Lahti35

I don't sadly...They are cool! The pic is from the seller as I neglected to take a pic of how scuzzy the part was before I started cleaning. I do have a set of Montana "Big Sky Country" flaps that are original to the truck that I will run.

I believe it is cast iron... I'm hoping a new set of bearings and just checking them with the new cam allows me to move past this impasse!

I had planned to install the cam, crank and pistons/rods this weekend but what I got was a front row seat at disaster central... I set about installing the cam bearings early in the week and messed one up due to putting 1 layer of tape on the installer to keep any scratching at bay... bad idea! My installer has a solid metal driver with no give, once the bearing was in it compressed enough to grab the driver and tape and locked itself in there. Removal deformed the babbitt, oops! My new bearing set showed up Friday so I replaced the one cam bearing I wrecked and attempted to install the old cam to check for fit and rotation. Darn thing locked up and was way too hard to turn when fully installed. With up to 4 of the cam bearing surfaces in the bearings it would turn great but not with all 5 in position. Ok no problem, I decided to replace the remaining 4 cam bearings from the original set that had installed ok without the infernal tape on the driver. I installed the cam again and it was worse. By this time it's late Friday night and the weekend is off to a great start! I ordered another set of cam bearings and fumed until Sunday. Sunday AM I got the great idea that I should have had way sooner to measure the runout on the old camshaft I was using to test and... So runout is up to .004" max, turns out the old cam is at .016"... That would do it. I put the new cam in the lathe and it's under spec. I should have just used the new cam but I was trying to keep it clean for the real install. When the new new new set of cam bearings come in I'll go another round. I did have some success over the weekend and was able to assemble the rocker arms. I gave up on finding an adjustable set and just stuck with what I had. I measured the clearance between the bore of the rocker and the new shafts and it came in at .003" which is under the .006" max spec. I tracked down a power steering cooler also... I've been looking for one of these for awhile. My truck is a little early for it to be authentic but the Bendix steering runs somewhat hot so I want to give it all the help I can. Condition was fair with one semi squashed tube end. I straightened some fins, zapped the part with oven cleaner, and let it sit... Oven cleaner works great! Grease stands no chance. I was able to un-squash the tube end also, not perfect but much better. I then lightly blasted it to remove some flaking paint and repainted.

I did the final final clean and primed the intake this AM... I also installed the plugs in the block. I used 1 49/64" brass plugs instead of the 1 3/4" more common plugs that come in the plug kits as they fit tighter. I sand blasted the concave part of the plugs before install to give them more tooth for paint to hold... I hate it when the paint peels off of the plugs. After Easter dinner I did the final final cleaning of the block and taped it off for priming. No drama here, I wiped it down with lacquer thinner until the rags came out clean and let it dry. It primed nice and is ready for camshaft bearing install.

The wiring is ok inside the molded rubber, the heat definitely came from outside only. Could have been the leaky manifold or proximity to it... I'll be sure to check how close it is when I install the new one. I'll definitely be checking preload and that's good advice about not priming the lifters... Your clearance speck is right on. I didn't bother checking the shafts as bought new ones to replace the badly worn set. As soon as I get my adjustable arms I'll set them up and figure push rod length and rocker shaft/arm clearance.

You win, mine was gunky but not that bad! I'm following your thread, always enjoy the updates! You're doing a great job on that car.

Hope so! I spent the day cleaning the block and crank, ready to get this turkey back together...

