well, the darn thing is out

[gmwillys]

The exhaust manifolds could have used an extra fastener(s) on cylinder 1 and 4. With the center three, I suppose the engineers thought that was enough. They had to make room for the intake manifold. Once they do seal, they stay sealed rather well. The design didn't change until the seventies, when they went away from the 134 c.i. altogether.

LarrBeard,

Now you have me on the look out for a Simpson 260. Good tip for checking condensers. Often an overlooked part of the ignition system. Thank you Sir.

[pelago]

YEAH, NEED TO WORK ON THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD. maybe take it somewhere and make sure it is perfectly flat? mill it some maybe, do have another motor, and maybe swap out, double gasket it? dont know.
My plan originally was to get motor running and then pull the frame and all out of garage and start on the body, but might want to modify it some, new plugs, tune up including distributor cap and new plugs. Carb definitely needs some work, leaks and is not running right. My friend who helped me on the engine had a garage the was lost due to eminent domain and a new road where is garage was (Doc Holiday Auto Repair started by his father in the 50's) he will do the carb rebuild. and got two carbs for parts and pieces. $260.00 bucks for new plug wires is kinda steep that money could go a long way towards body repair, but??? there a cheaper substitute for temporary fix and get the correct ones a bit later?? Then the exhaust system, right now there is a bullcrap pipe attached to manifold and a small glass pack attached to the end. at this time putting on the correct exhaust a lot easier that doing it laying on my back under the darn thing. so that might be a advisable thing to do..

[pelago]

A simpson meter is one of the finest meters ever made, this was the standard issue to every tech in the Marine Corps and on every tech bench i ever saw. i bought one years ago and got the heavy travel case, (protected it) to go with it. This is the meter i was trained with and one i only use, yeah digitals are nice, but try to tune a circuit and look for a dip with a digital, just can not do it, but with a simpson its right there in front of you. SUPERB METE

[pelago]

got a video how do you post it??

[gmwillys]

I would take a straight edge to both the manifold, and the head, (tough to do with the intake on) to see what or if there is a low spot. If you have a low spot on the exhaust, then you can either have the manifold tried up, or purchase a thick header gasket that closely matches the exhaust port. Most likely a Ford header gasket would be a close match. They do make thicker gaskets for tough sealing headers.

As far as the spark plugs and wires, I would clean up the plugs the best you can, (some have used a Sonic brass tumbler to remove carbon), then ohm out the plug wires to see if you have any with high resistance. They are very expensive, and I don't know of anywhere that sells or trades for used ones. I have had success in cleaning the military plugs out in the field, but did have to cut the end of a good Snap On plug socket in order to get the truck running. You can purchase a cheap set of civilian wires, and insert them into the sockets. Be sure that plug ends are secure, so they don't get stuck in the cap or plug.

[pelago]

my thoughts on the manifold, happen to have two of them, might even take a trip to a machine shop and have them milled flat for sure..
to do............
1. rebuild carb
2. tune up points rotor, cap and cond.
3. wires
4. exhaust leak at #4

hidden benefit, seems gen working at with the on/off in the OFF position voltage at source 13.2 volts dc, engine running 28 volts DC cool, engine runs pretty cool of course no load, but still water pump and thermostat doing its thing, and original plan was to run for 30 minutes and reain oil, but oil after 1 hr 30 min total run time is still clear


https://www.facebook.com/ira.r.jones...5737042168788/

[LarrBeard]

my thoughts on the manifold, happen to have two of them, might even take a trip to a machine shop and have them milled flat for sure
r

Since you have a second manifold, look it over really well for cracks and have a machine shop plane it flat. It would take a lot to warp the block under the manifold footprint.

I had to put a second gasket under the valve side cover on the '48/52 since it had enough warp that it wouldn't seal. Permatex stuck the two together into one.

Sometimes the pieces are as warped and bent as we are.

