As they say: I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it isn't a train coming!

I took the dammaged crank and the replacement to a machine shop to have the gear and pulley removed. Since the 8ba replacement crank was in a 59ab it had a different cam drive gear. Upon inspection the gear I had used showed some wear that had gone un noticed when I originally assembled it. It was probally not significant but at this point while the motor is apart it is the time to replace it. I found a NOS gear and seal sleeve to use. I had also not thought to remove the oil galley plugs in the crank. They looked original. I pulled the 4 plugs and I used my old gun cleaning rods and brushes to clean all of the oil passages in the crank. Reds Headders in So Cal is sending me a new set of galley plugs. Since the crank is Ballanced I didn't want to disrupt the bob weight by using threaded plugs. When the gear arrives I will set the valve train up and then proceed with final assembly. I can't believe it will be over 3 months since I pulled the engine....

 

Cleaning out the sludge traps is absolutely critical. Good job!

 

Woo-hooo
Mater rides again......and the oil lines are installed correctly this time! 35# at idle and 60+ at speed.

On my to-do list is to hook up the original gauges in parrallel to the Napa set, install a vacumm pump for the wiper motor, install a headliner, and some cosmetic stuff to tinker with.

 

Must be nice to be able to drive her again

 

A friend bought a mid 80s Ford Maverick to salvage the rear end from. I noticed the front sill plates were flat......they are a good fit to anchor the edges of the rubber mat. I have 3/8 closed cell foam under the rubber for insulation. I removed a strip under the sill plate and it presses the mat down nicely.

I've put a couple hundred miles on Mater now and have been making some small changes.
I traded out the home made push fit rubber hose fittings on my oil filter for AN fittings with swivel connector ends and aeroquip hose. It's an amazingly tight fit to put the fittings onto the hose. The MFG says to heat the hose to 200 degrees with a heat gun. I found that by heating them in our oven and using a meat thermometer (180 deg) they slid on easily.
I found this guy in SoCal. Great to deal with if you need any fittings or hose.
https://www.anplumbing.com
The Delco points distributor converted for our flatheads is a great improvement. I also added a 3.3 ohm coil with noticeable difference.

I have the original gauges working in tandem with the old Napa (Dixco) three gauge set under the dash.

I have been debating on the rear axle ratio for the 9". I will replace the Dana and do the headliner next.

 

Thanks for the update. Must feel good. Can't wait to start using mine.

 

I have been chasing some ignition anomalies. I'm not an A student when it comes to tuning, so I'm learning and asking questions as I go. I had the distributor plugged into the manifold and not the carb vac port. this caused the module to vibrate at idle. Then the condenser failed. Inbetween all this some more junk from the carb rebuild ( the guy used Teflon paste to seal a few threads) got into the accelerator pump check valve and plugged the fuel flow......The dist is set to advance 20 degrees at 2000 and bring in 6-8 more with the vac. I learned about coil ohm ratings. I swapped the pertronics for one with a 3.5 ohm rating. I have set the points twice now and I'm not sure why I lost my settings. Still running well but it not satisfied as I think it could be better.

 

I've been searching for another 3rd member with 3.50 gears for my 63' F-100 rearend. I saw one on Craigslist and bought it. It was not tagged, I checked the backlash, gear mesh to confirm its condition and counted the gear teeth and was happy as a clam at high tide that all checked out. Then I noticed the ring gear bolt heads were 5/8". Did some more research and found out I bought a 3L50 Acua Lock 3rd member. Not bad for $60 bucks!
When I'm bored I will clean and paint the housing and ready the rear axle for Mater.

 

Looks like you scored a great deal on the diff.

Is your distributor one of Bubba's converted Chevy's? If so, I believe your vacuum advance should be hooked to manifold vacuum. That's how I set mine up and it works great. The stock Load-a-Matic should be hooked to carb.

 

Thank you to the 48-56 FTE group and everyone who has contributed to this project. A special thank you to Ross and many others who have been so helpful and encouraging to me. What started out as a project to sell I soon became attached to. The patina was perfect, the engine amazing, and the 9” rear was perfect.
But we decided to travel more with the club and wanted more enclosed space.
So Mater is off to the United Kingdom to live on a farm with a few other Fords to keep company with.
With a 1931 Model A Victoria leatherback to finish and my Model A enging building “hobby” needing a boost I decided on a mostly complete car rather than another build.
Soon a 1935 Ford Tudor Slant back sedan will sit along side of the Victoria.

See yall’ soon