Thanks Mikko, This car just doesn't scream extreme in my head, so I'm painting this canvas the best I can to compliment her right.
Hope everyone is doing well. So I finally decided to start working on re gearing this old gal. 3.27 is what I am doing as I have more freeways with no real hills here in Southeast Texas. So let the games begin, She fought me a bit getting that torque tube collar out through the frame but I figured out pull all the brake pins, and put the brakes to full travel on that equalizer and it is just enough. So here is how she sits after last nights session. Other than the fight at the frame with the torque tube collar, it was surprisingly easier than a Model A. Main differences is the rear spring being much easier to screw with, and the lack of E brake assembly's to contend with and pins in weird places. I think I will pull it out in the driveway and give it a pressure wash before even cracking a nut on this assembly. Should cut down on the junk I fling everywhere of old grease etc. Stay tuned!!!!
Alright... So cleaned it up with pressure washer and some scraping etc. Looks alot better....Ill hit the leftovers with a wire wheel on the grinder to finish things off before a coat of paint. Teardown begins.... Everything looked stellar inside. So nothing there to distribute. Broke the tang on the retainer washer between the pinion bearing retainer nuts. So waiting on that. But here is how I got the pinion out, used my grandfathers 2 jaw puller he made. Worked like a charm.... Barely fit inside the housing but did perfect.... The install went even easier due to freezing the pinion before putting on bearings etc, it dropped right in. Yeah, I agree, I wish I could sit back and watch myself, Save a seat for me! Ill watch this on re run.
Alright, This update took a long time to finally get to posting. I was waiting on bearings, so shipping at Christmas is always fun! Figured a good pic of the spiders was in order. Anyone who has done this can smell this photo..... All back together.... Ready to install, but first.... I didn't check the U joint. Guess what... Yep TOAST! So hit my buddy up and got one from him so I could drive this before the end of the year. Few things on setup were different than the model A but nothing too major. The pinion bearing is the main difference between the banjos for sure. Mine needed .025 shim, I measured it with the bells installed and took measurements with feeler gauge. This worked out flawlessly. So I have a .001 shim on drivers side where the gear sits, and .024 on the passenger side. This worked out with good pattern, get gear engagement is a bit high on the ring gear but there is nothing else I could do to get it any deeper, I love the pattern to be right in the middle of both sides but Back side I was dead middle, but front side of the ring I was about 1/8 to 1/4 outside from center. I could have shimmed the pinion to drop it deeper in but decided against that due to the drive being almost spot on and let the coast lay where it was. Honestly you could split the difference with a pinion shim and be fine but the work to pull the pinion bearings apart after doing this without a press didn't seem like enough reason for me. Trick, freeze the ring gear, and pinion, it makes installing bearings a breeze. And here she is back on her feet! Drove it a bit ago. I love the drivability of the 3.25 so far. More usable gears instead of quick shifting etc. They make a smidge bit of noise at 45 but not terrible, on coast there is no noise so I am overall happy with the setup I think, I have heard others say these gears can make a little noise. Felt good to drive it almost 11 days later. Would have been a 2 day ordeal if I had all the parts here and wasn't waiting but it gave me time to clean things up and get the grease coatings off. I didn't paint this one, I thought about it but I couldn't bring myself to do it right now. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and have a safe and happy new year!!!!!
Happy NEW YEAR.... She turns 90 and still looks great! Finally got to the big 60 MPH without strain and lower rpm's..... It's downright amazing how much smoother the car is now. 50 mph it smooths out very nice and I am really looking forward to logging more miles in her for sure. Few pics from my run out to my local photo spot this morning. Did a little dumbing down the red with tinting some flood and painting the all-surface rust fender some with that also.
