A Memory, a Toast, and Guy Bonding

Last night, after the memorial, reception, and dinner, my close family joined together in a toast to my recently departed Mother-in-law.   We toasted with 67 year old port.  Appropriately enough, this is my last remaining inheritance from my late father-in-law's wine cellar!  It was delicious!

Today, my Father, Uncle, and both of my sons helped Mr. Mechanic assemble the pistons into the block.  The pistons had to be assembled onto the connecting rods, and then the rings installed (in the right order) onto the pistons.

The rings come in a box...  there are 4 different kinds...

... and each needs to be installed in the right order and orientation.

After the rings were installed on #1 piston, I oiled them & made sure the ring gaps were appropriately staggered.  Mr. Mechanic applied a ring compressor, inserted a rod bearing, and gently tapped the whole assembly into the block.  An assistant guided the rod bearing so the bolts didn't scratch the crank.  Mr. Mechanic then wanted to plastigage the rod bearings, but we couldn't find the left over strip from Tuesday.  We looked everywhere. This kind of thing is bound to happen, nothing to get upset about.  My Uncle and sons made a quick trip to NAPA to pick up another strip of plastigage.

In the mean time, Mr. Mechanic and I installed the front seal in the timing cover, and were getting ready to install it on the engine when they returned.

We checked the bearing clearance and continued assembling pistons.  Everyone had a chance to help getting the pistons into the block, and checking the bearing clearances.  All the bearings were fine, but I feel better having checked them all.

#1 piston installed (from the bottom).  Note the cap bolts straddling the crank throw.  Mr. Mechanic is installing the other half of the rod bearing in the bearing cap, and placing the plastigage on the bearing.

Installing the rod bearing cap with the plastigage.

#1 rod bearing cap in place.

 The rod bearing is now removed and the plastigage read to determine the bearing clearance.

Reading the plastigage.  All the rod bearings were perfect, at about 2 thousandths.

 The rest of the pistons were then assembled and installed.  Everyone had some chance to participate.

#1 son guiding in #7 connecting rod.

Tapping in #7 piston

Left bank installed.

#1 son takes an artsy-schmartsy shot of the crank.  Look closely - #8 still isn't installed yet.

Pistons are in, bearing clearances checked, everything put together right-side-up.  We shared some stories with each other; Dad, Uncle, Sons, and Mr. Mechanic.  It was a good day.  An affirming day. A healing day. We could have worked faster and accomplished more, but frankly I wouldn't want to.  Everyone had a chance to participate, to interact, and to appreciate each others company.  Mr. Mechanic will return another day, and the two of us will finish the engine.  For today, I feel complete.

It was a good day. 

Coming Together

As anticipated, today was focused on assembling the engine.  Mr. Mechanic came over at 9AM, and directed the events.  I helped a little, but mostly talked and took pictures.  My boys, back from college, participated when they could.  Seeing the motor come together was healthy, hopeful, and in a way, healing...

We started by washing the engine block and crankshaft with soap and water, making sure no grit was inadvertently left on any of the interior surfaces. We also made a point of clearing the oil galleries again using the rifle cleaning rod and patches.  My younger son cleaned out several passages himself.

After carefully washing the block, Mr. Mechanic blew off the water, then put WD40 on the cylinder walls.

On a Y-block, the first step in engine assembly is to install the tappets.  The tappets install from the bottom, above the camshaft.  That's why they need to go in before the cam.  Younger son was able to help put some of them in.  Note the assembly lube... this is a messy job!

Note that the block is upside down. Fist of the 16 tappets is installed here. 

The lubed tappets go in smoothly.  Note the shiny cam bearing just above the well-lubed tappet.

The next step is to install the camshaft.  More assembly lube, more greasy hands.  The cam bearings were installed 38 years ago, along with the pistons, crank and rod bearings.... but the engine never ran.  They are good as new.  Cam bearings, like main bearings, are made of soft metal, and easily get scratched or distorted before they are installed.

Lubing the cam

Carefully guiding the cam through the cam bearings in the block

 The cam seemed a little tight in the bearings... it was kind of tough getting it through the first bearing.  Maybe the cam bearings got slightly bent somehow.  I'm glad Mr. Mechanic was there with his career's worth of experience!

Guiding the cam into the end bearing

Cam installed.  Note the distributor gear on the right side of this picture.

Once the cam was in, it turned freely.  I think that the bearings reformed to the cam as we installed it.

