Ol' Yellar

[Michael Mayben]

In order to pull the bell, all the clutch guts and flywheel have to be dropped out the bottom!!! What a bitch it is to work with these power units!

Since these rigs have a "greasable" throwout bearing, someone has done one hell of a job of greasing it! There's gotta be a 50 year supply thrown all over the inside of the bell and covering the clutch assembly!

Once the brake pedal, cross shaft supports, and throwout cross shaft was pulled out, then the throwout bearing can drop free (pita #1).

Then from underneath (whole rotating the crank), ya pop the clutch cover bolts out of the flywheel (pita #2).

Hopefully the clutch cover and disk didn't take too big a chunk out of the shop floor, what a nasty/slimee clutch it is! Can't believe it actually held as well as it did! Pressure plate looks good, the clutch disc will go over to friction materials for a re-face.

Then the flywheel (retained by nuts threaded onto bolts inserted from the rear of the crank flange) came down. Two of the bolts are tapered shanks that mate with tapered holes in the flywheel for alignment purposes. The flywheel drops out the bottom also, pita #3.

Once the flywheel is off, the "wrap-around" bell housing can be removed and set aside.

Motor's hangin' on it's engine stand now for dissection.

 

[mendocinomichael]

Was told by a good ole boy from hanibol not to be heavy handed with the grease gun on the fitting for the bellhousing. With the load of lard yur talking about, one of the heavy handed schwabee newbees musta done the deed. Grease fitting shows best in the side view photo

 

[Michael Mayben]

Ripped into ed's prime mover a few days ago...the water pump is a somewhat unique design for the era...what I call a "capsule" pump.

The volute for the impeller is actually built into the housing, so it's a self-contained unit.

These pumps are rebuildable, but all this one needs is to have the packing refreshed,...the gland nut is bottomed out and it does leak a drop every minute or so when in operation.

Who knows what prompted some po to detail this motor out with the chartreuse-puke green paint???

 

[Michael Mayben]

Some detail on the delco distributor...

The reason ed showed up at Binder Bee this year was so I could look at and advise what to do about the non-func vacuum advance unit on this sparker. The vacuum can rotates the entire distributor body to achieve advance, without a functional can, there is no way the distributor can properly function...it had been "locked down" with the tension screw to prevent rotation.

I've already had the oem vacuum can remanufactured so the distributor will go on the bench for rebuild soon.

 

[Michael Mayben]

We already knew the intake/exhaust manifold gasket interface was a leaker. This manifold had been on and off a few times without having either the block or manifold surface cleaned,...and the gasket was also reused. No way this thing could seal.

At least the conical washers for the retainer studs/nuts are all installed and reusable!

The manifold set May have to be resurfaced...won't know until the preliminary cleanup is done.

 

[Michael Mayben]

The cylinder head/block interface is butched also.

Head has been off and decarboned at some point, but the block surface and the head looks like no attempt was made to clean!

Typical siamesed cylinder arrangement for a six-banger motor. While the head gasket is not "blown" between adjacent cylinders, it was definitely a leaker. The head gasket was slathered with coppercoat...that is the proper procedure when using a head gasket of this type...but ya do it on new, clean parts!!

The head stud torque was all over the place, some not much more than finger tight, a few gross over-torque...slight evidence of internal coolant leakage resulting from the butchered head gasket but it's of no significance.

The studs in this block are not original...they May be either industrial items or possibly sourced from arp in the past. They have recesses for use of a hex key for installation.

 

[Michael Mayben]

So yeah, this motor's been busted down in the past.

0.040" overbore.

The scratches/gouges on the tops of the pistons tell us this motor has been "de-coked" since it was rebuilt (probably using a screwdriver for a scraper!), that goes along with the botched head gasket.

Since there is very faint carbon accumulation in the combustion chambers, I'd say the motor could not have actually run more than few hours since de-coking though.

Once the pan and tappet covers are removed, we'll know much more about the overall condition and what the future holds for the motor. The head sealing surface needs to be cleaned up before it's condition can be determined.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Made a trip to American spirit yesterday to check on progress and pick up parts that I need to handle on tracey's end...

Lots has been accomplished!

