Do's don'ts tricks

make sure you use the correct bolts for pressure plate to fly wheel, and take it from me
know that your torque wrench is set right
 
careful disassembling the rear leaf springs when installed on the rear end and frame is off. I stupidly decided to remove the center clamp bolt on the leaf springs, not realizing how much pressure they are under while still connected to the backing plate perches. I went to unscrew the nut on the underside of the center clamp bolt. Somewhere around the last thread the assembly exploded and sent the top several leafs soaring in the air. Luckily I was on the side and not leaning over the springs. I still dream about how stupid this was, and lucky to not have leaf shrapnel in my face.
 
Read this somewhere thought good idea.

Paint the notches on your jack stands different colors. Make sure each stand has same color notch. Saves you from counting notches and you will always be confident car/truck is level when lowering onto the stands
 
Crankshaft Grinding and Clearances:

When you're having your engine machine work done - bring the main caps and buy the bearings BEFORE you have the crankshaft reground. Tell them you want them to install the actual bearings in the block, then dial-bore gauge mic them - to determine the necessary clearances and journal sizes. Same goes with the rods! If you have full-floater bearings, make sure the machine shop understands how they work and sets them up correctly - before they attempt to measure the clearances.

This helps ensure that the clearances are correct!
 
Oil Pump Drive Gear - End of Camshaft

If you're planning on running a late oil-pump and heavier oils (think 20W - 50W) and you also live in colder climates, then really think about putting a small 'tack weld' to hold the oil pump drive gear on the end of the camshaft.

That baby flat spot that is supposed to keep the gear from spinning on the shaft . . . well, it sometimes doesn't . . and then you lose oil pressure is a big way and have to tear the whole engine down.

This is just a little 'safety trick' I always do . . .
 
adileo said:
Read this somewhere thought good idea.

Paint the notches on your jack stands different colors. Make sure each stand has same color notch. Saves you from counting notches and you will always be confident car/truck is level when lowering onto the stands
Click to expand...

That's a good idea . Will do !:cool:
 
Bored&Stroked said:
Oil Pump Drive Gear - End of Camshaft

If you're planning on running a late oil-pump and heavier oils (think 20W - 50W) and you also live in colder climates, then really think about putting a small 'tack weld' to hold the oil pump drive gear on the end of the camshaft.

That baby flat spot that is supposed to keep the gear from spinning on the shaft . . . well, it sometimes doesn't . . and then you lose oil pressure is a big way and have to tear the whole engine down.

This is just a little 'safety trick' I always do . . .
Click to expand...

What the...? Let me look into this.. But by the time I get my engine back it will be Easter again pfft!!
 
At 83, I have many good and bad habits. One good is I'm very neat. When I am finished working on the cars, I always clean and put my tools back in a specific spot. This came in handy the other day.

I had just finished working on the 39 and started cleaning and putting the tools back. I noticed, I could not find a screwdriver. I looked in the engine bay, looked under the car, looked on all the work benches, but could not find that blasted screwdriver.

Then I remembered, when I started working on the car it was very cold in the garage. I went to my hanging winter coat and low and behold in the pocket, was the screwdriver.

Lesson - always clean and replace your tools to their proper place. That screwdriver could have been laying in the engine somewhere.
 
30-9 said:
At 83, I have many good and bad habits. One good is I'm very neat. When I am finished working on the cars, I always clean and put my tools back in a specific spot. This came in handy the other day.

I had just finished working on the 39 and started cleaning and putting the tools back. I noticed, I could not find a screwdriver. I looked in the engine bay, looked under the car, looked on all the work benches, but could not find that blasted screwdriver.

Then I remembered, when I started working on the car it was very cold in the garage. I went to my hanging winter coat and low and behold in the pocket, was the screwdriver.

Lesson - always clean and replace your tools to their proper place. That screwdriver could have been laying in the engine somewhere.
Click to expand...

Excellent tip. I can't sleep if I can't find a tool after I'm done working. I'll obsess over it until I find it. Not always good, but it helps me.
 
if you have the helmet dist. and want to save some grief changing condensers, modify the condenser ground into a C shape so it can slip under the loosened dist. bolt instead of having to remove bolt completly which can be a bigger pain in your ***.
 
My "Lost Screwdriver Story". I did a valve job on an old MG Magnette I had. When I was done, I was missing a good sized screwdriver I had used as a pry bar. When I couldn't find it after a couple of minutes, I shrugged my shoulders and went for a test drive. The engine ran great, and the car drove great, at least until I got to the end of the driveway and turned into the street. It would turn left. but wouldn't turn back. Luckily I ended up back on the front lawn. Yep! There was the screwdriver, jammed into the steering linkage.

So what "30-9" predicted DID happen, at least once.
 
30-9 said:
At 83, I have many good and bad habits. One good is I'm very neat. When I am finished working on the cars, I always clean and put my tools back in a specific spot. This came in handy the other day.

I had just finished working on the 39 and started cleaning and putting the tools back. I noticed, I could not find a screwdriver. I looked in the engine bay, looked under the car, looked on all the work benches, but could not find that blasted screwdriver.

Then I remembered, when I started working on the car it was very cold in the garage. I went to my hanging winter coat and low and behold in the pocket, was the screwdriver.

Lesson - always clean and replace your tools to their proper place. That screwdriver could have been laying in the engine somewhere.
Click to expand...

Some of us are bad at finding thier tools..... I was rewiring the hall light at the time, looked for it for 4 hours
 

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Lawrie said:
What rods do you use to tack a steel gear to a cast iron cam.?
Lawrie
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Most of the cams I run are steel, but I used a Nickle alloy - maybe a 'Royal 11 or a 55'? (Can't remember which rods while in the house!).

Here is a link to some different rods - hopefully you're using TIG. :)

http://www.crownalloys.com/products.php#3

For those who aren't comfortable doing it this way, you might consider drilling and roll-pinning it. I've done that before as well (before I had a TIG welder).
 
Tip - If you’re trying to drive your car onto some portable shop ramps and the ramps keep sliding away from the front wheels on the smooth floor of your garage, tie some nylon strapping to the holes in the ramps and situate the other end of strap so that your back wheels roll over them. And up the ramp you go.
 
If you need to make a spacer, a dot of Gorilla super glue around the edges of properly sized washers keeps them together during assembly, once the glue has set.
 
If you purchase an old flathead FML that has been in a barn. shed, under a
a tarp; don't be a HERO and try to start it. I bought a '40 LZ back in
1970 and thought it would be neat to start and drive home. First clue-
bad idea, drained the oil with a coat hanger hook- globs of almost tar. Replaced
with fresh oil. Fired up , 3 # oil pressure at idle , 5-10 # on the road. Have it
towed and DROP THE PAN!------ oil strainer clogged- wiped the main
bearings! And this was a V12.
 
saw this some time ago on here, replace the damn hard too deal with slotted screws that hold the points and condenser in with Allen head then you can put a dab of grease one the wrench to install the screw and it won't fall into the abyss
that is the bottom of the distributor //thanks for the info about using chrome SS bolts because. the are harder than reg. stainless it was indeed BS
we can only imagine how many things Ole Ron could come up with
 
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