New Year, hopefully more progress

The last few months have been kind of overloaded, so I have not had much time to work on the truck.

But I have gotten to the point I am ready to pull the block, I think.

Getting ready to pull

Getting ready to pull

Hopefully I can get back to making progress and we can get into the block rebuild.

Catching up

Things around here are busy as ever, after looking at the new toys (see my previous post about Dad and my trip to Harbor Freight), I decided I definitely needed to do some rearranging and make some progress.

We have a two car garage, and I have a small woodworking shop in one half, which I had compressed to make some room for the tools and knowing that I would be working on the truck.  Unfortunately, my compressing the woodworking section, was not quite enough on it’s own.  So I decided I would have to do some more rearranging.

I have to keep a somewhat functioning woodworking shop, so just packing it all up was not an option, but with some tactical rearranging, and turning the table I had set aside for the truck parts, I have made enough floor space for what comes next I think, well I hope…

Making floor space

Making floor space

I also put the engine stand and hoist together today.  I had hoped to do that last weekend, but time just got away from me.

The hoist and engine stand

The hoist and engine stand

And fortunately, the engine stand fit under the parts table, so I can work around it and the hoist folds up so I can tuck it into a corner, so neither it really intrusive in the work space.  Once the stand has the block on it, it will certainly stick out, but that’s ok because I will be working on the block then.

The Hoist folded up

The Hoist folded up

Back to work

Life has been hectic, that isn’t abnormal around here, but I haven’t been able to get out and play in the garage for a couple weeks, and that sucks…  But I was able to get out there today and get some things done.

Dad was over the other day and we talked about the brakes.  We both agree that even though I could rebuild the existing brake cylinders and the master cylinder, buying a new set makes sense.  They have them on several of the parts sites I use, and they aren’t expensive, and when it comes to brakes, well being able to stop when you put your foot down is one of those critical safety items…

I’ll probably still rebuild the existing brake and master cylinders and have them on a shelf in case we need to replace one in the future, but going with new makes sense to both of us.

When we last left the truck, I had sheared off the studs that hold the exhaust pipe to the exhaust manifold on the passenger side, not something I was totally happy about, but it happens.

Today I got my wife to give me a hand, you try lining up a socket on 16 inches of extension on a driver from the underside by yourself when you can’t see the nut you are trying to break free…

And as amazing as it was, both of the nuts came free on the drivers side exhaust manifold.  I credit the guy who had the brains to soak them in oil, several times over the last couple weeks, but I’m not tooting my own horn you understand. 😛

The exhaust crossover is free on the driver's side

The exhaust crossover is free on the driver’s side

I also decided to remove the tin can patch on the exhaust on the passenger side to see how the pipe actually looked.  If you have been following along here, that is the one that shows I have proof my Dad taught me the tin can exhaust repair trick long before the Internet became the number one source for how-to…  It was quite the leak.

Now that's an exhaust leak...

Now that’s an exhaust leak…

Once I had the exhaust clear of the manifolds, I decided to unbolt the clamps holding it together both at the cross piece and the tail pipe going back.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, the pipe was so far gone at the patch that it came out in a couple pieces, but it did come out.  I found another hole in the exhaust underneath the passenger side manifold so it looks like there were break through’s both where the y-pipe comes together and where the exhaust out of the manifold both hit.

Exhaust out

Exhaust out

We’ll have to see how the fix for that goes, new piping for sure, but depending on the manifold or if we need to go to headers we may have it done at a local shop.  I’m sure the muffler is rusted through, although I haven’t pulled it yet.

I also wanted to pull the starter, well I started to pull the starter.  I found the bolts holding it on.  On this model they are long bolts that run the length of the starter, they actually hold the starter together in addition to bolting it to the bell housing.  When the bolts were free, but still holding the starter I started wrestling with the starter itself to get it free, but it really wanted to fight me.  So I decided to call it a day and do some further research to make sure I didn’t pull something off and have things go sproing… and parts go flying…

I did some digging and it turns out the starter motor gear actually sits behind the flywheel, the bendix pulls the gearing forward to mesh with the flywheel and engage the starter.  So sometimes a little finagling may be required to clear the flywheel when pulling the starter out.  So I will work on that next as time permits…

Starter

Starter

So once again, we are getting there, one step at a time.

The first unveiling

Dad has not seen the truck since it was in his garage.  He has seen the blog and we’ve talked a little about things as I found them, until this last week because he was traveling.  So he basically knows what is going on, but I have to admit I’m a little anxious with him seeing it for the first time in pieces…

When the discussion about me working on the truck first came up I was going to put in a new battery, change the oil, probably drain the transmission and differential and make sure the brakes were safe and working fine.  The goal was to do the things he could not easily do to get it to where he could play/tinker with it and drive it, then go from there.

