birders), I hopped in and, despite my Uncle saying he didn't bother with double clutching the A's non-synchro transmission, I quickly learned to do so after a couple drives around the neighborhood. Didn't do to badly, either, even if I do say so myself! Here's the coupe; it was to have gone to its new owner today.


2. I got out into the garage, and after photographing the engine stand (for the next blog entry) and some cleaning and futzing in the garage, I pulled the oil pan, flywheel, clutch and pressure plate from the flathead that's going in Twice Lucky. Upon removing the pan, I was astounded to see how clean and sludge-free it is. While I've not opened up many flatheads, the ones I have were pretty thick with sludge inside the motor and pan.


The motor was equally clean inside, as the next picture attests to, despite the outside of the motor looking terrible.


Turns out the block is an 81A, according to the casting mark inside the bellhousing. This, along with the "freeze plugs" probably filled with corroded pennies on mine (in the photo above), indicates the block is 1938 to 1940. Various clues on my engine, combined with what appear to be sleeveless piston bores, leads me to believe mine is one of the 95 or 100 horsepower Mercury 239 cu. in. blocks.
But it has 8BA connecting rods, which means it was rebuilt after 1949.

Now that I have the pan off, I have to braze closed the hole that Pick-n-Pull so unceremoniously punched in it to drain the oil; then scotch-brite the flywheel and pressure plate, install the pilot bushing (that I'm still waiting for from my friend), and bolt everything up. Then (and this is as much a list for me as for the reader) I have to replace the front timing cover (with a two-bolt style for my rebuilt crab distributor) and crankshaft seal. But that will be for another day. Today, after cleaning up, I got ready for the next stop: the speedway!

3. This evening was the inaugural event for our recently reopened local speedway, which closed when the property was to be redeveloped into housing - but (duh) they found the property to be too contaminated from 60 years of racing there - so it's returned to racing again. Tonight were two events I was especially looking forward to: vintage hardtop racers, and the demolition derby! Here are a couple of pics below. The event was great, except for the bitter (for me) temperatures, for five hours on aluminum bleachers. My girlfriend and I only survived by huddling together (like I minded that!). Oh, well, we learned what to bring next time, and met a really nice couple who've been coming to the races for more than 30 years and enjoyed the information they shared with us.




I think that'll do it for me tonight. I'll post tomorrow on the KR Wilson engine stand.

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Get it in Gear

Well, I got my butt out in the garage tonight; the first of my Thursday nights (at least) that I've committed to working on the car. Spent just two hours out there, but still got quite a bit done. Got back on completing the transmission. Here are a couple pics and a brief description:

1. Disassembled and cleaned gasket surfaces, and installed gaskets at the front (input gear) and top (shifter housing)


2. Wire brushed the shifter housing, removing a mix of grease (mostly) and rust (on the left side; must have lain in water for some time - removed some nice, flaky rust).


3. Removed the pre-'37 shift tower "ball" assembly, replaced with a '37-'39 set I wire brushed, scotch brite brushed, oiled and greased for smooth operation


4. Sat in the car with the neon signs glowing and Wayne Hancock's "Thunderstorms and Neon Signs" quietly playing on the iPhone, drinking the rest of my Limon Jarritos left over from my Mexican dinner. Yeah, think what ya want, but it was cool.

Saturday I'll be helping my Uncle on the '49 Frazer, checking compression on the back three cylinders of its straight six, shooting it full of Marvel Mystery Oil to try and free up what appear to be stuck valves.

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