Molly Time!

[Los_Control]

25 minutes ago, RNR1957NYer said:

Thant a trombone mouthpiece on the bench?

It is mouth piece for some horn, I do not play but I do like and collect brass, it is solid brass. Someday I may make a car part out of it.

You never know what you will find in my corner, my wife is very forgiving and lets me rule it, as long as I leave the rest of the house alone 

I am stuck in the 5th wheel for weeks at a time, and I have several little projects going to keep me occupied.

Soon when get our own place again, all this crap would be out in the shop. In the meantime is my silly little world.

 

[FlashBuddy]

...and a film can of da kine brah.

 

Hey, I have that same blanket.

Edited January 7, 2018 by FlashBuddy
Spelling

[Los_Control]

Boy what a ride.  Seems like I came out on the other side with my head up.

Finally got social security disability all straightened out, 4 years back pay sitting in a out of state bank with no access to it  Life is fun.

But we now have a local bank and things are getting much better. I ordered eye glasses last week and picked them up today ... I can see!

Now plans have changed, trying to figure out what way to go with Molly. Just saying, I cant afford to live in Washington on $1450 a month, I could get by and thats about it.

We love New Mexico but am thinking to move to North Texas, Can buy a small house and pay cash, live out of town on a acre of land and live ok off my disability . Even get a small garage to work in.

My wife has a DR appointment next week, is her second and final appointment for her disability, yes we both became disabled in same period of time. We have a Dodge mini van her dad gave to us, it runs real good and he rebuilt the transmission in it, new tires and brakes. We are going to remove the back seats and make a bed and then drive to Texas for a break from life.

Stay at a rest stop one night, rent a motel when we want, just cruise around and look at houses, we see what we want and then buy it.

Return to Washington and get ready to move.

Getting ready will include parting out and finding homes for the 52 suburban and the 52 pilothouse parts truck

 

Question I have to ask myself, how do I get Molly to Texas? And remember, life is what we make of it, I want to make fun.

I could purchase a pickup and trailer her back, or I could spend the same money and fix her up and drive her back.

I want to drive her!

I have not tried to start her yet, sitting 40 years and could not afford new oil, this will be the decision to trailer her or drive her. She is basically ready to fire up after changing fluids and buy a new battery.

I expect this thread to get some new life to it soon, lets root for the old 1937 218 in her, hope she will start and run to Texas, or will be pretty boring thread to throw her on a trailer and pull her.

Need to make a list of things to complete before making the trip, be helpful if others could chime in on things forgot to add.

 

1, front end is worn, drums are rusted in place and king pins very worn .... complete axle swap from 1952, have new king pin bushings installed and rusty hope disk conversion while swapping.

 

2, rear axle swap. install rear end from the 52 parts truck, then swap the hogs head with the 52 suburban 3:73 rear end, all new hydraulics on the brakes and new shoes, seals , bearings best drums from my stash.

 

3, new master cylinder to work with disk/drum .... jeep? New lines, just standard steel. Seems like they would be easiest to work with and flare /bend as needed.

 

4, transmission/drive line. No clue how good the clutch is until get it running, the return spring seems to work fine    ujoints are cleaned and fresh grease. change the gear oil.

 

5, need all new rubber seals for glass, the corner glass is good, the parts truck has a good windshield, need new rear window glass and door glass.

 

6, because of the move, I am not going with the utility bed and just building a flatbed, I will be keeping 2 extra 218 motors and transmissions and some model A parts to haul with me.

Wife does not get furniture or dishes til we get moved. Same time I do not want to buy to many tools just to haul them to Texas.

 

7, wire brush exposed frame and paint to protect it from getting worse then it is. Some day will sand blast and do complete rebuild if I can stop driving it long enough.

 

8, wiring is not great, but looks like with a little help it would make a trip to Texas, repair as needed.

 

PLAN B

What you all think about this idea?

This 1952 chevy is my wifes Grandfathers truck, he passed away several years ago and it has been sitting since.

He used it to haul his little ford back hoe with, the hydraulic dump  wooden bed fell apart on him so he built a new bigger better steel frame for the bed and added 2 cylinders instead of just one middle cylinder.

He rebuilt a 235 6 cylinder to replace the original 216, basically zero miles on this engine and it runs sweet, just touch the key with no choke and is running.

He just never got a chance to finish it, it needs new tires, brakes and a bed to finish it. But I could finish it, put Molly on the back and drive the chevy to Texas.

