Rumble1960

It has been a long while since I've posted anything but I have been here on the forums often searching for answers and usually find them. I have a little time so I thought I would post a few pics of my project now in it's 3rd year. Its a 1960 D1oo with the original 230, rebuilt .030 over, with the Langdon set up. I did all the body and paint myself, the frame is semi gloss black and the body is flatblack. It's the first time to do a project of this magnitude. I am now buttoning up the motor so I can start it soon. Some unanswered questions I have are do I have to run 12 Volts to the carb chokes continuously? I am worried about excessive drain on the battery, I am running the stock generator. Also I have put a modern style thermostat in, is that ok? Thanks

YES

DON'T Sandblast the frame while it's attached to the car, BIG Mistake everything will get sand in it and it will never be the same! I'm doing a frame off right now it is the only way to do it right.

It's not always miles that determines the need of a rebuild, in my case my engine needed a rebuild because it sat unused for many years. I had some pitting on the cylinder walls and had to have it bored .030 to clean the cylinders up, it still ran good but I feel better now that its gone.

I'm just completing my engine and have been thinking if I should change the oil pump. I see there is a high volume gear type available for about the same price as a new stock rotor style. Has anyone here used a high volume pump and would recommend it over stock?

to me anything around pre 1972 before the smog days should only be considered classics for now anyway, maybe in 10 years or so I might reconsider.

Get a rebuild kit for it, and make sure the new parts are compatible with today's fuel.

Very eye catching car, good luck with the marriage!

I found this paint today that is very close to the cast blast made by Dupli-Color, it is called "cast coat aluminum".

rolliejoe, yes they are Langdon headers, so is the carb set up. I got the heat kit with it also. It was probably not my first choice but it was the easiest to get and from what I have read offers good driveability. Normspeed , I went out and looked at my timing cover bolts and they all look the same except for the 3 that have nuts on the back. The bolts all have a curved washer on them maybe the size of a nickel, do these sound like the right ones or maybe they have been changed and I need to find the correct ones?

yes a 230, well slightly over now with the .030 overbore!

The paint on the head and block is called "cast blast" not sure who makes it. I received then back from the machine shop that way. I just called them today to ask what it was they used and they informed me that it's not suitable to use on the tin parts such as the pan, timing cover etc. So I'm going tomorrow to try and find an engine paint that's a close match. The cast blast is like a primer and not suitable as a top coat, clearcoating may be a good option though, never thought of that. The old mopar in the back ground is a 1960 Dodge Sweptline short box pick up, that is the last year the flathead was used in the D100 trucks. This is the original motor built in August of 59 to the truck. I was sure tempted to put a V8 in but I think the flathead will be way cooler when it's done. Thanks for the comments.

My flattie is getting close to being done, although it has been a struggle I'm excited about seeing it come together. It was bored .030 over, the head had to be planed down .030 also. Valve seats were reground and new valves installed. Crank was polished and checked along with the rods, both staying with standard bearings. The block was boiled but I had to do a lot more cleaning with a wire and pressure washer. One of the biggest troubles I had was with the rear main which was supplied buy a popular Flathead parts supplier. It was so hard that it's ends didn't conform properly when I tried to tighten down the bearing cap. I found another on ebay which was a mopar part and arrived in very good condition and installation was straight forward. I had good success buying many parts on ebay, but it is very time consuming. I'm now about to start painting parts, the original color was gold but I like the way it looks in the grey primer, so I'm going to coat it with a good grey engine paint. I'm also figuring out the throttle linkage and fuel lines. Also I want to thank the many members here who answered all my questions along the way I'm sure there will be plenty more!

looks like a great project, keep updating us along the way, I just got done rebuilding my first flathead, I'm not an expert on them but sure know a lot more than when I started

thanks for the photo's Merle have never seen anything like it, does anyone know what the reasoning for the slot was?

WOW looks great, did you polish your Offy manifold? Were the carbs gold to begin with?

thanks that explains it, so replacement pistons can go onto the rod either way then I take it.

I have read where it is mentioned to install the piston with the slot onto the rod so that it is opposite the oiling hole in the rod, I have yet to see a difference from one side of the piston to the other. I have already installed new Sealed Power pistons but don't have the pan on so I checked again and don't see what the book is talking about, I have the old std not original pistons on the bench and cannot see anything different from one side to the other there either, can someone please clear this up for me.

using diesel to get a froze engine free has worked very well for me in the past. Let it sit and tap each piston once in a while using the bottom of a hammer handle just as if you were installing a piston, put a breaker bar and socket on the crank pulley bolt and try and move it a bit at a time, keep adding diesel along the way if needed. Good luck sounds like a fun project, I'm just getting mine back together sure has been a learning experience.

another thing I'm pretty sure I have right but would like confirmed is when the oil pump is installed the slot in the end of the shaft should be in line with the motor from front to back. I played with this for quite a while and this places the distributor when installed with the rotor pointing precisely to #1 spark plug wire. How does this sound to you guys?

I set up the crank and cam timing marks as indicated in the service manual, the crank gear's mark at 10 o'clock and the cam gears mark at 4 o'clock. No problem as far as I know but I would have thought this would put #1 piston at the top of the compression stroke but it is actually #6 that is at the top of the compression stroke, #1 is actually on the compression stroke when the crank gear mark is again at 4 o'clock and the cam gear mark is at 10 o'clock. Am I understanding this correctly, I think the cam gear can only install on the cam one way so I think I'm good but I want to make sure.

dogs at car shows/ cruise nights not a good idea.

I'm about to order mufflers to hook up to my split headers, I've listened to several YouTube videos and from what I can tell the Smithy's sound the best. Any other suggestions from guys that are around flatheads a lot more than me would be appreciated.

sounds like it's time for the carb to come off for a cleaning. The low speed circuit sounds like it's partially plugged. You might want to freshen up spark plugs, dist cap, points, wires etc. if it's been a while.

I like spray on type sealer, spray both sides of the gasket install while still tacky, also use some sealer on the bolts as they go right into the block and are exposed to oil.