Each time I started something, starting with draining the oil, it just seemed to lead to one more thing.  So in some respects a simple oil change has lead us to the block is almost stripped down and needs to be rebuilt.  Going this far would have to have been done whether I started working on it, or he did it.  But I feel kind of like the little kid showing his Dad something he accomplished, or at least was working on, and wondering how he was going to react…  I’m not sure I thought that at 50+ years old I would have felt that feeling again… LOL  🙂

But for me, this project is a labor of love and I wouldn’t give it up willingly for anything else in the world (assuming of course my wife doesn’t get too jealous)…

Getting down to the bare block

Getting down to the block

The next step is going to be a little work on my garage I think, I need to open up the other side of the garage and move the woodworking shop to the front.  My wife has lined up some photo jobs that will require some custom frames.  I make reclaimed wood frames for her photography, so I have to keep the wood shop in shape.  But also so I can get an engine hoist into the garage and have room to pull the block and transmission I think. 🙂

 

Progress sometimes comes in baby steps

Yesterday for lunch I managed to sneak out to the garage for a little bit.  I was able to pull the fuel pump off the pump stand.

Fuel pump on the pump stand

Fuel pump on the pump stand

It was a little hard getting it off the stand.  Once I got the bolts undone, the arm still had pressure on it, holding the cap on the push rod, but with a little bit of twisting it came free.  The arm is showing quite a bit of rust an the pump housing is loose, that isn’t a good sign.

Fuel pump removed...

Fuel pump removed…

On the good news side, I have a Ford Service Manual and a Fuel System manual coming.  The oil and gear oil got here yesterday afternoon.  Gotta love the internet, you can find anything, and I’m still amazed at how reasonable the parts are for this so far.

Adding to the list of things to do

I haven’t been able to sneak out to the garage for the last couple days, other than to peak at a few things and apply some penetrating oil to the engine mounts to prepare them for loosening so I can raise the engine to drop the oil pan this weekend.

I have however been busy ordering more parts and supplies.  I have a couple gallons of oil and gear oil coming in tomorrow and the line to replace the broken fuel line I found to the fuel pump.

I need to figure out where I can get some kerosene, to clean the inside of the block out once I get the pan dropped and the heads and intake off.  Always something more to plan for and do.

I’d still like to get the transmission and differential drained this weekend, and run some water through the cooling system to see if anything leaks also, so lots in the works.

My wife asked me what I wanted to do for Father’s Day, I told her I wanted to get up and have some sausage gravy and biscuits and then spend the day working in the garage on the truck.  Of course I’d like to spend some time with her and the kids, I just want to do it in the garage… 🙂

Next steps

Saturday, time for a battery and some parts.

I got on the web and started researching, multiple side tracks later… I confirmed that the parts store up the road had a battery in stock.  You see a 1939 Ford has a 6 volt positively grounded electrical system, where modern era cars are 12 volt negatively grounded systems, usually.  So finding one that close was a stroke of luck.

My wife needed to run an errand so I offered to take her, with a quick stop on the way home for a new battery…

The Battery

The Battery

It turns out the website lied…  I spent 15 minutes hunting the shelves with a young guy who was having a bad day for the battery with no luck.

When we got home I started researching other parts I already know I’m going to need.  The trucks fuel filter sits in a glass bowl attached to the fuel pump.  In our case, the bowl was broken some years ago, so I knew I needed a new bowl, gaskets and filter.

Fuel pump

Fuel pump

I found a place online that specializes in early Ford and Mercury parts.  I found everything I need to rebuild the fuel filter, a new canister oil filter, a new air filter, a new v-belt, as well as a special trinket to be revealed later.

Sunday, I started putting together some lists of things that will need to be checked and done.  I also pulled the hood off with the help of a friend to make working on the engine easier.

Pulling the hood

Pulling the hood

Unfortunately, I also discovered that the fuel line connecting the feed from the line from the tank to the fuel bowl and pump was broken, so that is the first item for the next parts order…

Moving Day… Excavating the truck…

On Friday a couple friends and I went over to Mom and Dad’s house to move the truck to my garage to begin the process of getting it running again.

This is the story of the move in pictures.

The excavation beings

The excavation beings

 

Hooking it up

Hooking it up

 

Pulling it out

Pulling it out

 

Loading it up

Loading it up

 

Loading it up

Loading it up

 

Loading it up

Loading it up

 

Loading it up

Loading it up

 

Getting ready to roll

Getting ready to roll

 

Unloading

Unloading

 

Rolling down the drive

Rolling down the drive

 

Slipping into the garage

Slipping into the garage

 

Settled in

Settled in

 

Now we begin the next part of the journey…