well everyone i got the front end completely tore apart. and i got the intake header and the heads off. i sprayed some Kroil oil in the cylinders. came back about 5 mins later and the motor was spinning. now i am confused. the cylinder walls looked good. do i really need to tear it all the way down? please give me your opinions.

 

anyone can help me?

 

Howdy,


Well, it might depend on what you want to do.......... Are you doing a complete restoration?

If you're just trying to get it running, you might just clean everything top to bottom and get a gasket set and put it back together.

Understand, that if you have sludge in oil passages, that you cannot see, or a "chunk" breaks loose, you may starve a (rod/main) bearing at some point...........

If it seizes............well, it won't be pretty


Good luck.......


Rick

 

Change oil (20/50),gaskets, an' fire ‘er up and the drive the poop out of it, ….it’s just a flatty…….bulletproof!

 

Ugh!! Before you reply, I know your dilema. You've torn the whole front end off that truck including the radiator (if I remember correctly from what you typed yesterday). That puts you in a pickle. You've either got to put the radiator and whatever else back and try to get it running, or pull the engine during your planned frame-off restoration and hope for the best when the time comes way down the road or take it to an engine shop in the meantime and see if they can get it running and see what it needs (or doesn't need). But as far as the engine itself goes, it doesn't look too bad in those 2 pictures. There's no doubt in my mind that, if that were in my truck, I'd slap some gaskets on it, change the oil, and try to run it.

 

Well like i have said. i didnt see any cracks and i literally sprayed the pistons one time with kroil oil and waited 5 mins and the motor turned over. i wasnt expecting that. i am still planning on tearing the bottom end off the motor and see what kind of story that has to tell. i was planning a frame off but that would take some amount of time and money. now im debating on that or just get it running and let it tell me what it wants.

 

One of the first things I learned about these old vehicles is get it running and driving safely (especially the brakes), and it will literally tell you what it needs. Look at my truck in my avatar, that's an optical illusion. That truck was VERY similar to your truck right now last summer. That paint job is about 25 years old and it shows it up close. I took a good quality wax and a lot of elbow grease to it. And I'm satisfied for now as it is a driver. Your truck, like mine, is a true barn find. Have you considered fixing your rust spot in that fender while it's already off and maybe doing a quick paint job for the summer and just enjoying it for now. You'll either grow to love that truck in time or decide it just isn't for you. Then, you can decide whether or not to keep it and possibly restore it maybe this winter. We can help you get things like brakes, electrical systems, etc. back up and running.

EDIT: Heck you may not even want to paint it just yet. If I recall, it didn't look very bad. Just old and faded mainly.

 

I would second Mountaindoc's advice to get it running & let it tell you what it needs. I picked up my 1950 F! last May & I went the "major surgery" route doing a frame off restoration & it's still in pieces. If you can get your's running then just do minor weekend upgrades I think it will be more enjoyable than what I did - Basically haven't seen my truck on the road for the last year. There are a lot of guys like that on here who have taken their trucks apart & it's never seen daylight again - sitting in pieces in their garage. Good luck over there in NC (I still bleed tarheel blue - I grew up in Chapel Hill).

Ben in Austin

 

Well i was wanting to upgrade to 12v. i like the mini systems from ezwiring.com is this something i should do or what?

 

I would absolutely switch to a 12v system. 6v systems were junk in the "old" days as much as they are now!!

 

My truck is still 6 volt positive ground. I drive it every day when weather permits and have done so for the past year. The owner before me drove it for 40 years before he died in 1992. It's gonna cost this guy even more money to switch his entire system to 12 volt right off the bat.

You may want to switch someday to 12 volt, but it's not totally necessary like a lot of people want to believe. And, again, it runs into money that you may or may not want to spend just yet, and it's just not simply necessary. A roll of wire, some connectors, and a roll of black tape will go a long way in fixing stuff good enough to see if it will run for now. You can still buy 6 volt batteries at farm supply stores usually. How bad is your wiring? Where are you in NC? Somebody may be nearby who is willing to help.

 

well that is part of my problem too. the guy who owned the truck let his son rebuild it. in the middle of rebuilding it he was gived a 54 chevy so he quit on it. the wiring is peiced and everything now but i guess could be fixed. the generator isnt on the truck so id have to buy that anyway. i dont have a key to it so id have to get that. so i was just going to go 12v. the harnesses are not bad expensive and then the gauges and lights. pretty much everything else is missing or i have to replace it. a few grand doesnt bother me to much. but a few grand runs out fast on a complete frame off.

 

Oh sure. If it's hacked up that bad, then yeah I'd just go with a new harness, and since it's missing so much to begin with, you might as well go 12 volt. You can still use your gauges with voltage reducers, etc.

Just to give you an idea, I had to completely rebuild my brakes from the MC off and get my flathead unstuck before anything else. Then I had stuff like electrical repairs, bulbs, 4 cheap tires, spark plugs, oil, filters, carb rebuild kit, etc. Just the basic stuff to get that truck running good enough to take it up and down the highway. I think that stuff alone costed me like $900 plus dollars. I've got a 50 F1 that was a cob-job custom from like probably 30 years ago. I'm doing a frame off on it. I'm learning that doing a frame off is like buying a new car. The only difference is you buy each individual line of that window sticker separately, but the final price is about the same.

 

On the engine, I would for sure take the opportunity to learn about the engine. With the sheetmetal off, it will never be easier (and if your steering box is shot, ditto for that).

Clean up all the junk that's on the deck, and all the sludge that's in the lifter galley (use gloves, it probably contains lead). You can just wipe most of it out and use a solvent-soaked rag to get more, but don't worry about getting every last bit. Clean the tops of the pistons to see what size thy are (30 = +.030" etc).

Drop the oil pan, and clean it out. Clean the oil pickup screen. Check the play on the con rod bearings. If you know how to do it right, pull the cap off one rod bearing and check the bearing for scoring or wear. On the back side of the bearing shell, you'll usually find a part number with size (010 = .010" undersize) and a date (will tell you when it was last serviced). Good info. If that one looks bad, pull a couple more, see if it is worn out. Then pull the middle main bearing cap and check it out, just the same. Re-install using a proper torque wrench, values to use are here: http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/f...ecs49-53V8.htm


If the bearings are bad, I'd pull the engine and get it where you can work on it. Flatheads are best mounted by the exhaust ports, not the bellhousing area. Do a websearch, or check eBay, you'll see what I mean.

If everything is OK, put it together with fresh gaskets and you'll have a good-running engine you can be confident in! Be sure to record all the findings on size, it is very useful later!!