The next step is to dry fit the crankshaft, and check the journal bearing clearances.  While I trust the machine shop to have done a good job, it only makes sense to check this again, when it is relatively easy to fix.

5 journal bearings installed, prior to dry fitting the crankshaft.

The journal caps are matched to the bearings, and need to be installed in the right position

Journal bearings, like cam bearings, are soft metal... but they are in two pieces.  These also need to be in the right position.

 The crankshaft is laid onto the journals in the block, and a small precision strand of deformable plastic (Plasti-gage) is laid on top of the crank journal.  The journal cap, with the other half of the bearing, is then installed.

Tightening #1 journal cap, with plasti-gage installed.

 The journal cap is then loosened and removed.  The amount that the plastic strand deforms indicates the amount of bearing clearance.

Reading the plastigage.  This journal is between 2 and 3 thousandths.  Perfect.

Here's plastigage on the crank side of the main bearing.

Plastigage on the end main bearing.  This is where the rear oil seal goes.

 All of the bearing clearances checked OK.  We put assembly lube on the journals and main bearings, then replaced the bearing caps and torqued them to 100 ft-lb (per the '55 Ford shop manual).

Main bearing caps installed.

Next, we installed the rear oil seal.  This is one of those things that, if installed incorrectly, will leak... but is very difficult to replace once the engine is in the car.  Here's where some experience pays off. Once again, I'm glad Mr. Mechanic was here!

Rear oil seal installed.

 Next we installed the timing chain.  This requires carefully following the shop manual instructions, since the y-block timing marks are different than just about any other engine.  The cam gear, crank gear, and timing chain need to be installed together.  Getting the gears to align with the woodruff keys on both crank and cam took some persistent coercion, but again seasoned mechanical experience paid off.

Cam and crankshaft before timing chain installed.

Finally, everything lines up.

Per the manual, 12 chain pins between the timing marks on each gear (on the right side)

 After the timing chain was on, we checked each of the rings for proper size.  We will install the rings on the pistons on Wednesday, then install the pistons, rod bearings, oil pump, pan, and maybe the heads.  That would be good.

 It may not seem like we accomplished a lot today, but I still feel good.  It's OK to take our time and enjoy the process, to delight in something good coming together.  I particularly like having the help of a trustworthy mechanic, someone to trust going through this process.  I feel free of that teenage self-doubt I experienced the last time I had this car.

Freedom from doubt.  Enjoying the journey.  Seeing things come together.  This is what I have needed.  Thank you, Lord!

What is True Color, Anyway?

Blue, Peacock, Turquoise, Teal, Green.  Ok, so I don't really have much color sense.  It seems that I have a lot to learn about color.

In a previous post, I was obsessing about color. I still am. It costs a lot to paint a car well, and since a specialty car is going to be pampered, that paint decision is going to linger for a very long time. I previously said that I don't like the original color of this car: Thunderbird Blue (called Sky Haze Green on any other '55 Ford model, and that's a good description). It's turquoise, and a rather light shade at that. I also said that I really preferred 1956 Peacock Blue.  I first saw this color in a coffee table book on Thunderbirds. I liked the color so much that I bought the book (don't be too impressed - it was on the discount rack at Half Price Books).  Here is the picture that caught my eye, a truely gorgeous color.  The scan doesn't do justice to the depth of the blue color in print, which is a little darker with maybe just a hint of green.  As mentioned before, regular computer monitors may not be able to reproduce this color.

Even though I love that color, I have not seen anything close to it anywhere else represented as authentic peacock blue, either in person or on the internet. I suspect that the owner of the t-bird in this picture painted it this delightful color and simply called it peacock blue.

The aftermarket color chips I've seen render Ford Peacock Blue as a kind of blue-grey, much less intense than this photo. Many internet photos of '56 t-birds render it as a lighter blue, with a little green. Some photos render it as a purer, darker blue, closer to the grabber blue I discussed previously. Google "Thunderbird Peacock Blue" images and you will see what I mean.

So, what's the authentic color? Is there one? The variances I see in "Ford Peacock Blue" are much more than digitization or display color errors.  As I've said before, I'm not a stickler for authenticity... but now I'm curious, and I want to get to the bottom of this!

