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Lord Gruntfuttock

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Everything posted by Lord Gruntfuttock

  1. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Are these a fancy-pants Hunter?
  2. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Cleaned everything up and started again. Tapped out the old 5/16" to M10. I was going to use a fine pitch but only had a taper tap, so used the 1.5 pitch thread. Did a lot of this sort of thing on the old ironhead, retapping fucked imperial to metric. There is usually a good metric size that is in between the imperial steps that doesn't require drilling out too much material... And drilled the housing out to 10mm, lots of meat on this as well... and it works well, although the lower bolthead looks huge... And repeated the intake manifold install, used NZ made Permaseal gaskets this time, they look pretty well made, I just put a very thin smear of RTV around the front and rear water passages, and used a bead of Permatex Ultra Black in place of the cork end gaskets... and a corresponding bead on the intake (all surfaces cleaned with Brakleen first). Around this much seemed perfect, and having studs on the corners makes it really easy to line everything up... And don't know if I actually achieved anything looking at it together, doubtful if I could get this lower bolt out without a lot of swearing, but at least I know the thread isn't boogered, and there is antiseize on all threads that future me will be thankful for... And quite like these, little stainless allen head studs for the rocker covers, all of $15 from Ebay, and arrived in a week... So I reckon I could get the engine in this weekend, can't quite see the opportunity arising however - 'Happy Mother's Day love, would you mind lying under the car and lining things up while I drop this engine in...?'
  3. Lord Gruntfuttock
    So no updates cos had a life for a bit (Sabbath last weekend \m/ \m/)... Anyway, been slowly cleaning up old bits, replacing connections etc, and hit the shed last night to made some studs and get the inlet manifold on... Then spent this morning getting covered in half-set sealant pulling it off again, after lying awake knowing that I'd buggered it up... As I was torquing the water neck I noticed one thread was slightly stripped (felt it at only 15 ft-lbs) and as I had everything ready to go I just put a longer bolt in it and it seemed fine. Of course with the crappy Ford thermostat housing setup there is no way to get this lower bolt out again if it's too long once the inlet is on, as it hits the back of the water pump, and is a bastard to get at (memories now of overtightening this bolt with a spanner in the past trying to stem a leak)... Now I'm sure it would be fine, and it's only really a matter of lifting the inlet to replace if I had to, but in my haste I'd also forgotten to: put any anti-seize lubricant on the s/s manifold bolts, test the new thermostat So the inlet's off again and cleaned before the goo set, and I'll tap out the dodgy 5/16" thread to M10 and put it together properly, knowing I can replace the thermostat easily if need be (things that are not quite right bother me). Also ordered new set of hoses just because I'd rather replace them now while it is easy, plus got this catch can to plumb into the PCV line, as I am a bit concerned my baffle mods are going to mean a bit of oil being pushed out... So for the cost of a couple of gaskets and a little effort I'll be much more confident in my setup. Do it once, do it right eh...
  4. Lord Gruntfuttock
    You're in...
  5. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Egad...What sort of drugs would dissolve good taste enough to allow this...?
  6. Lord Gruntfuttock
    And tried for 300 degrees by plugging all unused ports and heating at full blast from both ends, then had an oops... Who knew that cotton rags would burn at 300 degrees...? And with new rag plugs, got up over 300 surprisingly, didn't hold it for 30 minutes however due to fire risk and my good gun starting to melt, so we'll see how it goes... While things were cooling I sprayed the drippy air cleaner again, typically got bugs on the bit I'd just done so it'll probably look worse than if I'd left it... And even after that the headers were still hot as I hung them in the shed. No idea if this'll work or not, the temp control was a bit random, but the paint is definitely stuck on better than when I started, also got a few marks where the pipes were laying on the cardboard edges. Worse case I'll just spray some more on once the engine is sorted, and cook them according to instructions in place, an interesting exercise anyway...
  7. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Gave it a crack. Just set up some guns with rags in the ports to see what sort of temp I'd get across the unit bunging it up the fat end... All good down the big end, but a bit light at the other... So shot another gun in the ports, alternating holes to regulate temp, you can see the colour change (darker and shiny) as it cooks... And did both pipes at 120 degrees, was hard work using two guns plus thermometer so wedged the guns for a hands free system... And got 200 degrees for the second burn ok, plugged the big end and regulated heat with rags at the top and the high/low switches...
