8ba awakes from long slumber

GB SISSON

GB SISSON

Well-known member
I have been putting together an 8ba from a car that I got in a trade last fall. It looked okay, fairly complete and was on a dolly in a well organized shop. It reportedly came from a good running car, but history such as how long ago was fuzzy. It turned over quite easily with the 4 bladed fan. It was an 'all or nothing' trade so we loaded it onto a 9' script stakebed which was already loaded on my F350's flatbed. I have 3 or 4 pretty good trucks here without engines so last weekend with parts ID help from some great Barners, I installed a suitable flywheel, clutch, bellhousing and starter and found a 59ab carb which turned out worked because it started quite easily and ran ok but wouldn't idle well. So now today I swapped out the car pumps for a rather sketchy pair of '48 8rt pumps from a stuck engine I have. Now I could mount it on my run stand and next I dug up a correct 8ba carb and tied it properly to the loadamatic distributer. Started right up and idled down to a nice steady idle. Since no water I'm not turning the pumps and have run very short intervals. Always can put my hands on the heads. Runs better each time and it's very thrilling. It puts out around 50 psi at revs and idles around 20-25, so op is good. My goal is to go to napa tomorrow and get hoses. I have a big truck '48 radiator that looks like a perfect candidate. After my last run this afternoon I pulled all the plugs, wired the throttle open and did a compression test. from cyl 1 to cyl 8 .... 100 105 100 75 110 100 110 100 I poured some 15-40 into # 4 and it instantly read 120, but subsequent tests went of course back to 75. OK.... Here's my question. Do any of you have experience with the 75# cylinder coming back to something reasonable? I think we see it;s rings, not valves. Should I pour some mmo into that cyl for overnight or just run it pretty good tomorrow once I get water in it? I am hoping for stuck rings. What are your tricks? Mmo in the oil? I'm currently running 50/1 chainsaw mix in it for fuel because it's all I have here and figured it'd be good for the valves. Just like to hear some thoughts about low cylinders coming back after long storage. Sorry for long post. Thanks.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1030.jpg
    IMG_1030.jpg
    53.7 KB · Views: 75
Last edited:
Not sure I'm being kosher to answer but in the past the landlord said if you don't drive it, it leaves. Bought a engine from a wrecking yard and it was stuck tight but tapped the pistons loose, almost no compression on a couple of cylinders and wouldn't idle but I continued to drive and it calmed down to acceptable but it did continue to use oil and would smoke heavily on deceleration. Just my experience with what I felt were stuck rings, at the time the oil was affordable, landlord was ok and I kept the car.
 
Mmo in #4 is the first thing I'll do when I get outside. If I don't get it up to my satisfaction, this engine will go into a 'junkyard dog' wrecker I hope to build from a tonner pickup and use around my place. It will be good enough for that service. If it comes back strong, then maybe my '47 1/2 ton. It's raining again today so I may go under cover and work on the woodie. The engines are tarped out in front of the shop.
 
If you have a head gasket worst case scenario is you re-ring one cylinder. Sounds like a good motor. Let it run for an hour or two before you make any long term decisions.
 
Actually it's pouring..... This morning I built a slightly safer gravity fuel system from an old diesel fuel filter canister hung on a plank, connected the two water pump snouts together with a bicycle inner tube and some salvaged hose clamps. Whittled some pine plugs to pound in where heater hose connections had gone missing, arranged a couple of 2' aluminum vaccuum cleaner pipes on scrap hose to the head outlets as standpipes. Filled with water, belts still off. Fired it up and it ran a long time before water started to steam and expand out of tall standpipes. Not a boil. Then while still good and hot, since I didn't have any mmo, I concocted a snake oil brew. I filled #4 with 1/3 'valve medic' (' dissolves gum, old fuel, blah, blah'), 1/3 'diesel 911' (' cleans injectors, adds cetane rating'), and 1/3 part two cycle engine oil. After that we drove into town, got parts, did chores, had a couple beers and it was too dark and rainy by the time we got home to go further, so #4 sits overnight with now a 4 part mix as I added some mmo. Time will tell. Thanks all.
 
