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Matt Wilson

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Matt Wilson last won the day on February 23 2019

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    Male
  • Location
    Keller, TX
  • My Project Cars
    1949 Dodge Power Wagon

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  • Location
    Texas
  • Interests
    Dodge Power Wagon

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  • Occupation
    Aerospace Engineer

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  1. Hi Jim, I see that you used Crower custom bushings for the connecting rods (small end) and 0.866 diameter wrist pins. Do you know the OD of the installed bushings? That would be the same as the ID of the rods. I'm looking to determine the wall thickness of the bushings after they were installed and honed to fit the pins. Are these bushings made completely of bronze, or are they steel-backed, as some bushings I've seen? Thanks.
  2. Thanks, guys, I appreciate the inputs. The machine shop did not use a torque plate. One was not readily available at the time, and I didn't see it as necessary. As for digging too deep, I would agree if I was running OEM-style pistons and rings, but I will be running modern forged pistons and modern low-tension rings. The first person who told me that my rings would not tolerate my misshapen cylinders was Freewheeling Tony Smith. He works with these engines an awful lot (machine work, assembly, etc.), including the incorporation of upgrades to use modern parts like I'm doing. He really seems to know his stuff and has an excellent reputation in the Dodge/Chrysler flathead community. Since my last post, I also received word from someone who knows a Total Seal tech rep, and he conveyed my situation to him. The rep said the same thing - that the rings are not forgiving of this type of situation, and he recommended I immediately get the bores straightened. Of course, that will require I get new, larger pistons and rings. Sigh.... If I want to use modern rings, it seems that the old standard of several thousandths of taper or out of round being acceptable is no longer applicable. I've also read some things to indicate that torque plates are recommended (some say necessary) for low-tension rings. I don't know if that's really 100% true or not, but in any case, since I will be re-doing this aspect of the engine, I asked Freewheeling Tony if he has a torque plate for this engine. He said he doesn't, but would enjoy fabricating one and would rent it to me. I plan to go that route. With all the effort and money I've put into the rest of this engine, I figure I'll go the whole nine yards on this part of it too. It will be a couple of months or so before he has time to make it. That will work out ok, because it will be a couple of months before new pistons would arrive anyway.
  3. You're right, I am leaning in a direction and yes, I've talked to 4 people. I question whether the two from JE Pistons were "experts," as one is a salesman (although he seems to be knowledgeable) and the other one is in tech support but changed his answer for no apparent reason, and neither person could give me a taper spec (seems like that would be basic available info). The other two I spoke to are machinists, but again, one gave me one answer and the other gave me the opposite answer. The one who directed me to re-do it all with new pistons, rings and overboring was the only guy to give me some technical reasons that sounded pretty solid. The others literally just said "it'll be fine" or "I wouldn't use them as is." I'm thinking that, as painful as it is (financially), I should lean toward the side of caution by buying new pistons, rings and having the cylinders bored more oversize so they will (hopefully) be straight and round. At this point, as you alluded to, I am kind of looking for confirmation that this is the right decision so that my wounds won't hurt as badly as I'm licking them. On the other hand, if someone has some really good reasons that I don't need to go that route, I'm still open to listening.
  4. I'm running some custom-made forged pistons by JE Pistons. The bores are about 3.482", which is nearly 0.045" oversize from the original bore size for this 251 block that I'm using to build a 265.
  5. Following up on this topic to describe the progress (or regress, as the case may be). Sorry - another long post.... I took my block back to the machine shop to remove the cylinder rust that I had caused. He honed all the cylinders, removing 0.0005 (half-thousandth) from most and closer to 0.001" from #6. He and I discussed using Line2Line piston skirt coating to take up the excess clearance. He highly recommended it as a durable long-lasting coating, which matches what I've read too (good for the life of the engine). Ok, no problem. I can deal with that. But I have a dial bore gage, so I decided to take my own cylinder measurements when I got home. I found that all six bores have a "bulge" near the top, as seen in the image below. This "bulge" makes the diameter about 0.0006 - 0.0007" larger than the rest of the bore over a distance of about 2" vertically. Below the bulge, the diameter drops back down, almost to it's value at the top (but not quite). I called the machinist and he acknowledged the presence of the bulge and said that it has to do with the diamond hone equipment he uses not being great for opening up the bores by very small amounts. His boring/honing machine is brand-new as of last year and did a fabulous job on my cylinders when I brought him my new pistons at that time. The taper and out-of-round were no more than 0.0002" total variation, but now opening up the cylinders by such small amounts to clean up the rust was not a job the machine is suited for. In any case, he said he only measured 0.0005" in the bulge, not 0.0007" that I was getting and that it would be fine. I'm confident in my measurements. I'm using a set of thin modern rings with thicknesses of 1.5 mm top, 1.5 mm 2nd, 4 mm oil (0.058", 0.058", 0.157"). It's a little tough to find specs on thin rings, but what I can find indicates