This is so perfect, because it is the wifes grand daddy's truck, she wont refuse me to keep it and get it running .... and I get 2 old trucks?

My first thoughts is, $1k just for tires, I could get Molly driving for that, but then would not have a 52 cheby dump truck .... decisions decisions.

 

 

[59bisquik]

I am liking the idea of a Chevy hauler. That sounds like a better bet than trying to make it in an untested Dodge.

[Los_Control]

Thanks, I like a little reassurance on that idea. I want to stay focused and not bounce around from one project to the next, the chevy is a project.

But I can start the chevy up and drive it as is, the cab is real solid with no rust. I t has a 4 speed with a 2 speed rear axle, thinking it should get close to highway speeds.

It will need a lot of tlc to get it on the road. Just saying there is no choke to start it because the cable is rusted in place. vacuum lines to the rear axle need replaced, generator was frozen and used a pipe wrench to free it up, is not charging but is already converted to 12 volts. Just a thousand little things that will need to be done.

Basically I am the last hope for it to stay in the family, if I do not fix it the rest of the family will junk it. Maybe 20 years from now my 2 stepsons might show a interest in it, would be their great grandfathers truck.

It deserves to be saved.

 

A side note, there is another 52 chevy 2 ton dump truck on the property for sale, has ok tires and a nice dump bed but no title for the truck. For the right price I might be able to pick it up and have everything needed, buy 2 new tires for the front and carry 2 spares etc...

And molly then gets stripped to the frame and rebuilt right, when get to new home

 

.59bisquik

I wanted to apologize to you, I recently cleaned up my corner and I found the check you sent me for the headkights. Is so old I tore it up and threw it away, sorry if messed up your check order in your bank account. Just mark it off as cashed.

 

[Mikec4193]

Have not been for a while....I bought and rebuilt this 1953 Chevy 1 ton....I ditched the big wheels and put a Chevy Blazer rear end in it...

 

With a SM420 4 speed in it it still would only go around 50 mph...that is with 4:11 gears in the rear end...

 

this was it when I had it done...

 

Good luck which ever way you end up going...

 

MikeC

[Los_Control]

I think a wise man once said, "life is what happens, while your busy planning other stuff"

 

We bought a house in Texas like we planned, not a big shop with a couple acres outside of town, but a clean little 3 bedroom in good shape in town with a one car garage.

Compromises is probably a main reason been married for over 30 years 

At least we made our offer in writing on Friday, the owner accepted the offer in writing, and now waiting for title company to get busy on Monday, probably be a few weeks to get it all closed.

 

 

in reality, this changes everything. The 2 ton 52 chevy no longer fits in the plans.

As much as I would love to drive molly back to Texas, just not realistic to do so, after sitting for 38 years.

The house needs furniture, fridge, washer dryer etc....  We need a truck now.

Now we are looking for a truck that we can drive back to WA, rent a uhaul trailer and bring molly back with us that way.

Looking to buy something for $4k-$5k with 150k-175K miles  or so, no idea if to go ford chevy or dodge, always had good luck with fords in the past.

 

You can see where the wife will be parking, me and molly will be in the grass in the back yard.

I think I could put in a man door to the garage from the back, pour a slab and build a carport and be comfortable working there. Store tools in the garage.

Just have to see what life throws at us 

 

 

[FlashBuddy]

Start your search at http://carcomplaints.com. I recall the 2001-2003 Ford F150's to be among the more trouble free.

[Los_Control]

Ok, time to kick er in gear! We bought the house above, really worked out well and happy with the purchase. We stayed in it for a week and have all the utilities changed over to our name, now back in WA, and I need to start Molly up and see what way am going to go. Seriously thinking of hiring a transporter at this time and just ship her over.

 

I never tried to start her because I had no funds for fresh oil battery etc... We were not going to spend any money until after we bought a house. Trust the plan.

 

Question / discussion on oil.

Going to pick up some castrol 10-40 from walmart.

What about using diesel fuel to clean out the engine?

Drain the 40 year old oil, fill the crank case up to the brim with diesel fuel. pour it in through the oil filter and let it run down and clean all the passages. pull the plugs and turn it over to run it through the oil pump, valvetrain etc... let it soak for 36 hours

My goal here is to eliminate sludge sitting in the bottom of the pan. Change the oil twice more after it has a few hours on it before long drives on the highway.

