Los_Control

How about a youtube video of it happening?

Just my 2 cents. Last year while working on my truck I thought would remove the steering wheel & removed the linkage on the column. When I put it all back together I found I had no reverse gear. I then found when I reached down and put both transmission arms in neutral , I could then shift using the shifter. I then realized my shifting linkage adjustment is out of whack. I have the shift rods and there is adjusting nuts on them. The linkage rods are in mid air. Is it the bottom nut that needs to come up? Or is it the top nut that needs to come down? I will find out. Just saying if your transmission jumped into gear, I would suspect bad linkage adjustment and start there.

This would be a very rare issue. I am 59 years old ... think I have seen 2 cars do this. The truck talked about above. Then there was a old beater impala with a V8 did same thing. Would take certain circumstances to recreate it. Normally if you have a leak there you will hear it, and fix it or not. Will just leak and not randomly go KAPOW! Seems when you have one that kinda sorta leaks but not always so you can hear it while running. Almost like hunting unicorns. Possibly the gasket has some damage, maybe a warped tail pipe flange, it is normally sealed but enough back pressure at the right time, the route opens up and cold air is sucked in meets the hot air and KAPOW! Just not convinced a photo of the installed gasket will help. Not even convinced this is your problem. Both times I have seen it in 50 years, were not my cars and I never fixed them. Has others seen this and fixed it?

That reminds me of another truck. Early 60's chebby 6cyl. I was a carpenter on a project, the older gentleman was the Finish carpenter and was his truck. The truck was cherry, ran perfect well taken care of. It was quiet. Every now and then when running it, would pop so loud it sounded like a hunting rifle going off. I heard it a couple times, was always in the parking lot. Either going to lunch or going home ... so not really when warm. I was just a dumb kid with no clue, he was puzzled by it. Eventually he did find it was the gasket between the exhaust manifold and the tail pipe. A new gasket cured it. Something about cold air and hot air colliding. Just throwing ideas out there of past experience. If the gasket is questionable, it may be worth the time to just change it or at least inspect it ... if it is actually loose, maybe tighten it would be enough. If not physically loose I would inspect it.

Be interesting to see which years had the wood tailgate inserts? You have something custom that was never original for any year.

The main plan is to have it, if it is safe and no issues where it is, keep it there. Nobody says you have to move it. Just enjoy it

Welcome to the forum, love your story and your father sounds cool First thing when these old engines sit, the valves passing through the valve guides, the oil gets gummed up and valves stick. So when the cam rotates in the engine, the cam lobe goes down, the valve spring just not strong enough to pull the valve back down with it. You have zero compression on that cylinder. The valve is stuck open .... A little push with your finger will close it ... if you could reach it. The other thing with the materials these old rings were made of, they tend to stick to the pistons after sitting for many years. Again you end up with no compression and a no start on these old engines. There may be a chance you can cure this by filling the cylinders with oil, atf/acetone 50/50% mix. Or straight marvel mystery oil. First thing is to run a compression check, write down what you have now. Then fill with oil of choice and let sit for a few days or a few weeks. And repeat a few times. Check your compression and see i coming up. Very common these old flatheads lose compression while sitting, lubrication is the only cure .... while sometimes they were wore out before parked and a rebuild is needed. The compression check to see where you are, then again later to see what you gained ... may be your best friend to see what you gained with soaking in oil.

Yeah distance is a issue. Nice when you can just walk outside and spend 10 min or a day with it. No idea what your distance is ... mine ended up being 1200 miles. I ended up giving away the project to someone that would keep it out of the scrap yard. I kept the rusty hope brake kit, the new gas tank. Sadly the new motor went to a scrapper. Life is what we make of it ... I kept my new parts and shipped to my new house. I once had a pressure plate that was glued to a flywheel with a clutch disk in between ... I tried everything, I put away the plastic mallet and took a 3# sledge to it ... would not budge. What worked was a small 6" scraper that would use for spreading mud on drywall repairs, put it in-between the clutch & flywheel and smacked it with a hammer, it just fell apart with the wedge in it. I was just amazed a clutch could get this stuck. Same with your head. It is stuck, a small thin knife of sorts used as a wedge on the front? Just make sure is between gasket and block or head.drive it in with a hammer. The wedge will pop it loose. A, the lil drywall tool will bend before it destroys the surface of the head or block. B, the head gasket does not seal on the edge, just smooth off any damage that would be impossible to cause with a drywall knife. C, I would stick a small wedge and use mechanical force as a hammer to drive it ... If needed add a bigger wedge. It will pop off. Any damage would be in a location non critical, all would clean up fine. I doubt you would find any damage. Nobody would ever know.

