That's how the engine actually looks at the moment. But earlier today I had to put the awesome stuff on just to finally see how it will look someday. Ohhh baby...
Monday, February 17, 2014
Post 17: Motor pron!
Too exhausted to write... just pictures this time.
That's how the engine actually looks at the moment. But earlier today I had to put the awesome stuff on just to finally see how it will look someday. Ohhh baby...
That's how the engine actually looks at the moment. But earlier today I had to put the awesome stuff on just to finally see how it will look someday. Ohhh baby...
Friday, February 14, 2014
Post 16: Toothbrush Time
"Whatcha doing out there?"
"Cleaning."
"Oh. Toothbrush time again?"
"Yup."
That was me and my wife a couple hours ago. She knows me too well - she knows that when I clean parts in the garage (and I'm not making a bunch of noise with an angle grinder or air compressor), I'm most likely out there with a spray bottle of Simple Green, a roll of paper towels, and a stainless steel toothbrush. She was right.
I've been cleaning the engine for the last few days. I did one of the heads one night, worked on the short block yesterday, and then the other head tonight. A little more work and a round of pre-paint cleaner and I'll be ready to start re-assembling the motor.
I needed a valve spring compressor to pull the springs off the heads before I cleaned, and because I got a brand-new, better set of springs with the heads when I bought them. I looked around for a rental but everything I read said the ones at Autozone, etc. are junk. So, I made my own. I saw a picture of one for sale for $35 on a forum and it looked really basic. I found some scrap steel in the garage, bought a metric bolt for 2 bucks, and got to drilling. Here's what it looks like and how it worked on the head I cleaned tonight.
Note the fancy valve organizer...
That was before, and here's the after.
Here's the rest of the motor. Not bad for 75,000 miles, eh? Of course, I cleaned the hell out of the block when I got it two years ago. This time around it was a quick job.
And finally, here's a picture of the Explorer housing all welded up. My dad brought it back down to my house, and I'll start working on that probably the next time it's raining too hard to go outside and work on the frame.
"Cleaning."
"Oh. Toothbrush time again?"
"Yup."
That was me and my wife a couple hours ago. She knows me too well - she knows that when I clean parts in the garage (and I'm not making a bunch of noise with an angle grinder or air compressor), I'm most likely out there with a spray bottle of Simple Green, a roll of paper towels, and a stainless steel toothbrush. She was right.
I've been cleaning the engine for the last few days. I did one of the heads one night, worked on the short block yesterday, and then the other head tonight. A little more work and a round of pre-paint cleaner and I'll be ready to start re-assembling the motor.
I needed a valve spring compressor to pull the springs off the heads before I cleaned, and because I got a brand-new, better set of springs with the heads when I bought them. I looked around for a rental but everything I read said the ones at Autozone, etc. are junk. So, I made my own. I saw a picture of one for sale for $35 on a forum and it looked really basic. I found some scrap steel in the garage, bought a metric bolt for 2 bucks, and got to drilling. Here's what it looks like and how it worked on the head I cleaned tonight.
Note the fancy valve organizer...
That was before, and here's the after.
Here's the rest of the motor. Not bad for 75,000 miles, eh? Of course, I cleaned the hell out of the block when I got it two years ago. This time around it was a quick job.
And finally, here's a picture of the Explorer housing all welded up. My dad brought it back down to my house, and I'll start working on that probably the next time it's raining too hard to go outside and work on the frame.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Post 15: Priorities
A few days before my last post, my son had a tonsillectomy. I thought he'd be back on his feet by the weekend. Just some rest and ice cream, right? Turns out tonsillectomies are brutal, and even normal recoveries take 7-10 days. I spent last week working from home and taking care of him, and in-between those two things I didn't find any time to work on the Ford.
