July 15th 2021 Moving along with the piston cleanup. Meanwhile, the block paint has been curing for almost three weeks. Both the Bill Hirsh engine paint and the Glyptal insulating paint will benefit from heat treatment prior to running the engine. With that in mind, I rooted around in the dark recesses of the BillyBob shop until I found my Powder coating curing lamp. Went about setting the lamp up to bake the Glyptal paint at about 260 degrees F for 2 hrs. This process takes awhile as you have to move the engine block from time to time to concentrate the infrared rays on different areas. Beer of the day was Nebraska Brewing Company's Brunette Nut Brown Ale.
July 19th 2021 Nailhead piston assembly operations continue. This is cleaned assembly two compared to untouched assembly three. Something else to observe about these two assemblies is that the "ears" just above the crankshaft end of rod three are almost ground away whereas there is still plenty of meat in the ears of rod two. Rod three also has a beefier cap than two which might account for some of this. I'll weigh things down the road to see what's what. I've got three and a half assemblies cleaned at this point and I've modified the procedure as well. The procedure was revised to clean the piston top carbon. Scotchbrite cookies were too aggressive and Dremel buffs didn't cut it alone. A brass wire wheel in an electric die grinder did the trick. Dad's ancient groove cleaning tool tortured me more than it tortured the ring grooves. I got better results with using a broken ring as a cleaning tool. The ultrasonic cleaning session leaves aluminum dull and ferrous metal slightly rusty so the Evapo-Rust dip was moved to the last step before lightly oiling with Marvel Mystery oil. and the piston gets a shine up with wire wheel again. Background music was Steve Miller Band's Sailor.
Thanx. I have so far. It took me a long time to clean the piston assemblies because I did them one at a time for that reason.
August 2nd 2021 Took longer than I thought it would to clean the eight nailhead piston assemblies but I've always been over optimistic regarding deadlines. The piston assemblies are now clean and will be set aside. Updated the procedure for the nailhead piston assembly cleanup along the way for future reference. 1) Remove the rings; 2) Disassemble piston assembly; 3) Submerge all parts in Oileater parts washer for an hour; 4) Submerge piston in Chem-Dip for thirty minutes; 5) Remove remaining carbon on piston top with brass wire wheel in electric die grinder; 6) Go over rest of piston with the Scotchbrite buffs in the Dremel tool; 7) Clean ring grooves; 8) Submerge all parts in an ultrasonic cleaner session, 99 minutes 80 degrees C; 9) Submerge rod, cap, wrist pin and bolts in Evapo-Rust for up to twenty-four hours; 10) Shine up the piston again with another, shorter, wire wheel and Scotchbrite buff session; 11) Give all parts a light coating of Marvel Mystery Oil and reassemble loosely. Beer of the day was Madtree Brewing Company's Happy Amber amber ale. Background music was Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band's Live on.
August 3rd 2021 Crankshaft, main bearings and caps are next on the to-do list. Cleaning is first, then measuring what we have. I'm in deep ponder mode and taking some YouTube continuing education courses. Beer of the day is Nebraska Brewing Company's Nebraska PILS Pilsner Lager and background music was Cream of Clapton.
Don’t ponder too long Larry. Just long enough to make it through the next step. I think you’re on a roll!
Maybe I missed it but, have you measured the bores to confirm that boring isn't necessary and the original pistons can go back in? Or, will you sleeve the cylinders?
Bores are forty thousandths over and will fit the old pistons. I am no longer sure I am using the old pistons and will remeasure again before I order rings and bearings.
August 4th 2021 Started with the main bearing caps, using an abbreviated procedure that I used to clean the rods. All these caps are stamped with a number and arrow so I can batch clean them without worrying about mixing them up. Segments of the rear seal were still in the sides of the rear main cap so, I have to dig that out first. My friend, David Kerry, a professional performance engine builder and fabricator, had several concerns after viewing the pic of the crank and mains. "That crank needs micro polishing, the oil holes need chamfering please tell me you are not using those old bearings ? The wear pattern indicates the block needs line honing." I'm gonna try to address those concerns but probably not to everybody's satisfaction, 'cept mine. Easiest first. When I got back to the shop, I located and blew the dust off my Starrett straightedge along with my thinnest feeler gauge (0.0015"). Tried to slip the feeler gauge under the straightedge in four places (both sides, front and back) of each main bearing journal, It didn't go under anywhere. I'm happy with that result. Chamfering the oil holes was under my radar. I hadn't thought about chamfering the oil holes so, I'm researching that now but polishing my crank was always part to the program. The jury's still out on the bearings, both mains and rods. Beer of the day was Madtree Brewing Company's Lift Crisp Golden Ale. Background music was Duane Allman An Anthology.
Just hazarding my opinion on the differences of the rods. I believe the rod on the left did not have the balance pads ground off during balancing, but have less material due to the cap being beefier, so the weight of the big end is correct. The rods and caps between the two. although different, should be pretty close to each other in weight. Nice progress.
Thanx. I also think they are probably close but I plan to weigh rod assemblies and pistons when I get closer to assembly.
Yeah. I meant you should have no trouble with the mix-n-match, that they should not be too far apart that balancing would be a problem.
Makes one wonder how the original engines survived. I make sure it is done if the crank has been turned so that sharp edges don't peel the bearing inserts. Are those Buick brand pistons?
August 9th 2021 Main bearing caps and bolts were submerged in the Oileater parts washer soup for an hour. That revealed paint overspray and rear seal remnants still in the rear cap so they were dug out and wire wheeled with the Dremel tool, then another session in the parts washer. The bearings themselves got an hour's session in 100% Oileater, not the Oileater/water mix in the parts washer. Then, the the caps and bolts got a session in the Ultrasonic cleaner at 80 degrees C for 99 minutes and that was followed by a dip in Evapo-Rust for the caps. No rust on the bolts and they were set aside. The bearings also got a separate Ultrasonic cleaner session. They came out of the Ultrasonic the worse for wear, not looking as good as when they went in. I lightly buffed one of the thrust bearing halves and took it with me, along with the unbuffed half to the Sunday morning coffee cruise-in. The consensus among my fellow Senile and Surly Club members was that the bearings were serviceable, but new ones would be better if available. I lightly buffed the remaining bearings and put them aside with the main caps which got a light coating of Marvel Mystery Oil. Beer of the day is Fulton Brewing's Lonely Blonde American Blonde Ale. Background music was Glenn Miller Chattanooga Choo Choo The #1 hits.
August 10th 2021 Went over the nailhead crankshaft with Oileater. A couple of the counterbalances had red and yellow paint marks. Found a shard on one of the counterbalances from machining that almost drew blood. Looks like both the machinist and the builder missed it. I took it off. Decided to take the rust off the crankshaft by submerging it in Evapo-Rust so, I cleaned up my tire leak testing tub that is just the right size for this job. Required 12 gallons to submerge the crankshaft. Beer of the day is Hamburg Brewing Company's Two Two Mango Mangolicious Ale. Background music was Rolling Stones Exiles on Main Street.
