1938 V8 head removal

[Newc]

To seal the rings while scouring the cyl walls, I use plumbers putty around the edge of the piston -easily removed after vaccuming the grit. Newc

[BlueSpark]

Alrighty, I am cleaning out as much rust as I can, will turn it over by hand to see if theres more behind the pistons. Crap.

[BlueSpark]

The putty idea is good, thanks for that-

[Ggmac]

IMo it doesn’t look too bad . Of course newly honed is best but many flathead motors have been run with worse . I’d clean out as much as possible, change oil of course , run it for short cycles , retorque cyl heads . Check oil and water. Repeat this cycle a few times and hopefully youll be fine . I use the heat /cool cycles to loosen the rings , it was the way I was taught , right or wrong it has worked for me . Good luck
Ps check for visible cracks , sorry forgot that part . If none are visible , go for it . It’ll show with water in oil , water in cyl etc .

[AnthonyG]

Not sure how many will spank me, but I’ve done on several SBC’s as a kid the same thing Tubman said. Most were junked engines I bought on the cheap in an emergency to get transportation back on the road. Having said that all the engines I bought that way I checked they weren’t seized flooding cylinders w a cocktail of oil, liquid wrench, CRC, Marvel & what ever else I had before trying to turn w big Wrench. If they turned I let marinate a few drained all, put new oil, plugs, wires, Dist cap points condenser & I can’t think of one that didn’t fire up. Most smoked a bit for a few weeks but cleared up!
Having said that, the rust I see in ur pic’s is less than I’ve gone w in SBC’s my only experience here, as I’m still on my 1st Flatty for last 12 yrs. Previously a GM OHV guy. JMHO but I’d of juiced up all the cylinders w afore mentioned cocktail & let marinate a few days & turned w a wrench before removing heads or manifold. If it turned as Tubman said I would’ve made sure plugs, wires & ignition was OK & cranked it up. My bet is if it ran before it would start, smoke for a while then as Mike in Mass’s Dad said miles of smiles, or worse case then disassemble & refresh what needs replacing which is kinda what ur deciding now anyway. Again JMHO

[BlueSpark]

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Thank you Anthony! Heres where I am. Soaked rings a day or two with Marvel, covered the pistons and got in there with some very fine emery cloth. Was very pessimistic at first but they are cleaning up decently without a lot of scrubbing. I know I need to be careful about changing the shape and size of the bore. When the gritty rust was out I turned the engine over with a wrench and it moves easily. Did some more cleaning and sprayed the walls and rings well with Marvel and covered it because I am leaving here for a month. When I get back it will be warmer and I can get back at it without freezing to death. What will remain a mystery is the condition of the rings. I sprayed into them with carb cleaner using the tube to dislodge and bring up crud and it seems like that is working well, I think I am getting everything out of the space between the walls and the tops of the pistons. Will get everything just as clean and smooth as possible and try to fire it up. Aside from the cost of new head gaskets nothing to lose, right? Folks on this forum have given me confidence as well as suggestions. After a few videos on honing (I have been warned not to do this and do not plan to) I am wondering how I should leave the cylinder walls, not too smooth because the rings wont seat again I gather. Will update when I get back at it.

[tubman]

It sounds like it's time for the ole "Bon Ami" treatment.

[Seth Swoboda]

Clean the cylinder walls gently. Give them a light coat of oil. Button it back up, fire the engine and drive it. I've woken up flatheads from 20+ years of sleep and it's been pretty successful.

[BlueSpark]

Hi all, I am back where the truck is and back at it with another question. I have cleaned up most cylinders and they seem pretty good except for one. The rust was mostly on the surface and came off with emery cloth, not too much rubbing since I have been concerned about changing the shape of the bore. But one has a groove because the rust did manage to eat into the wall a bit. I'm sure I could rub it out eventually but wondering if this is a good idea. You can see it in the picture and I can feel it with my finger so its definitely an indent so my question is will the rings ride over it without trouble or will they want to catch on it? How much wall can I remove without causing bigger problems? I tend to rub up and down rather than side to side to minimize variations as the rings run the length of the cylinder. (The thing you see in there is a plug I made to keep grit from getting down in there.) Oh and AllFord had a pile of head gaskets. I didnt know what is best among them, there are differences between brands, I brought home a "Best Gasket" brand so if anyone knows of any problems with these...

