Found my camshaft! - Pulling motor on 1948 Dodge.

[Bryan]

Valve work today..didn't feel safe doing more.

[FarmerJon]

Looks like a good start! Hard to really tell how much you blended the casting flaws in, but if you have them fairly well knocked down, you may try a couple different shape coarse stones to blend it all into the port walls. I might try a large round one.

Usually these move iron so slowly, that there is minimal risk of cutting too much. 

You always have your broken exhaust manifold to experiment on, to get a feel for how much you are cutting, or practice cutting and blending a certain shape or area.

[Bryan]

1 hour ago, FarmerJon said:

Looks like a good start! Hard to really tell how much you blended the casting flaws in, but if you have them fairly well knocked down, you may try a couple different shape coarse stones to blend it all into the port walls. I might try a large round one.

Usually these move iron so slowly, that there is minimal risk of cutting too much. 

 

I have different stones & carbide graters, the problem is that some places are deeper and form a cavern under the valve seat.  I'd have to braze or weld and add material to build up under the seat edge. Also when I was looking at the water jacket surrounding the valve area,  can tell it's not real thick. I don't think I have 1/4" .   Got me too cautious to smooth any further.

[Matt Wilson]

Just FYI - when I've tried using Evaporust on cast iron, including my engine block, it has left the metal black, and I had a very hard time getting it off, and in fact, haven't been able to get it all off.  I've decided that for the most part, I'm not going to use it on cast iron.

 

Hopefully your experience will be different, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Matt Wilson

[FarmerJon]

Feel and judgment go a long way. Even 1970s and 1980s castings have occasional core shift that limits further work on them. 

You can sometimes make wire "pincers' to feel/ measure port wall/cooling jacket thickness.

I will also take paper board and make small port templates to try to make sure they are all similar in size and shape.

 

[Bryan]

Went out today and cut some grass with the push mower.   Was checking both my heads out (49 Plymouth and 53 Dodge).  Both are warped, Plymouth head is almost .009 in the middle across a foot.  Almost seems like the very ends are high, and I didn't have the straightedge on a bolt hole.  Dodge is about .006 off.  I rechecked the straightedge on my newer engine block, perfectly flat.  The Dodge head looks rougher, had a lot of surface rust before.  One thing, I checked the thickness of the water jacket holes. The Dodge head seems to have about an 1/8" more material.  Both heads - holes for the thermostat are the same (opening and bolt holes). My old T housing has a recessed opening measuring 2 1/2 inches. (Edit: Rock Auto lists a Gates 33028 with 2.13" flange as correct thermostat. That's wrong. The old housing with the external bypass hose has a 2 1/2" flange.   Gates 33038 is correct. )   Reckon I'll clean the Dodge head up, get it milled and use it.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Bryan

[Bryan]

Was at a social event most of the day. Did receive my 35/64" 320 grit ball hone. Attached a picture description. It fits snug in the main oil galley. You can push it in easily by hand, but have to pull it out with a pair of pliers. I have to make an extension to get at least 24" total, the brush is about 8" long. Going to attached it to a drill and hone (not bore) my main oil galley. (Have to watch and protect the threads on each end). For the rear of the galley  I bought a $1.20 Dorman freeze plug 555-012 which is 0.760" diameter. It fits but is not tight enough. You can easily tap it out with a cleaning rod from the other side.  I had measured .7575 on the hole (hmmm). Was going to use it as a backup to my brass hex plug (which I will use sealant on the hex plug).  Next size up is a Melling MPC-225 at .775".  And then 20mm which is .787".

[Bryan]

On 4/23/2022 at 6:14 PM, Bryan said:

Was at a social event most of the day. Did receive my 35/64" 320 grit ball hone. Attached a picture description. It fits snug in the main oil galley. 

After I honed all the valve guide bores and the tappet bores (a little) the hone was slightly loose in the oil galley. The balls looked about 1/4 wore, 3/4 of them left. Still did a good job.

[Bryan]

Done all I could on the block. Decided to clean the 53 Dodge head up. It had some kind of sandy very rough finish on the sides and some on the top. Used my Dremel with a stone to lightly take the tops of the grains. It was metal, not rust. Still wanted to leave a textured finish.  I also cleaned 3 of the combustion chambers up. Just enough to remove the sandy grain finish. Not polish.  Ran out of steam, wore myself out.

