FordyToo!
Junior Member
Good Afternoon Gents!
I came over here after "flatheads'rus" died.
Those familiar with me there may remember I have a 1942 Ford 1.5 ton truck with a miltary box and hoist. The engine is a Canadian 8RT that had been dropped in sometime before I got the truck. (It was a wedding gift from my wife! Who else do you know that was introduced by his wife to "the Other Woman" on the day of their marriage!
Anyway, it has been a long drawn out process getting to run (again!) When I first got it the water pumps were leaking BAD! I have since replaced those. But my work on the truck has had its fits and starts as life got in the way (going back to college, numerous unemployments, adopting a daughter.
So, a couple years ago, I found out the engine was stuck! I eventually broke it loose with a pipe wrench on the crankshaft pulley, but it still had a lot of drag to it (the starter just looked at me and said "you've got to be kidding!) I used to be able to rotate the crank by turning the fan blades, no more. So, last Fall, I squirted Marvel's and 10W-30 into the spark lug holes and hoped it would loosen up over Winter... no such luck, stuck again, urged it loose, and it still dragged.
So, I decided it is "do or die" time, So, this summer I bought from Horror Fright an engine hoist, an engine stand, and a hoist equalizer. The plan was to get it out of the truck and into the shop before Winter hits again, and work on it some cold dark evenings.
So, over the past couple of months, I've drained the coolant, removed the radiator and started removing other stuff from the engine (the front clip was already off).
Last Friday, I got off work early and pulled the engine out (leaving behind the bellhousing) (Boy, that is gonna be a booger to put back in!)
The first thing I noticed is the Starter Ring Gear is skewed partially off of the Flywheel! (It had been welded on at some point and the welds broke). And so it hung on the hoist until I figured that I needed to remove the Clutch to get the engine mounted on the stand (as it is 8RT/8BA it doesn't have an integral bellhousing.) There still wasn't enough room back there to attach it to the stand, so a couple nights ago I took off the Flywheel. And then it mounted okay.
I've pulled off the heads, and keeping my record intact, I managed to break one of the small bolts holding the radiator spout, and the one that holds the distributor clamp down. (A couple of years ago I broke one for the coil mount, so the right hand head now has 3 small broken bolts in it. Did I mention that I have a terrible track record for removing broken bolts?)
Anyway, with a 1/2 inch breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt the engine spun "rather" freely, the pistons glide up and down, and so do the valves. No heart wrenching grinding noises! Today I checked the rear of the engine, and sure enough, there are places where the skewed Starter Ring Gear had been dragging on the back of the engine block.
I also noticed a couple of large water passages between the block and each head had been plugged by the gaskets!
So, now...
I plan to remove the intake manifold and see if it holds any surprises (when I pulled the oil pan loose last year, there wasn't much of the Legendary Sludge down there.)
Now, do I have to replace all the head bolts? I think I read somewhere that they get stretched when getting torqued down, and therefore need to be replaced.
The engine still has a lot of grime on it, I am not sure if I can afford to submit it for a bath. There is no sign of a ridge in the upper part of the cylinders.
Probably because the engine is Canadian, it doesn't have the serial number on the right rear top of the block, so I am not sure what year it is (49-53+) I notice that MACs has a couple of different Part Numbers for head gaskets depending on year.
Any (constructive) advice is welcome!
FordyToo!
dona nobis pacem
I came over here after "flatheads'rus" died.
Those familiar with me there may remember I have a 1942 Ford 1.5 ton truck with a miltary box and hoist. The engine is a Canadian 8RT that had been dropped in sometime before I got the truck. (It was a wedding gift from my wife! Who else do you know that was introduced by his wife to "the Other Woman" on the day of their marriage!
Anyway, it has been a long drawn out process getting to run (again!) When I first got it the water pumps were leaking BAD! I have since replaced those. But my work on the truck has had its fits and starts as life got in the way (going back to college, numerous unemployments, adopting a daughter.
So, a couple years ago, I found out the engine was stuck! I eventually broke it loose with a pipe wrench on the crankshaft pulley, but it still had a lot of drag to it (the starter just looked at me and said "you've got to be kidding!) I used to be able to rotate the crank by turning the fan blades, no more. So, last Fall, I squirted Marvel's and 10W-30 into the spark lug holes and hoped it would loosen up over Winter... no such luck, stuck again, urged it loose, and it still dragged.
So, I decided it is "do or die" time, So, this summer I bought from Horror Fright an engine hoist, an engine stand, and a hoist equalizer. The plan was to get it out of the truck and into the shop before Winter hits again, and work on it some cold dark evenings.
So, over the past couple of months, I've drained the coolant, removed the radiator and started removing other stuff from the engine (the front clip was already off).
Last Friday, I got off work early and pulled the engine out (leaving behind the bellhousing) (Boy, that is gonna be a booger to put back in!)
The first thing I noticed is the Starter Ring Gear is skewed partially off of the Flywheel! (It had been welded on at some point and the welds broke). And so it hung on the hoist until I figured that I needed to remove the Clutch to get the engine mounted on the stand (as it is 8RT/8BA it doesn't have an integral bellhousing.) There still wasn't enough room back there to attach it to the stand, so a couple nights ago I took off the Flywheel. And then it mounted okay.
I've pulled off the heads, and keeping my record intact, I managed to break one of the small bolts holding the radiator spout, and the one that holds the distributor clamp down. (A couple of years ago I broke one for the coil mount, so the right hand head now has 3 small broken bolts in it. Did I mention that I have a terrible track record for removing broken bolts?)
Anyway, with a 1/2 inch breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt the engine spun "rather" freely, the pistons glide up and down, and so do the valves. No heart wrenching grinding noises! Today I checked the rear of the engine, and sure enough, there are places where the skewed Starter Ring Gear had been dragging on the back of the engine block.
I also noticed a couple of large water passages between the block and each head had been plugged by the gaskets!
So, now...
I plan to remove the intake manifold and see if it holds any surprises (when I pulled the oil pan loose last year, there wasn't much of the Legendary Sludge down there.)
Now, do I have to replace all the head bolts? I think I read somewhere that they get stretched when getting torqued down, and therefore need to be replaced.
The engine still has a lot of grime on it, I am not sure if I can afford to submit it for a bath. There is no sign of a ridge in the upper part of the cylinders.
Probably because the engine is Canadian, it doesn't have the serial number on the right rear top of the block, so I am not sure what year it is (49-53+) I notice that MACs has a couple of different Part Numbers for head gaskets depending on year.
Any (constructive) advice is welcome!
FordyToo!
dona nobis pacem
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