Engine fights back: 1 day = 1 screw removed (long)

[garyash]

I've been pulling apart one of the circa-1937 250 cu in President straight 8 engines for my Indy car project. The bell housing didn't come off easily because there are 3 tight-fitting alignment pins - and they were REALLy tight! The clutch came out with only a little cussing, but the lining had to be sheared since it was stuck tight to the flywheel and clutch plate. I'll scrape that off later.

Six nuts loosened and I was ready to pull off the flywheel. It almost fell on my foot when it came loose because I did not expect it to weight 48 lbs. These old engines didn't wind up fast. I may want to lighten it some.

Then there was the thin steel plate between the bell housing and the block itself. Shouldn't be a chore, only four 3/8-16 flat-head screws with great big slots. I tried all the screw drivers I own, even the humongous one, but none of them budged. No problem, I've got the hand impact driver! Well, I got two of them loose with the 3 lb hammer on the driver but the other two wouldn't budge. Tried the 5 lb hammer and was starting to tear up the slots. Decided my cheap Harbor Freight impact driver was coming apart, made the trip to Sears for a newer/better one. No joy! And the slots were getting worse.

I got out the MAPP torch and heated the heads of the screws, then squirted PB Blaster on them. Hit 'em again. More heat, more PB Blaster. I finally got # 3 loose. So, I'm wailing away on screw #4, using my 5 lb hammer and I broke the tip off the brittle tip for slotted screws. No problem, I still had the tip from the old impact driver. I backed off a little, went back with the 3 lb hammer and got in a few blows before I broke the other tip. That screw was wedged in tight!

By this time, the slot was really torn up and nothing could get a grip on it. It was time for the ultimate screw removal technique. I found a 3/8 bolt with a hex head and ground the threaded end down to about 1/8". The I got out the MIG welder and welded the shank of the bolt to the beat-up slotted head. With my long-handled 9/16" wrench, I pushed gently, then harder until the screw finally turned. The head had been really wedged against the countersunk hole because the threads were well-oiled from going into the inside of the block. I don't like welding on blocks when the crank and pistons are still in place, but I was careful not to run current through the bearings.

That was my day, how was yours?







[img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/indy/gary_indycar25_vvsm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
Dartmouth, Mass.
'32 Indy car replica (in progress)
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
web site at http://www.studegarage.com

[Roscomacaw]

There was NO music quite like the Type 59 Bugatti fitted with a faux GP body on it. Beautiful chromed straight exhaust pipe came out of the cowling and ended just aft of the cockpit. The snarl of that straight eight as it smoked the 20" tires was a symphony. IIRC, I could've owned that thing for under $20K at the time. Course, it could've been $20mil and it would've been just as far out of reach.[V]

A fellow Stude buddy and me - we used to fantasize about building a 2-seater with a Packard or Hudson straight 8 out front. <sigh>[:I]

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1963 Cruiser
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President two door

[silverhawk]

Wow, sounds like quite the day. Mine hasn't been nearly as neat, just shoveling horse crap for my moms raised garden beds.

Dylan Wills

'61 lark deluxe 4 door wagon

[Dick Steinkamp]

The Bug

Working on cars is like that. You're due to be "the windshield" soon. [^]

Dick Steinkamp
Bellingham, WA

[sals54]

Gary, I gotta tell ya, you are an inspiration. I love the project you're working on. There will be days like this, fer sher, but keep the faith brother. It'll be worth it. I can't wait to see it come together. We're pullin for you.

sals54

[buddymander]

My day would have ended with the fourth one breaking off just below the block surface...So you did pretty good.

[tutone63]

Oooff, sounds like a day at my dads shop!

Here is my "bad day" story..well, I had a bad series of days last week.

Thursday...Get off from a horrid day at work, get a call from the wife "I might have head lice" (she works in an elementary school with a handicapped kid, supposedly he has had head lice for a week before my wife found out. he put his head in her hooded jacket at a field trip on wednesday) Great,[V] I had to go pick up some shampoo from the store. I go and pick up my wife who was at her sisters house (she did not have the car that day, and her sister picked her up from work) We go to leave and get two blocks away from her sisters when the car we are driving stops dead at a stop sign (1992 Mecury topaz) Well, we get the car pushed back to her sisters, and I realize that all of my tools are in my pickup[B)]...over six miles away. So we get her sister to drive us down to where I store my Lark and our truck. I get the tools and the Lark (it was a nice day, and I needed a pick-me up) Drove the lark down to her sisters and found the problem with the mercury (cheap, easy, but no time to fix it, it had to wait till tomorrow...remember, my wife had to go home and wash her hair with lice shampoo yet..and she ended up getting me to do it as well) We drove the lark home (we live 30 miles out of town, my mother in law is gracious enough to let me store my Lark in her garage when I am not using it)

When we get home, the wife tells me she wants to wash all of the clothes and bedding that she has come in contact with over the last few days.[xx(] (about a good 4 loads full..don't ask) Well, Our washing machine is a "Heavy duty" type model, with a standard "hot" for the wash cycle and "cold" for the rinse cycle and we don't use hot water in our wash for the sake of clothes longevity, so I disconnected the hot water when we first moved in. So, Friday morning I had to go behind the washer and hook up the hot water again for the wife to wash all of her clothes in hot water to kill any of the lice that may be there. While hooking up the hot water, I found that our washing machine spouts were so corroded, that when I went to shut the water off and turn it back on again, they would not stop leaking! So I had to go the next day and get some replacement spouts from home depot. Then I had to go fix the mercury.

Then, On the way back into town friday, the Lark Started to make some funny noises from under the hood. The Air cleaner had come apart. Why? I don't know. Hopefully I just forgot to put the wing nut back on when I was dinkin with the carb last week. but the way the top of the air cleaner was sitting, It is a possibility that the wing nut might have been sucked into the carb![:0][B)][xx(][V]

So I drove the mercury home that I had fixed on my lunch break (a good thing I got right on that!) and fixed the washer so that the wife could start doing laundry all day Saturday.

I still have not had time to get to the Lark, but I will soon...I hope.

BTW, so far, no signs of lice in our house or hair yet!




1963 Lark, 259 V8, two-tone paint, Twin Traction. Now that the salt is off the roads, she is getting back into regular rotation!