Matt Wilson

It seems that you could use a dial indicator to measure the clearance, per the specs in the rebuild manual and use those measurements to determine if you need to ream the guides or not.

This is a very interesting thread. It's fascinating to see the innards of an earlier flathead than the kind that most of us are used to working on.

Thanks, that seems a lot more in line with what I would expect. The Buick is not a flathead, right? Not sure if that makes a difference or not, since the lifters in a flathead are closer to the exhaust region. What's the diameter supposed to be on those Buick lifters?

No, actually, none of the above. Well, I don't know the mileage on it, but the engine had never been rebored, and the crank journals were all standard size. The engine wasn't particularly gunked up either. It was definitely time for a rebuild, but I don't know why the lifters are as loose as they are. Now, my previous engine - the one with the trails of metal debris coming from the lifter bores - it had been rebuilt at least once before I rebuilt it, so it's more understandable on that one.

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I'm really leaning toward getting the bores oversized, as long as I can find a shop that will do a good job of it. A lot of machine shops don't do this kind of work, and I don't want one that says, "sure, we'll try it."

Hi guys, I'm rebuilding a 265 to go into my '49 Power Wagon, and I checked the clearances between the tappets and their bores. One manual says to use a dial indicator, and says the indicator reading is the actual clearance, so I did that, exactly as shown in the figure provided in the manual. Most of the readings are 0.0025 - 0.003", with a couple of them being 0.0035", a couple being 0.0015 or 0.002" and one being 0.004". Two manuals say the clearance should be 0.000 - 0.001" and another says it should be 0.000 - 0.0007". Obviously, my readings are far beyond that, but I also have a hard time believing the clearance should be as small as the manuals say. That just seems like asking for trouble to have such a tight fit. Looking online to find clearance specs for lifters in other engines, it seems that most of them call for a minimum of 0.001" and as much as 0.0025" or some even say 0.003" is ok. Of course, these are for engines like Chevy and Ford V8's, but at least they are for lifters with flat bottoms (not roller lifters). Even so, most of my readings are at or beyond those upper limits. I also measured the tappet diameters and found them all to be less than minimum for new parts (not too surprising, I suppose), and several are approaching the wear limit. The new part dimensions are 0.6235 - 0.6240" and the wear limit is 0.6225". Several of mine were in the 0.6227 - 0.6232" range. I have a set of NOS 0.008" oversize tappets that I could take to a machine shop and have them bore out the holes, but sometimes doing something to fix a problem can cause more trouble. Do I really need to worry about the clearances I'm seeing? I'm a little leery of leaving them as is, because I had a 230 flathead with similar clearances and 3 or 4 of the tappets/bores eventually produced oily trails full of metal shavings. I don't know if that's because of the looseness of the tappets in their bores or something else. I seem to remember that some tappets didn't rotate like they should. I suppose they could have been the same ones producing metal shavings, but I don't know for sure. I'd like to hear your input. If I do use the oversize lifters, what clearance do you recommend? Thanks, Matt

FYI - I spoke with George Asche last year, regarding engine rebuilding, and recommended using a drill bit to open up the hole in the little oil nozzle that oils the chain. He said the factory size is a little small and doesn't provide quite as much oil as it should for long chain and sprocket life. He didn't know exactly what size drill bit he uses, but just said, "it's the first one in the set." Of course, the size of the first one in the set all depends on which set one owns. At any rate, I'm sure opening it up any amount at all will help.

I guess you must be talking about a recommendation from George regarding break-in oil? When I spoke to George about a year-and-a-half ago, he recommended using Amsoil for the regular oil. He said he got somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 miles out of one flathead that used Amsoil. If there's no harm is using zinc, I may use it too. It's not like it's gonna break the bank or anything. It's been a while since I looked at Amsoil's website, but I think they have a zinc additive available. If we're worried about cost, then we probably shouldn't own these cars.

I think the slow-turning fan was just an illusion caused by the camera recording speed. I believe the engine was idling the whole time it appeared to be cranking slowly. You can see the fan appear to speed up, slow down, even go backward throughout the video. Maybe you knew that and were just joking, but I thought I'd mention it, in case you weren't joking.

Andy Bernbaum, Terrill Machine in Texas, Vintage Power Wagons. These are just the ones I can think off-hand. I know there are others. Also, you can get some parts, such as pistons, crankshaft bearings, piston rings, gasket sets, timing chains and gears, valves and valve guides from places like O'Reilly Auto Parts and NAPA, although they won't have complete rebuild kits.

Ok, I wonder if they got some more in stock. Last time I inquired about them (last year, I think?), they said they could not get them anymore. I may have to check back with them. Thanks.

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I've been wondering what you guys do to mount items to the top of the engine, when you no longer use the factory bolts that have the threaded recesses in the heads? For example, on my engine, there are short bolts that hold the horn in place by threading into the recesses in the heads of the head bolts. Many people use new bolts that are intended for Chevy engines, and they work fine for the primary function of holding the head in place, but they don't have threaded recesses to accommodate the bolts for the horn and other items.