Good idea? or will it cause more problems then it fixes?

[Reg Evans]

I don't think diesel oil will dissolve or cut that sludge. Best to drop the oil pan and scrape it out.

[Los_Control]

1 minute ago, Reg Evans said:

I don't think diesel oil will dissolve or cut that sludge. Best to drop the oil pan and scrape it out.

I have been searching the last couple hours on other sites to see if anyone else has done this .... I think you are right.

My biggest fear is it loosens it up in big chunks and clogs the screen while it is running.

Yet I will have to start it up and verify its condition before spending to much effort on it, I will just change the oil.

 

Next is buying the battery today. Kicking it around, decided to get a 12 volt and swap it over now.

I need a tach, want a radio and gps. Pretty sure all the bulbs, generator/voltage reg are ready to be changed anyways, after 40 years.

[T120]

Unless it has been cleaned in the past, my experience with an old engine has been that the sludge in the bottom of the pan will be the consistency of roofing tar and sticking just as well. As Reg suggested, diesel will not do the job, you will probably have to scrape it out. A reminder, If you have been putting oil in the cylinders, remove the plugs before you try to turn it over.  

Edited March 27, 2018 by T120

[Los_Control]

12 minutes ago, T120 said:

If you have been putting oil in the cylinders, remove the plugs before you try to turn it over.  

yes good advice, have been adding oil and turning it for last year and a half.

Last time I left the plugs in and turned it with the starter, just never gave it gas and spark yet.

[Los_Control]

Being a armchair mechanic does not go over to well on old trucks.

I started the oil change today, 40 year old oil is ugly!

I took the top off the oil filter canister, spring broke while removing it .... was 1/2" of powder rust sitting on top of the oil filter.

Removed the canister from the engine block and put it in the parts washer.

Then grabbed another canister off the 52 plymouth and ended up cleaning it up and installing it.

Had to grab a copper line from another 218 sitting in the shed, finally got all back together. and put the oil drain plug back in.

Was not much oil in the drain pan, took the plug back out and started poking a screwdriver in the drain hole and more started coming out.

After cleaning the two oil canisters and looking at the oil sitting in the bottom of them, I know exactly what my oil pan looks like, no doubt in my mind it has to come off to be cleaned.

 

Was going to run a quick compression check on it, get a base line before starting it .... starter solenoid is trashed, I cleaned one up and it seems to be in good shape, and good contact. Need to swap it first thing in the morning and go for day 2 ..... almost a full day just changing oil.

Hoping fixing the starter will not be another full day project.

 

Man, it sure was a great day spending it working on the truck. Loved every minute of it 

[Los_Control]

Seems molly is a trickster and wants to play games, going to pull the head today and play "whack a mole" with the valves.

Compression test came up  60 60 30 0 0 0

Assuming the valves are not stuck on the first 3 cylinders, the numbers are terrible, If 60 is all can get from last 3 cylinders, may not start.

At that point, I may spend time more wisely on the rebuilt 218 sitting in the shed. I dunno, needs a lot of cleanup and probably have to pull the pistons to do it.

 

Finish this cup of coffee and get going! I am staying over at my uncles place at least until the 5th. Will help getting in some serious molly time.

I think in about 3 hours, will have a better picture of the future 

[Los_Control]

might get lucky, all in all she got some good looking pistons. She has 4 stuck valves in 3 cylinders.

Going to give them a good dose of atf/wd40 mixture and see if they will loosen up. Hoping napa will have a engine gasket set, rockauto has them but that is not today.

 

Any ideas on getting the rings to seat? Tempted to try some straight wd40, then a block of wood and very lightly tap on the pistons, see if cant get them to loosen / free up and seat a little better. Then wash the cylinders with atf to lubricate them.

Going to pick up some pb blaster for another project, wondering if that would be to caustic to spray on top of the rings to clean them up, or maybe some brake clean?

Any ideas to clean this girl up to get compression back up there?

[Don Coatney]

18 hours ago, Los_Control said:

Any ideas on getting the rings to seat? Tempted to try some straight wd40, then a block of wood and very lightly tap on the pistons, see if cant get them to loosen / free up and seat a little better. Then wash the cylinders with atf to lubricate them.

Going to pick up some pb blaster for another project, wondering if that would be to caustic to spray on top of the rings to clean them up, or maybe some brake clean?