only small amounts of taper are acceptable, ranging from 0.0002 - 0.0008". These are for recent-model Fords, VWs and Chevy LS engines. And that allowable taper is over the entire cylinder length, whereas the bulge in mine are over only 2" length, so probably a worse situation. In the old days, with thick high-tension rings, taper of 0.010" or even 0.020" was acceptable. I called the ring manufacturer, JE Pistons, and talked to two people - one said the rings would be fine, and the other first said they would be fine, but then inexplicably made a 180, saying he wouldn't run them in my "bulged" cylinders. Neither one could give me a taper spec. Finally, I spoke with someone familiar to some of us, who is respected and does lots of work on these engines, including upgrades to use modern pistons and rings, and he said the bulge was too large for modern rings, especially considering the short distance over which the bulge takes place. He said the lower tension won't follow the diameter variation, leading to poor ring sealing and shorter life. If I decide I can't use the cylinders as they are, then my only option is to buy new larger pistons and have the cylinders bored to a larger oversize. I think I'm inclined to do that, based on the info I've gotten so far, but I wanted to ask you guys and gals for your input before I make such a big (expensive) decision. Keep in mind that I'm rebuilding this engine for longevity, as I intend to drive it and put miles on it. Thanks for your input.
  6. I've read about this pump seizing issue for a couple of years now, or more. I've read about enough instances that I see it as an ongoing or recurring manufacturing problem. There are probably hundreds, or maybe even thousands of these pumps that get sold each year, and I suspect most of them don't have an issue (although I don't know this for sure), but there are enough that do have issues that the problem would seem to warrant more attention by Melling. But what I understand is that Melling almost invariably claims that it's caused by the installer failing to follow the directions that require submerging the pump in oil and spinning the shaft until all air bubbles are eliminated. The trouble with that argument is, there are a lot of folks who say they followed the procedure carefully and to a "T" and thoroughly removed all bubbles and the pump still seized. Upon disassembly, people are finding that the shaft has seized to the housing. The exact culprit is uncertain, but it thought to be either too little clearance between the shaft and housing or a shaft that is not as straight as it should be, or maybe there's still some remaining air pocket that's trapped around the shaft, or maybe a burr at the little oil hole in the housing that feeds the shaft. One guy on the Facebook Flathead 6 group, Ken Holmes, rebuilds these engines exclusively (for customers), and he employs a run-in procedure that involves submerging every pump in oil for 24 hours and then using his milling machine to spin the pump shaft for a period of time, with the pump still fully submerged. Most pumps have not been an issue for him, but even he has had one that seized up during this procedure. As a result of all this, I plan to do like a couple of you guys and reuse the pump out of my previous engine, which has only has around 7000 - 8000 miles, instead of the new Melling pump I bought.
  7. Car and engine look great! And wow, 102K miles and still running well. I like hearing those kinds of stories. Any significant work done to the engine since new (or since last rebuild)? Anything special about the engine that has made it last that long? I know some of these flathead sizes can go that many miles or more, but I also hear about a lot that don't.
  8. The brass coolant distribution tube I bought off eBay a few years ago was advertised as NOS. If it came with any factory packaging, I don't have it any longer, and I don't see any factory markings on the tube itself, but it certainly looks like it's been sitting on a shelf for 70 years, and I don't know of any aftermarket manufacturers who have made them out of brass. So I think it is almost certainly an OEM piece, and if there was any issue with galvanic corrosion, Chrysler corporation would not have used or sold such pieces. Every time I've read about anyone who has experience with brass tubes, they indicate that the brass ones don't rust, even after many decades in an engine block. Definitely cannot say that about the steel ones. Same goes for the brass vs. steel core plugs (freeze plugs), so I bought some of those as well and will use them whenever I get around to completing my flathead engine build.
  9. I agree. It's really interesting and helpful to be able to see in there.
  10. Many aftermarket bearings have been made that way, but it's not correct. It will restrict oil flow to the bearing. You'll need to take a file or Dremel tool with appropriate attachment and open up the hole in the bearing to match the oblong shape of the hole in the engine block.
  11. I bought a new Offy for my 230, over 20 years ago, for under $200 and never used it. I still have it, new in the box, with linkage and everything. I guess I'll sell it one of these days, as I have no plans for the 230. Instead, I'm building up a 265.
  12. Interesting thought..... I haven't assembled the pickup yet, so that's something for me to think about and look at. Maybe there's another way for me to put some space between the new screen and the cover. Food for thought. Thanks!
  13. Looks like an interesting project. It will be cool to see the updates. Also, I should mention they I'm shocked at the price of the Offy manifold. I had to look them up for myself, to verify the price you stated. My memory (which could be faulty) says they were being sold for around $200 just 5 - 6 years ago. Or maybe it was closer to $300, but either way, that was much less than the current pricing. I definitely remember a time when they sold for under $200, although that may have been longer ago - say 15+ years ago(?).
  14. Yes, I've watched my share of those. Good stuff.
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