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I promised to report what I learned: Based on many inputs gleaned from other threads on this forum, I decided to also check out the rear motor mounts. The rubber between the rear motor support brackets bolted to the frame and the frame appeared to be hard, weathered, and cracked and new rubber...

I have had a similar noise in my 1930 coupe for over a year. This noise would come and go, but mostly was at some high or low idle speeds and not others. I found that it would come and go if I moved the clutch pedal in and out, but applying pressure to the parking brake lever would affect it...

My "clack" at idle turned out to be a loose valve seat insert.

If you want to avoid the problem Tom describes, put a tablespoon of oil down each spark plug hole (now) and turn the engine over a few times with the hand crank, spreading the oil over the cylinder walls. Instead of starting the engine, just turn it over a few times with the hand crank. If you...

Friends & neighbors . . . Chris, My car's original engine is long gone. I am not trying to save the engine that came with the car. I am overhauling my the gift engine I got from my 95-year-old cousin -- it turns out that it is one of those engines that "was running when we took it out of the...

Babbitt scraping . . . Although I have done a lot of scraping cast iron ways, scraping the bores of babbitt bearings is totally new to me. I have three scrapers from the Model A days and have only used them a little -- minor fitting of bronze bearings. Because the scraping motion is different...

A simple question . . . I just did some double-checking and, using a piece of ground tool steel round-stock, checked against my straight edge for straightness, I got the same "rock" with the center main being higher (engine up-side down). A test indicator shows the same .004" rock as I got with...

Not out of surprises . . . I am enjoying this project so much, I am finding ways to make it go on forever . . . About a quarter square inch of babbitt was broken off the front edge of the front main cap, the loose pieces long gone. I was going to use it as-is, this being an overhaul, but after...

Missing rod . . . Bob, I'll match the weights of the rods after all the machining, so do not worry about that. If you send me a light rod, I'll just take weight off the others, which are not very close now. The ones I have all are for pistons with snap rings retaining the pins. Thanks...

Quality control at Ford and at the rebuilders . . . Bob, Friday or Monday, or the guy's first day on the job machining rods. Still, the person putting pistons on rods should have noticed if he was paying any attention at all -- I noticed the asymmetrical machining on the small end right away...

Bob is real . . . Tom, I do not see how Naval Jelly would have a short shelf life -- so long as the bottle is sealed. The modern version should change color if it lost its acidity. Bob, Glad to see you in person at the Turlock swap meet . . . Archie

De-rusting . . . Tom, Naval Jelly is just an expensive way to buy phosphoric acid -- it is jelled so it does not run off, so it is worth the extra cost for many uses. I cycle through brushing it on and "stirring" it with a brush so that the portion near the rusted surface gets turned over. As...

Turlock booty . . . In an efficient half-day sweep, I found a camshaft and also bought the crankshaft that was with it to keep it company on the way home . . . As you can see in the first pic, they would not win any beauty prizes, but the camshaft meets Snyder's requirements for a re-grind...

NO LONGER NEED ONE . . . Want one .030" (or .040") late-style Model A connecting rod to fill out a set. I will be boring & scraping the babbitt to fit a .030" under crank. The rod's babbitt should be usable -- no cracks or missing bits. I will be re-bushing the small end, so bushing condition...

Oversize tappets . . . I just found that Mac's and Snyders offer .005" oversize tappets ("pushrods"). Does anyone know what their base diameter is? (Does not make sense to me to make tappets with an oversized shank and undersized base. . .) Thanks, Archie

Waiting for the Turlock Swap Meet . . . While I wait for the big event in Turlock, I have been killing time and now have the second engine 100% disassembled . . . I find that Model A engines continue to have the capacity to surprise me . . . Using Snyder's numbers for what constitutes a good...

Bob, If you cannot find a plug, the fitting is (as Jim posted) for 1/8th inch tubing. It is a compression fitting which should be available at any good auto parts store and if you put a piece of brass rod in & file it flush. (You could solder it in, but the compression nut will hold & seal it...

Off Topic -- my shop . . . Herm & KR, Thanks for the kind words. Below are a few pics of my 800 sq.ft. shop, pre-Model A. The plan was to buy a Model A that was a driver and continue to work on the 14x54 American Pacemaker lathe that I am restoring. I am in the middle of scraping in the bed...

Experimental results . . . Herm and all, I supported a rod as shown in the first two pics and bored both ends in my mill. The rod is supported on two points on its beam edges on a hardened steel parallel -- these points are as near to the big end as possible without getting up on the filet...

Herm, I am not sure if I am being asked a question or not . . . i will attempt an answer: First I respect your experience and am in no way arguing with your statements. The concepts of tool design are one of the corner-stones of manufacturing, which I taught for two decades. These concepts are...