Motor Is Home

Brought home the motor this weekend. I've started putting parts on it to seal up all of the holes. So far, I have the fuel pump, distributor, spark plugs, and temp sender in. I'm going to do more tonight.

I finished the distributor all but a small e-clip that I broke. The pertronix system I put in was real easy.

Distributor Rebuild

Since the engine is ready, I have started to put in the solid state ignition system. Before that however, I am pulling the shaft out to check the bearings and give everything a good cleaning. An old oil leak really has this thing gunked up. The input gear looks good.

Engine is Back Together !

Here is a picture of the current state of the motor. All assembled and Ford Blue. It is a huge difference from how it started. All new parts and ready to go. I stayed with the 2 barrel intake and carb, so I need to go thru a rebuild kit for the carb. We put plenty of engine assembly lube on everything because it will sit for a while.


Fresh tins. We blasted the covers and there was still some pits in the valve covers. The oil pan is perfect, to bad it is under the car !! I chemical stripped everything and painted with Ford Blue hi temp engine paint.
Brass freeze plugs and the heads are ready to go on.
All new pistons and rings.

Sheet Metal Starts

Pulled the RH Front apron off today. I wanted to start on a bad panel to get used to the spot weld cutter and chisel. Worked pretty good. Next is to keep cutting the RH loose until I get the frame rail out. I attached some pictures of the front frame of the car. It has a bad spot at the bottom. I am going to blast it and hopefully have metal.

I also finally got a good look at the cowl vents. They are rusted, so I have to pull the front cap off that section. I am not looking forward to that since ther are about 50 spot welds to get the cap off. The work is going to get worse before it gets better!!

Progress Update

So I haven't posted in a while and decided to give a little update. I now have the car sheet metal only from the front bumper to the back seat. Everything is out of the dash and engine bay. Here are a couple of pictures, but they don't show much. Since the pics, all of the dash parts are out. The windshield is also gone, we pulled it last night and luckily it is still in one piece. I am ready to start stripping and blasting paint on the front to find all of the rust. The main work is foing to be replacing the RH front frame rail and the LH kick panel. I need to do some more research on if the LH cowl vent leaks, but it looks like the water came from the washer fluid pump that is over there. I need to pour water in the cowls to make sure though.

The engine is ready to go back together. We bored the block .030" and it looks good. The heads have been surface ground and the seats cleaned up. Looks like we had three burnt exhaust valves, worn valve springs, and worn rocker arms. All of these are going back new. It also looks like the engine was rebuilt sometime early, maybe in its warranty life. There are 2 number 1 connecting rods. All of the parts are FOMOCO, so we think maybe the rebuild was done at the dealer. With the new bore and heavier cam, the engine will probably go from the old 195 hp, (130-150 in its current state) to somewhere around 210-220hp. I am thinking about going to a 4 barrel carb and intake manifold. That would make this thing scream, but I don't think it is in the budget right now, maybe later.

I am starting to order parts so that I can have the engine completely ready to drop in the hole when its ready. I am going with all new "reliability" parts. New starter, starter solenoid, voltage regulator, alternator, pertronix solid state ignition, water pump, plug wires and distributor, radiator hoses, and a carb rebuild kit. That is a lot of cash in a small area, but I think it is worth it to make sure when we want to go for a ride, all that is involved is finding the keys.

Engine Tear Down

Tore down the engine yesterday. A friend of mine has a shop, and the expertise, so it was good to have him help me tear it down. That was the first time I had been that deep into one. The diagnosis:

Block: some wear, but no issues otherwise.
Heads: One head looks fine, but the other may need some work. Several valves are seated deeper than the others.
Valves: 3 Valves have worn tops, which may also need rocker arms.
Cam: Looks ok, not too much wear.
Crank: Looks ok, will need to mic in order to determine wear.
Crank Bearings: Look ok, we starting to wear off top coating.
Rod Bearings: Same a Crank bearings.
Rod Seats: Look ok, will need to check for round and open up if they are egg shaped.
Pistons / Rings: Look ok.

Overall the engine showed it's wear of 180,000 miles. There was nothing terribly wrong with it, however it was time re-build based on the wear on the bearings. It is much easier to rebuild an engine that is worn rather than one that is broken. The timing chain was wore out, but that is expected. We are going to put in the following kit:

Master Rebuild Kit with:

Pistions
Rings
Cam Shaft
Cam Bearings
Rod Bearings
Crank Bearings
Seals
Freeze Plugs - Upgrade to stainless or brass
Oil Pump
Double Row Timing Chain / Sprockets

Then we are adding:

Harmonic Balancer
Oil Pump Shaft
Rocker Arms and Valves we need
Valve Seats we may need

Engine Parts Coming Off

Here are a few pics of the engine being torn down. I got it mounted on an engine stand. The water pump, distributor, wiring, and fuel pump are off. So far it looks pretty good, I am going to need a new fly wheel due to 40 years of starting. There were also some weird spacers and washers on the starter. Next is pull the thermostat housing, main pulley, and carb.

