Frame Work

Although I spent much of the weekend helping a friend install a ceiling fan, I got out to the garage for a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday. I worked more on correctly locating the motor mounts and center crossmember (Tardel K-member): measure twice, and thrice, etc., and drill once (or, as many times as you have mounting holes).

There seems to be as many opinions about where the flathead motor mounts should be located on a Model A frame as there are people building these things. Here are some of the dimensions. I'll try to flesh out this post more with additional photos and dimensions, but here's the big one: 6-1/4". That's how many inches, center to center, my Tardel flathead motor mounts are located back from the radiator mounting holes in the front crossmember. These holes are NOT in the center (front-to-back) of the crossmember, however.

For those of you building a hot rod based upon the very good book, "How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod" (Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel), you're probably here looking for better measurements than those in the book. The authors have acknowledged there are a few errors in the book. For instance, they suggest using a '34 front wishbone to correctly locate the front and center crossmembers for a flathead and standard three speed transmission. Ain't gonna happen. You're going to come up about 1-1/2" too short. You need to use a '32 front wishbone, or lengthen the '34 to match the '32's dimensions (this link goes to a repost of Mike Bishop's). Another of the chassis dimension errors (and, frankly, a pretty big one), is the location of the motor mounts. They suggest 3" from the radiator mounting holes to the front face of the motor mount. This is too close to use a mechanical fan.

Mine are 4-5/8" from the radiator mounting holes to the front face, which provides me enough room to run not only the standard 4-blade fan (immediately below), with 1/4" clearance at the bottom as I discovered when I mocked it up this weekend, as this is the type of fan I'll be running, but



I also have enough clearance to run a 5-blade truck fan (which is apparently too noisy, according to my friends; I know it's too ugly - only going to use it if I have cooling problems) with about 1/8" clearance (which is pretty snug).



Other progress this weekend involved the very scary (for me) drilling and bolting in the center portion of the K-member. After pulling the radiator and mock-up block, I pulled the wheels and tires off the chassis, and jacked up the frame - allowing the spring/axle/wishbone/K-member/transmission case to "float" in relation to the frame, without interference by the block. I did this to square up the K-member to the frame left-to-right, as it was ever so slightly off.

After getting it square, I C-clamped it in place (along the the various C-clamps holding the legs the the center crossmember, and the legs to the frame rails), center-punched the location of the holes on the top of the frame rails to the center crossmember, drilled with a 3/16" bit as a pilot, then final drilled with a bit one greater than 5/16". Because the drill bits I have probably aren't great, and the metal's pretty thick, I had to really lean on the drill, and kept oiling the bit so it wouldn't burn.

Once the holes were drilled, I threw in a couple of Ford 5/16" bolts and called it a night.




My friend tells me Ford bolts are Grade 8 (maybe; they sure held everything together back then, and are still equally strong today - probably due to Henry's Vanadium Steel), and I have more than enough to assemble the whole chassis, if not the entire car, thanks to my parts-hoarding uncle. Some of them are already cadmium plated, which was apparently the restorer's standard, before it was discovered most Ford bolts were not cad-plated from the factory, and toxic concerns (at least in California) outlawed cad plating.

(The bolts I used for the front crossmember are cadmium plated)


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Many Hours, Many Tasks

Been working the hot rod "to do" list lately. Put in a 12 hour day on Saturday. Unexpectedly put in an hour or so tonight.

I'll let the pictures and captions tell the tale.

First, the previously promised picture of the Snap-On "Super Charger" 550 Battery Charger I got from the shop that recently closed up. Had to wait 'til the very end, since he was still using it. Didn't know what a workhorse this machine has been for automotive repair shops until I Googled it, looking for (successfully!) the instruction manual.


Next, just a shot to show how nicely this flathead valve lifter removal tool cleaned up with a little wire brushing.


Here is the front of the flathead after I installed the rebuilt distributor.


My working notes for "re" resetting the valve lash. I somehow got lost along the way the first time I started this (5/30/09, according to the note), so went ahead and redid them all last weekend (6/6/09). As you can see, I set the adjustable lifters (cold) with a gap of .011" iNtake, and .015" eXhaust. You can also see the way Ford numbered the cylinders on a flathead. My thumb is where the front of the motor is.


After that, I removed the dummy block (no easy task by myself), dragged it across the floor and set it on the base of the engine stand.


This cleared space for me to place the center crossmember and legs in place, and add the rubber ball (removed to avoid melting when welding on the wishbone "splices") to the wishbone yoke, and re-bolt it in place.


Next, I got out the rosebud torch and heated cherry red a bent part of the frame rail, right where one of the legs would mount, and beat it flat with a big hammer. Real blacksmith kinda stuff. Well, I kinda felt like one, especially when it was sparking as I hit it.


To further clear the mounting area inside the frame rails for the k-member legs, I had to air hammer chisel and grind and drift punch out the rivets holding the mechanical brake rod brackets below the cowl.


