51 Meadowbrook engine rebuild

[Don Coatney]

34 minutes ago, Niel Hoback said:

If you don't have a tool or shaft, put the clutch cover bolts in finger tight so the disc can slide around. Slip the tyranny in and then tighten the clutch cover bolts last.

I have also had good luck eyeballing the disc to insure it is centered. But in those days when I was young my eyes were also young.

[Worden18]

Thanks for all the suggestions fellas 

Today a friend of mine helped me pull the car out of storage.  We towed it behind his truck to his shop (only about 3 blocks), then had to winch it up his driveway (no way to tow the car up there and get anywhere near the garage).  He has a nice floor winch he installed which was to be used for exactly what we used it for today: moving cars that don't run.  Tomorrow morning Dennis will deliver the engine to the shop and we will get cracking on it.  Here's a pic of the car in my friend's shop again.  Yeah!!  (That's my 7 year old son; he loves this stuff too)

Edited April 30, 2017 by Worden18

[Niel Hoback]

That boy is standing there silently screaming "Gimme a wrench, Dad, I wanna help!"

So do it already.

[Worden18]

23 hours ago, Niel Hoback said:

That boy is standing there silently screaming "Gimme a wrench, Dad, I wanna help!"

So do it already.

He's helped quite a bit at other times, just not that day 

Couple pics from last year when he helped pull the wheel off so we could work on the brakes.  He also pulled out the wheel bearing (after I loosened the nut).

[Worden18]

Despite being sick as hell I made it over to my friend's shop this morning.  Dennis delivered the engine on a pallet.  We hooked up the cherry picker and got the engine and transmission into the car today despite all the time we wasted bullsh*tting.  Before dropping it in we did loosen up those bolts to get the clutch disc to free-float while we mated the tranny up.  Once the engine was in we put the tranny on my friend's tranny jack/hoist and got it up there as close as we could.  Slipped right in 

Tomorrow I hope to get the e-brake hardware back on first, and from there whatever I see from underneath that isn't hooked up I'll work on.

Oil pan lost some paint the other day at Dennis'; I'll touch that up at the end of the day tomorrow.  Also, I forgot to get a pic of the engine from ground level in the car.  Hope to post that up tomorrow. 

[Worden18]

final pic for today

[Worden18]

Got a lot done today (for me anyways...not being the best mechanic).  I got the e-brake assembly back together, clutch assembly/linkage, speedo cable, back up lights sensor, Fluid Drive/bell housing pan (if that's what it is actually called), starter motor, driveshaft, crankcase vent tube, engine to bell housing brackets (both sides), spark plugs in, and later on picked up a new 6V battery.  Ran into some problems along the way but my friend baled me out and helped me get things together.  I had some problems with the ebrake and also the clutch linkage.  

Tomorrow I hope to get the fuel pump on, carb and linkage, heat riser and spring assembly, distributor cap and wires, coil, generator, radiator and fan, hoses, battery and cables, etc.  Not sure if I'll get all that done but I will try.  I need to buy some oil tomorrow as well.  Despite a few frustrations today I had fun, it was a good day.  Very thankful my friend was there for me, too.  Sorry no pics today fellas 

[dpollo]

If you have difficulty installing  the  fuel pump, give the engine half a turn and try again.   If the cam lobe is in the lift position it makes it hard to install the pump.

[Worden18]

11 hours ago, dpollo said:

If you have difficulty installing  the  fuel pump, give the engine half a turn and try again.   If the cam lobe is in the lift position it makes it hard to install the pump.

Ironically, installing the fuel pump was about the only thing that went without a hitch today ; but thanks for that advice.

I got quite a bit done today despite a lot of setbacks.  I put on the fuel pump, carb and linkage, heat riser assembly, generator, radiator fan and pulley, belt, radiator and hoses, heater hoses, temp guage line, oil pressure line, cap and rotor, coil, plug wires, oil tube and clamp; getting close now.  

Need to pick up some engine oil in the morning, do some other wiring, hook up the battery, put the coolant in and I should be darn near ready to fire it up.  I'm excited but nervous as hell at the same time only because I'd be devastated if something went wrong.   Forgot to take a pic today.  Hopefully I'll remember tomorrow.  Brain is mush lately

[classiccarjack]

I wish you some good luck.  I certainly hope that every bolt was tightened and that nothing was overlooked.  It always brings me joy to see someone benefit from the fruits of their labor.  I can't wait to see your car back on the road again.  

Just like you, I get my kids involved.  I want them to appreciate the cars of yesterday before they grow up and get sucked up into a cell phone...  LOL

[Worden18]

Last couple of days have been a lot of fun for me.  I've really worked hard to get everything assembled again.  As expected there's been a few bumps along the way and things that take extra time.  

Yesterday we finally got to the point of firing the car up.  Of course it wouldn't start.  We checked and rechecked the distributor, we were getting gas, getting spark, etc.  It was quite frustrating.  It wasn't until about 8pm when my friend's son got home from planting corn that things got better.  He re-evaluated our distributor and discovered we were off one wire on the firing order.  So #5 was firing first, etc.  Switched all the wires around to where they're supposed to be and the car fired right up with no effort!  I can't tell you how relieved and happy I was!  After all that work to sit behind the wheel and listen to that old flathead purr was something I won't ever forget.  We ran it for quite a while and let it get up to temperature.  Had between 40-45lbs of oil pressure at idle.  I put it in gear, held the brake and let out the clutch and she purred right down....

