JBNeal

in lieu of measuring the head thickness, it might be more accurate to measure the chamber volume by clamping a sealed piece of plexiglass (clear acrylic) with a hole drllied in it to add water to the chamber, then measure the extracted water to get an estimated volume of the chamber...with the head gasket thickness, this can give ya an idea of your CR, and then ya can go from there...

additional information - 11" brake drum replacement additional information - 10" brake drum replacement

additional information - steering gearbox dust seal

additional information - Roberts Fuel Level Sending Unit

I made my own pressure bleeder with a small garden pump sprayer (snipped off the spray wand), a 50 psi gauge, and some fittings from Ace Hardware, made an adapter from a spare reservoir plug to attach to the MC, and found that as long as I kept gauge pressure 15-20 psi, that bleeder worked quite well, even though the adapter hissed a bit...I think the gauge was half the cost of the entire contraption...I highly recommend it

A spun connecting rod bearing will put the crankshaft in a bind...

additional information - static ignition timing additional information - maintenance specifications

I suggest turning that crankshaft over several full turns with a wrench on that crank pulley nut, marking the pulley when ya hit the hard spot, to see if that spot is in the same place with each revolution. For good measure, when ya get close to that hard spot, crawl underneath and turn the flywheel teeth with a prybar; that'll give ya a good idea of what the starter is seeing when it is cranking away. Might be a sticky valve that is hard to open and "slow" to close...hopefully not a spun bearing, those usually feel like a tight crankshaft throughout its revolution... additional information - starter ground performance upgrade

As David Letterman would say, you're not plagiarizing or ripping off ideas but merely paying homage to good thinkin'

An old broom handle or plunger handle might work as an alignment dowel in a pinch, might need to be turned down a bit... additional information - throwout bearing installation

Stromberg made a durable carburetor for many years, but they are not indestructible...whenever I resurrect a carb, I take care not to get too aggressive with the castings, using HF brass bristle brushes, small screwdrivers and dental picks to abrade, stiff wire to clean out passages, and sandpaper on flat glass to true up mounting flanges, all by hand (and by ear). The only plugs I remove are for any check balls, cuz those passages get gummed up. Without the proper tool for removal, the main jet can easily be damaged, and sourcing a replacement is a waste of time without that tool. I usually clean a carb in stages: scrape crud after disassembly; chemical clean soaking for a few hours; cleaning with finer tools; true up flanges; chemical rinsing with carb or brake cleaner; final inspection with a small bright light to check passages and cavities for any missed spots; assembly with new parts. And with all of this work, there is no guarantee that the carb will run flawlessly as a fouled or eroded jet or passage can cause performance issues...fought with those on many occasions before moving on to other carburetors that responded more positively to rejuvenation efforts...had a Carter and a Stromberg both give me problems with leaks and stalling before replacing with carbs that worked waaay better after cleaning up...both cases I think were victims of worn jets, but had no way to measure so back on the shelf they went, monuments to hard work and attention to detail with unacceptable results

additional information - brake line routing

The last 3 neighbors that I've done light upgrades for, the very next thing that was noticed was how much cleaning was needed and that the areas needed new paint...that's when I'd agree while walking out the door

that looks like that would work ?

Exactamundo...just takes less work to make and slightly less flow restriction from less tube turning...proximity to the driveline is a tad closer but still practically as safe as the filter...not worth swapping out for now as it should work fine

I recommend extracting that cam and having it magnafluxed for cracks, as well as sourcing a replacement...a problem this early in the process is a lot easier to deal with than after the whole kit and kaboodle is put back together...

