I was called away for about 6 hours after placing my 1929 stock head on a new copper gasket without going through the torque sequence. Head is resting on the block and nuts are hand tightened. After all the work getting to this point, thought I should check to see if I made an error delaying the torque sequence. Appreciate the Forum's advice.
New Head Gasket Torque Sequence Delayed
- Thread starter TMB
- Start date
Gary WA
Well-known member
Follow these instructions to the letter from RIP Larry Brumfield will not have any problems!!Model A Ford Garage ~ Brumfield Cylinder Head Gasket Instructionss
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alexiskai
Well-known member
Yes. The head is resting evenly on the block. Dropped over the studs easily. All nuts hand tightened except #8 and the 2 water outlet studs. Last night I was set to start the torque sequence but ran into yet another dilemma. One of the previous owners must have used a longer ignition cable. You can see in the photo of the engine compartment before this project, the ignition cable is clamped to the #4 stud not the #8 and the clamp is reversed. I'm thinking I have 2 options: switch the #4 and #8 studs and attache the ignition cable as it was before the project or purchase a new 1929 pop up ignition cable and put it together the way it was intended. I don't plan to show this car but I do like to restore things the way they were. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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Big hammer
Well-known member
Your distributor isn’t in the proper position, it’s turned CW, the spring clip should be pointed to the stud next to the distributor. With the battery disconnected push the armored cable back up in the terminal box, this will let the distributor turn and the distributor pin to drop into the head .
nkaminar
Well-known member
The Big Hammer has hit the nail on the head. First loosen the screw on the side of the head that holds the distributor in place. It may be hard to get to with that exhaust manifold that is designed for heating the cab. Do not overtighten the screw or it may crack the distributor.
I agree. With the distributor in the proper position the armored cable will look more straight when it is fastened to the #8 stud. Check your distributor to make sure that the locator pin on the bottom of the distributor housing has not sheared off. If it has, you need a new distributor body. If it hasn't, the distributor in its present position will sit a little proud of the head - maybe 1/4". The distributor needs to be rotated CCW until the locator pin drops into the hole in the head immediately to the left of the hole for the distributor body. When it does the clips will be exactly left/right with respect to the long axis of the engine and the left clip will point to the adjacent head stud. The cap will be oriented exactly fore and aft. With the armored cable connected to the distributor it still may be a bit of a wrestle to get it in properly, but once it's in you will know it.
I spritz a little bit of ArmorAll or detailer on the armored cable to make it easier to move within the rubber grommet that goes in the terminal box.
Don't forget to retime after you reset the distributor.
I spritz a little bit of ArmorAll or detailer on the armored cable to make it easier to move within the rubber grommet that goes in the terminal box.
Don't forget to retime after you reset the distributor.
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Thanks to everyone for your responses. I previously attached the incorrect post-gasket engine photo by mistake. I reattached pre-project and the correct post-replacement photos (distributor pin in head). In the pre-project photo, you can see the cable was attached to the #4 stud and the ignition cable appears to be much longer than JayJay's photo above. I tried to push the armored cable back into the terminal box without the grommet in place and it would not budge. That is why I thought this may be the wrong ignition cable. Wondering if I am still looking at the two options above or am I missing something else here?
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The armored cable has "ridges" along it and may be hanging up on one of the ridges. You can try reaching under the gas tank inside the car and wiggling that big housing in the space between the firewall and the channel on the bottom of the gas tank, while someone else pushes on it from the engine compartment. It also may be hung up at the top of that channel, unfortunately the only way to see that is to remove the instrument panel. It may be pinched by the speedo cable within that channel. Be sure to disconnect your battery before removing the instrument panel, there are live wires behind there!
I removed my instrument panel and according to Les Andrews "red book" identified the pop out switch as being the 30-31 model. There was no slack or hang up in the armored cable so this explains the longer cable and likely the reason somebody clamped the armored cable to the #4 stud rather than the #8 stud. I understand replacement 1928-29 pop out switches (repro or orig) are hard to find. I would prefer to put things back the way they were originally but now feel I am going down a rabbit hole. Is there any technical reason I shouldn't simply swap the longer #8 stud with the #4 stud and clamp the armored cable back to #8 as it was before?
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