Finally arrived in Arizona

[av8paul]

We arrived last night. But instead of cruising into our friend's driveway, with the flathead humming, it was in a Toyota rental from hertz. The roadster will arrive here either tomorrow or Saturday.

We're picking up the loaner flathead this afternoon. It's an 8RT. Other than the pilot bearing for the T5 to flathead, is there anything that could cause me grief putting this engine into where a 59 style engine was originally?

Thanks.
Paul

[JWL]

The waterpump pulleys will be forward about 2 inches and the radiator hose connections will be smaller and at the front of the heads. I don't know what that means to your radiator clearance and fan situation?

[av8paul]

Originally Posted by JWL

The waterpump pulleys will be forward about 2 inches and the radiator hose connections will be smaller and at the front of the heads. I don't know what that means to your radiator clearance and fan situation?

Thanks for that, John. I use an electric fan, so I'm hoping that'll clear the alt pulley. I think I can solve the differences in hose sizes, by stepping the rad down with exhaust repair adaptors.

[Bruce Lancaster]

I have done that long ago by using the big size hose and then cutting the ends off of an 8BA hose and putting them on the water outlets at thermstats as size adaptors. The hose companies now all sell actual rubber adaptor rings which should be a bit more secure. You may well need to cut front sheave off of crank pulley in an A, and the remaining sheave will be forward a bit from the early position.

[TomT/Williamsburg]

Your local plumbing supply has some rubber stepdowns w/ss clamps - they work great. The small end is a little big - other than that, perfect - check it out ....

[George/Maine]

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The only thing I can think of is you will need 1/2 bellhousing.

[rotorwrench]

8RT is same as 8BA except the water pumps. If this is an AV8 in an A frame you are going to have to change a lot. If it's a 32 frame maybe not as much.

8BA will need half bell as was mentioned earlier. The starter won't work with the 59A type flywheel. Water pumps should fit mounts but belts are farther forward to clear the distributor set up. The fan also sits farther forward on a 8RT but you may be able to work around that as long as you have the wide belt sheeves that run a single belt. Later types have a dual 3/8" belt set up and one side includes the fan pulley to work.

Overall the 8RT is 2 inches longer than the 59A set up but with electric fan you should be OK there. The flywheel thing is the biggest catch. With a T-5 you will have to use an 8BA style flywheel and get it drilled for the clutch set up you have to make a starter work with the half bell 8RT front starter plate

Kerby

[flatjack9]

Originally Posted by TomT/Williamsburg

Your local plumbing supply has some rubber stepdowns w/ss clamps - they work great. The small end is a little big - other than that, perfect - check it out ....

They are called Fernco couplers.

[Rick-MA]

Hi Paul,

I know you've got a lot to think about, but Diane and I are glad to hear that you and Marge are there!

I hope the install goes smooth and without too many challenges. You've had enough of those for one week! :-)

Rick

[av8paul]

Today was a real crazy one. We picked up the loaner engine this afternoon. The upper rad hoses are already adapted for the earlier size hoses. The flywheel has an 11 inch PP, looks like my 10 inch disc will work ok with the 8rt set up. I just have to replace the pilot bearing with one for the T5 trans. Before we do any of that, we'll dry fit the engine to the trans and the front mounts. Temp fit the rad and elect fan and anything else I can't think of right now.

When we were driving back to Bruce's house with the loaner, I got a call from Fred Landis from Texas. He's the good Samaritan, that rescued my wife and me in Oklahoma. I asked him how it was going and he said he was 1 1/2 hours away with my car. He had left at 8 PM last night and driven straight thru. Two hours later, my car was unloaded and in Bruce's garage in Fountain Hills, AZ. Fred and his wife left for Kingman, AZ to pick up the '33 Tudor. I still can't believe all he did for us. He's really quite a guy.

Tomorrow, bright and early, Bruce and I will be tearing into the engine swap. As time allows, I'll post pictures and hopefully good news about the swap. If all goes well, I'll be enjoying some top down cruising in the Valley of the Sun, by Sunday morning.

[334charlie]

paul check pp to t5 adapter clearnce i think 11" is to big

[Ray Parson]

good news Paul just think of all the fun your in for. there is no more fun than working on a roadster lots of luck

[av8paul]

Originally Posted by 334charlie

paul check pp to t5 adapter clearnce i think 11" is to big

You were right, Charlie. The back of the fingers barely hit the T5 adaptor. I was going to clearanve the interference with a small grinder, but when temp fitting the engine to the chassis, the front pulley wouldn't clear the cross member.

[Miles]

I missed this. Welcome to AZ. Let me know if there is anything I can help with.

[hop up]

Let us know if we can help we're only a a day away with UPS/FedEx