My humble opinion, the 3:73 gears is the sweet spot for a stock 218/230 flathead/3spd Very possible you already have a 3:73. I would inspect the brake drums on it. They are not so easy to find. I know of one person making new ones, seems they were $300-$400 each. Shoes are available along with hydraulics. You can buy used drums. So that was my deciding factor, the condition of the drums ... if bad replace the rear end now. If good and mine are, then repair the brakes, replace any obvious leaking seals, use the rear end as is. Now concentrate on the motor/trans/clutch/steering and drive it. Then make a educated decision from experience if you want to swap the rear end for better gearing. You want your rear gears to match your engine. Since you are going with a edgy head, dual carbs .. headers I assume, what about a custom grind cam or ??? Your stock rear end will give you a baseline or a starting point, you may find you want 3:55 I have heard of some using 3:23. If you find a overdrive trans, kinda spendy ... you may now want 3:90 gears for it. A T-5 trans from a S-10 or mustang is a pretty common swap, not nearly as expensive as a good usable factory overdrive. Might be a good swap while you have the motor out. Again the stock rear end may be perfect already. So, this is why I am keeping my stock rear end for now.

They are 1.5/8" brass welsh plugs. A google search will provide many results. Here is a photo from Ebay they want $2.83 each.

Sigh note to self .... replace my freeze plugs ... again. I replaced mine with brass plugs, cleaned all the casting sand out while doing it. Because I did not know any better, I installed them with the concave side in ... thats what they look like when installed? I now know that you install them with the curved side out, then when you smack em with a hammer, the metal expands and makes a tight fit ... now the concave side is in and not out. I already have new soft plugs here to correct my mistake ... hey ho they dont leak ... seeing your post, I better move them up closer on the list before hitting the road.

The 2/0 is actually pretty stout. I believe it is used on modern diesel trucks which often have 2 batteries running starter off of 24 volts. Mine is labeled as 2/0 / 62mm welding cable. With battery ends attached. Main thing, it is used on modern cars and readily available in local parts stores. So while not original they do work.

Totally is your decision, Everybody is different. I think for many it is a hobby and fun or relaxing to work on these old cars. Driving them is a bonus. There is no race to finish them ... just having a project & a goal is enough for me. I am currently taking a break from mine while I catch up on on other adult things. Fix the wife car, maintenance on my daily driver ... home maintenance. I was planning to get back on to mine by October, now November may be new target date. Depending on the weather, really might be next spring at this point. While waiting on parts for my wife car, couple weeks ago I was able to buy the toe board and transmission cover I was missing. So today am prepping them to get into primer and set away for when I get back to the truck .... just 1 more bite out of the elephant. Honest it is not a race to finish your project. Same time if you are not having fun, maybe you should sell it. Others would rather buy a finished car, and start driving it to meets and social events. They maintain the cars with normal maintenance, a few improvements then in a couple years when time is right, sell it and buy something different to drive. Sometimes I think these guys are the smart ones. Let someone else do all the hard work, spend the money to build them ... then take a bath when they sell them.

possible just a valve job was done, very possible is a rebuilt engine with little or no miles .... I would pull the head while it is out and inspect the cylinders. Just in case some moisture got in while sitting over the years. Just clean the cylinders and some oil on the rings. Certainly worth a gasket set to protect a new engine. My Uncle gave me a motor like that. The Texaco gas station down the street installed a rebuilt engine in a customers 1950 dodge truck. The customer never came back to pay for it or pick it up. Mechanic sold truck with no title to my Uncle for $500 to pay for the engine. Uncle had a friend who wanted the body, they went in 1/2 on it. Engine sat in a shed for 25 years and never got used. The cylinders did need to be cleaned but they cleaned up easily.

