EARLY CHRISTMAS motor question?

35 rancho

35 rancho

Member
I'm headed to pickup my new project Sat morning. It's a 35 fordor flat back sedan. The motor was rebuilt 15 yrs ago. ( still on the stand) never installed . What is the proper way to deal with it? Heads are on and the plugs are in.
Any tip's will help Thanks Dave
 
I would pull all the plugs and squirt some Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders. More than just some, actually. Plenty.
While the cylinders and rings are re-hydrating, I would drain any oil from the pan and replace it. Add a quart of MMO to the oil. Verify oil filter's condition.
Rotate by hand and see how it feels. Should be smooth and even. I'd do this as much as possible for as many days as practical.
I envision inside that engine surface rust, gummy oil, etc.... you know, the worst case scenario.
 
John Kennedy said:
I would pull all the plugs and squirt some Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders. More than just some, actually. Plenty.
While the cylinders and rings are re-hydrating, I would drain any oil from the pan and replace it. Add a quart of MMO to the oil. Verify oil filter's condition.
Rotate by hand and see how it feels. Should be smooth and even. I'd do this as much as possible for as many days as practical.
I envision inside that engine surface rust, gummy oil, etc.... you know, the worst case scenario.
Click to expand...

x2,exactly what i would do.Marvel Mystery oil does wonders
 
Congratulations on your purchase of an early Ford V8! You said in an earlier post that you were thinking about buying...looks like you took the leap and now the fun begins :) Post some pictures when things get settled please. I'm a bit partial to '35 tudor and fordor slantback sedans and would like to see what you have purchased.
IMO, I would dismantle that engine enough to verify the claim that it has been rebuilt. The word rebuilt means different things to different people. Also verify if it has been a professional vs. amateur rebuild. You could waste a lot of time assuming that you have a well built engine.
 
Get an air operated parts washing gun, the type with the syphon out the bottom. Take a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil as suggested by others. Remove the spark plugs, put the syphon hose down in a quart of MMO. Spray down both sides of the carb or both holes in the intake manifold if there is no carb. Spray in all the plug holes, down the oil fill and if the exhaust manifolds are off spray up in the exhaust ports. Wait about 5 minutes turn the engine a little so the valve positions change and spray again. I would let it sit a few days and do it again. When spraying in the carb you will see a mist come out of the plug holes on the cylinders with open intake valves. It will take close to 1/2 quart on each spraying. Put a rag over the spark plug holes and turn over by hand. Hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge in the 1/4" NPT hole where the sender is. Myself and at lot of others use Castrol 20/50 oil which has good cleaning additives and eliminates sludge. 110,000 miles on my 39 still runs quiet, burns no oil and if the engine runs in the 175 range the oil stays fairly clean between changes, a dark yellow not black. I had to pull the pan at 85,000 due to a loose oil pick up tube that I felt move when I stuck my finger in the pan to check for dirt. Castrol was installed prior to original start up. Attached are pictures of the bottom end which was not cleaned up and not any sludge in the pan. You can see where the pick up tube came lose and I brazed it. Spin the engine with the plugs out with 12 volts and check the oil pressure gauge. What you see will be the oil pressure when driving. If it is low now is the time to adjust or fix the problem. Pressure should be 40 to 50. Also take the compression on all cylinders which should 90 plus on all. If you find good numbers there is no need to take the engine apart. I have done engines that sat for 50 years or more like this and put thousands of trouble free miles on some of them. Never had any problems with any of them. G.M.
 

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G.M., I have also done what you are suggesting on engines that were still in the cars and looked like they had not been taken apart in years. Now an engine that's sitting outside of the car with claims that it has been rebuilt is an animal of a different color. It's just too easy to remove the heads and oil pan to check things out the right way. I bought a supposedly good running "rebuilt" '35 engine years ago thinking that I could just do a quick swap into one of my cars and save a lot of time and money in the process. WRONG!! That engine looked good on the outside but was a joke of a rebuild internally. This was just my experience. Others here may be a lot luckier than I am.
 
I have been running 20/50 in my 46 239 V8 and when I first start it up I have 50-60 lbs of pressure but after running it for a while it drops to 10-20. Is this a bad thing ? This is my first flathead and not sure if this is the norm for them or maybe ready for a new oil pump or complete rebuild.
 
A friend bought a motor for his 50 coupe that was new but sat for a long time in storage. Installed it in the car and it fired right up but spun a bearing in the drive way before even warming up. The engine had been assembled using the white grease as break in lube that had dried out over the years and plugged the crankshaft oil galleries on start up causing the bearing failure. I think check it out first.
 
Finally got the motor home. Took off the heads and intake to find nothing new or clean? I really think the rebuilt motor statement in the sale's add Was way beyond the truth. I was able to turn the motor without any problem. lot's of oil in the pan. The heads were painted the wrong color green, cast iron, and appears to have a resent grind to allow the pistons to clear. I'm not real good at flathead motors but I think these are the orginal pistons. On the compression stroke the top portion of the pistion goes beyond the deck. Hense the grinding inside the head. I think the orginal heads were alum. The intake is. Hope to get the motor back on the stand and remove the pan. Man is that thing heavy!! I'll be looking to find a good builder here in san diego. ( any tips?) Happy Holidays!! Dave
 
Not in San Diego but they are not that far away and they have a good reputation for quality work.

H&H Flatheads, 4451 Ramsdell Ave,
La Crescent, CA 91214
818-248-2371
www.flatheads-forever.com

Please post some pictures of your car and the engine when you get time.
 
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If you ever get into using stock 33-34 motors the pressure you talk about would be FANTASTIC to say the least . The 33 I drove all last summer { over 5,000 miles } would peg the 50# gauge cold but hot it runs about 7-8 like Brendan talked about & at idle it has about 1-2 # . Runs fine .
Aeroman99 said:
I have been running 20/50 in my 46 239 V8 and when I first start it up I have 50-60 lbs of pressure but after running it for a while it drops to 10-20. Is this a bad thing ? This is my first flathead and not sure if this is the norm for them or maybe ready for a new oil pump or complete rebuild.
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Sorry the news is not good. You say you turned the engine, is that with the heads on ( bolted down ) or off ?? if the top of the piston is domed, its stock 35 /36, and someone is trying to put early flat top heads 33/34 on it, you may have a mix of parts ?? and JM 35 nailed it H&H flathead is the place to go,thay are all flathead,plus some model A in there too,.one look and thay will tell you what you have, good luck ....OLD...BILL
 
Got the motor back up on the stand, rotated it and removed the oil pan. This motor was advertised as a rebuilt 15 yrs ago.. I notice the white color something between the rods and crank? I removed a rod cap and the bearing looks like some kinda plastic??? What the hell is that I hope someone with flathead knowledge will jump in and help. I never seen this before. In a closer look the cam is riding on the same stuff?? the bushing is working it's way toward the back of block?? I'm really confused now.
 
Aeroman99 said:
I have been running 20/50 in my 46 239 V8 and when I first start it up I have 50-60 lbs of pressure but after running it for a while it drops to 10-20. Is this a bad thing ? This is my first flathead and not sure if this is the norm for them or maybe ready for a new oil pump or complete rebuild.
Click to expand...


Every once in a while, I hear or have found an oil sender that doesn't work correctly, and sometimes behaves just as your description... Put a mechanical oil gauge on it as a cheap first thing to do...

Karl
 
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