The Bird has a Pulse!

Today I experienced a major milestone!  The last time this engine ran was in the summer of 1972, just before I pulled it out of the car in High School Auto Shop.  I was 14.  Today, I'm nearly 54.

I started the day wiring up the electric fuel pump and ignition, and hooking up the gas lines.

With the fuel pump working, I flushed the line to the carburetor, and found that the old glass-bowl fuel filter/regulator was kaput.  Mr. Mechanic and I bypassed it with a piece of 3/8" fuel hose.  I will eventually buy a new glass-bowl fuel filter to replace it.

Today, the engine started again, and ran under its own power.  Here's the very first start... note the smoke and the papers blowing around!

And here we are warming up the engine.  #1 son took this video and edited it directly on his iPhone.

There is a vacuum leak between the carb spacer and the intake manifold.  That's why the engine won't settle down to a slow idle.  After we shut it off, there seemed to be a lot of gasoline on the outside of the carburetor, and I may need to rebuild it.  These are all minor things.  Today, I feel truly blessed.  I have heard the heartbeat of a dream, a promise of restoration.  My family was here to share the moment with me.  I am content!

The Right Tool, The Right Attitude

Several weeks ago, I realized that the water temperature sender adapter ring (at the rear of the left cylinder head) had too small of a hole for my 1955 sensor.  Apparantly, 1957 and later y-blocks use 1/2" NPT for their temperature sensors, rather than the 3/8" NPT of the earlier engines.  It makes sense that my '58 '113 heads have the smaller adapter.  Wish I had figured that out before I installed the heads on the engine!  What to do? Maybe I can make a tool to pull the adapter out?  I tried adapting a slide hammer, to no avail.  Somehow, this little wrinkle in the progress on the engine really bothered me!  I started feeling pretty stupid, and kind of down on myself.  I guess I'm pretty vulnerable this holiday season.


Luckily, I found out that the t-bird parts houses sell a water temperature adapter removal tool:

The tool is composed of the 4 parts on the left.  The red ring is the '58 sensor adapter, and the silver one next to it is the correct '55-'56 adapter.

This tool does a fine job of pulling the adapter ring out of the head.    Continuing proof that the right tool for the job saves time, money, and considerable frustration.  Why was I upset about this again?  Oh, yeah, I've got some emotional issues to deal with.  It's been a rough year, so perhaps I should cut myself some slack.

The big "socket" thing is the shroud part of the tool.  The bolt is inside, threaded into the adapter ring.  Turning the nut on the top easily pulls out the temperature sender adapter ring.

I had to remove the intake manifold in order to do this.  Good think I hadn't cemented the gaskets yet.  With the smaller adapter ring out, it was time to hammer in the right one, which I got from the same t-bird supply house.

I used the pliers to hold an old ring over the new one, to keep it from getting hammer marks.

I coated the ring and the hole with gasket cement as an extra precaution against leaks.  It cleaned up nicely with some WD40.

 I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.  I'm not happy with how easy it is to scratch the engine paint, however.

Two days ago, I installed a rebuilt fuel pump.  Not very exciting, but I'll still count it as progress.

Yesterday, I installed the starter motor.  I figured I'd try turning the engine with it, just to see if it worked.  Well, it didn't.  Bummer.  Deep sigh.  Well, electrical things I can handle, and starter motors are about as simple as they come.  Today, I removed the starter motor, cleaned the commutator with alcohol, wire brushed the connectors, and got it to spin on the bench.  That was encouraging!

So I re-installed it in the engine, hooked up battery and a starter solenoid, and made sure all the connections were tight

Here's a video of what happened next!



I wasn't trying to start the motor, just see if the starter would turn it.  It didn't have spark plugs or fuel.  But, having it turn over like that is extremely satisfying!  In spite of my insecurities, my continuing holiday funk, the stress and distress of dealing with death and uncertainty,
in spite of all that...

Something good is happening.   And I am a part of it.