Fortune smiled on me this week and I received the new camshaft only 8 days after they told me 2-3 weeks so that is good! Fedex dropped it off in the afternoon after they had already been here in the AM for a different delivery, they like to keep you on the edge of your seat I guess. I removed the battery cables and alternator out of the truck to check condition and get lengths for new cables. The smallest gauge cable was the one feeding the starter! None of these are over 4ga and the starter cable is smaller than those. I was surprised to see a 60's Ford part number on the starter cable, crazy how small a cable they used. I'll be upgrading to 0 gauge cables from a guy on ebay that makes them custom for you. The alternator itself will be replaced with a similar unit but with a bit more power. You can upgrade these to a new 1 wire internal regulator unit but I don't see the need. Wiring would have to be modified and I'm not running any heavy electrical draw devices so I'll stick with a new retro one that's 10amps over stock but looks original. The old one will go to the parts shelf. The wiring on the back of the alternator had gotten hot at some point, the wiring itself looked ok so it wasn't that... I suspect the exhaust manifold got too close and melted it. I freed the wires from the extra crispy molded connector end and will wrap them in some heavy heat shrink. I also pulled down the rocker arm assemblies to clean and check. They did not want to come apart without a fight! I ended up having to cut one into three parts even after cleaning the gunk off it. The rocker stands just did not want to slide off. Cutting them up didn't matter as the shafts were worn on the bottom side pretty good, enough to cause slop... I ordered new shafts to replace the old ones. Once the rocker arms were cleaned up they looked good. I may replace them with adjustable rocker arms, it's a better setup. Throughout the day I was busy degreasing, cleaning and priming engine parts. Some I had done a rough cleaning on before but they all need to be finished up before priming. On nasty parts I like to use oven cleaner and let it sit 30 minutes in the shade so it doesn't dry out. I clean the oven cleaner off with brushes and water, followed by a good soapy brush scrubbing and a dry down with towels. Final drying is done by setting parts on my stove to drive out the remaining moisture. Dries them out fast and keeps flash rust away. Then I paint with self etching primer... Once the engine is together I'll paint it blue. Some greasy parts that don't require paint ,like this splash shield, are just coated with some liquid wrench to keep rust away.

I've been working in the water pump cover this last week... I had put enough bondo on it to build it up and reshape it but I had been trying to figure out how I could get a nice clean surface on the insides. I came up with this contraption to allow me to use the lathe and cut the flange. It took awhile to get it lined up with a dial indicator, I got it as close as I could with it being a casting with uneven sides. It turned out pretty good! Unfortunately what is left will be all hand work which reminds me a lot of body work, which I hate! I spent some time this evening working the bondo into a better shape... It's just something I have to do, even if I don't like it. We'll get there in the end, I've been stalling on this job but I can't anymore...

I had a lot of armored wiring too, some of it run inside the loom. It's interesting that the old loom in 2x thicker than the new stuff, it's really sturdy stuff. Maybe they found it superfluous and deleted it on later cars?

What a bummer, I enjoyed his posts and projects. I really admired the way he brought that Studebaker back from the front end damage. God speed Dave.

Looks great! Very sharp with those caps and rings...

The terminal block below and behind the vacuum tank needed some rehab. It's responsible for the headlights, taillight, horn and brake light. The upper wires come from the starter and dash switch... ... Which feed the lower wires that run through some asphalt loom and then forward or backward to the components. It was old and crusty just like the rest of the wiring on the Nash so it need to be replaced. I cut a new chunk of asphalt loom after removing the terminal block and friends from the firewall. The terminal block itself was ok and just needed cleaning, I gave it new screws also. I also sand blasted and painted the retaining brackets, once dry it was ready to reinstall. I pushed the wires up through the loom first... Note the two scuzzy wires on the right: those are the headlight wires which will be dealt with later. The other armored wire is the horn wire, it was ok with a new connector crimped on the end and some shrink tube. I don't know if I will be able to get enough slack on the headlight wires to put a new connector on them yet, if not I'll run new wires. I have one headlight way dimmer than the other which I have not looked into yet. It could be different wattage bulbs or corrosion, enquiring minds want to know! The cleaned terminal block went in ok and the connectors themselves got the lightest coat if dielectric grease. The loom and wires were hooked up and secured to the firewall, the headlight wires were just left loose for now. I spent some time a few weeks ago setting up the lights like I want them. Since I have a replacement light/ignition switch they setup is a bit different than with the original Delco unit. I wanted the brake light to have power without lights on as soon as power it turned on. I then wanted the running lights and taillight to come on in the lighting switch's first position followed additionally by headlights in the next position. The last position, which would have been high beams, is not unused. Originally there was a resistor behind the dash switch that the low beam position ran through but I chose to delete the low beam option. I don't need a resistor getting hot under the dash...

I got the re-bushed rod back from the machine shop and put that together this afternoon. I also spent an hour rechecking 3 of the rod bearing for clearance. Through all this assembly/disassembly, parts storage and handling a few of the rod bearings picked up some junk that imbedded in them so I got a few new ones to swap out the ones I didn't like. No drama, clearance was good with the new bearings. Once that was done I decided to install the piston rings on the pistons and that went good also. I triple checked to make sure all the rods, pistons and rings are all facing the right directions and are right side up. Here they are sittin' pretty ready to go.