Engine's Out - Now What?

Well. Its out. This went really smooth with the help of a lift and load balancer. Now that I have the engine out, there are a couple of things left on the firewall and the front is stripped to the metal. Now I can send the engine out to be rebuilt and start cutting welds to get that frame rail out. The other major project is to clean up and store all of the parts. My shop is a wreck.

Engine Ready to Come Out

Here is a quick update of recent progress. I have all of the steering and suspension out of the front end. I have the muffler out and the drive shaft removed. I bought an engine lift, so I am ready to pull the running gear. I did splurge for some coil spring compressors as well. I thought there wasn't any pressure on them when the control arms were loose, but it had enough force to fly about 8 feet across the shop. There is a nice glamour shop of my new welder too. It's alsmost ready to do some work.

Work Summary:

Pull Front Suspension - Done - 6/14/2009
Broke Bolt on Sway Bar. Need all new bushings.

Remove Front Brake Lines - Done - 6/14/2009
Broke Line from Master Cylinder to Dist Manifold

Remove Steering Box / Links - Done - 6/14/2009
Need all new bushings / etc

Remove Drive Shaft - Done - 6/16/2009
Needs new U Joints

Remove Drive Shaft Tunnel Brace - Done - 6/16/2009

Remove Muffler - Done - 6/16/2009
Had to Cut in Half to get out of car

Unhook Heater Core Hoses - Done - 6/16/2009

Progress Update

I have done more work on the car than posting, so here is an update of all of the work and then a few pictures. I have most of the front out, I lack the suspension and steering, then I can pull the motor. My goal is to have the entire front cleared out so that I can do all of the metal repair and then prime and paint. I will have to pull the dash out since I have some leaks.

Remove Fender Mount Brackets LH/RH - Done - 5/13/2009

Need to be blasted and painted.

Remove Voltage Regulator - Done - 5/13/2009

Mounts on LH Front wall beside radiator. Cap goes up.

Drain / Remove Radiator - Done - 5/13/2009

One bolt was on with nut, not body nut.

Remove Top Radiator Hose - Done - 5/13/2009

Hose clamps are not original style.

Remove Fan Belt - Done - 5/13/2009

Remove Washer Fluid Reservoir - Done - 5/13/2009

Remove Hood Scoops - Done - 5/14/2009

Both have small break in thin section. May need to weld.

Remove Hood Turn Lights/Harness - Done - 5/14/2009

Remove Hood Trim - Done - 5/14/2009

Remove Hood - Done - 5/16/2009

Front undersupport ribs have a lot of rust. Will need careful repair.

Remove Hood Hinges - Done - 5/17/2009

Remove Alternator - Done - 5/17/2009

Bottom Bolt Broke.

Remove Starter Solenoid - Done - 5/17/2009

Ground Bar Under Solenoid is destroyed.

Remove Battery Cables - Done - 5/17/2009

Pull Wiring Harness out of Engine Bay - Done - 5/17/2009

Broke a couple of the plastic mounts.

Fenders

Here are some pictures showing the bottom of the left and right fenders. The left is in pretty good shape, the right is missing the bottom. There is something interesting about the left fender and the white stripe, it looks like that side has had body work at some point.

I Need a Bigger Shop!!!

I think I may have to store some parts under my bed!! Here are some pics with the fenders, doors, and all the front end off. Nothing to surprising so far except I am a little puzzled on the drivers side firewall. There is rot thru the fire wall under the cowl vents, but looking up inside of the cowl vents, they don't look too bad. I am going to use a couple of cups of water to find out where the leak is. The driver's fender has also had some work in the past, because there is primer under the lower trim, but not body color.

Work summary from yesterday's progress.

Remove RH Fender-Done-5/2/2009
Fender Inside support will need replacement

Remove Outside Lower Edge Trim LH-Done-5/2/2009
Trim has a sheet metal screw thru it on the front from old repair.

Remove LH Fender-Done-5/2/2009
In Good Shape. Has been worked on before

Remove Wheel Spash Guard LH/RH-Done-5/2/2009
May Need new Rubber.

Remove RH Door-Done-5/2/2009
One Hing Plate has a stripped thread.

