UPDATE on my coupe engine rebuild -it runs!

[Ray Horton]

Finally got my overheating coupe engine reassembled and completed the installation today, including all the finishing touches. There were no leftover parts, and it started on the third turn. It sounds great. The new Brassworks radiator looks beautiful, with only one small hiccup: the lower pass. side shell bracket did not line up with my original shell. The other three mounting screws were right in line. A slight tweak on the bracket pulled it down and into place. Otherwise, the radiator was a perfect fit.

Some of you may recall I had an issue slipping the engine in between the rear motor mounts with the new rubber, and aligning the splines took a couple hours. But it finally landed. Then there was an issue with getting those 4 rear motor mount bolts started, but with the usual amount of wiggling and jjiggling they also finally found their spot.

When I got to installing the manifolds, I had one more setback. Even though I have an Autolite heater manifold, it had sagged enough to leave about an 1/8" gap at the top of the last ex. hole. A local Model A parts and service friend had a good Autolite set with intake that had already been milled, and with that installed I proceeded to complete the reassembly and first startup.

That is always a tensious moment, but it fired right away and sounds good, with no leaks apparent. I came inside to shower and rest before taking it out for a short drive. That's next!

[pAAt]

Wonderful days motoring ahead for you Ray !

[Mitch]

Alright Ray

Remember to do the retorques.

[Big hammer]

Great news!

[tbirdtbird]

Thumbs up, Ray!!!!!

[DaWizard]

WooHoo !! Glad to her it Ray, not how about the cooling issue?

[Ray Horton]

Tomorrow a more extensive drive will give me an idea about temps. Portland is supposed to be high 80's-low 90's.

[Ray Horton]

Took it out for about a 15 minute drive, warmed it up, just to get gas and see how it performed with the new reground "performance" cam from Snyder's, and determine if there were any immediate issues. Everything seems good. Tomorrow I'll take it out for a longer test, maybe 10-20 miles in varying traffic, the first of the serious sea trials. This is the first time I've used Vince Falter's valve specs of .015 for all lifters. It's noisier than I'm used to (usually do .011i and .013e or .014e), but as someone once said, better to hear them than replace them.

[Rowdy]

Ray, glad it is back together and running. Keep us updated on the overheating. With changing the radiator and changing the piston clearance at the same time we will never know which was the cause of the overheating. But I can definately understand not taking a chance of it happening again. Rod

[Ray Horton]

Just got back from a 15 mile drive. My temperature gun read in the 160's on the DS cylinder walls, 220's on my Autolite heater, and low 150's at the top of the radiator and high 120's at the bottom. I kept it under 35 mph, stop and go city driving. I think the overheating problem is solved, but I won't know for sure until after break in and I can get it up to higher speeds.

My sense from conversations here is that the rings were too tight, but the radiator might have been part of the issue too. It may well be both issues needed to be addressed.

[Mitch]

Wasn't the cylinder wall to piston clearances too tight before also?

[Ray Horton]

Yes, Mitch. I had it honed from .003 to .0045. I hope that is adequate. Another 25 miles this evening, and it's pretty warm (about 160 degrees reading on the DS cylinder walls) but not overheating. I DO NOT want to pull this engine again!

[Jm29henry]

I am really happy for you it sounds like you got it fixed and she running well!!!!

[Ray Horton]

Thanks Jim. The next 500 miles wll tell the tale.

[tbirdtbird]

if not already done, get an oil/filter change on there, there is a lot of ring wear in the first hr of running

we change after the first 30 min of running on the break-in stand

oil is cheap compared to everything else

never tried .015 valve lash, we use .013 both. But you never want them too tight, they'll burn

maybe re-check the lash at 1000 miles, easy enough to do.

and for the newbies, you do not need to drop the manifolds to remove the valve cover

And Ray, I am sure you are not getting piston slap at .0045. In one case of a motor I worked on, I was able to get 3 cyls to .0045-.005, but one hole was at .007. I advised the guy to re-bore. He said he wanted me to try it at .007 and if he got slap then he would re-bore. I wasn't really too worried about it, so we tried it. No slap, compression equal across all 4 cyls, ran great, still does 4 years later.

Too bad you can no longer find a piston knurling machine, that would have worked out great

[Mitch]

Yep oil is cheaper than an engine... keep dumping it IMO

[Ray Horton]

Dave, are you and yours safe from Harvey?

[tbirdtbird]

Thanks for asking, Ray.
Yes, we are north Texas, hundreds of miles away. It has hit land is is rapidly being down graded.
In 2001 a hurricane hit Galveston. Hovered there for a couple days constantly grabbing moisture from the gulf, and they ended up with 40" of rain

[Tom Wesenberg]

Yep oil is cheaper than an engine... keep dumping it IMO

Used oil goes into my 5 gallon bucket mouse trap. That's the trap with a peanut butter covered can suspended on a wire across the top of the bucket.

[Mitch]

My used oil goes into my heater

[DaWizard]

Mine goes to the auto parts store. Used to go to the hole in the backyard.