Transmission & Spark Wires

Today was a productive day.  Mr. Mechanic and I installed the front pulley, adjusted the valves, filled the motor with 30 weight oil, and primed the oil pump.  The latter involves turning the oil pump with a hand drill, but this is kind of challenging because the rod that drives the oil pump is at the bottom of the distributor hole, about 6 inches inside the engine:

The top of the oil pump shaft is in the middle.  The gear at the bottom is the distributor drive gear.

Reaching that shaft requires a 1/4 inch deep socket and a long socket extension. We didn't have one.  Time for a road trip to Ace hardware!  Mr. Mechanic installed a simple oil pressure gauge on the side of the engine, put the new socket on a long extension (I taped the socket to the extension... didn't want to inadvertently drop it into the engine!) then turned the oil pump with an electric drill.  It took maybe 30 seconds to fill the oil filter and the lower galleries before we finally got oil pressure.  We kept it up until we saw a steady flow of oil from the rocker arm oil returns at the top of the engine.  This step was necessary, otherwise the top of the engine would have been starved for oil when we first started it up.

After that, we took the engine off the stand and put it on a "cradle",  a very simple set of braces that lets the engine sit on the ground.  Here's what it looks like:

The engine cradle allows the transmission to be bolted to the back of the engine.

Mr. Mechanic then bolted the flex plate to the crank shaft, in preparation for installing the transmission.

Following instructions of the transmission guy, I poured one quart of "Dextron II" transmission fluid into the torque converter, greased up the shaft, and carefully assembled it onto the transmission shaft.  #1 Son and I then used the engine hoist to maneuver the transmission onto the back of the engine, carefully aligning the pins and then bolting them together.  We had to check frequently that the torque converter was still able to move freely, and not cocked or jammed.  Once it was assembled, here's what it looked like.

A freshly rebuilt Ford-o-Matic on a freshly rebuilt 292 y-block!

This Ford-o-Matic is air cooled, and doesn't need cooling lines to the radiator.  It just makes the floor hot, instead.

We still weren't done, because the flex plate had to be bolted to the torque converter.  This was more challenging, and I'm glad that Mr. Mechanic was there to fish the bolts into position through the narrow holes around the transmission.

Later in the evening, I decided to install the distributor and spark plug wires on my own.  I had to start by finding Top Dead Center (on #1 cylinder).  Luckily, Mr. Mechanic showed me how to do that when we set the valves.  Turn the crank until the valves on cylinder #6 are in overlap, then look for the timing mark on the front pulley.

In  a 4-stroke engine,  each cylinder reaches TDC twice before the spark plug fires... "overlap" is that brief period of time when the intake and exhaust valves are both open.  It happens when the piston is near TDC between the exhaust and intake stroke.  For ignition timing, I need #1 cylinder to be at TDC between compression and power stroke, with both valves closed.  That happens at the same time that #6 is at TDC in overlap.

I then installed the distributor.  It wasn't quite as simple as bolting something on.  I had to first orient the distributor rotor to the #1 cylinder position:

I marked #1 cylinder position on the cap based on the stock Ford distributor, which I won't be using on this engine.  I then marked that position on the housing.

I then aligned the rotor with the mark on the housing.

Then carefully insert it in the distributor hole, meshing with the drive gear on the camshaft (remember the distributor drive gear?).  But, the distributor won't go in all the way at once.

Note how the rotor is about 15 degrees off the mark.  I meant to do that - no really!

The distributor is partially engaged.  Need to turn the engine over to get it to engage fully

The bottom of the distributor shaft has a 1/4 inch socket to engage the oil pump drive shaft (remember the oil pump drive shaft?), and the engine must be turned over to turn the distributor and engage this shaft.   The gears are also helical, so the orientation of the distributor rotor will be different once it's fully engaged.  So, I had to guess where the gears would end up, and move the rotor ahead a few degrees to compensate.  Here's how it turned out:

At TDC for #1.  This looks pretty good.

Distributor fully seated and clamped

With the cap on.  I marked #1 for my own convenience.  I would need that later.

