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« 1 2 3 (4) 5 6 7 ... 9 »

Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#31
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Ross
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Geezer: when I was young and the cars were only 25 years old the fuel lines were always good. Now that they are close to sixty, I find I almost always have to replace the fuel line from front to back because they have pinholed under the hold-down clips. The tiniest air leak will keep the pump from priming. Had it just last week on a car that was OK when put up last fall.

If it turn out that your pickup tube is plugged I've had great success with chucking an 18 inch piece of old speedo cable in my drill for a roto-rooter. Run the drill ccw so the cable does not unwind.

Posted on: 2011/4/9 18:09
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#32
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Rusty O\'Toole
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By the way what was the matter with compression? Did you replace rings, grind valves, or just free up stuck valves?

Posted on: 2011/4/9 18:21
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#33
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Vicsik1969
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Replaced the head gasket, had the head acid dipped, beaded, magnafluxed, and machined.

None of the hydraulic valves appeared to be sticking and I didn't change the rings.

I still need to re-do a post surgical compression test.

Posted on: 2011/4/10 10:25
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#34
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Owen_Dyneto
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I hope after having the head machined you checked the clearances between the valves and the top of cylinder combustion chamber before bolting the head down. It's important especially when you don't know if the head was ever machined before. If there isn't enough clearance you risk bending a lot of valves when you crank it over.

Several methods of making this check have been described on these pages before. Let us know if you need a refresher.

Posted on: 2011/4/10 10:40
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#35
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Vicsik1969
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Uh oh. I've been doing a lot of cranking already since putting the head back on. Any signs, symptoms, noises I should note?

Posted on: 2011/4/10 14:46
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#36
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Owen_Dyneto
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Modern engines with high compression, overhead cams, and very thin shim-type head gaskets require a high degree of flatness between the head and block. Older flathead engines with compressible headgaskets are much more tolerant; certainly heads out of true by 0.015 or so don't require machining and I'm sure some will say the tolerance is even greater. Needless surface grinding a head has sent many to the trash bin and you're off shopping for another.

Your valves are mounted at a slight angle to the bore center. The first thing that will happen with insufficient clearance is that one or more of the valves will suffer bent heads with consequent loss of compression. If the situation continues, the lifters, cam followers, and the camshaft itself could be damaged if the bending of the valve head doesn't provide enough relief. I've seen all of those; it's also possible the head could be cracked though I've not seen that.

PS - I don't mean to sound like the prophet of doom. If the head was never surfaced before and they only took off 0.015" or so, it will almost certainly be OK. If it were mine and I was indoubt about it, for the cost of a headgasket I'd take it apart and check.

Posted on: 2011/4/10 16:43
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#37
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Rusty O\'Toole
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You should be able to mill the head at least .060 without damage. They allowed for this as part of normal overhaul procedure during the car's working life. Most flatheads can be milled .080 or more.

.015 is nothing. Of course we do not know if the head was milled before.

Posted on: 2011/4/10 18:31
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#38
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Owen_Dyneto
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Rusty, I'm not sure you can arbitrarily say that removing 0.060" is OK without taking into consideration the original compression ratio. Certainly there is more room to spare on a 356 engine with 6.5 CR than a 327 with 8.0.

A local here had 0.060" cut from an original 54 Cavalier engine and encountered valves hitting the top of the combustion chamber. Situation partially saved by grinding extra relief into the combustion chambers. And the result has been quite unsatisfactory for other reasons, the resultant high CR now dictates premium gas + tetraethyl lead or octane booster in copious quantities to suppress preignition. Owner's been thru double-gasketing (rarely lasts more than 100 miles), custom made extra thick head gaskets like the original "export" gaskets, etc. to try to control the preignition. The answer is to find another head.

Bottom line: don't have a cylinder head resurfaced without knowing with certainty that it's essential to do so. And after it's done, check the valve clearance before buttoning it up.

Posted on: 2011/4/10 19:56
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#39
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Vicsik1969
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After another long pause, a flurry of activity.

I decided to drop the Engine and Transmission pans. Both were very dirty but the engine pan especially so.

Thank goodness for these forums. I was stuck on the steering connecting rod when I found a forum that stated I should remove it from the frame. Worked like a charm.

Engine has a lot of sludge in the bottom (See Pix)

Also, as I turned the flywheel by hand, I could hear each cylinder compress (or rather I could hear the air coming down the cylinder walls). Makes me seriously consider takind the head back off and putting new rings on.

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Posted on: 2011/5/22 15:08
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Re: Darrin's 1954 Super Clipper Club Sedan
#40
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Owen_Dyneto
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Glad you dropped the pan, now you see why many of us have been preaching this for so long. If you don't know the last time it was dropped and cleaned, it's been too long.

As far as Makes me seriously consider taking the head back off and putting new rings on goes, perhaps you should do a compression test before jumping to conclusions.

Posted on: 2011/5/22 15:23
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