Hi all,

What should my oil pressure be at idle on my '36 std 8? I get about 35 to 40 when driving (depending on how hot the engine is) but when it's hot and I'm at a light idling it drops down to 5 maybe - always scares me.

In light of what I'm finding with the valves (that's a whole other saga) I'm worried that maybe the guys who put the engine together the first time may have screwed up the main bearings as well.

I just found out the they never machined the cyl head - so it wasn't the head gasket it was that the head was still warped. So now I'm getting that machined flat and doing a full valve job but am a little worried about that oil pressure.

Thanks,
Crin

Thank you Owen!

Any suggestions on cold valve lash?

Thank you!

OK so how do you know so much about these wonderful cars? I'm in awe at the amount of knowledge that you share. Teach me everything!

Any suggestions on the cold valve lash and what's Mr York's contact info? I'm going to get a wrench just to have.

Thanks again - you're awesome.

Update:

So I narrowed it down to two things. My #7 intake valve is not seating correctly and (of all things...this is really stupid) when I installed the new head gasket I didn't remove the hood. In so doing, I had to wrestle the distributor drive shaft into position (it's too long to take out with the hood in place) and managed to place it right on the new gasket - resting all of the cylinder head weight on it - in so doing, putting a nice 'dent' in my new gasket. So now cyl 5 leaks into cyl 4 ... .ahhhh ... but there's a beautiful silver lining.

I managed to find a machine shop (5 star rated) and the gent that owns it lives 20 minutes away from my house. We chatted and he's willing to come to my place and do a valve job.

I'm tempted to replace all the valves, guides, seats and springs just so I don't have to do this all over in 200 miles... but he said we'll do an honest evaluation of what it needs and he'll order all the parts and (I still can't believe this) he'll do the work here at my house. Now I don't have to pull the engine - whew!

The engine never ran right from day one - I had the engine rebuilt in one place then took it out and brought it to another and it seems like neither shop really wanted to do the work and they both rushed it - took my money ok though ...

Well now that the front end is off the car, I pulled the water pump which was leaking at the shaft (after 200 miles ... what is it with this car??) so any recommendations you all have for a reputable water pump place I'm all ears - or if it's just the packing material, I can do it myself.

Oh, one more thing, I obviously can't adjust the valve lash hot since it won't be running so I was curious if anyone can recommend a 'cold' valve lash.

Thank you!

Chris you're right but I keep thinking to myself that the engine has about 200 miles on it and the seats were replaced with hardened ones. I don't know if I could have ruined them that quickly.

Thank you sir. Much appreciated

OK don't laugh ... Please see picture. I know how to adjust the valves but ... what's under that cover? I had it apart a long time ago and I can't remember. Surely there's the camshaft and as I recall some kind of assembly attached to the covers. I remember it was a pain to get back on the block.

Thanks,
Crin

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I cleaned the valve faces and the pistons as well as the top surface where the gasket goes. I didn't take any pictures though. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary - valve faces still had the piston markings on them from the initial assembly.

I'll get busy with the valve adjustment and see where that takes me.

Thanks!

Thanks for the quick reply. Do you have any thoughts on whether that's my problem and/or my idea of letting the valves stay closed and running a compression test? I appreciate your inputs as always.

Thanks,
Crin

Hi all,

Can you please share with me what the valve lash should be on my '36 std 8? I replaced the head gasket but I'm still getting blowback through the intake manifold for cylinders 5, 6 & 7 (same problem cylinders as before). I looked at all the valves when the head was off and none were stuck and moved as expected but I think I need to get in there with a feeler guage and see where I stand.

My first thought is to back off that bolt to a point where the cam cannot open the valves anymore for those three cylinders. I think that will tell me if it's the valve adjustment that's giving me the problem. I'm thinking with the valves closed I should not feel anything at all through the intake manifold. What are your thoughts on this idea?

Thanks,
Crin