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I have a 2/0 ground wire ... a much smaller 12 volt cable for the positive. All that was available at local parts store. So I only bought the 1 wrong cable that was fried on my truck. The 12 volt + cable was there and left it. Really is ground that is most critical. And something to remember when looking for a solution to a electrical problem ... On a 6 volt positive ground car. I am only saying, running the 2/0 ground and chincy 20 year old 12 volt cable. My truck starts fine. The only issue it has is no gas tank, run it off a gas can, got to crank it for several min to get gas to carb. So when letting it sit for several weeks without starting .... it will crank over and start after the fuel pump fills the carb. I am just giving my 2 cents. I know a 2/0 cable works for a + ground. I know the 12 volt cables are not right, but to get you by, they work fine on the negative side of the battery. If 2/0 cable starts me up fine in the driveway, I imagine 1/0 will be better. Nothing wrong with 0/0. Who knows, I may buy either when I actually re-wire the truck .... I may end up with 2/0 cable and not care.

Could be regional, here in Texas we put the junk on the drivers side, put the good stuff on the passenger side for the misses. ? ? ?

I was taught years ago that you can test valves by holding a dollar bill over the end of your tail pipe. A engine is a air pump, it should blow the dollar bill straight out in the air. Now if the bill flutters back and forth and gets sucked back to the tail pipe, you have something going on with the valves. Could be burnt valves, could be timing etc... Just a quick simple test you can try to get a clue where to look next. Really handy if you are out inspecting a used car to buy & condition of engine. Another possibility to go along with @squirebill Years ago when I was 22 years old and had a 1961 Dodge truck that we generally just used to haul trash to the dump once a month, no local garbage service. Wife was driving the /six 4spd down the freeway and it had a huge backfire. She really thought blew a tire and pulled over. All the tires were good and was running fine, she just drove off again. So the next Saturday I went out and looked at it. There was a explosion in the crank case and the dipstick was 1" shorter and curled up. I had to stand on fender to pull it out. That truck had a leaky carb, the oil had gas in it, the exhaust manifold leaked. We still drove it for two years after that, then went to little brother & he sold it still running a year after that. Just a lot of maybe here on condition of the motor. What does the dollar bill test show ... run a compression test. how is the carb, you have any exhaust leaks at the manifold where a bad valve can suck in cold air? Does the vacuum advance work properly. Lots of variables here to go wrong. Will need some serious testing & back & forth banter to fix it over the internet.

I wonder if the springs are really needed on the longer wheel base. On the shorter 108" wheel base the factory tank bolts to front & rear cross member. Cross members connected to both frame rails seems the tank could get more flex and the springs would get used. The 116" wheel base they moved the rear cross member back, then just added a bracket to the frame for tank to bolt to. Soooo, if the tank is just bolted to one frame rail, the tank will just move with it and the springs would not get used. Just saying I have thought about it, I have a 108" wheel base but my tank is made by "Tanks", I need to use the bracket not cross member. I do not think I need the springs. But I have the springs and in good shape so will use them.

Thats the trick I have been reading about. Would be common for someone like me, to think the paper was to protect the sensor during packaging & remove it before installation. In reality it is the tool that sets the proper gap for the sensor and needed during installation. I think the new sensor comes with a paper spacer, I ordered a extra spacer just to have spare one in case. The link to carpro.com is pretty interesting. They claim that a camshaft sensor can fail, could cause some hesitation or strange symptoms. Will throw a code. But the engine will still run, since the ECM gets it's information from the crankshaft sensor, has enough information to bypass the failed cam sensor. I have the code for no camshaft sensor signal. When cold sometimes it will die at a stop sign, never while driving. Drive for 15 min and will not die anymore. Seems possible I have been driving for some time with a bad camshaft sensor, now the crankshaft sensor has failed and will not start? So even if the car runs after replacing the crankshaft sensor, I feel I need to replace the camshaft sensor also. Here is what carpros says about it. I do not know if it is true. Symptoms of a Bad Camshaft Sensor When a cam sensor goes bad it will cause the check engine light to come on and produce a trouble code. It can also cause the engine to run rough while the car is at cruising speed or at idle. Due to the lack of feedback information to the computer this sensor problem can cause an engine stumble or hesitation. Though some think the engine will not start if this sensor goes out but this is simply not true because the computer will always use the crankshaft angle sensor to allow the engine to run.

