Recent content by Sparky

Yeah I meant that the play was due to slightly egg-shaped bores, but when I clamp one end in a vise and twist the other end it has very little angular play. I’m planning to pull my transmission and when I do I’ll check the condition of my current joint. Maybe it’s worse, who knows?

I was given this original riveted u-joint. It’s rust-free and the splines look good, but there is about .010” - .015” side play in a couple of the pins. OK or junk?

Just today I was installing new valves in my engine, and managed to lose one of the tiny valve keepers through the hole behind the timing gear so it dropped into the oil pan. Luckily I can get a replacement from NAPA.

That should do it

No, it's in the car.

I’m in the middle of a valve replacement job and before I fit the new valves, I’d like to clean out the decades of black buildup in the intake passages. It’s black tarry stuff about 1/16” thick. Is there any chemical that would easily dissolve it? If not, what’s the best method? I have a small...

You made me curious so I measured the bores with calipers, and they are all .080 over. Apparently the machine shop just stamped one of the pistons and didn’t bother with the other three.

No, there is no tag, but one of the pistons is stamped .080 on top. Strangely, none of the other pistons have a stamp.

I took my cylinder head off and found this number stamped on the block next to a cylinder. What do you suppose it is? Machine shop mark? I know the engine has been worked on sometime in the past because it has .080 oversize pistons.

I should add that the engine hasn’t been run since last October so apparently it's a slow leak.

I didn’t have to remove the distributor

The oil looks good

I took my manifold off today in order to check the valve clearance, and I found a bit of coolant in the rear intake port. I’m guessing I at least need a new head gasket?

I came across this ammeter in my father-in-law's tool collection. He got it from his father who had a Model A back in the day. I did a quick search and found several for sale on eBay, mostly described as an "antique automotive tool." This one is missing a short electrical lead that attaches...

Both are correct, but for the Rootlieb kit with the tank mounted using the supplied supports, the fuel level will be below the carb inlet unless you have a few gallons in it, as I quickly found out after stalling out on a test drive. I actually have two pump systems; an electric pump and an air...