It's been frightening the number of issues I found. If I didn't have some experience I would have just put it together and had a failure in short order. Over the course of this adventure, cam bearings, wrist pin bushings, rod bearings, lifters and camshafts have all been backordered... Not all at once either, it's like one part will become unobtainable and when that one is back in stock a different one will run dry. Frustrating but not insurmountable. I was talking with the guy at the parts counter at the machine shop when I picked up the re-bushed rod and he echoed my comments to him about parts availability. You would think it wouldn't be an issue with such a popular series of engine but here we are. I was at the drive through for a local chicken restaurant an hour ago because they have their dining room closed for lack of staff like many restaurants around my are off an on lately. Everything just seems to be one big mess... It's a Crower cam ground for low RPM torque and improved MPG (this brick needs all the help it can get). I got a response from them yesterday giving me a 2-3 week timeline. I'll stay with them as I have work I can do between now and then, hopefully they deliver. If It gets to be a ways down the road with no cam I'll look into regrinding the stock one, a good idea... Thanks!

Same here, works great! We both have our interests and neither needs to justify it to the other. I'll never understand the female that expects her man to work and provide... but live in misery, devoid of hobbies, and spend his time helping her pick out the drapes.😛

Yes, it's exciting.. I was excited, beyond thrilled! ....And then I found out I had ordered the wrong camshaft last year and the right one is backordered for at least 2-3 weeks and maybe more. I suppose it's better to find out now than after the install but dang, this engine has bad mojo surrounding it. I'm going to hang some garlic on it and see if I can't drive out the remaining voodoo for a smooth assembly. We'll get there yet!

This seller has been around the block... I don't know how many times I've sold stuff and then the wife says "no" with the buyer coming back to sheepishly excuse his way out of the deal.

I had a guy one time that wouldn't tell me what a car cost until I told him what my budget was, quite the Mexican stand off we had there! The thread topic's $60,000 price definitely qualifies as ridiculous!

I always get the feeling these kind of folk are feeling you out for your wealth, lol. Nothing like starting of the transaction by frustrating your potential buyer! That and being too lazy to give the car a bath earns an automatic pass from this potential buyer. Neat car, I like these early Pontiacs.

Was it still firm? Amazing it ran with all that trash in there, so did my Nash... just poorly! My cork float had regressed to the constancy of a gas soaked sponge that would pee when you squeezed it.

I cloistered myself in the shop this afternoon after I warmed it up to get started measuring clearances, again. It was rainy today, I like to light a fire in the shop this time of year when it's wet out to keep things from rusting. Since I warmed it up I figured I might as well do the un-fun and get it out of the way. I cleaned everything up good and did the piston rings first, everything was in spec. The main bearings were next and they were ok too. Clearance came out at .0015", when I cleaned the plastigauge off the crank/bearings and retorqued with some oil it spun freely as it should. Next I put the pistons on the rods and got them set for checking the rod clearance. Unfortunately I found an issue with #8 rod, the wrist pin bushing was clocked out of line with the oil hole in the rod. It had closed off half of the opening and that couldn't be good... I opened up the hole and deburred it but it just looks like crap so I'll drop it by the machine shop for a new bushing Monday. Checking the rod clearances went ok, no issues there and they came out to just under .002". I'd like to get the short block assembled in the next 2-3 weeks assuming no more surprises. The weather is getting nicer, into the 50's now so I can clean the parts outside for final assembly. I want my shop space back too, this engine has been sprawled over two workbenches, the floor, my desk, and the bed of the truck for what seems like years now...

Way to go! It sounds great!

I wonder if the contacts inside the horn are corroded or dirty? It's the last thing I would check but it could be an issue... I had a NOS distributor once that I installed that wouldn't work, had to pull it and clean it then it worked fine. We're all rooting for you! Keep up the great work!

I think I finally have 99% of everything set to put this critter back together... After X-mas I found that the rods rebuilt by machine shop #2 were poorly done, after buying 2 sets to rebuild and getting hosed twice I bought some rebuilt rods and found two of those were bad... jeez! Long story short machine shop #3 sized the rebuilt rods after installing new hardened bolts and balanced the entire rotating assembly. One would hope all the demons have been exercised and I don't have to get mad at it anymore! Three machine shops and nearly two years to get what used to be simple stuff done, unbelievable. I guess I know where NOT to go for work now😆 Now that the '25 Nash work is at a slow down with the water pump it's time to get back to this truck in the next 7-10 days with a repeat of measuring all the clearances. Once we're over that hump we'll be in new the uncharted territory of engine assembly, I can't even imagine!