I do not want to lecture about multi-viscosity oil characteristics or definitions, but ya might want to study up on the subject a little bit...the flathead was designed to run on SAE 30, so SAE 40 is a little thicker than that original design allowed. Multi-viscosity oils do not thin out with heat as straight weight oils do, so it kinda sounds like them machinists might need to get their facts straight...10W-30 should not be too thin for a flathead, but should flow better than SAE 30 as ambient air temperatures drop below 50°F... FWIW I recently crossed 5 counties to take a gander at a used diesel tractor for my neighbor, and found a few things that the green tractor sales gal neglected to mention when he called about it...dropped her jaw when I was able to kill the battery during a 15 minute operation test, which gave us some leverage when I pointed out the engine oil leak. So the dealer agreed to put some green tractor mechanics on that red tractor to incentivize the sale, and they were able to correct the charging system problem but guessed that the oil leak was the oil pan gasket...that's a 3 day job that requires splitting the tractor (quoted as $3k repair bill) as that diesel engine oil pan is actually a casting that holds the front axle and transmission together...calling a red tractor mechanic, he pointed out that engine has a valve cover breather, that when clogged, would slightly pressurize the crankcase, causing oil to seep out of the crankshaft front seal, which was exactly what I was seeing (a 30 minute cleaning repair). There was a drip on the oilpan, but no oil streaming underneath the tractor; there was caked on oil-soaked dust all under the crank pulley, but no oil slung onto any adjacent parts; and the engine and underhood only had dust on them...all signs that oil leak was very slow and not catastrophic. So back to my original opinion, if ya run the recommended oil viscosity, and keep the crankcase vented (or upgrade to PCV over the draft tube), then that oil leak may not be worth repairing when compared to just cleaning up after the leak and keeping the oil level topped off on a regular basis...

If ya ever have a problem with that line between the tank and pump filter, make the replacement with 2 bends instead of 3 ?

additional information - brake cylinder restoration

Maybe check that wire that goes from coil to distributor ground, easy enough to replace with a fresh conductor...also, I have found that as battery cables age, outward appearance may be OK but corrosion will form between the conductors inside the insulation, driving impedance sky high especially with heat soaking...if replacing that ground cable, a performance upgrade is replacing a starter bolt with a stud, then routing the ground cable to that stud. Another area of interest is any excessive play in the distributor shaft could affect ignition timing, as that shaft would be kinda bouncing around instead of rotating accurately...I'm assuming that the ignition coil is new and matched with the pertronix unit...

additional information - steering column clamp bushing

Timing chain and sprockets need to be replaced as a set; also, chain oiler needs to be cleaned and re-installed... additional information - engine rebuilding

I don't want to sound like a broken record but... If you are concerned with vibration then you need to replace all of the rubber mounts for the engine, transmission and cab, especially if their age is unknown...there are ways to quantify rubber hardness, but I found that I should be able to press my thumbnail into the rubber to distort its surface on isolation bushings such as a motor mount...if I can't do that, then the rubber has hardened and is in a state of degradation, requiring replacement. When I replaced the 55yr old motor, transmission and cab mounts on the '49, it helped dampen vibration significantly. Transmission mounts were replaced by supporting the transmission and removing the mount brackets from the bell housing when more clearance was needed to remove the old rubber. Old rubber was pancaked, hard as chinese calculus, and transferred carbon whenever I held them. But it still had a small vibration going over 50mph, which I attributed to being a 1-ton work truck over 55 yrs old with an engine that probably not perfectly balanced, and the vibration did not change after 10k miles. So I figured that was part of that old beast's character, it's way of hollering at me WHARS THE FIRE

I've been using John Deere Corn Head Grease for years on gearboxes that were cleaned up and re-sealed, and gears turn VERY smoothly...what little grease that seeps out attracts dust, which purty much cakes over that little leak. For best results, fill gearbox as full as possible to displace air and moisture, working gears back and forth to get the grease to settle and flow through the gears and into the bearings

If your tank is out, stand it up so that the majority of the pickup tube is vertical, then fill that tube with diesel, acetone, lacquer thinner, carburetor cleaner, brake cleaner, any strong solvent should work...for best results, plug the bung so the solvent cannot flash off right away...might need more than one application...stiff wire to snake it out afterwards, chase that with some compressed air, rinse out with diesel, might not hurt to plug bung then fill tank with diesel to submerge that pickup line for a few days...if ya could introduce some vibration into that pickup line, that might help shake the crud loose