Thread: My Rat Build

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Gee, all them OEM parts worn out like that, now you'll probably end up with a bunch of go-fast goodies.....What fun is that????

yeah, shame aint it..hehehehe

Goin to build her back stock. Cost too much to play fast lane. Someone told me to put in a truck cam for a little thump. Anyone else ever hear that?

Larry

No, but I used to buy cam kits from PAW. They had quite a few for inline sixes and other oddball engines. They were really reasonable; about $100 for cam and lifters. I always had good luck with them; I think SSI was the brand name?

falconvan Thanks for the tip about PAW.

I checked their prices and have to admit they arent bad. A friend found a stock cam and lifters for 90 bucks at NAPA. He can get it through his tech school discount. Think I am going that route. Now got to save a few bucks.

Thanks again.
Larry

No problem! 10 bux is 10 bux; you can get a pair of fuzzy dice and a decent cruzin meal at White Castle with it!

Can you say new cam bearings too.

Tore into the head yesterday and started cleaning her up some. Not as bad as first thought. Valves look good and the sets were'nt in too bad of shape so thinking lapping them back in and putting her back together.

Larry

New goodies for my toy.

Got new valve spring, cam and lifter kit, rings and bearings along with new mains also. New timing gear.

Got the valves lapped in and they turned out great. Brought a ridge reamer and cut the ridge out of the block and honed the cylinders today. Will try to get to the crank tomorrow and polish it a little.

Moving right alone now.

A friend who goes to our local tech college talked to his teacher and he agreed to install the new cam bearings free of charge........ gotta love those freebies

Thats where I am as of today.

Larry

PS: get a move on it Perley. Stop hunging the stove and get outside and get something done even if its wrong......

Got the block back from the shop so now the fun can begin.

Often when the cooling system build that much pressure it's a compression leak from one of the cylinders into the cooling system...maybe bad gasket, cracked head, something like that... Best way to check is with a cooling system pressure tester. If you don't have one of them, maybe pull on spark plug and connect compressed air into the cylinder then check if you can hear air flowing in the radiator... could be something as simple as a defective thermostat, can check it with a can of water and a meat thermometer.

Originally Posted by Louey

If you didn't see any steam, prior to that, sounds like you didn't have enough water in the block, and probably got a good air lock, I call it.

You called it exactly right.

After removing the thermostat today I found the block had very little water in it even though I had tried to fill it during the first running of this engine after rebuild. My guess it pushed out more water than I realized on the first attempt and the second time I ran it I had the cap on tight being the radiator took very little water and it trapped air inside the block causing the pressure to build till something had to give in which it was the hose.

I filled the block before reinstalling the thermostat today (2 gallons) and filled the radiator and cranked the engine. I ran it for a good 30 minutes or so at 190 degrees and it ran perfectly with no over heating problems.

Thanks to those who replied to my post and for the help I recieved.

Larry

Looking really good! Glad to hear you got that engine running good!

Originally Posted by Silverhawk

Looking really good! Glad to hear you got that engine running good!

Thanks Silverhawk.

This weekend I started doing a little bodywork. Got both rear corners in primer and finished the cowl section also. I removed the air vent being its a roadster and replaced all the sheet metal on top of the cowl. Too much rust there to deal with so replacing it was a better idea.

Heres a couple of photos of the cowl section.

Larry

WOW!! That looks great!

Thanks Hawk!!