I worked for Boeing for years, mostly in Wichita, but spent a lot of time in Seattle area as well. Seems like it was always raining when I was there.
 
Our islands get about 26" a year compared to Seattle's 40. That doesn't mean it isn't gray, damp, dismal and gloomy all winter. But it's usually about 40-50 degrees and the crocuses start blooming in February. As an added bonus our last 5 summers have been quite hot and extremely dry, thanks to 'global warming' working it's magic. Hoping to hook up radiator and give this thing a good run after work today. Should I do the 'seafoam down the carb' thing? Any detriments?
 
Yeah, but the sunny days in Seattle are glorious. One of my favorite cities, but I don't live there. The San Juan Islands, where GB lives are pretty wonderful, too, in my limited experience.
 
:D:D
GB SISSON said:
Our islands get about 26" a year compared to Seattle's 40. That doesn't mean it isn't gray, damp, dismal and gloomy all winter. But it's usually about 40-50 degrees and the crocuses start blooming in February. As an added bonus our last 5 summers have been quite hot and extremely dry, thanks to 'global warming' working it's magic. Hoping to hook up radiator and give this thing a good run after work today. Should I do the 'seafoam down the carb' thing? Any detriments?
Click to expand...

we are contributing to global worming with every smoking Flathead...Lol
 
Lived in Seattle from '92 to '97 and didn't mind the rain. It was the snow that really screwed things up.....rumor was that Seattle only had eleven snow plows at the time and downtown Seattle is really hilly!!

Got my '39 from a guy's collection in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.....wonderful memories and bringing her home on the ferry was an adventure!!

Loved my time in Washington. There's a reason it's called the Evergreen State!
 
GB,
This may seem a bit un-orthodox but hey, whatever works. I know on an 8ba you can take the pistons out of one side through the base. The other side you can't because the cylinders are offset and the casting web in the block is in the way. The only tricky part might be putting the piston back in through the base with a ring compressor. I would try it to avoid taking the head off and the possible broken bolts that come with it. Either way, the oil pan has to come off.
I have an 8ba at Walt DuPont's torn down that I am going to see today. I will check wich side you can take out.

Just a thought if the engine is good otherwise.

Chris
 
CSArno said:
GB,
This may seem a bit un-orthodox but hey, whatever works. I know on an 8ba you can take the pistons out of one side through the base. The other side you can't because the cylinders are offset and the casting web in the block is in the way. The only tricky part might be putting the piston back in through the base with a ring compressor. I would try it to avoid taking the head off and the possible broken bolts that come with it. Either way, the oil pan has to come off.
I have an 8ba at Walt DuPont's torn down that I am going to see today. I will check wich side you can take out.

Just a thought if the engine is good otherwise.

Chris
Click to expand...

Interesting... I still want to run it for a while once I get the radiator plumbed in. Pulled the fan shroud off it after work and was measuring for a bracket and a friend stopped by to see the woodie project, so I guess radiator will be tonight. I do have one head gasket for 8ba. I just removed the heads from the rusty and stuck 8ba next to it. Used impact and no broken head bolts. Maybe the third time I've removed 8ba heads with same results. I'm used to 59ab studs frozen into heads so the bolts are nice. Is it pretty common to break the bolts? Such a horrible feeling when fasteners shear off.......
 
I don't think the bolts are as prone to breakage as studs are. Funny you mentioned taking the piston out the bottom, I worked on a sleeve valve engine, Willys-Knight six, and had to replace a bad rod. Due to the design of the engine it was not only possible to pull it out the bottom, it is the preferred method. The rings could get caught in the valve slots if it came out the top. And the bottom of the cylinder has a bevel for making the ring installation easier.
 
I'm reading 'The diesel odessey of Clessie Cummins'. His early production engines had a rod with the big end larger than the bore, so same case. He solved this by making the big end with twin saddles for U-bolts, solving the problem while spreading the stresses over a much larger area. Now my wife reminded me we have some kind of dinner party after work for one of the doctors that's leaving the clinic.....:eek: Sheesh, I just want to hook up the dadgum radiator.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top