  8. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Bit of a saga with the headers, Any coating (incl ceramic) requires curing, and doing it on the vehicle doesn't work in with the running conditions to bed in a new cam. I debated leaving them as-is and doing a proper job later (priced ceramic coating with Elite in Ch'ch) but I can't really be arsed pulling them off again and didn't want to stick rusty old pipes on my shiny engine, so decided just to rattle can VHT on them to see how it goes... So a couple of weeks ago I dropped into the largest sandblasting place in Invers (a place I put a bit of work through incidentally) to ask about blasting them clean. 2 weeks later, despite me going in there twice plus leaving my details, hadn't heard a bloody thing. This disappoints me as I treat every job as a trial for bigger ones, and not being contacted pissed me off more than a little, this will be remembered when larger contracts come about... Anyways, did a google search for sandblasting Invergumboot, and Sievwright blasting/panel/paint popped up. Never knew anything about them but called past on the off chance to see what they could do. The GC there said sure, no probs, they boys had a window and as they were in the car I could get them done right then, and pick them up in an hr. Done... Crap pic but shit this saved some work, I'm over sanding stuff down and would happily pay for this service again. The bloke asked me how I found them as they don't advertise, and laughed when I said I had the arse with the normal outfit (Southern Industrial Coatings) and went looking... And I knocked off early and degreased, warmed and chucked a few coats of VHT black on 'em... These look pretty good now but I'm under no illusions it'll last, so I looked into curing them prior to bolting them up. I need to bake at: 120 degs for 30 mins cool 30 mins 204 degs for 30 mins cool 30 mins 315 degs for 30mins After my last shed cleanup I discovered I had 3 hot air guns (no idea how) so toying with the idea of using these plus an IR thermometer to give it a go. I know I can get the pipes to over 100 degs with one gun, so will be interesting to see what I can do, can always plumb in an lpg torch for bit of extra oomph. Worst case is I'll waste a bit of time trying it out, best case is it works and I have fun trying...
  9. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Still need this done? Our IT bloke is Russian...
  10. Lord Gruntfuttock
    And chucked the lifters in, gave them a good coat of assembly lube. This stuff is sticky, got strings of red goo everywhere. That plus oily fingers gives these pics the soft focus look... And inserted pushrods/rocker arms with a dollop of goo on each end, and loosely fitted polylocks... And liked this ex-t shirt I pulled out of the rag bag, had to look it up but Dimmit is in Florida... And all done. Just used the EOIC method, and went through each bank in order, giving the nut a half turn after resistance was felt, and locking it down... Then went through each cylinder/valve in firing order and checked each rocker felt the same. Pretty sure it's all good, tis easy to set hydraulics as they are quite forgiving. Would have carried on but I'm going to use studs on the intake and Hardware store was shut today. Still, a good bit of progress, only let down by my rush job painting engine parts, got a few drips so will have to sort that out over the week...
  11. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Thought I'd better bang in the frost plugs before I forgot about them. gave the block a good clean up with scotchbrite and brakleen, then a light smear of permatex #1 (hardening) sealant on each surface, and knocked them in evenly with a socket... And yes they are aligned vertically cos that's how I roll...
  12. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Pushrods arrived and looks like I did the maths right... Chucked them in some solvent for a clean and soaked the new lifters in clean oil... And gave rockers and polylocks a clean too, I wasn't sure I had to do this but didn't know if they had a grease coat or not, certainly a lot of crud came off... And once blown out and dried I gave them a coating of fresh oil and all ready to go in. Would have done it this arvo but wife has gone to netball so I'm doing family duties. Heads are all torqued up and next step is installing rockers and setting valve lash... Might get some time tomorrow, we'll see how things go...
  13. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Was looking fwd to long weekend to sort out some painting, but forecast looks a bit shit, so took yesterday off as it was a cracker of a day and I'd rather be skinning my knuckles on something interesting than processing paperwork. Stripped and prepped the air cleaner base, rocker covers and misc brackets etc, and got a couple of coats of epoxy on them. Some I'll leave as-is, the others will get a top coat of colour... The shed of 1000 projects... I had intended to prime the front grille section too, but it was a bastard to strip, all angles and sharp edges, and couldn't get any tools inside the recesses, so all hand sanding. I thought I'd just rub it back and spray over, but found my half-arsed effort umpteen years ago just meant rust under the shoddily applied spray-bomb, so needed to come back to metal. Just ran out of time to get it done properly, another day of labour required unfortunately. I'm thinking of just applying aluminium silver wheel paint once it's primed, should be a fairly hardy paint, and easy to touch up when it gets chipped... So, a job frustratingly half-done, but still better than being at work...
  14. Lord Gruntfuttock
    I'm hoping the steel rockers I bought will fit ok under my stock covers, being smaller (and more expensive) than alloy rollers. There's not too much info on line unfortunately, most people chuck aftermarket (tall) covers on. The polylocks obviously hit the baffles on a test fit though, so I 'borrowed' some playdoh from my girls to see what the score was... No too bad really, decided to try knocking some holes in for clearance. Just used a 1" hole saw in the supercheap drill press... And cleaned them up a bit... And clearance looks ok. No idea if these holes will affect the purpose of the baffles, will see how it goes. I'll recheck clearances with more clay after the valve lash is set, while rotating the engine. If I had to I could rivet some stepped baffle plates in over these holes I guess... And stripped the covers for some fresh paint, hope it sticks as well as this stuff did, it was out of a rattle can and took a lot of effort to get off. Wish I could remember the brand it had cured really well.. Getting bummed about the short evenings now too, makes it harder to chuck paint around, so will be a weekend job...