Hope everyone had a good new year... So I decided to go get some new exhaust ran, the front brake rods were touching the pipes as it was, so Re ran things and kicked out the exhaust in front of the tires. 1.75" tubes worked perfect as always. So on the way home from its farthest drive from home, stopped by a buddies house to check the alignment and adjust the brakes a bit... Was nice to work under the car and not lay on my back.... So I was still getting blowby out the breathers when the motor warmed up. So I decided to pop the heads off, and this is where the plot thickens. It was .040, so its probably on its first rebuild ever. BUT after grabbing the micrometers, she is worn out to about .055" overbore. So she is worn out.... And that would be the reasoning for the blowby. No scoring or any issues just worn out. So that put me at a cross road, had to take a break and think about a path forward. Honestly, I could probably hone it to .060 and change pistons and rings, but that's a half assed way to do things. So with my year in review coming up. Roundup in 1.5 months, Then Prewar Pileup in June, then a break till GATR in October. So The motor needs to come out, so the plans are as follows. Short term, I'm going to put the offy heads I have on there for now... Drive it until after pileup. Pull it out End of June, and get on the path to rebuild it. Plans for rebuild, 400 jr cam, Johnson lifters, and normal rebuild jazz, bearings, seals, etc.... So good news I bought another set of 97s from a buddy, rebuilt them and they worked out fine. I'm sticking to running 1 for now though till the cam goes in. I almost bought a set of Orig sharp heads to match the intake but right now, but I need to stockpile parts for the rebuild, so focusing on the prize not the carrot on a stick. I bought these Offy heads on here and they are in stock so I figured might as well just run the miss matched combo for now. The fuel line will be remade as this one is just to run it for now. So that is where we are at right now.... Few pics of the motor opened up.
It looks like you have a good plan put together to maximize your driving time, plan the work-work the plan, so they say. On another note, how does that guy in the tin building, with no ceiling insulation survive a Texas summer? 60 Special
Such a good looking car. I've followed along but haven't checked in for a bit. The motor rebuild is perfect that way you gather parts and won't be down near as long.
That was the plan... haha... Yeah I don't know how he does it, thankfully he has 4 big roll up doors and a high celling, but still its brutal in the summer out there.
Happy Flathead Friday, Got the new plugs in, worked like a charm. NGK for the win with 1/2" reach and extended projection. Runs like a charm, first heat cycle in, waiting for it to cool to retorque heads. Looks much more hotrod. No leaks, no seeps.... Knock on wood!
So I have been searching for some mexican blankets that would be the right colors to not clash the existing door panels for the time being. I got tired of the serape draped over and always flying off. Enter solution, 40 dollar fix...
Went to a local clubs show with some friends 2 weeks ago. We got some flathead on flathead vs an inline 6 at the light. Too bad no one recorded it. I didn't loose but didn't win... So not bad. Only bad thing is the throwout bearing is not making noise... Oh well, motor comes out in June anyways. So I guess this means I'm on the hill at Roundup this year with this old gal? Either way Ill be there, hope to see some of yall around. And since I had a blast with the guys up in Oklahoma I'm headed back to PWP to hit some more Rte 66 before ripping the motor down before GATR
Hope everyone is well... So finally getting around to shocks up front... Bought a kit off the web, the top mount was decent, the bottom used one of those crappy ones that goes on the bottom perch nut... That won't work with retaining the mechanical brakes due to perch stud length being too short... Personally I hate those mounts almost as much as hairpins on a fenderless hotrod... So I came up with some brackets to bolt on to the axle and solve the issue. This is a prototype of sorts, no one makes these so hell maybe there is a market for mechanical brakes or just a better shock mount tab. What I came up with ... All grade 8 bolts and nuts...
Yeah, black for sure is on the horizion.. Ride is more settled. Bit more stiff but it's controlling the front end. Now I need to remove the knee action shocks out back and put tubes there and that should really help the little bit of freeway sway she gets in the 70 mph range.
Well, the thrash for Roundup has begun. The thowout bearing started really making noise after the race a few weeks ago. I pulled the inspection cover and found a severely worn bearing that didnt spin. So thats how we wound up here. So I hated to pull the motor but the throwout bearing was going to do more harm than good if I tried to leave it as is for driving around Austin. Bad part is I have to pull the motor again in June for the rebuild. I just don't think I can rebuild the motor in 3 weeks due to slow machine shops. Well, onto other things I did the rear shocks before doing this. Either way, the shocks are pretty simple bolt on brackets for the drop shackles, stock they would be very short. Never mind the zip tie, its to hold the shock at ride height when building. Now lets talk ride after all the shocks installed. The rears are gas charged, I was thinking since the rear of the car is thick I would run gas charged back there. Well the ride is very firm, maybe they will break in but its firm like a race car... So we will see what the high speed manner is of the car with these installed, I may need to go to just fluid shocks and not gas charged but there is something nice about buying a shock off the shelf for use in these cars for finding replacement parts on trips.
Yeah, I am a bit OCD when it comes to things mechanical. I strive to make the best version that it can be mechanically. That drive makes me either insane or dumb; Still undecided on that. When the motor comes out again that's when the fun begins. 400jr is in the running for cam choice or a 1007b
Well, that was a fun couple days... Got the new bearing in and dropped the motor back in. Hope to get her out this weekend for some good shakedown runs.
The Jalopy Journal
