Larry, I don’t know where I was, but I found this cool picture for you. I know yours is not going to look the same, but it is still a cool picture along with the car. John
From the BillyBob Shop log September 14th 2021 My valve spring compressor tool is not a good one and I don't have the strength to lock it down so, I tried placing it in locked position and compressing the springs with the adjustment screw. that worked and I didn't have to fall back on my other valve spring tool that I affectionately call the palm bruising star of pain. Hopefully, not many of the valves are stuck and I will have them out in short order as well. Beer of the day was made for me, Adelbert's Brewery's Sip and Ponder Philosophizer Saison Ale. Background music was Dire Straits Brothers in Arms.
From the BillyBob Shop log September 21st 2021 Two of the nailhead valves were stuck and were left to soak a bit with application of Kroil penetrating oil. Got one free by heating the valve guide with MAP torch and quenching with Kroil but the other bad boy wouldn't budge and the only effect was setting the work bench on fire . . . twice. Then . . . the torch valve lit up! Torch valve engulfed in flames, I rushed to the head and submerged it in the toilet. Damn! Eighty-sixed the torch assembly and attempted to order a new one. These things have increased a couple of orders of complexity since I last bought one. They have everything short of Bluetooth now. Research is required. Groan. This is beginning to look like one of my epic struggles. Put a chunk of heater hose over the stubborn valve and guide to dam up more penetrating oil where it needs to work. Give it a couple of whacks with the brass hammer every now and then. Maybe it will loosen up. Beer of the day was Clown Shoes Beer Mango American Kolsch. Background music was Grateful Dead American Beauty.
From the BillyBob Shop log September 23rd 2021 James Rick on FB suggested induction heat and I have a weakness for shiny new specialty tools. I researched and ordered a Bolt Buster induction heater to try on the stubborn stuck valve guide. The Bolt Buster arrived and I read the manual, all of two pages with six additional pages of lawyer CYA. This is a nifty tool! It heated the top 3/8" of the valve guide cherry red in less than fifteen seconds. Valve still doesn't move yet with brass hammer persuasion but we'll keep at it. FB buddy Kenneth Crenwelge said he'd have it in the hydraulic press by now but I don't have a press . . . yet. I'll try Acetone/ATF soakings in lieu of the Kroil when my acetone shipment gets here. Beer of the day was Adelbert's Brewery's Scratchin' Hippo Amber Ale. Background music was Jerry Lee Lewis Last Man Standing.
From the BillyBob Shop log September 24th 2021 Time to quit pussy-footin' around. Having decided to replace the valves and, not getting any progress with many taps from the brass hammer, I resolved to heat up the stuck valve guide cherry red again and give it one forceful whack with my twelve pound sledge. Gave it more than one whack and got movement. Only it was the guide and not the valve that moved. Heated it up again but because of the new, lower position, the valve stem went cherry red, not the guide. Should have stopped and thought about that but I didn't. The next whack bent the valve and broke the guide. Just damn! Screwed the pooch. This is the same head with the twisted off stud. It's becoming my nemesis. Some deep ponder mode thinking is in order. Beer of the day was Clown Shoes Beer Space Cupcake India Pale Ale. Background music was The Eagles Desperado.
The guides are originally pressed in from the top. I don't know if they are tapered or have a step to limit how far they go in. You could remove the head of the valve by drilling out the center of the valve face, then just knock out the whole guide/valve stem from the chamber side.
Thanx. The stuck valve and guide wend downward with the first hammer blows so I hope I didn't damage the head. I like your suggestion and may go that way. The valve is deep into the combustion chamber now and I may be able to cut it off behind the valve face. I'll have to check that.
Thanks Tom. I may already be in trouble here but I'll make sure my solution involves the guide coming out the top.
From the BillyBob Shop log September 30th 2021 I took the pic of the bent valve and broken guide to the coffee cruise-in on Sunday to get the opinions of my geezer friends. Retired machinist John Carey was present and he offered to help. I never ask John for help these days because he won't take any payment and he has done a lot more for me than I have for him over the years. Sometimes, my one-two punch mistakes, where I mess up and then compound it, intrigue him. He has a little machine shop in his one-car garage and I'm to bring the head out there when I get a set of valve guides for measurement purposes. Ordered Valve Guides and seals, Rear Main Rope Seal, Oil Galley Plug Kit and Roller Timing Chain Kit from Matt Martin at Centerville Auto Repair. While waiting on that, the head bolts and studs were given the Oileater parts washer treatment. It took four one hour sessions to get all the paint off. That was followed by an Evapo-Rust dip and, finally, a light coating of Marvel Mystery Oil before being set aside. There are two freeze plugs in the side of each head. Set about to remove them by drilling a pilot hole and screwing in a self-tapping bolt, followed by prying up with a claw hammer. I tried two sizes of bolt and both pulled out without any sign that the plug had moved. Nothin' easy with this head. I'll have to get that replacement MAP torch to heat these things up in case they were installed with threadlocker red. Beer of the day was Harpoon Brewery's Camp Wannamango Pale Ale with Mango. Background music was The Pilgrim: a celebration of Kris Kristofferson.
