Bryan

An off note but two things. How do y'all feel about running the wires bunched together in 2 metal tubes? All for keeping original but seems like a rubber or plastic separator would be better. I measured the weight of 3 original pistons, and they were 518.4, 515.8 and 518.1 grams. These 6 NOS ELKO pistons are weighing from 475.8 to 481.0 grams. A lot lighter. They are the 2.0 compression height pistons.

The guy on Ebay was telling me the letters could be cleaned off their wires, but I've had enough cleaning with the pistons. These will get me through a few years. MEK..methyl ethyl ketone? Without me looking it up.

After cutting grass this morning alongside the pond with a push mower, got wore out and used the afternoon looking at spark plug wires. Kind of got ticked, the nice quality ones (Taylor - MSD) have giant white letters on the wires. I don't wear T shirts with big ads plastered across them either. Was about to buy from my usual place on Ebay, didn't like the combination of parts adding up. Found another place I've used, Brillman, with copper core, black shiny PVC covered wires and no lettering. $ 11.50 flat rate mailing. Might not be high tech silicone covered but think they'll do.

T Flathead Six Engines (t137.com) Maybe someone popped another head on it.

Oh well..reckon I'll go with the regular stuff. Ordered the 144 Hastings .030 oversize. Last ones. Total about $70 included shipping. Reckon if they are gapped properly, keep the revs below 3600 and don't let the carbon build up I'll be okay. Crap.. None of the rings on the 48 or 53 block were broke even though they had a lot of carbon. Maybe I just need to calm down.

Yeah but it seems like their chrome rings only come in standard size. Didn't really want chrome through. Might just have to settle for their cast rings 0.030" over. The Sealed Power listing stating ductile was only on Rock Auto..

Might not be that much for the top ring, which is the most stressed. The only ductile was from Sealed Power and they said that is wrong. You know of any other brands?

Problem is that I haven't seen moly coated ductile rings for ours yet. Started writing ring manufacturers. 2 nopes so far.

From what I'm reading chrome resists wear from dirt abrasion but wears the bore more. Reckon it would be better to have the rings wear faster than the bore. I don't know why they don't make our rings from modern materials. Only know of NOS, Sealed Power and Hastings rings for ours. They do have chrome but I know I don't want that. Sealed Power had conflicting info, one place they said ductile, another cast. I wrote to them and they said their rings weren't ductile. Was reading cast rings seem to seat faster, are not as sensitive to honing quality, but don't last as long.

I was looking for different rings than what Sealed Power and Hastings were offering. Custom rings. Kept thinking there has to be a modern substitute for cast iron, that seems brittle. Didn't want chrome rings. Contacted Total Seal and Precision rings, they don't make them for cars (at least not ours). Was looking at Grover ring site and ran across this. Cast Iron Piston Ring Suppliers | Grover Corporation The microstructure and chemistry of GC-211 cast iron offers the ideal material for wear and lubricity in a wide range of bore materials. Yeah, yeah..cast iron. I want the better "ductile iron". Then I see this.. Ductile Iron Piston Rings | Grover corporation Does not have the microstructure matrix of Grover’s piston ring iron GC-211 and will induce higher wear on the bore. WTH? Might just quit looking and go with Hastings. Opinions? Anybody?

That sounds awfully expensive for the work. I would check other options..

Finally finished with the pistons. Even deburred on the insides. Highly recommended. Found some pieces that just fell off when you rubbed them with sandpaper or the rounded end of a file. Was going to weigh rods but would have had to find the baggy with the nuts.

If you are not going to run an original Desoto radiator I'd go with a modern one, and pick one with measured width & height needed plus extra space for adding angle brackets. Something like this. Look at dimensions listed at bottom scroll down. Amazon.com: OzCoolingParts 55-57 Chevy Radiator, 55mm 3 Row Core All Aluminum Radiator for 1955-1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air, Del Ray Nomad, One-Fifty & Two-Ten Series, L6 V8 Engines : Automotive

The search default goes to "any of the words". I always have to remember to click on the "all of the terms" to get anything meaningful. Then it's trying to pick common terms people might use. Wish the default was changed.

Taking the cleaned up NOS pistons and deburring them. Slow work. Pics show before.

Well dang, it took some doings but I sent it off in the "game box".. I ask the first lady..nope, largest flat rate box are these..about 14" long. I told her, I saw it on the USPS site that there is a $21.50 large box that is 23 1/2" long. Well, we don't have those here. Another USPS lady passing by us, oh, that's the "game box", it's flat rate. First lady, I didn't know it was flat rate.. Anyway, thanks a bunch for the info. The cam fits diagonally with a slight 1/4" bulge in the "game box". SC to WA for $21.50 regardless of weight. I wrapped it all around with packaging tape and had styrofoam hard squares cut from an old TV shipping box.

Just did, I didn't trust the self seal sticky. Wrapped around the whole box end with packaging tape.

You're right ..reckon she didn't want to suggest anything else. I'll go back up there today and pick up a box. Thanks.

Thanks for the warning. Won't do that again. Been feeling crappy for about a week but that was waaaay after cleaning block. Was the day after I cut grass for 3 hrs.

Went to send the camshaft off to Delta for a regrind - Nope. $52 for 7 day USPS one way. Reckon the way back is the same. Going to look for local grinder or buy a "new" one.

It's probably some kind of gasket. Maybe some kind of sealant from the inside at the bottom? Or a light tap with a flat hammer from the inside on the bevel to flatten it more against the gasket? Hard call.

Carb base leaking doesn't usually happen suddenly. Neither do valves getting out of adjustment. Something breaking loose like a piece of trash on the float valve would happen suddenly, a spring breaking would be sudden, maybe condenser going bad (anybody?). I know my freaking muffler got suddenly loud over a few days and made me think the manifold Y pipe gasket blew (nope). Before anything else -> Humor me -> On that sisson choke.. warm the car up and wire the choke plate on the carb open so it can't possibly move.

Before in Oct 21 you had the same problem but said it was okay after you put the old carb back on. https://p15-d24.com/topic/56707-carb-issues/?do=findComment&comment=609787 I noticed on this post you said both carbs had been rebuilt. When you corrected the same problem previously by swapping carbs, did you later rebuild the old one that was working?

Hide the hammers. You haven't seen me with my old truck sometimes. It can be irritating. What about the wire in the distributor? Think others have had trouble with that, but don't know about the symptoms. These things don't slip timing chains, but wonder if something like the spring advance in the distributor broke? One person said to check the base where the carb fits (not the carb) for leaks. How was that? Did the problem start gradually over time or suddenly? Would think valve adjustment problems would be a gradual issue that would get progressively worse. If all else fails pull the muffler.

That's how I felt. When I broke my already cracked exhaust manifold, I replaced it with $300 something new dual headers, about the cheapest option. If I had to replace my radiator and originals were too expensive, I'd go for a modern one. Want to keep everything original but I'm not going for prizes at a show. Probably just driving around for fun.