For me it is the 2:00 am wake up call. No idea what it is ... you run into a problem at work as a remodel carpenter. You open a exterior wall on a 100 year old house. You see some of the craziest framing you ever saw. You wake up at 2:00 am in the morning next day and by 6:00 am you have the completion of the job all figured out. Kind of amazing how our minds work, just need to get completely away from the issue and our minds never stop & slowly work it out. This loosing stuff is a whole different story. I dont get it. Couple years ago I had a few adult beverages and while out in the shop I dropped my keys to my daily driver. I think I put them in my T-shirt pocket, or had them in my hands ... they dropped into a awkward spot, and I just thought to myself ... not tonight buddy, I'll get those tomorrow. That was 3 or 4 years ago, I have ripped apart the garage looking for them. Never have found them ... replaced the locks on my truck and new keys and spares. I have a lost set of keys in my garage, someday will find them. I knew when I lost them would be a challenge, my mind has just shut it out and can not remember exactly where I dropped them

Seems it is very critical, new one comes with a cardboard spacer. I really cant remove and re-install without a new spacer. Little tricks to follow when installing. Same with cam sensor. The body is wedged shape for proper thickness. I have to be certain to have it fully inserted for proper spacing. Not properly spaced will cause a no start issue with either sensor. Never replacing sensors before this concerns me, I figure knowing is 1/2 the battle.

12. Memory to controller has been cleared within 50-100 engine starts. 11. Camshaft signal or ignition signal, no reference signal during cranking. 51. Air/fuel at limit. 24. Throttle position sensor voltage high/low. 24. Throttle position sensor voltage high/low. 55. End of message. 11 Makes sense. 51,24 not really sure ... Wife said it was acting as if it was running out of gas. So it was misfiring. More fuel then spark? I really thought showing code 24 twice was a mistake on my part. I kept reading the codes and got better each time at it, I am convinced the code was repeated twice. I could be wrong though Either way the new coil and ASD relay came in today. So I started testing, I have 12 volts going to the coil for 1 second with key on. But no12 volt signal when cranking. Next step is to unplug the crank sensor ... Now if a signal at coil your crank sensor is bad. Still no signal move to test cam sensor. The crank sensor is a real pita to unplug. Need to be a contortionist. But if you remove the bolt holding it, the wiring harness comes back in your direction and can unplug/replace in minutes. Will be same with cam sensor. Tomorrow am ordering new ones. Absolutely no buyers remorse buying the coil or relay. I am ordering new crank & cam sensors tomorrow. I am hoping the ECM is good ... I really do not have much faith in refurbished ones. It is what it is.

Thanks @Eneto-55good story, I enjoyed it. Sad the rust got it. This one has zero rust, never subjected to salt. Has history with my wife as it was her mothers car. They really are a great simple car. @JBNealI think a known baseline is what am looking for. History goes back several years with the car. A school teacher bought it new, mother inlaw was 2nd owner, now wife has it. As far as I know this would be the first time the engine ever failed to start. Just been dead reliable. Old school thinking, if 1 part fails the rest our right behind it. I could be wrong here. I have a smaller 1994 John Deere LX172. I know what you mean about the board. Mine needed a new ignition switch. It is actually part of the board. It is also the fuse panel for the pto, headlights etc. Just saying you cant replace the switch without replacing the main logic board. Thinking I may just re-wire the whole thing. But with a added push button it starts fine. @Sniper You should have seen my eyes get as big as pie plates when I read your post. Of course you are correct. ??? I somehow thought they had boxes of new boards and they just used your old case and replaced the guts. I did a quick research on how they were rebuilt. And I should have known better. Yeah if mine is working I may as well keep it. @TooljunkieDid you use the on board diagnostics to pull codes? Why do I always forget that option exist? I think it is 3 times turning the key on & off, End with the key on and count the flashes. I have done this in the past ... I may be wrong on the procedure. I just turned the key 10 times. I get all the normal lights, seatbelt,low oil, check gauges etc... but no response from the computer. No flashes to count to diagnose? I need to double check the procedure, but I remember it being really simple. No contact from the computer?

I get it totally. I never thought my dream car would be a 1993 soccer mom's mini van. People just do not want to work on it at this stage. Today it is old enough, just about everything can be done at home ... If it was newer, would need to get a computer then send it off to make it work with my vin number .... I do not need that. Just a old 1993 soccer moms mini van that nobody cares about and we love it. Smiles for miles, no security updates or entertainment updates ... drive it and go. It does not run at this moment, I have tremendous faith in it.