Richie's Mk1 Restoration

[RichardT10829]

Gotcha..... Never thought about that cheers for the heads up Marc.

[Marc van Aalderen]

Glad to be of help. That's what this Forum is all about after all.

Cheers,

[RichardT10829]

A bit progress.... Engine is all but done, she is due to come off the building stand and into the test stand... A few bits to bolt on but won't do that until it's safe on the floor.... Fingers crossed the proof will be in the pudding if I have botched the build or not.... I remain pessimistic as it's my first crack at V8's

[Petr Brezina]

Very nice

[RichardT10829]

Well the engine is off the stand and into its testing cradle, everything was going well until I went to fit the distributor and it does not fit... I have done something wrong, failing that it's the timing gear cover needs changing..... Gutted :-(

[horsa]

You need a bigger hammer

When looking at your distributor male fitting, make sure it is rotated to match the offset of the mounting slot. It should only be able to go onto the engine one way and this prevents you from having your timing off 180 degrees.

Can't think of anything else that could be off if this is the same distributor you had before restoring the engine.

[RichardT10829]

No the original was the divers helmet... This is a crab type dizzy as I was recommended to go with one of those. The drive on the dizzy is too deep for the rebate on the cover.

[chris vickery]

Ritchie, nothing wrong with your timing cover. You have a 32-41 3 bolt meant for the divers helmet dizzy. The 42-48 3 bolt is what is required for a crab or pancake type dizzy.
The 2 bolt crab dizzy uses a remote coil on a bracket off of the head somewhere. It is superior to the early type as the coil stays cooler than the diver type which mounted right atop the distributor on front of the engine.
Since this is the distributor you have, you will need to source a 2 bolt timing cover.
Not sure which is "correct" for the Universal Carrier but I would definately use the one you have.

[chris vickery]

Only bit of bad news Richie is that the 2 bolt covers are a little harder to find. They are out there mind you. I will check with a friend of mine this weekend who is big into flathead Fords unless you have someone local who can help out.

[RichardT10829]

Cheers Chris, I will give royal kustoms a call tomorrow.

[Private_collector]

Adaptors are available to compensate for the distributor swap.
$30 is cost, here in Aust.





Alternatively, if you can't find one, or a 2 bolt cover, I think I may have a spare one here if you want it!

[chris vickery]

Wow Tony, cheaper down in Oz. I have seen those here in the US, last one listed was $69.99USD!!!
I figured that since Richie is doing such an original job, I didn't want to temp him with the idea of hotrod parts... Certainly an option if stuck though.
I am sure one of us here on MLU will get you sorted.

[RichardT10829]

Thanks guys, the great people at Royal Kustoms have offered to swap my three hole plate for a two hole'r

Just a case of a new gasket and another bit of oil soaked rope :-)

[lynx42]

[QUOTE=RichardT10829;193932]Well the engine is off the stand and into its testing cradle, everything was going well until I went to fit the distributor and it does not fit... I have done something wrong, failing that it's the timing gear cover needs changing..... Gutted :-(





Richard, I think that you will also need to change the spark lead conduits. The ones you have are for the 3 pin divers helmet distributor. The crab has different conduits. The divers helmet has tapered rubber pipes from the distributor up into the conduits. The crab has a slightly different shaped tubes.

Regards Rick.

[Lynn Eades]

Two pictures to show the HT wiring lay out. The conduits needs holes for the two leads that cross over, which doesn't happen with the older dizzy. This was covered in Alastair's Loyd thread.

Credit to who ever posted these very helpful pictures before me.

[RichardT10829]

Thanks Lynn, I have just tried feeding the ht leads through the tube, leaving the two out that cross over, and I can get away with the conduit that I have.

[RichardT10829]

Well, still waiting for the replacement timing cover to come back, my pal made me up a starting box for the test runs, he also stripped and rebuilt my starter motor which I have re fitted to the engine.... Fan extension has been cleaned up and awaits the tweaked generator.


Can anyone advise one best oil to use ? Should I get some cheap stuff to run the engine through ?

Also I am running 12v system, what sort of battery do you guys recommend ?

[RichardT10829]

Well got a bit more done today, this time the gunners left hand side folding armour I had to bend up a small joggle that catches the retaining latch from the front armour, which pretty much consisted of cutting a strip out of a bit of scrap 8mm steel then bending it to the required heights, followed by fixing it to the plate with two 3/8 rivets. Next I had to rivet on the spall strip which was used to catch any fragments of bullet should a round or two strike the armour where the fold down section meets the main plate..... This was fixed with five 5/16 rivets, two of which had to be ground flat afterwards to allow for the hinges to sit over them...

And here we are ready to rivet onto the hinges ! Tomorrow's job !!!!

[Lynn Eades]

Hi Rich. I recon I almost recognize that spall strip, or at least the origin of the cad drawing for it?(If they were an exact copy, all would be the same anyhow. I'm just guessing you might have had some help?) Suggest before you rivet that you shim both ends so there is room for the paint, if you haven't already thought of it.
You are progressing well. Keep it going!

