Fargone

How well did the Clester's stuff work for you? I'm about to order weatherstripping and I'd like to make the job as easy as possible (ya right)! Your feedback would be most helpful.

The window components and weather stripping can be purchased from a few places but Clester's seems to get the most good feedback. http://www.clestersauto.com/Pages/DodgeTrucks.aspx

As a side bar to all the great offers today we did succeed in tearing down the the seized 218 today. What a pile of work that was. Everything is harder when you can't turn the engine over, the valve train was a nightmare, cam was seized, 5 valves seized into the seats & 3 pistons required exorcisms. One piston died of blunt force trauma. When the carnage was over the block looks none the worse for wear. Let's just hope it's solid after a very hard day on the engine stand.

Thanks you are now plan "C"

I agree starting with a later model larger flatty would be best and I'm looking for victims, trust me. I've just located an engine with potential and I'm currently gathering information about it, if it pans out I'll buy it. I really want to stay with a flathead, but that desire has to balanced against budget. A V8 is not a realistic option at this point of the project. If the other engine doesn't work out I can go to plan "B". Plan "B" is based on research I've done on this site and others, if my 218 block is good I can bore it out and use the crank, rods and pistons from my 1950 giving me 237 cubic incher. While it's not a 251/265 it is a better starting point than the standard 218.

Well I got the front clip off my truck and as advised I took several measurements and photos to help with re-installation. I've discovered more rust than I'd hoped to see on the firewall /cab hidden behind the fender skirts. I've been pretty lucky for the most part, this truck has held up well for all the years it's been parked outside with bad weatherstripping. With any luck I should have the old 218 out tomorrow and on the engine stand for inspection. The big test is going to be my mechanic friend vs the stuck piston I can't wait for this tussle.

That is awesome. I'm gonna do the same thing to mine forget fuel injection. Dual carbs for the win!

Well crappy news from the machine shop, my 1950 block is cracked. I had high hopes for this engine it turned freely and seemed like a good candidate for rebuild. It's much better to find out early before any serious effort and money are spent. The cranks is straight and with a grind it will work in another engine. I sure hope I can salvage the block from my seized 1951 engine.

I'm currently looking into fuel injection as an option on my flat head, my mechanic friend thinks it's quite feasible to use one of the self contained smaller 2 barrel throttle body units. I'm not so sure but maybe.

In order to move the build ahead I decided not to wait for my valve spring compressor to arrive. I took my engine to the shop that will hot tank it, mag particle and measure it up. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse, they would pull them for $75 as part of my inspection work. I'm curious to see if the internals are still standard dimensions with the pistons being .040 O/S I have my doubts. I could not believe the amount of slug and garbage in the water jackets of this engine, I've disassembled several more modern engines and this engine had more junk in it then all of them combined....

I hope I was correct in the assumption that a conventional over head valve spring tool is too big for the flat head. By my eye the work area seems quite a small. I ordered a tool from Goodson. https://www.goodson.com/CF-122-L-Head-Manual-Spring-Compressor/

I think that unit is too big to fit the application, I was looking at it this morning and I put it back.

Well I thought I'd pop out and get a valve spring tool for the flat head... not so much. I had to order one from the USA no one had one in Edmonton. Any alternative suggestions guys? I'd like to finish disassembling this engine.

My engine on the home made cradle waiting for disassembly. The carnage begins and the damage is evaluated.

Thanks guys the fire has indeed been awful, but the people of Fort McMurray are tough and they will bounce back in time. Well my friend Sieggy and I tore down the old 228 and found a fair amount of internal wear. The engine will need pretty much the full suite of machining. The cylinders appear really good and do measure up well. The crank on the other hand has a few grooves worn into it. The cam has some nasty chipping that almost look like the cam was dropped during the last rebuild and used anyway. I will be spending some time to track down a machine shop in Edmonton with some vintage engine experience.