Anyway, he's better now and I was able to get back to work yesterday. I went up to my dad's house, where my 8.8" Explorer axle has been tucked away for a few months. Among other tasks, my dad, brother-in-law and I managed to get the rearend narrowed. I forgot my good camera so I was only able to take a few shots with the phone.
Here's the axle as I bought it. The guy I bought it from cut off all of the Explorer bracketry so I didn't have to do it.
I haven't ever taken an axle apart before, but the guts in this one look pretty good to me.
Most of my extensive readership probably already knows that these rearends (late '90s Explorer) are great swaps for '54 Fords, among many other cars. They're cheap, readily available, strong, and come with limited slip, a variety of gear ratios, and disc brakes. Unfortunately, they're also too wide to bolt right into the car.
The most common way to make them fit is to narrow the long side (driver) by 2 15/16" inches, which is exactly the difference in length between the long and short axles. Then, a passenger axle is used on the driver side. When it's done, the rearend goes from about 59.5" overall to about 56.5", which is almost exactly as wide as the original rearend in the '54.
I researched the narrowing process quite a bit, and yesterday I finally had the time and bravery to try it out. First, the rearend went under the knife. A giant bandsaw is a tool I don't have at home - this is the main reason I left the rearend at my dad's. I knew I'd end up narrowing it in his shop.
The axle tube has to be cut and sectioned somewhere in the middle instead of just lopping off the end. This is because the ends taper down to the flange. I forgot the exact distance between the spring perches on the '54, so I guessed. I wanted to cut the tube where the spring perch on that side would eventually be welded on, for whatever reinforcement that will provide. I think I'm in the ballpark.
In order to make sure the tube gets welded back together properly - and without a jig - a steel sleeve is inserted to keep the tube true. I found a 6" piece of tubing that had the same O.D. as the I.D. of the axle housing. I took a slice out of the bottom for two reasons: so the tube could be compressed a bit, making the insertion into the axle easier, and so oil in the tube can flow freely to the outside bearing.
The only problem I ran into that I didn't read about online was the raised bead from the seam on the inside of the housing. I used a dremel to quickly grind that down on both ends, then drove the sleeve in.
The holes in both sides of the housing in the picture above were drilled so I could make a few plug welds to hold the axle and sleeve in place. Just cheap insurance to keep the housing end from getting tweaked before I welded up the main seam...
...which I don't have any pictures of. My phone died right as I was trying to take one of the finished product. The welding went pretty well and I am happy with the result. In the coming weeks I'll dress the welds, weld on the perches (after I figure out the right pinion angle), clean and paint the housing, and put on the brakes.
And I will take pictures.
Anyway, he's better now and I was able to get back to work yesterday. I went up to my dad's house, where my 8.8" Explorer axle has been tucked away for a few months. Among other tasks, my dad, brother-in-law and I managed to get the rearend narrowed. I forgot my good camera so I was only able to take a few shots with the phone.
Here's the axle as I bought it. The guy I bought it from cut off all of the Explorer bracketry so I didn't have to do it.
I haven't ever taken an axle apart before, but the guts in this one look pretty good to me.
Most of my extensive readership probably already knows that these rearends (late '90s Explorer) are great swaps for '54 Fords, among many other cars. They're cheap, readily available, strong, and come with limited slip, a variety of gear ratios, and disc brakes. Unfortunately, they're also too wide to bolt right into the car.
The most common way to make them fit is to narrow the long side (driver) by 2 15/16" inches, which is exactly the difference in length between the long and short axles. Then, a passenger axle is used on the driver side. When it's done, the rearend goes from about 59.5" overall to about 56.5", which is almost exactly as wide as the original rearend in the '54.
I researched the narrowing process quite a bit, and yesterday I finally had the time and bravery to try it out. First, the rearend went under the knife. A giant bandsaw is a tool I don't have at home - this is the main reason I left the rearend at my dad's. I knew I'd end up narrowing it in his shop.