The top of the cab was removed so that one piece of wood framing can be fabbed and replaced. Then cab roof goes back on and a modern type body seam sealant will be applied.

Virtually no rust of any significance has been discovered hidden...and no rot in the framing!

I helped tracy pull the interior door panels off the doors, what a pita that was in order to prevent any glass damage...definitely a very careful, two-person manipulation. Window channel material appears to be standard stuff for that era which is easily sourced in bulk and then cut to fit.

The interior of the doors is outstanding! Unlike later IH vehicles, these rigs actually had decent drains fabbed into the door.

The frame has now been painted and is hanging on the rotisserie in the paint booth. Tracy uses "GM black" frame enamel on all his restos, this is a satin finish black that can be easily touched up later on.

The frame on this rig continues to amaze me...it's very modern in design and execution, far advanced as compared to other vehicles of that era.

The rear-most crossmember is actually a heavy sheetmetal stamping that serves as protection for the top of the fuel tank when various types beds May have been installed on the cab/chassis combo.

We can now see some witness marks at various points on the frame rails, we "think" those are a manufacturer's id for the stamped rails which were most likely outsourced by IH and not done in-house...but that is only conjecture right now.

The rear axle is in pieces, the housing has been dipped and cleaned. Dave is setting up a new r&p in the dropout.

The springs have all been cleaned and painted and set aside for install later.

I brought home the front axle and several other parts that I'm responsible for refreshing, then that stuff will be returned to American spirit for final paint and install.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Another point of historical interest...the chassis number!

And...it's located in the same general area that more modern IH rigs were stamped.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Now the front axle gets turned into a pile of arts for rejuvinatin'...

The steering arms are retained to the spindles by a tapered stud. So all the threaded fasteners got treated with a dose of kroil.

 

[Michael Mayben]

But gittin' the steering arms out was a bitch...had to rig the bigazz puller to split 'em. This one can make about 10 tons of pressure. The puller alone would not do the job...so I used the gas axe to spot heat the tapered boss while pressure was applied. Once critical mass was reached, it popped apart on it's own....repeat again on the other side.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Next, the spindles need to come off for inspection.

First ya drill a hole in the welch plugs in the top and bottom which protect the kingpin from exposure to road crap and retain grease.

Then I ran a sheetmetal bolt into each hole and out pops a welch plug. Plain old 7/8" items I keep on the shelf.

 

[Michael Mayben]

All kinds of methods are used on retaining kingpins on this type axle/spindle combo. Every oem used some variations.

This particular axle uses a straight pin that engages a corresponding slot in the kingpin itself to lock it in place. The pin was staked at four points on each side of the axle....pretty simple. So to remove, ya just use the proper diameter pin punch and drive the pin out and set aside.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Here's the entire spindle assembly laid out.

The timken lower thrust bearing is in outstanding condition and does not need to be replaced, it was loaded with grease (received through the one grease fitting which also loads the kingpin bushings).

The kingpin itself has no measurable wear, only the shiny surface where the bushings engage.

Likewise for the upper and lower kingpin bushings in the spindle, no wear!

So all this stuff gets cleaned, reassembled with pre-lube, and returned to American spirit for final paint.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Bouncin' around here trying to get all the sub-assemblies accounted for and parts list updated so I can chase stuff.

Here's the delco distributor (vacuum advance can was previously removed). Looks fairly decent at this point, but needs a heavy dose of cleanup once it's in pieces.

There are those that blow smoke regarding "the vacuum advance is a smog modification"...wrong! The vacuum advance (along with internal mechanical/centrifugal advance) was introduced to eliminate the need for a lever on the steering column to retard the "spark" for starting purposes. Once the engine was running and warmed up, then the spark lever was "advanced"...many motorcycles up into the 50's used that same type of ignition control system.

The vacuum advance unit did away with the need for a manual activation spark control. The ignition timing could be retarded to allow ease of starting by both hand-crank and electric,...it prevents starter drive damage from "kickback". The vacuum advance is controlled from a signal from a "ported" or "timed" vacuum feed on the carburetor body...same as is done today. That means the vacuum is taken from a point in the venturi above the throttle plate, that vacuum level changes with throttle plate angle (in other words..."engine load/vacuum").

