Thanks to some help from Ohighway I figured out that the dipstick in my engine is not original and was WAY too long. I added some fuel tubing as a spacer to get me into the correct realm - BUT - Jim - I love the dipstick tube you added, that's WAY better. Was that just any old tube and is mounted right up, or did you have to do anything special to make it fit properly into the engine case?
IIRC, a 5/16" tube will fit right into the hole in the block. Brake line, fuel line, whatever you can find. I ran it in a couple of inches and used a good sealant on it after cleaning the hole with a bore brush and carb cleaner. The tab I just fabbed up from scrap and made it flexy enough that it would self align when I slipped it over one of the head studs with an extra nut. Made the length right to give a correct reading and found a place it could go. That last part, flaring the end, was the tricky bit. Don't remember exactly how I did that but I think it involved a lot of fiddly work when the tube was straight, with driving stuff down the end and tapping around the sides to get it out again. A hard plastic hammer and some hard leather helps do that last part without marking up the tube too bad. Might have used a flaring tool for the lip. Once that part was right I cut it to length and did the rest. Nicopp tubing is real easy to form so that might work pretty good. I needed a good seal on the dipstick, this does the trick. Jim