[1936 ford pickup]

Hello BlueSpark,

Thank you for your photos and comments along the way.
I too have a '36 Ford pickup with a later '46-'48 engine and am going through basically the same thing as you. Due to blown head gasket I had removed the passenger side cast iron head so far, had it magnafluxed and found four small hairline cracks. Now that better weather is coming I am going to use my Heat Induction Tool along with Howe's penetrating oil and stud extractor tool to hopefully and successfully remove all studs on passenger side then onto the drivers side for same treatment. I plan on using Edelbrock aluminum heads along with the longer studs, washers and nuts along with new head gaskets. Good luck on your project and I hope the same goes for me as well.

Bruce in california

[cadillac512]

Hi BlueSpark-
The cylinder looks just fine without any more sanding. The rings will not catch any low spots...only high spots (like rust that has grown) and it looks like you've removed any high spots. I'd clean it up and put it together...I've done it many times in my career as an auto mechanic and it almost always turns out good if it looks like yours does. Do make sure to look over the valves as they operate while turning the engine. Don't want any sticking open or having a chunk of rusty gunk on the seats.



Terry

[BlueSpark]

Terry and Bruce, thanks a million! OK Im done with that then. Now for a week of scraping off the head/manifold gaskets... Then to somehow get rust out of the intake ports. Yeah I have a lot of cleaning to do including valves which actually look good in the seating areas. Looking forwarding to firing it up, maybe another week. I have a new carb and electronic ignition to put on, glad to get rid of that awful distributor with the dual caps. So assuming I havent made any big mistakes I will be cruising with the big boys! Thanks also to All Ford Parts in Campbell CA for always having what I need-


Dan

[BlueSpark]

Good luck on your project as well Bruce. And Terry, I did find one exhaust valve was stuck open. I pushed it down and it freed up I will certainly turn it over and watch all the valves to make sure all is well. Had a good day, gaskets scraped and surfaces clean-

[cadillac512]

That's good news. You're making progress for sure. It'll be running soon at this rate!


Terry

[BlueSpark]

Well, everything is clean so today I will put the battery in and crank it over to watch the valves but I am up to 2 valves that have stuck open. One closed when I pushed on it but the other one will need a little encouragement with a rubber mallet. I wont hit it hard. But I am wondering, can this problem crop back up later? I am soaking the guide in liquid wrench hoping it will return on its own. I dont see any rust on the valve shafts but Im sure it is related to the water intrusion. So all I can think of is lots of oil and crank it over for a while. Anything else I should be doing?

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by BlueSpark

Well, everything is clean so today I will put the battery in and crank it over to watch the valves but I am up to 2 valves that have stuck open. One closed when I pushed on it but the other one will need a little encouragement with a rubber mallet. I wont hit it hard. But I am wondering, can this problem crop back up later? I am soaking the guide in liquid wrench hoping it will return on its own. I dont see any rust on the valve shafts but Im sure it is related to the water intrusion. So all I can think of is lots of oil and crank it over for a while. Anything else I should be doing?

[cadillac512]

Aside from removing the valve, spring and guide assemblies from the engine to disassemble and clean them, the best you can do is keep working them using light oil, WD40,or whatever you choose. I'd pull them out myself, but that's me. Be sure to do a thorough job or they'll stick again!
If you do remove them get 'em back in the same hole or more adjustment will be needed.



Terry

[slowforty]

Next time use a 50/50 mix of Acetone and auto trans fluid. A lot cheaper and you get much more for your money. Someone did a test on the other board and this works as good as Kroil and does not cost $15 a can.

[Robert/Texas]

Originally Posted by slowforty

Next time use a 50/50 mix of Acetone and auto trans fluid. A lot cheaper and you get much more for your money. Someone did a test on the other board and this works as good as Kroil and does not cost $15 a can.

I could not agree with this more. Several years ago we hired a plumber to replace a shower head. He was flooding the pipe joint with Kroil and couldn't get it loose and told us that he needed to break some of the tiles out. I asked him to wait until I could mix some acetone and ATF. He brushed it on the joint and after a few minutes it came apart easily.

[BlueSpark]

Yes! I did this to get the heads off and was very happy with the results. The studs were stuck to the holes in the heads. So now to investigate removing and replacing valves, seems a bit above my skill set...