No matter what - You drove it home - Ain't no trailer queen
I'd like to see some 350 go that distance with the same problems

And further more it doesn't take anything away from your Hero status

 

Exactly!!!!

 

Amen brother

 

Joe, your engine has the seats, that's what came loose. You just need the one replaced with an O/S one.

I wanted to get the word out to all the guys who have '51 - '52's with original engines. Offhand I can think of at least 4 who have fresh engines, or are in the process. It should be a one-time additional cost. Once the old lead-coated seats are disturbed, they could fail quickly. Depends on use...

Dick, I'm blushing

 

I don't know why you guys harp on the clutch. It shifts fine, you guys have to realize that with the non-synchronized tranny you just can't pull the thing out of gear and get it back in again like you can with the synchronized transmission. I never have trouble shifting between gears as long as I double clutch it. When I come to a stop I have to wait until I'm at a full stop and then I can move to 2nd and take off.

Maybe I'm wrong but that's how it's always worked from day one when I installed the new clutch, that was over 30 years ago but it pretty much sat in storage until about 20 years ago.

 

I asked some experts (automotive engineers who actually design engines) and their unanimous response is that any unleaded gas requires hardened seats. Gasohol not so much a direct issue. There are apparently some lead substitutes ($20/qt) that contain actual lead, not the snake oil stuff, that "may" help. I'm just biting the bullet.

 

Not to take a thing away from Ross's perseverance, sticktoitness in driving the truck to TS13 or getting the truck home or to downplay his hero status but:

Fortunately or unfortunately, slightly more modern engines with hydraulic lifters would have kept on running much longer, even with soft seats. The valves may have recessed into the heads but the lifters would have compensated for the wear.

I've seen engines with soft seats run hard on propane and the valves were beat down into the heads, way below the normal seat area.

 

So does 'Lead Substitute' in a 12 oz. bottle help prevent this situation?

I'm curious because soon I'll have my 226 on the road (valves are original) and was planning on using the goop to prevent this sort of thing from happening.


Tom

 

Ross, that's too bad.
Are you installing hard seats in just the exhaust or intake as well?

 

Personally, I think none of the stuff does any good, other than valve stem lubrication. I would assume your engine already has hard seats? Can someone confirm what the 6's had?

I'm doing both, even tho the intakes were in good shape. Ford did both prior to '51, and the cost and inconvenience now is not that much. My machinist gets seats for about $3 each (intake and exhaust are identical), and he's estimating 4 - 5 hours machine work, plus grinding the new seats about $60.

 

No matter how hard I tried to push the clutch pedal through the firewall that day with the truck sitting still at complete idle, I could not get the clutch engaged enough to get it into gear. It just kept grinding and grinding no matter what I tried or which gear I chose. Then you finally walked over, reached through the window, and slammed it into gear. Is that the norm for that transmission? We're not just razzing you over it. We care man......

 

Ross,

By the Way, I love your new icon! It really sums up your cross country trip, doesn't it?

How did you do it or get it?

 

Bob made it. I told him that I wanted something showing his truck leaving the desert and entering the green mountains.

 

It part of the Truckstock '13 logo/drawing:

 

well doc/all I had the 226 with original non-synchro.. first thing I did was adjust the clutch (3/4 in freeplay on pedal travel before you feel the pressure of the throwout bearing - perfect adjustment)... it behaved llike bob says. only 2 gears possible once you get out of rythm, 1st and R - and both those are only possible from a DEAD stop. just like a semi in my experience. you learn the feel and find the synch by feel. and yes doc, even at a dead stop you kinda have to "be sure" of 1st not timid about it.