Rain and Ford overhaul (was Re: [AT] test

[Mike Sloane]

No driving tractors around here today - the predictions are for 3-5" 
before this storm is over. That isn't much for the Gulf states, but that 
is a LOT of water in the Northeast. We had a couple of inches on Monday, 
leaving all the creeks and rivers nearly full, so todays water will 
surely cause some flooding.

I am making progress, however, with the overhaul of my Ford 2N engine. I 
pulled the engine and removed the valves, guides, camshaft, and 
crankshaft. The reason for this was that I was not able to remove the 
cast iron sleeves with my sleeve puller. But with the crankshaft out, I 
was able to set up the puller, turn the engine over, and give the bottom 
disc of the puller a couple of (not so) gentle taps with a hand sledge. 
That got the sleeves moving just enough to let the puller take over. But 
it is still a hard pull every inch of the way. I have two liners out, 
and have the third started - one a day is about all these out of shape 
muscles can handle. Once I have the liners out, I will order all the 
replacement parts and put everything back together. The interesting 
thing is that the rod and crank bearings are .010 oversize and are like 
brand new, but the pistons, rings, and liners are badly worn (or broken 
in the case of the rings). The block must have been bored to accept the 
thicker cast iron liners, but the pistons are OEM Ford marked with 4 
rings. I suppose someone could have gone to all the trouble of boring 
the block, installing new sleeves, and turning the crank and yet still 
put the original pistons back in, but that doesn't make sense in my 
book. The piston grooves are mostly double the original width! But, as 
much work as it has been and frustrating at times, it has been a great 
learning experience. Thanks to all who offered suggestions on removing 
the sleeves and the unique Ford flathead valve bodies, and to Bob Brooks 
for lending me his valve unique Ford flathead valve guide remover - I 
could not have done it without that tool. My fond wish is that the 
assembly will not be nearly as difficult as the tear-down.

Mike

charlie hill wrote:
> It was nice here yesterday but today we have a nasty fine rain and a 
> stiff S/E breeze.  However, it is 72 degs so I guess I shouldn't 
> complain. Everything is starting to bloom and I saw a flock of Martins 
> this morning. Spring is here and it's time to use the tractors if the 
> rain would just stop.
> 
> Charlie

-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
mikesloane at verizon.net
Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we
don't believe in it at all. -Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and
political activist (1928- )


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