 

[Michael Mayben]

Here's the distributor in pieces...not so good.

The plug wires had several terminals that were never crimped in the cap towers when the cables were fabbed! Thus the terminals stayed in the cap. These cables go in the scrap pile and more appropriate appearing (but modern) cables will be installed later.

All the treated paper insulators in the breaker point system were rotten and mostly jury-rigged.

The breaker point and it's companion fixed point cab be seen to be fried. Notice how the insulated point contact has turned blue?? That is caused by not using the correct ignition coil...and leaving the ignition switch "on" without the engine running.

This rig was half-assed converted to a 12vdc system. The starter is still a 6vdc setup, which makes it spin like a bitch! That's ok, starters are intermittent use and can handle 12vdc until they fry (probably never).

But the ignition coil installed was some boneyard 12vdc part for a Ford v8 with a totally incorrect primary resistance factor for a six cylinder ignition system. It's now in the trash can somewhere.

The biggest problem...someone has shimmed under the distributor advance plate brazed to the drive shaft...that raises the mechanical advance to where it drags heavily on the breaker plate. To combat that, someone has used a hammer to "relieve" the bottom of breaker plate which means it's not even close to flat! And ya can see in the pic, it still rubs/makes hard contact.

So the distributor itself needs much luv, but it's certainly repairable.

 

[RobertC]

Interesting distributor...

I have never seen distributor weights with "pins" on the end. Looks like they rubbed on the plate...

Otherwise, they could pass for corvair (or Chevy 6 cyl) delco distributor weights.

I assume you checked the weight pins on the distributor plate for wear?

The "pin hole" on one of the weights ("top") looks worn -- but it could "photo perspective".

Good luck, it will take some "work" to get that distributor ship-shape...

 

[mendocinomichael]

After looking at the pics following your various tear downs, it is amazing that uncle ed chugged around your neighborhood as well as he did. Amazing. And virtually no leaks on your shop floor. With a higher rear end it seems within reason to anticipate a 55 mph cruising speed. The conversion from mechanical to juice brakes will eliminate the need for me to travel around with a rope tied to bolder stored in the bed!!!

 

[Michael Mayben]

interesting distributor...

I have never seen distributor weights with "pins" on the end. Looks like they rubbed on the plate...

Otherwise, they could pass for corvair (or Chevy 6 cyl) delco distributor weights.

I assume you checked the weight pins on the distributor plate for wear?

The "pin hole" on one of the weights ("top") looks worn -- but it could "photo perspective".

Good luck, it will take some "work" to get that distributor ship-shape...

The pins on the ends of the counterweights are actually "limit" stops, they engage the two hole on the plate brazed to the driveshaft. Nothing in the advance mechanism is worn or damaged other than someone has jacked with the springs, one of which is making contact with the breaker plate

all the problem areas will be addressed during overhaul, gonna take some bending and tweeking to line everything up again. This is typical of what ya find when someone has been into a distributor (or carburetor) who should not have been allowed to have driver's license.

All this will make sense when ya see the distributor rebuild pics.

Actually if ya flop the advance unit over and mount to the top of the shaft Robert, it's near identical in actual construction to the delco sparkers you are familiar with other than the size. This same distributor body was used on some early motorcycles also that had battery ignition (not a mag).

I "think" this distributor was used on all the IH four and six banger stuff up until the end of the flathead production (1949??). The later sixes used a very similar unit (same kind of "rotating distributor" vacuum advance), but they were about two times the size overall.

 

[Robert Kenney]

Real similar to the early Ford stuff with one exception the king pin retainer. Early Ford has a tapered locking pin that is pulled in with a lock nut and can not fall out. Do you think it is prudent to ream the axle to except a standard threaded taper pin and a nut? I would be a bit nervous.

Could us a taper pin 1/2" per foot hand reamer and creat the taper in the king pin boss then install the correct standard 1/2" per foot an taper pin locked in using the nut.
A few pix of early Ford stuff and an an taper pin sheet from aircraft spruce.

Typicall 32 Ford with 4" drop

An386 pin detail for more detail see attached pdf