My Straight 8 Adventure Begins

[Dartgame]

So cool you got it turn a full revolution ! Congratulations ! 

 

I'd do as Keith suggested, pull the bearing caps one at a time, examine and measure as well. I'd do all the rods and mains with the exception of the rear main while apart oil each one. If all the other mains look good leave the rear main alone. Its got the rear main seal inside it - I'd assume. No need to disturb that save all others look good. How do the cam lobes look ? Rusty or ?

 

You could pop the pistons out for a thorough cleaning and maybe a light cylinder hone, if the cam looks ok and the oil pump etc is in working order. If the cylinders dont clean up with a hone then maybe its time to rethink the approach, and do a tear down and rebuild. It would be a shame to run it and tear something up. I'd be careful about the rust on the crank etc. if its loose it will fly around inside the engine and might cause damage.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Dartgame

[Bryan G]

The young guy who works the counter a the NAPA here in our small town, well, he tries! He'd never heard of plastigage and of course tried to sell me some feeler gauges or have me go to AutoZone over in the next town. I looked it up on my phone and gave him the part number. "Thanks, boss! Says here I've got 4 of 'em!" But, he couldn't find them...so he ordered a 5th and tonight I picked it up. I pulled a random cap; take a look. I'd peg the clearance between .002 and .003. I don't have a shop manual yet so used the torque specs I've seen here for the 6 (45-50lbs). I didn't think the appearance of the bearing was anything to jump up and down about but I couldn't feel anything with my fingernail. I was talking tonight to my friend who knows engines (but mostly Model A's) and he's pushing me to just work on cylinder 1, either hone it with the piston in or just change those rings. He felt the cylinders and said they don't have a ridge. That's sort of been my debate: just how far should I go. Anyway, feeling really good at this stage, just knowing that if I wanted to I could have it running as-is. 

[Dartgame]

What is the round mark adjacent to the oil passage on the journal ? Otherwise bearing shell and journal look okay to me, normal condition. 

[Merle Coggins]

3 minutes ago, Dartgame said:

What is the round mark adjacent to the oil passage on the journal ? Otherwise bearing shell and journal look okay to me, normal condition. 

 

Looks like an oil drip

[Bryan G]

"What is the round mark adjacent to the oil passage on the journal ?"

The strange thing is, I was down there nose to nose with it and somehow never noticed that spot. Makes me want to pull it again just to see. I didn't feel anything. I'm thinking it's from the crank sitting so long in the same spot above that hole in the bearing. 

 

I cleaned up the valve guides a bit tonight and then spent a little time seeing what lapping would do on that very rough #1 exhaust seat. Only when I blew up the photo did I notice any difference at all; yeah, I can see in the that lower right corner that I did make some difference but...could I really get it "good enough"? I was thinking how nice it would be to find someone local who could swing by with a portable valve seat grinder. Surprising how many are for sale online at $$$. Has anyone been able to rescue a seat like that by hand? The good news is that this is the only one that looks like this. 

 

After that the weather was getting a bit too blustery for the driveway mechanic here so I toyed around with another diversion: seeing if I can concoct touch-up paint with a Rust-Oleum cocktail  Previously I managed a very acceptable match for a beige Packard by combining a sand color with some black and red. I may get there yet. At one time I ran the family business, an auto body shop, but closed it some time back. This would have been a piece of cake with the tools I use to have at my disposal, but I enjoyed the challenge. Once it's on the road I can take it somewhere and have a camera put on it.

[keithb7]

Is that a valve seat? Looks more like a steam valve brought up from the Titanic.  I’ve hand cut a few valve seats. Not sure I’d make any progress with that by hand. 

[Merle Coggins]

Those valve seats are toast. They need to replaced by a reputable machine shop.

[knuckleharley]

As for the valve seats,sometimes you are just fighting gravity. Have new ones installed and be done with it.

[Bryan G]

I keep meaning to come on here and write an update. I've been busy:

