a bit of this and a bit of that.

the 10x15 slotmags arrived today, woohoo! we're that busy i haven't even unwrapped them :eek:
i've been quiet lately but not just sat on my backside (not all the time anyway) as we're actually reroofing my conservatory with a (nearly) flat fibreglass roof. we made almost 2 foot tall stud walls for the side and front to raise the roof to just above the brick/concrete 'outhouse', at least it was when i bought the place 34/35 years ago. it still retains a downstairs loo and was for some years an addition to the kitchen but is now a storeroom with racking for the food and cleaning products that dawn buys when they're on offer. next step was joist hangers and timbers side to side with an opening in it for the 1m x 1.2m triple glazed glass window i bought to let light in. last week before the daily rain started we got the sheets of osb screwed down and thick plastic sheeting battened on to hold it there. we've made the drip edges from timber ready to go on when we get a dry couple of days ready to do the fibreglassing.
as soon as we get it watertight we've got some finishing to do on a glass 32 3 window so it's safe and roadworthy for a mate, followed by another mk2 zephyr for a ton of welding. not quite as much as the last one but close.
neil.

I like the way you brought it back too hot rodding in the last sentence :lol:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jsf55

I like the way you brought it back too hot rodding in the last sentence :lol:

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i aim to please :whistle:
neil.

the roof's water tight now (since tuesday) so it was time for a bit of a tidy up in the garage. we got distracted by all the offcuts of timber and osb so made some shelves above my rollcab. with stuff placed neatly (for now...) we have almost half of the butchers block top clear as useable space again. it's a long time since it's been like that for sure, lol.
won't get much done tomorrow as i've got an eye appointment at the hospital, arranged after a referral by specsavers. they did my eye test about 3-4 weeks ago and told me the slight blurring in the centre of my left eye's vision was due to a bleed at the back of my eye :eek:. i said it was worse a couple of weeks earlier, like a black blob in my vision and had improved since but they still thought it best to get it checked. it's almost cleared now but as i only have 2 eyes i'd rather keep them both working so.... :lol:
neil.

we actually did something vehicle related today, but only some chassis welding on my son in law's transit. got to fit new pads all round next and fit his diesel night heater (it's partly a camper now) ready for the winter. boring stuff but he used to be a plasterer so he's now lined up to do my conservatory once the ceiling and one wall has the plaster board put up. :thumbs_up_smiley:
neil.

Did a heater in the teardrop for the pod ... glad i did with that wind !

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well that heater is a roaster, i'm considering getting one for my garage. it's quiet, there's no fumes (it's a heat exchanger type with the 'exhaust' venting outside) and it's a dry heat so no condensation. they come with one big 3-4" outlet or four smaller ones which could suit me as i could run flexi hoses around to keep the temperature even. we'll see.
on a more relevant note, we got my fe engine up on the engine stand and turned over to open up the bottom and investigate the crankshaft's excessive end float. well the engine must've come from a manual galaxie i reckon as the thrust part of the main bearing has worn into the crank' almost 1/8"! so although i could weld and turn it flush now i have my bigger lathe, with 2 other engines here we'll just sw2ap in another crank' with new bearings and call it good. we'll still swap the new roller timing set and h/v oil pump from ashley's engine but other than that it'll remain stock.
neil.

here's a pic of the crankshaft carnage :eek:
neil.
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/attachme...igh&width=1920

Would that not polish out ?

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Got some clearance there!

Chris

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the guy i bought that from said ''it was running fine in my galaxie, just a bit breathy''. mmmmmm.......
oh well, today we got the spare short block out of stock to check the crankshaft. from what we found on taking it apart this one was/is a1960 352/360hp engine, cool. anyway the crankshaft journals are all good and standard so that's the one we'll use. the bores are good too so a nice spare block to keep in stock.
neil.

ok, so 3rd time lucky with a new camshaft. i just ordered a camshaft (2 steps up from stock 428 cj this time) a set of core plugs, a pair of head gaskets, big end and main bearings and a set of valve guide seals. should be here mid next week. we're going to build a basic engine run stand this time for cam break in. also we'll use stock 'weak' valve springs for break in then swap the 428 cj ones afterwards. for lifters we've checked the 1st set and only one was bad (very bad, lol) and the other 15 have the correct convex face and survived the break in so will be reused. we'll pull the 2nd set and find any 'good' ones and then strip and clean both sets so we'll have plenty to use this time.
neil.

today we turned the 'dead crank' engine back up the right way and took the inlet and heads off. at the stage we're at it's worth popping the pistons/rods out and fitting new rings too so.... the bores are good as were the other 2 and all are standard. now it can upside down again to finish the strip down to a bare block. the heads from the one we're using are nice big valve versions which is nice.
neil.
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/attachme...fab770c813daa6
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/attachme...fab770c813daa6
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/attachme...fab770c813daa6

rings ordered now. just got to finish stripping the engine and give it all a good wash 'n' brush up ready to reassemble it when we have parts. :thumbs_up_smiley:
neil.

that's the engine stripped to the bare block and the bores honed. we also honed the lifter bores with my brake cylinder hone to make sure the lifters can spin freely when it's running. we're not taking any chances this time. the lifters from cam' number 1 have been stripped, cleaned and reassembled too. ash' will take the block to work and steam clean it inside and out (core plugs removed) as well.
neil.
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/attachme...igh&width=1920
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/attachme...igh&width=1920

parts are already arriving from rock auto, very fast delivery as always :thumbs_up_smiley:
neil.
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/attachme...964464b4135336

today we pulled the 'top' off of ashley's engine so we could go through the lifters to find one more 'good' one. we only found 2 out of 10 that had the slight crown on their base that they should have, 6 wouldn't even pull out of their bores! the 2 were stripped apart, cleaned and rebuilt so we now have a spare just in case. we need to remove the valve springs in situ after bedding the cam' in with the old stock ones and i've bought this compressor that uses the rocker shafts to lever/pull against. it'll come in handy for the same job on my 318 and later ashley's 440 too so the under ?20 purchase price was worth it. we had to strip a set of rockers from a shaft for the job but we have plenty, lol.
neil.
https://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/attachme...igh&width=1920

before i forget again... i ordered another pair of new engine mounts as this fe is a 64, ashley's is a 66. in 65 ford changed the block to take a 3 bolt mount, not the earlier 2 bolt mount. only 1 hole on the later 3 bolt mount lines up with the 2 bolt block, doh! good job they're very cheap from rock auto.
anyway back to today we removed all of the oil gallery plugs so we can fully clean the block. this is another nod towards preventing a 3rd cam/lifter failure, lol. so on the ordering stuff front, i ordered some long pipe cleaning brushes too which again is to help prevent cam/lifter failure.
neil.

After your last 2 experiences I do hope you get a result this time:yes:

me too Ian, hence all the extra precautions this time. ash' picked the block and crank' up today and took it to his mate's 'shop who has a big dishwasher for engine parts. several hours later he came back with them all nice and clean and still warm, lol. we hung the block back on the engine stand and sprayed it inside and out with some thinned engine oil so it doesn't rust immediately. we'll flush it all again before assembly with brake cleaner and the airline so it ought to be clean then, lol.
neil.