[RichardT10829]

Thanks, I had hand painted some etch primer on the surfaces that mate together then set the rivets.... Two of them I am annoyed about... I have marked the steel by not watching closely enough.

By the time the numerous layers of paint go on it shouldn't be so bad, failing that I will polish the scars out

[kevin powles]

Originally Posted by RichardT10829

Well got a bit more done today, this time the gunners left hand side folding armour I had to bend up a small joggle that catches the retaining latch from the front armour, which pretty much consisted of cutting a strip out of a bit of scrap 8mm steel then bending it to the required heights, followed by fixing it to the plate with two 3/8 rivets. Next I had to rivet on the spall strip which was used to catch any fragments of bullet should a round or two strike the armour where the fold down section meets the main plate..... This was fixed with five 5/16 rivets, two of which had to be ground flat afterwards to allow for the hinges to sit over them...

And here we are ready to rivet onto the hinges ! Tomorrow's job !!!!

Looking good Richie, remember to put the hinges on the right way up, you can flash on the top corner flat once aligned with your gun port swing armour plate, as they did in the factory.

Only 11 weeks to go!.

Kevin.

[Lynn Eades]

Kevin, In the nicest possible tone, Can you not post this way please?
It is not necessary to repeat what the previous poster has said, along with the photos. It just clogs up the thread and makes it tedious to navigate. You can say everything you want without all the duplication
No, I am not a moderator, just asking you, so we can make things better.
Cheers.

[chris vickery]

Ritchie, no need to worry about a few scars, I am sure the boys at Ford Windsor were not too particular on the assembly line. In fact, not being too exact probably makes things more authentic. It is easy to over restore stuff because we think it looks better when in fact it makes things incorrect.
I have seen many Willys jeeps that are too well done because the owners did not like the look of rough welds, seams etc and applied copious does of grinding, polishing and body filler. Just sayin'.

[RichardT10829]

Points well made :-)

Yes 11 weeks to go the clock is rapidly running down, the last major hurdle is the engine... If that runs and my carrier starts, stops, and steers I can hide my shame by piling loads of crap onto the carrier for the show hehehe.

Electric loom is done waiting to go back in eventually...

Jnr and I fired a few more rivets in today and got the armour segment fitted back on, along with the last of the 5/16 rivets into the armour squares on the centre bulkhead. I have three more 3/8 to fire in on the rear armour for the rifle rest, but that's it for the riveting......sure I have said that before ?

[RichardT10829]

I am going round in circles with this timing cover..... The crab type two bolt cover came.... Cleaned the cosmolene off, painted it.... Fitted it...... Bloody dizzy does not fit!!! Bolt holes marry up correct... However the dizzy won't butt up against the plate, I have about a 10mm clearance issue.... What am I doing wrong ?




The dizzy drive is solid against the cam shaft in this pic


Miffed off !

[chris vickery]

Richard, is that an original Crab type dizzy or some kind of aftermarket modern one, I can't see from your pic?
The other issue here in case you did not notice is that the slot on the cam and drive key on the back of dizzy are off center I think and will only mate up one way or the other. You may have to rotate the drive in the dizzy 180deg. Its been a while since I played around with these.
Also, perhaps verify the dimensions on the key vs the slot to make sure they jive. I believe all flathead cams are the same but I am no expert.

[Richard Farrant]

In Tony's post #461 he shows an adaptor plate:
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/at...1&d=1396649043

This stands out from the original timing cover and the thickness of the adaptor looks similar to the gap you have, assuming dog is engaged with cam slot.

[RichardT10829]

I thought the adaptor plate was to convert from three bolt dizzy to two.... I can see it would stand the dizzy off though.

The drive fits into the cam no bother.... Not sure about the dizzy whether it's after market or not, I got it from Ben

[Andrew Rowe]

Camshafts for the flatheadheads do come in different lengths.
I try and use a T5 cam (Truck ) on carrier engines, better torque curve. Your one is designed for the "Egg type dizzy" , so the only way to fit the "crab dizzy"
is to use the adapter plate. The previous post make sense also for the position of the slot, I have also seen a key adapter for the slot on the end of the cam, but I don't think this applies in your situation.

[chris vickery]

Richard
The adapter plate is just that, an adapter. Don't get confused.
It was meant to use a 2 bolt crab type on a 3 bolt divers helmet type plate.
The issue here is that you now have a two hole plate which is correct for the crab distributor.
One time I changed out mine and it was a simple swap. I am somewhat confused as to why it doesn't mate. My suggestion of cam difference has been confirmed by the previous post. I was hoping that you have the correct length cam. I know that Mercury parts are somewhat different so there is a distinct possibility...
Alternately, a simple spacer may get you where you need to be if cam length is the issue....as long as the drive engages the cam you're good to go.