Ya, what you see is what you get. Need to figure out how/if I can rebuild the padding in the seat. Get some door panels and a carpet kit too start.

 

I like to set my base timing with a vacuum guage. Advance the timing until you get the highest vac reading then check your overall. I run mine at 20* initial.

 

The pump driveshaft can easily be reinserted into the oil pump, just takes a flashlight and a magnet or a 1/4 inch drive socket. No need to pull the pan.
The only weakness is in those who don't put the driveshaft in the correct way when assembling the engine initially.

 

I am taking a bit of a beating here about this dropped-driveshaft issue.

I lost my first small block rebuild forty years ago because of this problem. I started up, had no oil pressure, and ended up losing the rod bearings because the crummy barbed washer had slid down the shaft while I was playing with the distributor to get it engaged.

Since, I do a tack weld on the washer so it will never come out.

Potatohead, I frankly don't understand your technique. For guys who rebuild every week, it may work. But if you do it every five or ten years without benefit of Internet, you learn the hard way. No insult intended.

I don't know what GM and Chrysler do about this oil drive problem but I would like to hear what the salts have to say. I am a Ford guy.

I maintain that the design is a weakness in Ford engines of our era.


The best to all of you motorheads for the week to come.

All in good fun and the spirit of comradeship.


Semper Fi

 

It is a common problem with rebuilds , I had 2 different 289 in Mustangs that someone forgot to put the retainer clip on shaft . so the shaft dropped all the way to the pan on both . ended up pulling motors and putting clip on .

 

I've dropped one also, just let it go and install another one from the top. The old one will live happily in the bottom of the pan and cause no issues.

 

Please explicate. You talk about a flashlight and magnet. Expand.

 

With my early first fe after the washer slide down the drive rod and went to ford for a drive rod. When, I opened the package got from the counter parts man it came with two washer after.

It was a pain then getting the pan off in the 55 ford cp. and learned real fast to epoxy the washer in place so no way for it to slip down the shaft.

And have done it ever since to that stupid 1/4" hex ford drive shaft..

ford Great ball dropping engineering design.



John I worked on many motors and pulling the dizzy in to install point and check the vac adv. in a Sun Tach dizzy machine GM & Mopar' Y blocks etc.

Most all I've worked on use a single a with a reduced down to a single bladed shaft the fit into a forked slotted receiver mating shaft at the pump.

You could only be off by 180* or dead nuts on. since no one else used a hex shafts like that ford used.

I seem to remember, I think it was Studebaker dizzy shafts who used a stepped shaft with one side was longer as a step down like from center of shaft about a 1/4" so you would could only drop it in when it was dead nuts on.

From the first time I pulled down my first Fe an saw what ford used puzzled me in 1962 on a 390gt engine.

Had a buddy who froze up a 427 going over the grape vine in a 51 ford twisted the oil drive rod in half. Then left it parked sitting along side the for a week or so.

Then went looking for it a week+ later and said no tow Co's had taken it as it was not on there books.

Only thing he found out was the CHP tagged it a date it was parked. This was back in to late 60's mid.
Here's the real foolish kicker is this guy got a used oil pump from the Junk yd.

He put that used oil pump on the 427 as it was a rebuild short block.

I was with him at the junk yrs an pulled all the parts off a 1958 332 fe engine that was just removed for him then striped the parts for the 427.

I told him to put in a new oil pump. Ha he said, I always used junk yd oil pumps all the time an never had a problem with any.

This was the type of guy he was, he would only change out one bad spark plug or wire when doing a tune up for someone.

He was from Atwater in the chasing after his wife who ran off a week before.
like for the three times.

Orich

 

Good stuff, Orich. Brings back memories.

I think your anecdote about Ford putting two washers on the oil pump drive illustrates my point that the design was crappy and Ford "fixed" it cheap Charlie.

More than one Ford blew apart on dragstrips from shearing the stock oil pump drive while rapidly revving in first gear.

Accel made a stout rod from forged steel. After my first distaster I nevern used anything but. That, and a welded washer.

Semper Fi

Merry Christmas, all

 

Meling makes a HD shaft too.

 

Ford Racing Performance Parts, AKA Ford Motorsport, used to carry one. Heavy duty chrome moly steel. Part number M6605A427.

 

Is that part still availiable?

 

Not from FRPP. Discontinued. I don't have one left here. Most Ford dealers that are FRPP distributors don't have their stock on the D2D Ford parts locator. So when I ran this number on the Ford locator nobody popped up. None on the other locators that Bill and I use. There is this one on evilbay currently.


FORD RACING 352 390 427 428 FE OIL PUMP SHAFT M-6605-A427

• $40.00
• Buy It Now
• Free shipping
• 22 sold
  
• Items in search results
  
  • 
    
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  

 

AND it's got the washer too!

 

I usually use a 5/16 socket to turn the pump shaft a little and get it to drop down, might take a couple tries. There is a lot more to the timing than just setting base timing and you need a lower pulley tape or a good advance timing light and a hand held vacuum pump to do it right. The vacuum advance needs to be set. If the engine is basically stock, find the distributor specs from Ford and go with those. Of course all the factory specs were written when gas was formulated a lot different than it is now.
So you have base timing, the vacuum advance and the mechanical advance. And you need to check what it's all in at, around 2500 rpm it should be in the mid 30 degree range.
Or if all you have is a cheap timing light, start at base timing, go up until it pings lightly under load and back down the timing 1-2 degrees at a time until there is no ping. Hard to hear with noisy headers tho.