Next I wanted to install the new spark plug wires.  Simple, you would think... just plug them in!  But wait, they aren't marked.  Which one is which?  There are also clamps to hold them... how do I assemble them?  How do I dress the wires?  Luckily, I still have the old wires, which are pretty gnarly and soaked in oil:

I carefully checked the length of each new wire against each old wire, and sorted them out as best I could.  Of course, they weren't perfect.  I put them in place, dressed them up, then taped the clamps in place and took them off again in order to install the clamps.  This has to be done in a bench vise.

Note the tape on each wire.  I needed to keep track of which cylinder was which.

Ready for installing the metal clamps.  Oh, the thick "heat shield" tubes on the wires had to go... they serve no purpose, and get in the way of the clamps.

Here's what they look like installed.  Note that I cheated and numbered the wires... on both ends.  I don't like getting confused about which is which!

Note that I also installed the throttle and kick-down linkage.

That's all for today.  I feel good about this, and I'm starting to believe that I may be able to fire this engine up next week!  That would be a major milestone... this engine hasn't run since 1972.  We have both come a long way since then.

Sorting Screws

When I young, I often tried to do projects with my Dad.  He frequently ended up getting distracted by sorting screws.  He had a lot of screws, and apparently they were always getting mixed up.  I found this particularly frustrating... I wanted to build something, and my Dad is standing in a corner with coffee cans sorting screws.  It seemed like he could do that for hours, while my enthusiasm slowly evaporated.  It was sad.

There are times, however, when it is necessary to sort screws.  My "screw box" for this car was impossible to find anything in.  I've already lost several specialized fasteners that I knew I had... like the hood bolts, and the distributor hold-down clamp.  I really don't know where they went.

When I was fitting the pulley onto the water pump, this is what I came up with for fasteners:

Notice anything missing?

Where was the fourth bolt?  This engine originally had a chromed fan... these fan bolts are chrome plated, and inconvenient to replace.

OK, time to sort the "screw box".  Start with a large box top, and dump everything into it:

I also wanted to have a complete set of decent looking manifold bolts.  Well, through trial and error I pulled together half-a-set of rusty bolts that fit, then went to my local industrial-strength professional hardware store.  You know, the one where you can get any kind of fastener ever made.  Of course they had the bolts, but not in stainless or chrome.  I got a set in regular zinc plated steel, along with a similar set of fan bolts.  After dry fitting the intake and exhaust manifolds and carburetor, it's looking pretty good.

The original 6V generator has been installed temporarily.  I still need to fit the front pulley/vibration damper, then the fan belt.

The exhaust manifolds still need to be ceramic coated.  That's a 1957 t-bird carburetor & linkage, on a '57 "B" manifold.

Tube from the manifold to the carb is the choke heater.

I'm missing some exhaust manifold bolts, too.  Back to the hardware store tomorrow.  I'd like to dress the plug wires to the distributor as the next step, and install the heat shields under the exhaust manifolds.

I also stopped by the body shop today.  Here are some phone pictures of the car (I forgot the camera again):

The holes in the trunk have been welded shut... nice work!

Minor cleanup in back

Fender holes welded shut, except for the "V8" emblem.

No more crossed flags emblem on the nose.  I never liked it, and I think the bird looks better with a clean nose.

The windshield needs to be removed in order to bend the cowl to fit the door properly, so I delivered new rubber weatherstripping for it.  The owner of the body shop is 90 years old and needs a heart valve.  He is the body guy.  His wife is also having some health problems, and the owner and his son (65 years old, the paint guy) had taken her to the hospital, so they weren't in the shop to talk to me.  I'll call Monday to see if they are OK.  The car needs to be stripped, the last of the body work done, and then painted.  I need to be patient, but persistent.  I want to be supportive as the  body & paint guys go through their own difficult times, but I also want to make sure they know about my Dad and his difficulty... and my growing sense of urgency to get the car done.

I hope that I'm focused on the big picture here, that I'm engaging with the people around me in supportive and productive ways, and that I'm minimizing the time I spend sorting screws.