Since I'd removed the dummy block, which was mounted using my new Speedway flathead water pumps, I decided to take my friend's good advice to just replace them for cheap insurance. No one's going to fault the look of the front of the block to have new pumps, and I was not distracted by them on an otherwise run-as-found flathead at the West Coast Kustoms car show (pics to follow at some point).

However, replacing Ford flathead water pumps is no easy task, as can be seen in this link. As seen in my pictures below, it required a torch on both bottom bolts and "extractor" type socket heads on the rounded and rusted heads. One of these, of course, snapped off, which merited a second torch job, candle wax on the hot threads, Liquid Wrench, and finally another extractor pounded onto the remaining stud. Results: me 2, flathead 0.




After removing the water pumps, I was disgusted to discover and remove probably another 2 cups' worth of rust and flakes from the front of the water passages. Removal was facilitated by tipping the motor nose-down and using the air gun to blow the crap out from any and all angles I could use.




After getting some fresh air after breathing rust dust for an hour or so, I filed the front of the block, and the mounting surfaces of the new water pumps, and installed them with their (strange) rubber gaskets. RTV silicone sealant was not "required" but suggested, so I used it on the first one, only to have the gasket repeatedly squeeze out upon tightening the bolts down to the recommended 25 lb. ft. of torque. So, I installed the other one without RTV, had no problem, and proceeded to remove the RTV from the other side and installed the pump, tightening the bolts 'til the gasket just barely began squeezing out. Done.




Having futzed with the frame, I added the old water pumps to the dummy block (as they're also the front motor mounts), bolted the bare transmission case back on, and lowered it back into the frame (once again, a somewhat scary operation by myself) to final-adjust the motor mount and center crossmember locations. While I would prefer to do this with the actual motor (with fan) and transmission, I'm still waiting for my friend who redid the flywheel to come by and see why the starter bendix won't clear the ring gear. So rather than wait for him, I forged ahead. I'm glad I did, as tonight I discovered when I mounted the radiator for kicks that I'd BETTER use the real motor, fan and all, to ensure that once the motor mounts are bolted in place and the motor's in place, that the fan clears the radiator.



As you can see in these photos, I barely have clearance on the side and bottom (although the vertical spacing is adjustable on the fan-to-generator mounting), which might be taken up by any backward movement of the radiator while "in flight," although I've set the radiator perpendicular to the frame, as indicated by the framing square, by adjusting the radiator-to-cowl rods.



Finally, tonight I bolted in the front crossmember in anticipation of my friend coming by this week to weld up the (typical) crack across the spring bolt and clamp mounting holes. I was surprised to discover that, at least by my measurements - I might be wrong once the motor's in place with its lower double pulley, I won't have to cut away the back of the front crossmember as is often recommended when building an A-V8 (although, of course, I'm actually building a T-V8). We'll see what happens when I put the real motor in, but I'm crossing my fingers.


Until the next installment,

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Whole Lotta Loot

This past week found me helping clean out an old garage that started as a Texaco service station back in 1956. My uncle was aware of some of the treasures stashed away in this place, which has been in operation since '56, and under the same ownership for 30+ years. When he heard the EPA was cleaning up the place (translation: gonna demo it probably, and leave the soil "percolating" behind a chain-link fence, unused, for the next 30 years), he stopped in to see what the owner was doing with all the old tools and equipment, and came away with a few things. At my uncle's suggestion (it didn't take much), I stopped by, too, and spent about an hour and a half prowling through the place and set aside a few things.

Came back the next day (Saturday) to be joined by a couple of my Okie car friends who took nearly everything else, save for a piece or two I picked out before they arrived. It was, as you can expect, a bittersweet event: getting all kinds of cool stuff that hasn't seen the light of day in decades, but all the while knowing this man is being forced out of business, and the cool old steel building in which he did business will soon be gone...

While these pictures by no means cover all that I got, here's some snaps of the highlights:

Pair of Johnson adjustable tappet (lifter) wrenches (for the flathead)


Set of Ford valve guide remover tools; top to bottom: V-8 valve spring compressor; A & B (2); V-8; V-8 (by Plomb, #6521)


And some more Plomb tools


Pair of Model A axle housings, converted into axle stands, for Model A and early Ford V-8 era rear axles. At my friend's suggestion , I'm going to cut off the spring mounts and mount them on top of my 1939 axle housings, rather than use the Pete & Jake spring mounts. My friend has sneered at the P&J ones since he first saw them, and has continually suggested this solution, which he insisted guys did back then...maybe, but if it works and looks better, who cares? After I cut off the spring mounts, I can still use them as stands, so...


A VERY cool tach with an odometer(!). THIS is the solution to my speedometer/tachometer quandary that I was facing with the T, not to mention trying to find something that looked "period" (circa 1950 or so). Now I can run one gauge, driven off the speedo cable, and have an odometer, too. The stamping and numbering on the back lead me to believe this is Stewart-Warner, but no name appears on the case. This thing looks beautiful, PLUS it's got right angle drive!