• A friend dug out an old Black & Decker valve seat kit (older than this car) so I gave it a whirl. The worst one (previously pictured) turned out just sort of fair; it will seal, I can say that. Most cleaned up nicely. My friend is experienced mostly with Model A's and old tractors and has reassured me it will be just fine...which is good enough for me
• I bought a set of NOS Mopar Power Punch Oil Saver rings from Deception Pass and performed my first ring job. In 5 or 6 of the cylinders the top one or two rings were stuck tight despite months of soaking. A light hone cleaned the cylinders up pretty well. 
• I cleaned the oil pan up; really didn't take much as it only had a thin layer of sludge. I was concerned with what I saw on the crank but found it was easy to clean up with WD-40, a toothbrush and rags. Overall everything looks clean. One minor shock: when I pulled the oil filter canister open I found it empty! The last guy simply left it out. Never again.
• Slowly I bolted it together with new gaskets. I then turned to the starter which didn't seem to be acting right. After some head scratching I found 2 issues: 1) the 2 wires for the relay were reversed. 2) Someone had drilled a hole in the top of the relay cover, then filled it with silicone caulk. There was a gob of the stuff on the inside which I believe was enough to activate the relay all the time, or at least intermittently. I was getting some odd reactions but it seems sorted out now. 
• Earlier this week I realized that I could, if I wanted, try a test fire. No cooling at this point (waiting for water pump gaskets, just got the radiator back tonight from the radiator shop where it tested fine.) The fuel pump needs rebuilding so I rigged up an electric unit and gave it a try. After a few cranks it coughed...and then for the first time in likely decades, sprang to life! If that wasn't enough, it then sat there and idled as well as anything! The oil pressure came up very strong. Of course I only let it run for a minute, if that. The next night my wife wanted a demo so I flipped on the fuel pump and twisted the key and it fired right up. A good start, in more than one way.

I'm hoping to have the cooling back together within a week, then on to the gas tank and the brakes. My stimulus check is at least stimulating the economy of Bernbaum and Deception Pass and Kanter and Rock Auto and NAPA and more and more! But, there will be an end to the spending soon. I'm really loving this, though. Lots of little stuff to do which is what I was hoping for, gremlins to track down, etc.  I'm hoping to be able to drive this, at least on a test run, by the first week in August, but realize this will be an ongoing project for a while. Trying to ignore my wife when she calls it my money pit!

[RobertKB]

You have done a lot of serious work! Glad you have it running. You will love your first drive!…………..and the ones that follow. 
 

Don't feel bad about the money pit. All old cars are that. You gotta pay to play. 

Edited June 19, 2021 by RobertKB

[keithb7]

Putting money into an honest hobby that you enjoy? Everyone here is guilty.

 

Congrats on getting the engine running! Great work. Have you ever had that much fun and satisfaction by putting the cash you spent on the car, into the bank account? 

 

You mentioned about chasing small things. Gremlins to track down. Yes there will likely be lots of those. I find that part of car ownership very fun and challenging. Troubleshooting and finding all the little things that need addressing. It's stimulating and rewarding. The more you do it, the better a mechanic you'll become. I've been picking up a lot of little things to address in my recently acquired '38 Chrysler. Way more than I expected. Yet I am enjoying the challenge very much. I figure, I've owned 3 flathead Mopars now. All in various stages of repair. Every one of them has challenged me further in different ways. I'm slowly becoming more of a specialist for these old cars. Like many folks here on this site.  I have no desire to change to a different manufacturer at this point. I plan on honing my Mopar skills further.

This thread is really heating up. Great progress. Keep going! More pics and updates are certainly welcome here. We're standing by...

Edited June 19, 2021 by keithb7

[Worden18]

Awesome progress!  Don't sweat the money.  My Meadowbrook is worth about $800 and I have about 5 grand into it.  Matters not.  Just keep going!?

[keithb7]

37 minutes ago, Worden18 said:My Meadowbrook is worth about $800 and I have about 5 grand into it.  Matters not.  Just keep going!?

Made me laugh. I’m in the same situation with my ‘38 Plymouth. Who cares is right? It does not matter. Quite honestly its been some of the best money I’ve ever spent on my own education and personal enjoyment. 

[Bbdakota]

7 hours ago, keithb7 said:

education and personal enjoyment

This is exactly how I justify the money I spend on old cars! It's not a waste if I'm learning and get enjoyment from what I'm doing! 

 

Great job on the engine! Always a smile you can't hide when one fires for the first time after you've "brought it back from the dead"

[sidevalvepete]

You have done really well here. When I look back at the pictures you posted of the engine when it was opened up and read what you have done largely with a few simple tools and elbow grease, to get to the stage of firing it up......and it responding so well.....must be very satisfying. It is such a grand looking car. I look forward to seeing more of your progress on this fine automobile. ??

[Bryan G]

The money has been worth it just for the experience; who knows what I can tackle in the future? And it really hasn't cost a crazy sum. I had to go away for the weekend and it killed me not being able to work on the car. Modern technology: my phone let me know the water pump gasket was sitting in my mailbox (and I was stuck 2 hours away!) I've spent all day thinking of what's next. A great distraction from life's tougher moments.