[pelago]

"I had to put a second gasket under the valve side cover on the '48/52 since it had enough warp that it wouldn't seal. Permatex stuck the two together into one.

Sometimes the pieces are as warped and bent as we are"

sometning in what you are saying about that have some seepage, right in the middle above oil pump, probably hae to double up, but no leaks at all around valve cover, but then again onlyu have maybe 1 1/2 hours run time. dont want to run it any more until the darn thing has the exh licked, will probably hang the new exhaust on it before body goes on

quite happy with the oil pressure 35 lbs, looks good, and the radiator now has steady flow of water when the thermostat opens, and runs pretty cool, but then again no load

dont want to run it very long with the bad exhaust on #4 bad things can happen,,,, but when that is cured, how long do you think it will take for the crap to flush out around the rings, have no idea how long that crud and dried oil been in there. and the thing desperately needs a tune up, but wonder how long it will take to clean itself out?? Oil pretty darn clear now, should have seen all the smoke when it first started up, filled my garage up,,,, had to open all the doors and set up some fans to exhaust it, but it cleared up pretty quick. just hidden crap in the thing. what do think about lucas additive, i used that in my diesel and loved it... 1 qt lucas four quarts oil.... ran it 100 hours then changed it religiosly..

[gmwillys]

It's getting hard to find, but the permatex brown bottle shellac was always a go to for sealing up the valve cover gaskets. Too often the mounting hardware is over torqued, and it deforms the cover to where it is not flat enough to seal against the gasket and block.

Lucas additive is good stuff. I knew a lot of truck drivers and fleets that swore by it.

Speaking of additives, I have personally tried this product, and highly recommend it first for your firearms, then for your vehicles;

http://www.militec-1.com/

The stuff works great on all firearms, when applied per the directions. I tested it out on my muzzleloader, and now it takes just a total of two patches to clean and seal. It does work very well in my Springfield 40 cal. as well. I have used it in air compressors and on my big block Chrysler derby cars through the years, and have been impressed with the results.

[LarrBeard]

I don't think you were at all surprised with the smoke when it finally fired up. You had lubricated everything very well early on when you were turning the engine over to get it loosened up and that oil had to go somewhere once it started.

You are not breaking in a new engine, so you'll not get the micro particles that come from rings seating against cylinder walls and rod and main bearings seating against crank surfaces. You're right in that the main concern is crud stuck in rings and down in oil galleries.

I'd wait 8 -10 running hours and do an oil and filter change. We're probably being 'way too careful here - but that's what happens as we get older.

As for the Lucas additive - in an F-134 it might be a bit of overkill. By today's standards, this is really a light duty engine that's not going to be beaten all that hard. Lucas does make oil slicker (through chemical processes I don't understand) and I wonder if 1953 design seals will hold it in or will it find places to crawl through?

I was down at Knob Creek Kentucky (you know of the place). One of the stories was about a gentleman who had a Lewis gun that kept breaking parts. After a bit of discussions with folks, it turned out that he was lubricating with some modern super slick greases. Slicker greases made higher cyclic rate, higher rate meant much more stress and harder impacts and broken parts. Old sticky grease slowed things down and no more broken parts. The point is that on old stuff, newer and slicker isn't always better (and its a good story too).

What temperature thermostat are you using? I find data for the F-134 that says 160 degrees and some data says 180 degrees. Colder is not necessarily easier on the engine since crud needs to get hot so it doesn't accumulate in the oil, especially on engines that don't run all day long.

Even at 180 degrees, that little engine is relatively cold compared to modern engines. I have read that one of the reasons to run straight 30-weight oil is that the engine just doesn't get hot enough to bring 5W30 or 10W30 multi-viscosity oils up to full 30W viscosity!

And - one of the reasons that properly restored 38's are so rare is that folks just don't want to invest the dollars in the 24-volt wiring and electrical system and the RFI shielded plugs, wires and ignition parts. Yeah, it's an investment.

Hang in there - you have a fan club rootin' for you. And be careful.

E8B Sends