And finally, for the pièce de résistance, a Sun 504 distributor tester and rolling cart. Complete with a giant Sun-labeled can of automotive spec sheets from 1964 to 1973 or so, AND all the adaptors, including those for magnetic pickup distributors, AND Ford flathead distributors!


To close out the photos, here's the back of the pickup with all my stuff, plus the United Motors Service sign my uncle got, but I delivered. (A small price to pay for the lead!)


I'll post more photos next week, when I pick up the last couple items, including a Snap-On battery charger.

Until then,

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Checking Starters, Adjusting Lifters

Since the last post, I picked up my uncle's '50 starter to find (mildly disappointingly) that it has the exact same dimensions as my starter, and interferes with the flywheel/ring gear exactly the same. I'm beginning to suspect that the ring gear is not fully seated(?) on the flywheel. It appears to my eyes to be able to move forward (away from the Bendix, toward the front of the motor) about 3/32".

Also, I began adjusting the lifters, finding that 6 of the 8 intake lifters were within spec (.010"-.012"). Of those, most were .011". I adjusted two, pretty easily. I'll detail the "how" later with photos, but the 1939-48 Ford & Mercury Shop Manual for Trucks & Cars has a great how-to on turning the motor the fewest times to get all the lifters in position to set the clearance. Also, the Van Pelt flathead site (an awesome resource) has this section on removing stubborn old Ford flathead lifters.

All I can say is someone did a nice job when they rebuilt this motor. I've had to do very little on it so far...

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It's Always Something

Well, I've gotten a lot done since last posting.

Besides attending underground rock shows

visiting old steam locomotives

and B-17 bombers

I also picked up a set of circa 1942-45 Plomb combination wrenches

which helped sate a lust for these tools I mentioned in this post.

Meanwhile, on the hot rod front, I had the inside bore of my front pulley machined to fit (it was too snug before).

Once that was done, I was able to install the pulley and set the intake manifold and fan assembly on the motor to see if the pulleys all line up. Thankfully, they do.

Then, today my friend from Okieville stopped by unexpectedly, but gave me a hand on the motor. First, we checked the connecting rod bearings (well, one at least) to see if we could tell if the crankshaft is standard or has been turned (under standard measurement).

Since the insert bearing (as I apparently have an entire 8BA rotating assembly (crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons) did not have a measurement number on it, we just recorded the part numbers on it for lookup later.

Let me tell you that flipping that motor over (upside down) on that flathead stand gave me the willies. All I could imagine was the mounting bolts stripping out of the block and dropping the motor onto the stand, floor, and me. My friend assured me it would be fine. It was.

He also showed me the timing marks on the crankshaft and timing gears.

I can't recall if I've written that this motor already has an aluminum timing gear. The more we dug into this motor today, the more my friend's convinced it'll be a real ugly duckling that will (hopefully) turn into a beautiful(ly tuned) swan. We'll see.

After checking the bearing, we installed the two "dog turd" front crankshaft seals into the timing cover and oil pan. (This is a new one).

I'd been soaking it in oil, on the advice of my flathead friends. What was to have been a few days amounted to a few months, but I can't believe that would affect anything. Then, we heroically struggled to install the timing cover and crank pulley. The pulley wouldn't slide into place because of the still-swollen front seal. Finally, we drove the pulley home with a BFH and driver.

Once the front was buttoned up, we removed the old and installed the new rear main seal (cork) (this is the old one)

and installed the oil pan. I'm so glad we flipped the motor over. Installing that heavy pan and the gaskets would have been very difficult with the motor right side up. Here are the results:

Front seal
Rear main seal
Scary upside down motor with oil pan installed
Finally, there's always something when combining disparate Ford parts into a hot rod, and here's today's. Following my friend's recommendation, I installed the starter so I wouldn't have to fool with it once the motor's in the frame. After some discussion as to whether the Bendix should be in or out, I installed it in the "out" (not against the flywheel) position. After tightening it up, I went to turn the motor over with a breaker bar on the front pulley, just for kicks. In doing so, however, the starter Bendix clashed with the flywheel with a "clang." Figuring I'd put the Bendix in the wrong position, and at my friend's urging, I continued to rotate the motor, but it continued to clang. Knowing something was wrong, we looked to see that, even in its fully "out" position, the Bendix was still meshing with the ring gear.

We futzed with it a little, but have come to the conclusion that, since I'm using a '49-'50 Merc flywheel, and have a '49-'53 rotating assembly, perhaps I now need to use a '49-'53 starter and/or Bendix to clear the ring gear. Oh, well, I'm going to borrow my uncle's '50 Ford starter to see what differences, if any, there are between his and mine.

Results in the next post.

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