There's  a few minor issues yet I have to button up: there's a small oil leak from one of the lines that come out of the oil filter canister, the carb gasket leaks(whistles); that took us a while to figure out, I need to put a couple clamps on the exhaust, recheck coolant level, make sure e-brake is adjusted correctly, and a couple of other things I can't remember but have written down 

[Worden18]

Turns out my engine bay is kind of ghetto 

I realize there's quite a number of parts that are holding their original patina, and a lot that have fresh paint.  Probably makes some of you guys cringe a bit, but for now I'm leaving it as is.  The car is a driver not a trailer queen, it'll never be perfect.  I'll do my best to try and improve more things along the way and keep it running the best I can.  We're ready to drive and enjoy this old Meadowbrook!

Edited May 6, 2017 by Worden18

[Worden18]

That awful whistling you hear is the carb to intake gasket leaking; will fix that soon

[MackTheFinger]

Looking good!!

[knuckleharley]

" We're ready to drive and enjoy this old Meadowbrook!"

 

That's what they are for.

ENJOY!

[Reg Evans]

Don't forget to re-torque the head after a couple of heat cycles.  Lookin good !

[dpollo]

Congratulations on a job well done.   If your timing problem is a puzzle to you as to why it was not where it should have been, consider this:

To install the oil pump, first the slot for the distributor is lined up with the bolt holes.  Then the shaft is turned one tooth anti clockwise and the pump is inserted into the engine which has had the crankshaft set at #1 TDC.  If that one tooth was not turned, or if it missed when inserted then your timing would be retarded by that amount which would result in a no start.    Since you have moved the wires enough to get you in range of adjustment there is no need to do anything more    but if you cannot get enough adjustment then the oil pump gear position is the culprit.

[knuckleharley]

7 hours ago, Reg Evans said:

Don't forget to re-torque the head after a couple of heat cycles.  Lookin good !

I've heard that my whole life,and for my whole life I have wondered if that is so important,why is it none of the new cars from the factory are blowing head gaskets? After all,we know they don't drive them and then retorque the heads before shipping them off to the dealerships.

[Don Coatney]

Oil pump to distributor configuration is factory recommended for ease of the dealer mechanics to all have a common starting point. If you fully understand the timing requirements of the engine it matters not where the rotor points at TDC. With the double slots under the distributor it is possible to dial the timing in irrelevant of the rotor position at TDC.

[Worden18]

5 hours ago, dpollo said:

Congratulations on a job well done.   If your timing problem is a puzzle to you as to why it was not where it should have been, consider this:

To install the oil pump, first the slot for the distributor is lined up with the bolt holes.  Then the shaft is turned one tooth anti clockwise and the pump is inserted into the engine which has had the crankshaft set at #1 TDC.  If that one tooth was not turned, or if it missed when inserted then your timing would be retarded by that amount which would result in a no start.    Since you have moved the wires enough to get you in range of adjustment there is no need to do anything more    but if you cannot get enough adjustment then the oil pump gear position is the culprit.

My friend did talk about the oil pump and distributor with Dennis (the rebuilder) when he had the engine all apart.  Of course this process was new to me, but I somewhat understand it now.  Dennis did install it correctly.  He never put the distributor cap back on (with the wires); we did that just the other day.  The wires were off by one because of ME last fall.  The car had quit on me at one point (I think it may have been the condenser) and I took the distributor apart, cleaned the points (which is what I thought the problem was), took the wires off and put them on a new cap, and when I put it all back together it would not run.  Got some help with it and we still couldn't figure out the problem.  I had already been seriously considering rebuilding the engine before it died on me, but not being able to get it running again just made me want to have everything new.  Anyway, the darn cap and wires were in the exact same place I left them from last year.  I was one off on the rotation.  I did put in a Pertronix kit and I'm happy with that.  I have a Pertronix kit in my 68 D700 3 ton truck (413cu in) and that baby runs smooth.  Very noticeable difference IMO.  Thanks for the input dpollo 

[Worden18]

4 hours ago, Don Coatney said:

Oil pump to distributor configuration is factory recommended for ease of the dealer mechanics to all have a common starting point. If you fully understand the timing requirements of the engine it matters not where the rotor points at TDC. With the double slots under the distributor it is possible to dial the timing in irrelevant of the rotor position at TDC.

This I didn't know....

[knuckleharley]

31 minutes ago, Worden18 said:

 .....I did put in a Pertronix kit and I'm happy with that.  I have a Pertronix kit in my 68 D700 3 ton truck (413cu in) and that baby runs smooth.  Very noticeable difference IMO.  Thanks for the input dpollo 

Good to know about the Petronix. Thanks!

[Worden18]

Here's a pic from the other night my friend sent me after i went home for the night.  He has an awesome garage with a hoist he put in himself.  Can't tell you how grateful i am that he's letting me keep my car and piles if parts in there.  Almost done though...

[Worden18]

Worked on the car this afternoon.  Put on a new carb to intake gasket (stopped that whistling), filled the tranny with gear lube (I had lost some when I left it upside down one night after cleaning it ), checked the anti-freeze level, put 2 clamps on the exhaust (it'll do for now, but I'll be getting a whole new exhaust system within a couple of weeks), reseated those leaky oil lines and tightened them, and took it for a ride (about 25 miles).  Put some fresh gas in it as well.  Let me say, it has really nice power compared to before.  Winds up nicely and without any effort I was up to 50mph.  I did vary my speeds throughout the trip.  I went hoodless .  As usual, some dude at the gas station asked me about the car.  I let him know what year, and that I had just rebuilt the engine.  He wished me luck.  

Tomorrow I will go back to my friend's shop and torque the head bolts, check the antifreeze again since I ran the heater, put the hood on, and there's a few more minor things I have to check.  I will likely drive it home!  Can't wait.  Here's some pics from today.  First one is me 

[Worden18]

Up on the hoist.  I taught my son how to run it; he loved that!