Remove LH Door-Done-5/2/2009

Check Passenger Torque Box-Done-5/2/2009
May need replacement. Has Rust Near Frame Tie In

Front End Day 2

I got the whole front off today. The lower valance was a pain, but it is off. The bumper came off easy since the frame was totally gone on the RH side. Here is an overview of today's work. Next round is to pull off the RH door and the hood. I think I have 2 more bolts left to pull the RH fender off. I made sure to mark the fender location so that it will go back in the same spot. More picture tomorrow.


Remove Turn Signals RH-Done-4/30/2009
Will Need new gaskets

Remove Upper Valence Cap-Done-4/30/2009
Twisted Tab from rusted bolt. Will need repair

Remove Lower Valence-Done-4/30/2009
Rust area from Frame Rust. Will need to repair

Remove Front Bumper-Done-4/30/2009
RH Bumper Mount may need replacement. Whole Frame Side fell off with bumper.

Remove Outside Lower Edge Trim RH-Done-4/30/2009

Remove Radio Antenna-Done-4/30/2009

Pics from Front Tear Down Day 1.

Here are the pics from yesterday's work. It's pretty nice working on a car that has 2 different size bolts. 3/8 and 1/2" wrenches will bring the entire front apart.

Here is the battery tray. The 41 years of acid has went straight down thru everything.

Front End Tear Down

Today I started on the Front End of the car. I was too dirty to take pictures, but I will post some before I start the next round. I am keeping very detailed notes of the order of removal so that I can reverse it all on rebuild. Here is a summary of todays work. The main thing I found today is battery acid has destroyed the battery pan, then it got into the side apron, and then down into the frame. This is common on these models and I have found lots of step by step tutorials on how to fix it.


Remove Headlights-Done-4/29/2009
Headlight rings will need body color. Both Chrome Rings Broke Weld. Both Main Mount Bolts Rusted Bad

Remove Grill-Done-4/29/2009
Bottom Screw Clips Missing in 2 Places. Upper Mount Bolt Clips, Round Boss to Outsides

Remove Grill Cowl-Done-4/29/2009
Center Piece needs new mount clips.

Remove Grill Cowl Trim-Done-4/29/2009
Several Bolt Clips Broke - Need New Mount Hardware

Remove Turn Signals LH-Done-4/29/2009
Wire Boots Split - Repair - New Mount Nuts. Inner Light Cone Needs body color. Need new Gaskets for sealing.

Remove Battery-Done-4/29/2009
+ Wire Goes to Starter Solenoid

Check Battery Apron-Done-4/29/2009
Destroyed Need New One

Remove Horns-Done-4/29/2009

It Runs!!

Before I started pulling the front end apart for the frame repairs, my dad had recommended that I fire it up and check all of the gages etc. so that I would know what to fix. Gave the battery about 2 days charge out of my little trickle charger, changed the oil and checked the gas, then turned it over. She cranked after about a minute of trying. Runs pretty smooth for being parked for 4 years. No misses or rough running, in fact I did even touch the gas once it cranked. The wife took a video of me taking it for a spin. It did help keep the bugs down though, that old gas was making some black smoke from running too rich. All of the gages / lights / speedo, etc that I could check worked. The brakes are really weak, could be that I am not used to not having power brakes. There are some boosters I am looking at once I go through all of the drums.

Next step is to put the car up on jack stands, pull the side fender, front wheels, and eventually front suspension. I am going to also pull the motor at some point, but it depends on if I can get the sheet metal repaired or not in the front. After that will be the floor pans and rear sheet metal.

Floor Pans Exposed

We got the carpet and seats out to find that the passenger side is in pretty good shape, but not the driver side. The driver front floor pan is rotted thru. It's a good thing I work for a welding and cutting company!!!

It's hard to see, but the dark spot in the lower left side of the drivers floor is a big hole.
A little closer view.

We have all of the inside cleaned out. The next step on the inside is to take out the front dash and wiring, and then the back convertible top parts. I didn't realize the top actuator is hydraulic, so that is pretty interesting to me.

Seat and Carpet Removal

We started our teardown with the interior. One of the main reasons was to find out the shape of the floorpans and to get it cleaned up. The interior vinyl and trim is in decent shape. The carpet had seen better days though.
This pic you can see that other than the normal cracking at sewn seams, the seats are in real good shape. The foam under them is also ok.

Pulling up the back carpet and getting a handful of water showed where the source of the internal leak was earlier. The floor pan behind the drivers seat is shot.





We pulled both seats and got all of the carpet out today. I ran out of room on my camera with all of the pics on it, 100+ so I will post overall shots of the inside tomorrow.