Once again, I decided to paint a model. I purchased another die cast '55 t-bird model off eBay (won it for $.99, but paid $12 shipping).   I ordered 4 ounces of 1956 Ford Peacock Blue from AutomotiveTouchup.com, as they claim to closely match any color. This is probably what my local paint shop would mix for me. I took the model apart and painted it. Here's how it turned out:

In sunlight

In shade

 

Note how lighting conditions make a profound difference in how this color is represented in photographs.  No, I didn't take the time to reset the white balance for each shot,  but this does tend to explain why it's difficult to characterize this color.

Wiktionary defines of Peacock Blue as "A brilliant, dark blue-green colour". The free dictionary defines it as "A moderate to dark or strong greenish blue." Not turquoise, which is lighter and greener (the seat, floor, and trim of the model is turquoise). Not Teal, which is darker and much greener. Peacock is bluer and a little darker than turquoise, but it's not pure blue. Not even close.  Clearly not the Ford Grabber Blue of my previous model.  And by the way, that color is very close to the 2010 Ford color.  Here's a pic of the grabber model on the trunk lid of a new Mustang.  It is a very intense blue in person, no green in it whatsoever.

 Here are both models under different lighting conditions.

 Indoor incandescent lighting

 Direct Sunlight

Once again, you can see how the color changes.  I'm starting to like this rendition of Ford Peacock Blue.  It has been a hunt, but I've learned something.  I'm still learning.  The body guy still hasn't gotten back to me with an estimate, but I have been reassured that he's not closing the shop.  We'll see.  In any event, I would pick this Peacock Blue color if I had to choose tomorrow.  I'll ask Dad what he thinks over Thanksgiving.

Here are some detail pics of the new model, just for fun.  I did the dash, upholstery and trim in '55 colors, just like the other model.  I spent way too much time on this!

I wish my full size t-bird had a supercharger like this one!

I primed the block today, and I expect to paint it this week.  I'm taking vacation over Thanksgiving week.  The boys are flying home from college.  A week from Monday Mr. Mechanic will come over and we will start putting the engine together.  There is a good chance that Dad will be here too, an all-guy bonding experience... prior to the memorial for my mother-in-law a week from Tuesday.

I'm hopeful that this will be a time of restoring hearts, as well as an old car.  Of experiencing some of the more subtle, and bluer hues of life.  And that's OK.  There is something profound about grieving together.

Engine Block Angioplasty

The little 'bird's heart needed some minor surgery.  Y-blocks are unjustly infamous for starving the the rocker arms of oil.  The original "side oiler" design was actually very good, and used in later Ford racing engines.  The heavy non-detergent engine oils available in the '50's, however, tended to coke up in the narrow passages, especially going from the camshaft center journal up through the block and heads to the rocker arms.  This isn't a problem when using modern oils.  Just the same, every website or article I've seen on y-block rebuilding mentions that it is essential to remove all 8 oil gallery plugs from the block, and then carefully clean out every oil passage to remove the gunk that has inevitably collected there.

Well, the machine shop had some trouble removing the plugs, stripping out the hex socket in about half of them and leaving them.  Kind of unprofessional, in my way of thinking.  I resorted to using a pipe-nipple-extractor, kind of an ez-out on steriods, in conjunction with an air impact wrench.

To reach the last two on the rear of the block, I had to take the engine off the stand.

After more work with a drill, nipple-remover and impact wrench, I got these out as well

And then used my boy's rifle cleaning kit to carefully clean out every oil gallery and passage

There is still some gunk in the passage from the center cam journal up to the rockers, but it is very hard to get out since the cam bearings are already installed.  I'll work with Mr Mechanic to figure a way to flush it out.  I've blown it out with air, but there is more crud left than I like.

It's been raining this weekend.  Once the weather clears, I will prime and paint the block to match the other engine parts I've already painted. 

That's authentic "Ford Red" engine enamel, which is a shade different than the Chevy or Chrysler red.  Not that I'm a stickler for authenticity, but I had to paint the engine anyway, so why not get the color right?  I'm using a small detail spray gun as opposed to a rattle can.  It's not really clear to me that this is a significant improvement, but I'm still working on my spray gun technique.

The wife and I spent the weekend at a church retreat.  The respite was important for us.  The days tend to drag on, even though I'm busy at work and the t-bird provides a fun diversion.

I'm hoping to have all the engine parts ready for assembly over Thanksgiving break, when both my boys will be home from college.  For me, at least, making something come together should be good therapy.  I've seen too much falling apart recently.