Hi Walt, I did the search just now, and I remember seeing that post before. The thing that strikes me is that someone else chimed in and mentioned exhaust lock washers, thinking they were the same as the ones you mentioned, and thinking they were the same as the lock washers used on our rods, but I'm pretty sure those exhaust washers are what VPW had, and they turned out not to be correct. I just caution the buyer of any such washers to be observant to see how the washers fit. It's not difficult at all to tell if you have incorrect ones. It was fairly obvious that the ones I bought were not correct, when I test-fitted them, as they did not fit down into the rod cap washer recess.

Regarding the rod washers, I had also gotten some washers from VPW, and they were too large. They looked kind of close but they didn't sit properly in the recesses of the caps. So make sure yours fit correctly into those recesses. That was just last year, and the washers for the 265 are the same as for the other flatheads. A for the nut torque, I spoke to George Asche, who has rebuilt literally hundreds of these flatheads in his long life, and he said he applies engine oil to the threads and torques up the nuts to 45 ft-lbs.

As for rod bolts, I would usually recommend replacing them, but unfortunately, some of them are so unique, you can't find new or NOS replacements, so you have no choice (as far as I can tell) but to find the best used ones you can and re-use them. Primarily, I'm thinking of the rod bolts from the 265 flathead engine. Those bolts are unlike the bolts used in any of the other flatheads, and are not interchangeable with bolts from any other engine I've ever seen. I exhausted all of the old car parts suppliers I could find, but couldn't find any NOS bolts. I even contacted ARP bolts about making new ones, but the price would be prohibitive. I have the 12 bolts from my 265, and I managed to find another 10 bolts, so I plan to look through them to pick the best-looking ones when I assemble the engine. I spoke to my machinist, and he said it's nice to get new bolts, but most people just re-use their old rod bolts, and as long as they are not racing or doing a lot of other high-rev operations, they usually don't have a problem.

Wow, nice! I also commend you on this decision. While these blocks are still available, it's nice to see someone go to these lengths to save one. They're not being manufactured any more, and someday, we (or the next generations) will wish they could find these kinds of parts. So the longer we can make them all last, the better it will be for all of us.

Be aware that I ordered some rod lock washers from Vintage Power Wagons about a year ago, and when I received them, they were too large. They said they didn't have any other sizes, so they gave me a refund. It's possible that they've since corrected their stock, so it's still worth a try, but I just wanted you to be aware that they may not be the right ones. Let us know how they work out.

A few months ago, I weighed a bare 230 block, no head, no crank, no rods or pistons, no flywheel, no camshaft, no lifters, valves or timing chain or timing gears, no oil pump, no water pump or any accessories...so literally a bare block, and it was 150 lbs. I have also weighed a 230 crankshaft, and it was about 75 lbs. Add a few pounds for the pistons and rods, a few more for the camshaft, lifters and valves, a few more for the oil pump, and a few more for the timing chain and gears, and you are probably talking in the neighborhood of 300 - 350 for a block and its internals. This does not include oil pan, the valve covers, or the front engine mounting plate, the timing cover, the intake or exhaust manifolds, or distributor, either.

Yes, 7/16 and 1/2 are the correct sizes for the tappet wrenches. I just now verified this on the tappets I have sitting in a box in my garage.

You could try jacking up the front end of the car, so it clears the ground, and see how much effort it takes to turn the steering wheel. It shouldn't be terribly difficult to turn it when it's on the ground, although it will, if course, be more difficult at slow speeds or fully stopped.

I've always used regular wrenches, not tappet wrenches. Works ok. However, I have thought about buying some tappet wrenches to make the job a little easier.

Can't seem to make the poll work, but I'll reply here. I'm 48 and have had my '49 Dodge Power Wagon since I was 20. Bought it in El Paso, TX, from my boss at the time, who was a good man, for $50 plus tax, title, etc, for a grand total of about $120. Of course, it needed a lot of work, but still a heck of a deal. Didn't need to do much to get the engine running and get the whole thing in somewhat driveable condition. Drove it on and off throughout part of the 1990's, then rebuilt the engine and other stuff in the early 2000's and used it as my only means of transportation for over a year in 2004 - 2005 time frame. Used it as our get-away vehicle when my wife and I got married. Unfortunately, there were other issues with the truck, and then with the engine (that's a story in itself), and then family and work and other obligations took priority, so it has sat for the last 10 years. Now I'm finally working in earnest to get it going again, including a 265 flathead transplant to replace the 230 that was in it. I hope to have it driving later this year.

So far, I think this may be the one I like best. I'm really leaning toward this color scheme - gray with black accents - on my 265, whenever I get it assembled. I'm also digging the chrome covers on the head bolts.

You might want to talk to one of the cam re-grinders for some input. D. Elgin cams (separate from Elgin Cam) is one. Also, there is a cam grinder in Tacoma, WA, named Delta Camshaft, that has done cams for some guys with these engines. There are other places, too, and maybe someone else will chime in with the names of those.

Yep, I spoke to them, and they thought a damper would not be needed, although they didn't seem to be 100% sure. I don't think it was based on personal experience with a 265 in a Power Wagon. A 265 in a Power Wagon is not a common transplant, so there aren't a lot of guys with experience with that. And of course, a Power Wagon may not be the same in this regard as a 40 Plymouth, as owned by the original poster.