[Bryan G]

Well, I spent all weekend daydreaming about the car, knowing if I was home I could be installing that water pump...the notification I got from eBay was wrong, the gaskets didn't arrive until today! I'd originally planned on making them out of a cereal box but these weren't expensive and the wait was worth it. Before that I spent Monday afternoon and evening pulling the heater box out, tearing it down, patching it up and painting it. Quite a nifty little bit of engineering there, and very convenient placement sitting on the right inner fender. The heater core appears solid and had almost no discoloration to the water when I flushed it out. Part of the ductwork was handmade by someone years ago with sheet aluminum, rivets and good duct tape. I patched it up a bit and got everything back together tonight before mounting the water pump. 

 

I have some concerns about the pump since it was very, very stiff to turn by hand, though it did loosen up a bit as I ran the garden hose through it. Oddity? It has 2 zerk fittings. I wonder if one is supposed to be the weep hole, since I don't see a third opening? My plan is to get it all hooked up and fill with plain water, then see what happens. As tight as the space at the front end of this engine is, I still don't think pulling the water pump will be too hateful even with the radiator in place. I'm anxious to let the engine run a bit and see how the temperature holds. I was going to yank the distribution tube out but it was wedged tight. It looks exceptionally clean, as if it was replaced when the engine was last overhauled. I have a cheap borescope so I fished it in as far as it would go, maybe 3/4 of the way, and from what I could see it looked clean. The coolant that was in the engine looked brand new. Everything I've seen has pointed to very few miles put on this after the rebuild. I'll also keep an eye on the heater control valve, of course, as I know how they can be. 

[Dartgame]

I'd grease those zerks on the water pump and give her a whirl. Probably have to replace the pump anyway, but to get it running - why not - go for it.

[Bryan G]

Tonight was a marathon to get the cooling all together (and a marathon to see how many decent hose clamps I could scrounge around here.) With it buttoned up I gave it a whirl, letting it run for maybe 10 minutes. Observations: it fired up readily and idles fine. Oil pressure remains strong and it's charging fine. The temperature eventually settled a bit over halfway on the gauge and the water seemed to be circulating okay. Tons of smoke, fully expected thanks to all that MMO dumped down the cylinders in my original effort to break it loose! I know that's going to take some running to burn it all out. Also some smoke around the manifolds that had me worried until I realized its just the remnants of my overzealous use of brush-on copper head gasket sealer that dripped all over. No water leaks so far. I revved it up a bit a couple times and it really felt & sounded like "smooth power". I bought a carb kit but I'm going to hold off installing it for now, at least until I can see how it behaves on the road. It just starts and idles too easy for me to go monkeying with it right now.

 

Worst thing: that water pump is making a terrible racket. It's working, and doesn't appear to be leaking, but I don't see it being long for this world and I don't really like the noise. Some grease helped but just a tiny bit. Time for one of those new production replacements, I guess. 

 

I snapped some photos that demonstrate just how close the spacing is between the crank pulley and the front crossmember. This is why I had pulled the radiator in the first place, because there simply isn't any way to get a breaker bar, or much of anything, down there otherwise. In that first photo, notice how they notched the fan to clear the pulley! Another neat touch, which I didn't photograph, is that the side of the front motor mount is stamped "FLOATING POWER".  

Edited June 24, 2021 by Bryan G
spelling

[Jerry Roberts]

It looks like your damper is one of those which has a flat spot used to remove the fan belt . Clearance for the close crossmember .  

[Bryan G]

21 minutes ago, Jerry Roberts said:

It looks like your damper is one of those which has a flat spot used to remove the fan belt . Clearance for the close crossmember .  

You just taught me something! I have to hand it to them, the engineers weren't asleep. Still trying to find the timing marks, have to try sanding it down some more. Guess it's safe to just aim for halfway between the "corners".

[Dodgeb4ya]

This is what you will see on your straight 8 damper...after lots of sanding and using brake cleaner to clean 100% still being barely able to read the marks.

All straight 8's are very very lightly and very poorly stamped .

Shown is a magnified close up.

Too bad you did not do it with the radiator out.

1949-50 Chrysler 8's are tight down at the crank pulley area.

Access is very poor.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Dodgeb4ya

[Andydodge]

Get some white or light coloured paint or liquid paper/white out to highlight the markings on the crank pulley, also the indicator pointer if it has one.........you are to be commended for getting the engine going and giving the rest of us something new to enjoy.........many thanks.......andyd  

[Dodgeb4ya]

Nothing like driving a long hood Chrysler st⁸raight  eight long hood down a long windy farm river road...

[westaus29]

You have made great progress in a very short time! Congrats on getting the engine going. I did a similar job on the 38 Plymouth, resurrected an engine that had been sitting in the forest for who knows how long. Ended up getting the one bad pot resleeved.