[Bryan]

Testing some tape out. Instead of dunking the entire engine block in Evaporust, or buying a bunch of rubber plugs at $12 a pair, wanted to see if I could clean and tape over the core openings and bolt holes, and fill the block up with a gallon of Evaporust. Will suspend the block over a large container in case it leaks.  First test on a pipe with butyl tape (type used for trailer belly pans) failed.   Then tried HVAC aluminum tape (ductwork tape, not duct tape).  It seems to work.  Going to let it set a while in the pipe. 

[Bryan]

3 hours ago, Bryan said:

  Going to let it set a while in the pipe. 

Didn't last 30 minutes and it started leaking.

[Sniper]

Gorilla tape?

 

[Bryan]

6 hours ago, Sniper said:

Gorilla tape?

 

Was considering that. Had the other two tapes from work underneath the doublewide. I'll order and try it out.  On Amazon it had better ratings that the Flex Seal tape.

[Bryan]

On 5/3/2022 at 10:19 PM, Sniper said:

Gorilla tape?

 

Think it will work.   Was out of town for 2 days. Wore out.  Didn't do too much today.  Cleaned around all the core plugs and bolt holes with brake cleaner (several times).   Found that cutting the Gorilla tape is better with scissors.  Also wearing disposable latex gloves is a must.  It clings to everything.  I tested 2 places to see how it would stick, but have not filled the block up with water or Evaporust yet.  I found that pre-sticking a strip on the surfaces helps to get the last oil  residue imbedded in pits.  I'll try it with the lower level of core plugs first. If that works I'll tape the upper core holes over, the manifold surface bolt holes and the distribution tube area.  Will do it Monday.

[Bryan]

Got to feeling better and it stopped raining. Pictures. Will see if it holds. 1 gallon filled it to a little over 1/2 way up cylinders. Got to put about 3 bolts in at top where it comes into intake ports before I add more.

[Sniper]

Nice work so far

[Bryan]

2 minutes ago, Sniper said:

Nice work so far

I'll see if it holds Monday, but ordering another gallon.  When you pull the tape off of metal it doesn't leave much of a residue.  Also brake cleaner removes it easily. Just hope it holds.  On anything else like drywall or wood it's so sticky it would pull chunks off.   

[Sniper]

Yep, Gorilla tape is about the stickiest tape I ever used.  And it is thick too.

[Los_Control]

While I could talk to you about Molasses & buckets & skunks .... I think you got this.

 

[Bryan]

Holding pretty well. Got a slight seep in the rear patch at the bottom of patch. You can't see it drip, very slow.  I put a 2nd layer on it.  Might not have cleaned the surface as well on that one.. Maybe one drop per hour. Got a container under the engine. 

[Bryan]

Well, the rear patch didn't hold. It all leaked out.  Was slow but overnight was enough.  Come Monday I'll take the rear patch off, reclean the area and try again.  Caught all the stuff in a container underneath. You really have to clean it and then take a strip of tape to stick it on and off a few times to clean it. You can tell the first time the tape strip isn't hard to pull off.  Really hope this works.  I'll still reuse the Evaporust to clean the head.  

 

Another thing. It's been cold here. Might have to heat the block up some when I stick the tape to it.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Bryan
Cold here.

[Bryan]

Well, I fixed the tape now wait a few hours to see if it holds.  Took the old off, used a flat file on the surrounding surface to knock off some of the high places. It was leaking in the low ditches on the surface. Also on the front I threaded bolts in neighboring holes with Teflon tape. Cleaned surface several times with brake cleaner and hit it with a torch to burn off any residue. Then I used my Pre-stick strips of the tape to make sure the final patch would stick.  What a pain in the butt. Hope it works. At least when it leaks I catch all the run off and re-use it.

[Bryan]

Side one in the last picture blew out after 3 hours. I'll try one more time and that will be it.

[FarmerJon]

Can you tell if it has made any progress so far?

[Bryan]

7 minutes ago, FarmerJon said:

Can you tell if it has made any progress so far?

Not yet. It only stays a couple of hours before a seal blows.  Might try a double layer on the side ones, but one more try is it.  Learning from it.  Reckon it works better on the outside of a boat (with water trying to press it in) than water pressure from the inside.