Any ideas to clean this girl up to get compression back up there?

 

If you  beat on the pistons while they are connected to the rods and crankshaft  you are actually beating on the piston rod bearings. Not a good idea. If you get 60 pounds of compression across the board the engine may start and run.

[Los_Control]

19 minutes ago, Don Coatney said:

 

If you  beat on the pistons while they are connected to the rods and crankshaft  you are actually beating on the piston rod bearings. Not a good idea. If you get 60 pounds of compression across the board the engine may start and run.

that motor really cleaned up good, valves were pretty easy to unstick and rotate the engine and seems to be fine. My thoughts were to just use a small block of wood with no hammer, just tap tap tap on top of the pistons. try to encourage the penetrating oil into the ring grooves and vibrate the rings loose ???

I dunno if it would work or not, just looked good on paper.

I think this motor will run at this point, napa will not have the engine gasket set until Tues-wed

 

Took me a couple hours and beat this old man up, I got the other engine out of the shed yesterday. It was buried on the back wall. Had to shuffle a 283 and some ford 6 banger out of the way, after I moved the 235/4 speed out of the way. 1/2 way down the isle to the door was a y block with a 3 speed tranny sitting in the way. I had to use pry bars and lift the lil 218 over the tail shaft to get to the door ... it was a job.

First time the 218 seen the light of day in 30 years. My first impression, nice candidate to send to the machine shop and rebuilt. Going to spend the day with it and decide.

The motor was rebuilt, Not sure why they sold it, maybe they never finished their project? But they took the head off to show it had no miles and could see what you were buying. Then it was put in the shed and forgot about for 30 years.

I spent 5 min with it yesterday with a hone on one cylinder, it surprised me how well it cleaned up., pulled a valve cover and it all looked like new ....

I have a complete engine gasket set coming Tuesday, need to decide which motor going to use it on now.

 

 

[Los_Control]

worked on the cylinders and honed them using wd40 then switched to penetrating oil.

Pulled the pan and it is clean, the motor is clean, guessing the motor has a few miles on it, but less then 2k miles?

Going to hit the valve seats with a brass brush, compressed air and oil, put the motor back together.

The cork gaskets on the valve covers and pan are in perfect shape and can just put them back on.

I feel confident that I have a good spare used motor here.

 

Curious as to who stamps the pistons, I would think the piston manufacturer stamps the pistons but I dunno.

The rebuild tag states

Pacific national auto parts Tacoma WA

bore .60

rods .10 mains .10

The pistons are clearly marked 90

Just one of those things that makes you scratch your head.

 

Anyone recognize the springs? They were in the bottom of the oil pan. My first thought was oil pump, but exploded view in motors manual does not show them.

The motor sitting with no oil fill tube, it is possible some kids dropped them in there. I cant think of anyplace from this engine they would come from.

 

All that being said, going to pull the pan on molly and clean it, put her back together and if she does not work out, swap in this one.

Got to get back to Texas soon .... grass is growing in on me !!!

[Young Ed]

they look like oil pressure relief valve springs

[Los_Control]

19 minutes ago, Young Ed said:

they look like oil pressure relief valve springs

agreed, but I do not see in the motors manual that the flathead six oil pump has relief springs?

I see the hemi, 383 and slant 6 all have relief springs that look just like those, and only one per pump.

but the flathead has no relief spring.

 

So I am guessing they were dropped into the pan by tricksters, and not from this engine.

Or am I missing something and looking at the wrong motors manual?

The oldest manual I have is 1955, the motor is a 1952, I am assuming the oil pumps are the same?

[Young Ed]

The oil pressure relief valve isn't part of the oil pump on a flathead. It's on the other side along the bottom of the block. Look under where the starter goes. 

[Los_Control]

2 hours ago, Young Ed said:

The oil pressure relief valve isn't part of the oil pump on a flathead. It's on the other side along the bottom of the block. Look under where the starter goes. 

Thanks for helping with that, I was curious how they did regulate the pressure.

And I went back to the manual, all it says is to pull it and inspect clean re-install. ... NO PICTURES! 

 

Here is a better photo that shows the relief spring for the engine, and the 2 springs I found in the pan.

[Pete]

Those springs could be from 2 separate fuel pump failings. If the fulcrum pin on the fuel pump goes it can shoot the spring into the pan. I had it happen on my '38 truck.

Pete

 

[Don Coatney]

Oil pressure relief spring.