The axle tube has to be cut and sectioned somewhere in the middle instead of just lopping off the end. This is because the ends taper down to the flange. I forgot the exact distance between the spring perches on the '54, so I guessed. I wanted to cut the tube where the spring perch on that side would eventually be welded on, for whatever reinforcement that will provide. I think I'm in the ballpark.
In order to make sure the tube gets welded back together properly - and without a jig - a steel sleeve is inserted to keep the tube true. I found a 6" piece of tubing that had the same O.D. as the I.D. of the axle housing. I took a slice out of the bottom for two reasons: so the tube could be compressed a bit, making the insertion into the axle easier, and so oil in the tube can flow freely to the outside bearing.
The only problem I ran into that I didn't read about online was the raised bead from the seam on the inside of the housing. I used a dremel to quickly grind that down on both ends, then drove the sleeve in.
The holes in both sides of the housing in the picture above were drilled so I could make a few plug welds to hold the axle and sleeve in place. Just cheap insurance to keep the housing end from getting tweaked before I welded up the main seam...
...which I don't have any pictures of. My phone died right as I was trying to take one of the finished product. The welding went pretty well and I am happy with the result. In the coming weeks I'll dress the welds, weld on the perches (after I figure out the right pinion angle), clean and paint the housing, and put on the brakes.
And I will take pictures.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Post 14: Frame cleaning, day 2 (of 1)
My wife has an algorithm. She says however long I tell her a job will take, she multiplies that time by 3. I don't like it, but she's usually right.
Case in point: Last weekend I told her it would take me about a day to clean up the frame. I spent last Sunday cleaning, then I spent most of today. I'm not done. It will probably be another day. Three days total. See what I mean?
Anyway, today I cleaned. I really didn't want to use the sand blaster because it makes such a mess, but after working on the frame last weekend with the angle grinder and wire brush I realized that at least a little bit of blasting is required. Aside from all of the little nooks and crannies, I'm finding that the old POR-15 is really hard to take off with a wire wheel or sanding disc. I painted that stuff on the front clip about 10 years ago, and now I'm glad I didn't get any farther back than that.
I thought the sand blaster would do the trick, but as it turns out the POR-15 is just really stuck on there. I guess that's a good thing - it's doing its job. Again, I probably should have left it alone and painted over it, but I'm already neck-deep in frame-off restoration and taking things down to bare metal is the name of my game.
The going is slower than anticipated but the results are good. Another day or so and I'll be ready to do some fabrication. I will be moving my rear shock mounts, taking a look at a bent piece of frame and corresponding broken weld, and I'm about 90% sure I'm going to cut out and replace my engine crossmember. Then I'll be able to prep and paint the frame, and soon I'll be putting things back together instead of taking them apart.
Case in point: Last weekend I told her it would take me about a day to clean up the frame. I spent last Sunday cleaning, then I spent most of today. I'm not done. It will probably be another day. Three days total. See what I mean?
Anyway, today I cleaned. I really didn't want to use the sand blaster because it makes such a mess, but after working on the frame last weekend with the angle grinder and wire brush I realized that at least a little bit of blasting is required. Aside from all of the little nooks and crannies, I'm finding that the old POR-15 is really hard to take off with a wire wheel or sanding disc. I painted that stuff on the front clip about 10 years ago, and now I'm glad I didn't get any farther back than that.
I thought the sand blaster would do the trick, but as it turns out the POR-15 is just really stuck on there. I guess that's a good thing - it's doing its job. Again, I probably should have left it alone and painted over it, but I'm already neck-deep in frame-off restoration and taking things down to bare metal is the name of my game.
The going is slower than anticipated but the results are good. Another day or so and I'll be ready to do some fabrication. I will be moving my rear shock mounts, taking a look at a bent piece of frame and corresponding broken weld, and I'm about 90% sure I'm going to cut out and replace my engine crossmember. Then I'll be able to prep and paint the frame, and soon I'll be putting things back together instead of taking them apart.
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