We use a 45 gallon drum with the appropriate size tubing welded in with 4 longish hoses to connect as an engine stand cooling system . Oh yes don't forget , put water in drum .

 

The drum is a good idea! Got oil and filter at napa today, an outboard hose connector, various studs and bolts. But my son came back to the island for the day and other family stuff happened, so the start may have to be tomorrow. At least I hope it'll be a start. The radiator from this '47 might hold water. It's the top tank that's messed up. One top connector or nipple is squished almost flat and the tank is pretty rough and the filler cap is torn right out of it. I have some ideas how to fix it, but I have never been any good at soldering. I'm picturing a 1 1/4" pipe flange epoxied and screwed to the back side of the tank, with a 45% elbow and a short nipple for the top hose, and maybe the same type of thing for the filler cap with a pipe plug with a relief hole. I'll get some pics tomorrow. Also, the crank pulley from the '47's 59ab has two, wide spaced thick v belt sheaves. I figured I could run all the acessories from the '47 on the 8ba. Unfortunately, the 8ba has the two thick belt pulleys real close together. My son and I pulled the pulley off the 59ab, but it is very different, with a snout that goes right through the rope seal. I'm thinking I'll be reworking fan etc, or making up a special front pulley. Still way less work than a diesel conversion. That might have to be NEXT winter's project. I can almost smell the rich oily smoke at start up and hear the sound of a couple of short straight pipes jutting off my newly re-worked exhaust manifolds.

 

No real reason to run the cooling system under pressure. Running without a load doesn't do them any good except to check oil pressure and check for leaks. It won't "break it in".

 

This one shouldn't need to be broken in. It's the old 59ab that I honed the cylinders on. This is just a used engine with clean bores, a slight ridge, and fairly clean looking valves. No actual work was performed on it other than plastigauging the bearings, partial regasketing and a major clean up. If it smoked when it came out of it's host vehicle, it still will. This isn't a truck restoration, it's just fixing it up so it will run. I will do a major on the brakes and much of the wiring, fuel tank etc so it's reliable. Finding the rods and mains within specs was huge for me, so I doubt it will blow up, just could be a bit tired. But then so am I.

 

The 59 series and 8BA series belt setups are in totally different places for the "rear" belt, the one for the water pumps and generator. The "rear" belt got moved forward to make room for the distributor on the 8BA style motors. The fan may interchange, but thats about it.

What do you need for the 8BA and for the 59? Among all us flathead enthusiasts we should be able to scrounge up a pulley or two.

 

Is the front plane (vertically machined surface)of both intakes in the same place fore and aft? Upon late night flashlight inspection, it almost seems that the wide spaced pulley off the 59ab might go on the 8ba's crank and the swirl grooves would be exposed, but it would bottom out at the shoulder or sleeve that stops the correct pulley from contacting the rope seal. Is this shoulder on the 8bs's crank an added sleeve or is it a shoulder machined into the crank? Maybe it's best to just look for the right one. Tomorrow I'm supposed to go back to the mainland for my last load of reclaimed beams for the project I'm on. I received a message from Dave Tatom of Tatom's Custom Engines that he has a correct flywheel for me. Is there a correct pulley that does what I need? I'll get dimensions when it's light out. My employee always comes in late and blurry-eyed on Mondays if the Seahawks won, and I'm thinking he may not even show up at all today. Oh darn, I'll have to work on my engine........

 

Still no Danny! I fired it up on the stand, ran it a few seconds and then plugged the bottom hoses, and filled the block and heads with water. No belts or waterpumps connected. Got it warm. Runs pretty well actually. And never saw less than 40 lbs oil pressure. 15-40 chevron delo diesel oil (lots of zinc for those flat tappets)....Worst mismash of spark plug wires ever. I think they are all the ones I rejected from other projects, but I'm too cheap to throw them away. I am gonna try to test them with my multi tester. Comp is 100, 75,95, 90,100,95,90,100. One combustion chamber was kinda rough. I should have lapped thse two valves, but it's pretty easy in the stand. Darn, I forgot how loud these are right out of the manifolds. My ears are ringing, but I'm pretty jazzed.

 

Congratulations GB!! & The Seahawks won as well - a good weekend up there in The Northwest!

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Okay Gary lets have a video of it running on the stand.
Was there any smoke?

 

i am amazed that that engine ran. i guess it's true what they say you can't kill a flathead. looking forward to following this thread, which ever way it goes.

 

Some of you are confused because I added photos of the engine I pulled from the '47. It was hideously rusted and I sanded and honed it out so it rolled over. I just may have to make that one run, just to prove to myself I can. The engine I just ran on the stand was a later model 8ba that I bought last week because the original rusty engine was considered by me as 'unsaveable'. The later 8ba had enough problems of it's own, but if I get the '47s rusty 59ab going without a trip to the machine $hop, now that will be a fun task! I still have one in my attic. Having a 'run' stand could prove to be a tremendous amount of fun.....For now I'm just glad to have a running engine to bolt into my new truck....

 

Took a fun video of this thing running tonight. I burnt my fingers because the alligator clip was grounded and I'm all dancing around with burnt fingers etc. But I have no idea how to play it on my camera, never mind post it to youtube and then link it to FTE. When my 32 year old employee comes in tomorrow I will beg him to help me out. I still have a ways to go for a smooooth runner. Turns out the carb I'm using from the 59 ab uses manifold vacuum for the distributor and the correct carb for an 8ba uses a ported vacuum. All very complex to me, but I found a correct ported carb last night at about 3 am when I went down to the shop in my bathrobe. Problem is the 59 ab carb is pretty nice and the ported one is sooooo stuck and rough. Been freeing up the ported carb and bought a gal of carb cleaner with a dip basket today at napa. This thing has moments when it just roars on all 8 and sounds like a million bucks, then it sputters and almost dies. The outboard motor squeeze ball as a fuel pump is very inconsistent. I have a good NOS fuel pump that I got down from the attic about 3 days ago and for the life of me I cannot find it anywhere......

 

Stole the ported 8ba carb from my '37. Cleaned the clogged idle port in it and now my new old engine on a stand runs very nicely. Idles great and no smoke. My wife and I have been practicing with making a video, but it's pretty mysterious without the kids around. I'm glad my 19 year old is off to welding school, but I sure miss having him around the place. He's the last of 4, and I was 40 when he was born. At the time, I thought I'd NEVER again get to have time to myself to do stuff I wanted. Now I work on my trucks alone. It's ok, I suppose, it's just different.

 

That is one of the coolest pics I've seen on this site!

 

Thanks Joe, he's a really good kid. He was here for the weekend and we did some work together on the 8ba to get it ready to install.... Today I dropped it in between the frame rails. The compression has gotten better since I have been running it. The lowest one is now at 90 lbs. I got another carb to replace the one I took of the '37s 8ba, and the needed belts and hoses etc. Finished the front brakes and master, now off to do the rears and booster. Today I painted most of the engine's accessories like oil filter and fan/generator in my cabinetshop as my employee took a 'snow day'. Nice having the place to myself. I know it isn't a factory color, but I like the pewter gray. Probably going to make the 'exhaust system' next while I wait for the brake booster. Not sure if one straight stack or two. Depends what kind and size of pipe I can find in the pile!