If you decide that the Centerville chain and gears offer more features than you need consider getting an old stock chain in the long flat box (chains in the square box are loose from the start). I am not against using the old gears if minimal wear. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1312&_nkw=491+timing+chain&_sacat=0 Here is my method to install or salvage a rope seal: http://buickrestorer.com/rearseal/rearseal.html If you replace the studs for the spark plug covers be advise that they need to be sealed since they go into the water jacket. Your machinist friend will get the plugs out before you can blink.
Thanx. I purchased a stock chain and gear set sometime back and am holding it in reserve. The reason for the Centerville set is to enable degreeing the Isky cam with precision. Thanks for the rear seal link and for the spark plug cover studs heads up. Nice website BTW. I won't be asking John to do any more than he's already offered to do as he does too much as it is. The following log entry from a couple of years back illustrates that - After the Sunday morning coffee cruise-in of the Senile and Surly Car Club, Machinist friend John Carey followed me up to the shop to look at the Deerslayer disk brake problem. Car buddy Jim Ursini came along for a tour of the shop. I couldn't figure out why the passenger side rotor was an eighth of an inch closer to the mounting bracket than the driver side rotor. Also, the end of the passenger side spindle projected too far to allow the dust cap to be installed. John took some measurements, then tore down both disk brakes to take more measurements as this was an odd problem. He eventually found that the one eighth inch difference was in the spindles. The castings were not the same. Perhaps in Deerslayer's eighty-two year past, a spindle had been replaced with a different year spindle. John said that I had assembled the brakes correctly and that was good news to me. He also determined that shaving the passenger side spindle end a bit so the dust cap would fit would do no harm. I gave John my thanks and said I would take it from there. John responded that he wasn't leaving until he put both brakes back together and shaved the spindle because he didn't want my progress delayed by two weeks or more. At this point, Jim Ursini made his farewells and, as he was walking to his car, I yelled "Tell the coffee club boys you saw activity up here at the BillyBob Shop." He hollered back "I will. I'll tell 'em I saw John fixing your disk brakes." Jeez! Everyone's a critic.
If john is like me (retired and in "hobby mode"), he misses the daily challenge of new problems and you would be doing him a favor by asking.
From the BillyBob Shop log October 7th 2021 My back, since it popped, allows me to pick up very little, unless it is straight up. No veering off vertical axis permitted. I needed a way to move things like cylinder heads, crankshafts, transmissions and the like around the shop and the engine hoist is too big. With that in mind, I ordered a small 300 pound motorcycle lift. It will do nicely for most items. The care package from Matt Martin arrived with nailhead valve guides and other engine goodies. I'm getting close to taking a day off from my office job and heading out to my friend John's place. Beer of the day was Millstream Brewing Company's Back Road Oatmeal Stout. Background music was The Marshall Tucker Band.
From the BillyBob Shop log October 15th 2021 Back to the stubborn freeze plugs in the heads. The MAP torch head replacement arrived and I tried heating up the freeze plug to break any grip the sealant might have. Quenched it with Kroil penetrating oil and let it go back to room temperature. Then I hit it with CRC Freeze-Off Super Penetrant as suggested by FB friend Ken Crenwelge. That worked. Finished up with hammer and chisel. I live for little victories. Went out to my friend John's place yesterday. He gave me a cup of joe and went to work. Cut off the buggered valve stem and drove out the valve. Then the broken valve guide and installed a new guide, all before I finished my coffee, including making a tool with his lathe to drive out the guide. John finished up by checking for cracks with a magnetic powder. He didn't find any. We drank beer then for a few hours and John showed me his current projects including a finished Model A engine for a speedster he's building for TROG. John, being John, Poured the babbit bearings and line-bored them in his shop. He has taken interest in helping me get the heads right and I'm to clean, clean, clean and measure, measure, measure both heads before I take them back to the best little garage machine shop in Boca Raton. When I get around to ordering pushrods, they will most likely be of greater diameter than the originals and I am faced with the restrictive diameter of the pushrod passages in the 1954 heads. Want to do the modifications now but am not sure how to go about it. Beer of the day was Harpoon Brewery's Rec. League Hoppy Hazy Light. Background music was The Doors L.A. Woman.
The only pushrods available today are 5/16ths. as oppossed to 1/4" originals. You could drill the pushrod holes in the heads a slight amount larger to provide the nec. clearances & aid in oil drainback. Tom T.
