Just noticed something. I can't see the tail light lense on the left side, but the right side lense is upside down. The circle part in the lense needs to be at the bottom. The light is refracted better (and slightly brighter) with the circle at the bottom.

 

I suppose You could, I wouldn't though. It really does help it run better when it's cold to pre-heat the carb and fuel mixture. FEs are cold blooded animals. You may have had a bad gasket, or one that slipped. Or possibly a bad match-up. Pull it down and take a good look, never had a reason to block off a heat riser passage on an FE.

On a further note, by the FE engine's design and oiling, you should be able to run it with out the valve covers on. The shaft system and the way it oils allows you to run it with them off. Done it many-a-time with FEs without any mess.

Also.... pay really close attention to the head gasket too. A blown head gasket can cause a miss and if it's blown in the internal area (lifter valley side) it too can make a ticking noise. A quick compression test before teardown should key-in on this being a possible problem.

And share the wealth! Post up a pic of your new toy! (The '28) I wanna see!!!

 

Funny you should mention that, I was noticing that one looked brighter straight on when I first put the harness in and I was thinking "the ground is good and I didn't touch the lights". I'll switch them after the intake is done, I would have been scratching my head on that one....thanks.

I'll recheck the compression since I let it sit I forgot if I checked it or not. I runs fine just a little hunting at idle, which smoothed out when I hit that port with the cover off. I noticed that thing is cold blooded even here in summer, so I'm going to leave the port open. I bought the intake off of ebay and didn't use a straight edge on it....I know my fault , I just looked the corners and valve cover area when I test fitted it on the block. That one port could be slightly ground different, cracked or just a cracked gasket. I didn't even think about the rocker shafts not spewing oil like a GM and it seems the return holes get rid of the oil fast as the cut cover wasn't even wet. I totally put the truck out of my mind, so the time comes to think about it again.

Here's the '28, nothing special....but it's mine .
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...4&postcount=58

 

Some shots of when I first bought it, funny how much work I've done and it looks barely different. I guess that's why I take pictures, so I can see the progress.







I guy i got it from was a really nice guy and I don't think he really knew what someone else did to it. It ran and drove pretty good (low cylinder), but I knew I was in for more.....just not this much at once, I was planning on doing it slowly. So the only major things in the DISTANT future now (after I'm done with the current) would be paint, rust repair, re hang doors and replace/repair running boards.

 

After the motor is done (hopefully soon), I might move to the interior lights and speakers. It already had lights and speakers in it that I didn't like, so the holes are there and need to be filled.

Here's what it had:


So I have 2 pickup speaker covers (1953-55 I think) and lights out of a '49-'50 ford car. Sad part is I have to modify the speaker covers to work (wrong angles).

The 2 that I have are not this clean so I don't feel so bad

 

Yeah the devil is in the details though. Stuff you don't see firsthand or stuff that makes the vehicle run/operate 10x better. My '56 really doesn't look any different, however I've damn near went through everything on it. Sees as if I restored it, but I didn't. Really paint and body are about all that's left. Unfortunately there are alot of roaches out there hidden beneath fancy paint jobs. You may not 'notice' the differences by looking at it but I bet you notice them once you drive it.

 

390 question:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post12428364

I'm starting to think that the intake was re surfaced in the past and now won't mate well with a different motor. It has had this leak since I first fired it up.....I think I need to find another intake, I'll find out more when I pull it back apart and check the imprint on the gaskets.

 

Intake was sealing good, had leaking past #7 exhaust valve. Head is off and at the machine shop. This things is a pain....starting to burn out and work on the A.

 

You are a detailed oriented dude. Nice work
JimG

 

I can understand the frustration.... believe me! But- Hey, at least you found something, something definitely viable. Don't get discouraged. Slap 'er back together and see what happens. I always live by the rule "Just cause it's new, doesn't make it right". There are times I forget that and chase my tail thinking otherwise. But right on, found something and lets hope this is the only issue.

 

***UPDATE***
Both heads are at the machine shop, drivers side head wiped out ALL exhaust guides but intake guides fine. The pass side all fine, only thing I can think of is an oiling issue. I spun the oil pump and oil comes out of the block ok.............anyone have some thoughts.

 

Wow... that's interesting. Batch of bad guides? Improper guide installation? If all your rocker assemblies were getting oiled there isn't too much else that could go wrong.
There is a certain way that the rocker shafts need to be installed and there is also 1 odd bolt for both shaft assemblies. This odd bolt allows oil travel up through the shaft pedestal to fill the shaft and then lubricate the rockers. The guides depend on splash and the little bit of oil that gets by the valve stem seal.

 

PM Lance Hogan on here, best man for bb ford that I know of, Garry

 

I've had that happen on a 390 with some bronze guides. The first indication was high oil consumption followed by a spring breaking. When I pulled the heads apart the centers of the guides were oval. All of this in about 5000 miles. It turns out that the rocker geometry on a 390 has a short rocker with relatively high lift. It puts a lot of side load on the valve stem. My machinist replaced my fancy bronze guides with stock steel guides. I had no issues after that.

Dan

 

Nice ride and appreciate the thread. I never got past tearing apart my '54, so it is nice to see one on the road and fully functional. In Canada, we had flatheads through '54.

One question I had was whether you or a former owner changed the grill to a '55?

Great job and I like the quirky accents - particularly the clock. Is it just a generic plane clock or is there a make/model that you could share?

Thanks