  15. Lord Gruntfuttock
    With no engine cowling should do it like a model A rod...
  16. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Belt should be straightforward then, maybe it's shredding em cos the chassis is wonky. Don't know about huskys, but should have brakes, usually there's a foot pedal you can lock down so's you can get off with motor running.
  17. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Timed blades? i.e. a toothed belt so blades don't knock shit out of each other? Just replaced belt on my mower and buying belt from U.K. was about half the price of local.Had to download manual to see how to route it cos I pulled it out when it snapped without looking how it went first...
  18. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Very much a hobby. Spend most of the day in front of a puter so building stuff in the shed is my way of staying sane. It's nice to do something 'real' after a day of fannying about in the office...
  19. Lord Gruntfuttock
    # 1 daughter was sick today, and I kindly offered to stay home to care for her and let wifey go to work. Was awesome, got to sleep in, watch movies with a 6 yr old, score some Dad points, AND blag some bonus time in the shed. Having (slightly) sick kids is a great gig... Here's the temporary solid lifter I'd bodged up to check the pushrods, just washers and shims cut from a speights can to pack it out... And I pulled the head to refit the valve spring and new gasket, and gave the heads the first torque after lubing new head bolts and bushing/washers with ARP torque assembly goo. Never used this before, seems good stuff, it just 'felt' right torquing up the bolts... Also fitted water pump as the gasket had arrived... It's really starting to come together now, should probably do a lot of the remaining fiddly jobs while I'm waiting for those pushrods, though it'll seem tedious after playing with shiny engine bits...
  20. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Cheers for the pics link. I'm not usually a fan of the one-marque shows, but at least with Ford you get pommy, Aussie and US cars, plus trucks, vans and rods for a bit of variety...
  21. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Looked into pushrod sizes, and after seeing the price thought I'd better re-check things, so shot home at lunchtime and re-tested with the head torqued down (onto an old gasket) and took a bit more care measuring. The results are much the same, but I am more confident in spending some coin after measuring twice... With stock pushrod, got the same pattern indicating the rod was a little short (stock rod is 174.75mm... And setting adjustable rod to 177mm, got a nice neat pattern centred on the stem... Now, pushrods have theoretical, actual and gauge lengths (to account for oil holes and where the ball seats). Looking at the Comp Cams website, the actual length is approx 0.017" longer than gauge length, so I need a rod 177mm - 0.017". So maths... 177mm = 6.968" 6.968" - 0.017" = 6.951" And I see the 5/16" Magnum hardened rods come in 6.950" (as a check, 6.950 + 0.017 = 6.967, which = 176.96mm) Sorted, and ordered...
  22. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Anyone go/take pics?
  23. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Had to check pushrod length before I order hardened ones. Since I have a lightweight (ie cheap) adjustable pushrod and didn't want to break it, I tried fitting a spring from the old heads, but it was about the same weight as the new ones, so tried just the inner with some washers. Didn't work worth a damn. As soon as I screwed up the locknut, instead of the rocker tightening on the pushrod, the spring compressed, until the valve hit the piston. Failed bodge... So just decided to use what I had. I'd packed an old lifter with washers so it was effectively a solid one and wouldn't compress... With a stock pushrod (approx 174mm) the pattern the roller made on a bit of vivid maker was ok, but a little close to the intake side, indicating the rod is too short. This would probably be fine, but I wanted to experiment while I had the chance... Screwed the adjustable rod out to around 180mm and the mark was too far towards the exhaust side (blurry as shit sorry)... And at around 177mm it was spot on, perfect narrow pattern in the middle of the valve stem. Just got to order some hardened rods that are approximately this length and I can start properly assembling things... Yet to see what lengths are available, and what the imperial equivalents are. Bit of a bugger waiting for this but couldn't check things till I had it together...
  24. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Cleaned up the block in preparation for her new top end, while I could turn it upside down and not get shit in everything. Started chasing out the threads but I was concerned my cheap tap was going to screw up the threads (felt like it was cutting too much) so backed out, and cut down an old toothbrush to use instead. Worked well with a bit of solvent to flush out any bits... And the pistons had a good costing of carbon. I used a sharpened chopstick to scrape it off (soft wood so no scratches) and cleaned up with a bit of brakleen... Then an oily rag to clean up any debris. And loosely fitted the first head, just to see how she looked...
  25. Lord Gruntfuttock
    Don't think I'll make it...
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