Thanks.

Looking for an idea of what a 1941 120 sedan in nice driveable condition might be worth. I would say it is between a 3 and 2 condition wise. Maybe closer to a 2. Body is very nice, straight, everything there, interior shows some wear but very presentable and it runs good.

Believe me I have been up and down and around on finding this noise. It is not timing for sure. Sometimes it will make itself heard as soon as the starter is released which leads one to believe the starter drive has not completely disengaged. It is not a grinding sound. Other times it is fine but I have noticed that by making the engine work hard I can make this noise come to life and then by backing off it will go away. The only thing I have not done is pull the starter and try running it. Thought about it but have not tried it yet. I have swapped starters out on another engine and the starters seem to work fine on the other car. No noise.

Wish it was that simple. This car has been modified and does not use the vacuum switch on the carb. It uses a push button for the starter. It is definitely not the starter trying to engage. Heard that more than a few times and that is nasty.This is just a light tinging noise that comes and goes, has everyone baffled.Have reworked the starter several times, tried shimming it out a bit from the bellhousing, tried different starter from another 288, no difference.

We have a 1951 250 2 door coupe with a 288 and Ultramatic. The 288 was rebuilt by a reputable shop in town and the ultramatic was rebuilt by another reputable transmission shop. Both work very well but there is this ongoing issue with a noise that almost sounds like a hung up starter bendix at times just contacting the ring gear. The starter has been out many times, checked, new proper p/n bendix reinstalled. Starter works great but noise persists. Not always there on start up but can be made to appear by making the engine work as in accelerating on highway. And then when backing off the throttle it will usually go away. It is not a grinding noise but more like a piece of tin hitting the ring gear although I don't know if that is the case. Very aggravating. Wondering if something was missed when the engine and transmission were mated and something is moving (torque converter?). If nothing else I am going to pull the transmission and take a look later this fall.

Thanks. I will see what I can find.

Did this on our 51 about a month ago. The heater core had been leaking for some time it would seem with the previous owner and had caused some rust under the passenger floor.I am wondering what is used to retain the bowden cable ends on the heater controls as there are no retainers on this car and the cable ends just pop off when you move the control.

I don't recall where the first head gasket came from, it was part of an engine overhaul gasket set. But there are several different types available it would seem. I know on other vehicles and engine types there may be several different styles available. My experience tells me to use the best as penny pinching on gaskets is usually going to come back and bite you.

Got the head gasket from Max Merrit. It is a substantial looking piece being metal clad with copper fire rings. Now having said that it must be said that this engine had less than two hours running time on it and had not been retorqued. But on pulling the head the gasket was physically broken. This often happens when removing a head but the gasket was not stuck at all to either the block or the head. In other words who knows. But I have run the car a few hours and retorqued with the new gasket. It needed the retorque and all is good.

Well I ordered a complete gasket kit from Max Merrit and looked in the maintenance manual where it made mention of two adjacent cylinders with no compression being a blown head gasket. So off the head came and yes the gasket was blown. The engine has no more than maybe two hundred miles on it since overhaul but this gasket was definitely not as robust as the one I replaced it with. The valves were fine, everything was fine except this crappy head gasket. So back together it went and it runs great.