Finish Painting the Motor

Today I painted some engine parts.  Months ago I decided, for some crazy reason, not to use rattle-cans to paint this motor.  My inner sensibility, or maybe my ego, told me that rattle cans were too "unprofessional", and that I could get a better paint job using pint cans of primer, engine enamel,  black enamel, and a detail spray gun.  Mr. Mechanic thinks I'm nuts... after all, it's a Ford, not a Duesenberg.

So, was this a good idea?  In a word, no.  I have found out just how inconvenient it is to use a paint gun for a small job... it takes much longer to mix & transfer paint and clean the gun than it takes to do the actual painting.  But, this is a "learning experience", right?  Anyway, I've committed to this path, I already have the paint, so I might as well finish.

Here's one of the guns that Uncle Packard loaned me:

DeVilBiss Type EGA Series 502 with Binks paint cup & bail

This is a professional detail gun, and Uncle Packard thinks very highly of it.  Sadly, before I used it, I attempted to attach a small regulator valve to the air inlet, and ended up cracking the aluminum housing in two!  OK, that was embarrassing.  I was able to put it back together with superglue, and it holds air, but you can see the crack line just above the air inlet.  I don't trust it to paint with.  There is something about having 4 ounces of paint in your hand that makes chasing an errant air hose around the room a very bad idea.  So now I'm looking on eBay for a reasonably priced replacement (new ones are over $200).  This happened over a month ago, and I'm still looking.

In the meantime, I needed a gun I can use.  Harbor Freight is an amazing store... I bought a look-alike Chinese detail gun for $10:

The paint cup is actually interchangeable (Unk's gun is really a hybrid... a DeVilBiss gun with a Binks cup).    This gun did yeoman's work painting the block, heads, pan, intake manifold, valley cover, and just about everything else that is "Ford Red".  I should mention that I decided to undergo the additional inconvenience of priming everything first... using 2-part epoxy primer (because that's what the guy at the paint store said to use).  Mr. Mechanic REALLY thinks I'm nuts.

Even though it works well, cleaning this gun is a pain.  In addition to the nozzle, it has a siphon tube full of paint that must be cleaned.  Well, last week I went back to Harbor Freight to pick up another $10 gun for a spare.  I came back with this $13 gun:

Big spender, huh?  This model has a much smaller paint cup, but more importantly it is a gravity feed gun, not a siphon gun.... thus, no siphon tube.  Much easier to clean!  Woo Hoo!  I used it to shoot gloss black enamel on the starter, generator, vibration damper, water pump pulley, etc. and in the process cleaned it several times.  Not quite as easy as clearing the tip on a rattle can, but not bad.  Here are some of the parts I painted:

Water pump pulley, vibe dampener, starter, breather cap

Generator mount, trans filler bracket, steady rests, trans air outlet

I also had to touch up some red paint on the motor.  The oil pump was un-painted, as was the oil filter adapter and breather cover.  The oil pump is on the bottom of the engine, next to the pan.  I wasn't about to crawl under the engine to paint it, so I decided to rotate the engine on the stand.  Problem is, with the heads on the engine is very top heavy in the stand... there is almost no way I could get it back upright by myself.  So, I rigged a chain around the back of the engine stand, and connected it to the engine hoist (the towel is there to prevent chipping the paint):

My "engine rotator"!  Note that the oil pump is primed, but not painted.

I didn't use the spray gun for the oil pump, because I didn't want to dull the finish on the rest of the engine with overspray.  Instead, I used a foam brush - actually two, one for primer and one for engine enamel.  I then used a stiff narrow brush to paint all of the bolt heads.  It took several coats.  I had to rotate engine over pretty far to reach all of the pan bolt heads.

The brushes worked great!  The foam brush laid down a nice coat on the cast iron, and the stiff brush worked well on the bolt heads, even the hard to reach ones that a spray gun couldn't have done well.  Plus, they were disposable... no cleaning!  Once the oil pump and bolts were painted, I carefully used the engine hoist to rotate the engine back to vertical.

Here's the motor with the valve covers and oil filter installed.   Note the great paint job on the bolt heads!

On a more serious note, I took Dad to the oncologist yesterday.  If Dad is going to ride in this car, I think I need to hurry up with the restoration.