19tom40

I have an Optima battery in both of my cars and recommend them to anyone. The best price that I have found for the 6 volt battery is Amazon. My Lincoln is too new for the LZOC, but both of my cars are accepted by the Early Ford V-8 Club. The EFV-8 Regional Group that is close to you is the Mission Trail RG. They are a good bunch of guys and I seem to remember that a couple of them are mechanics. You can find the contact information here: http://www.earlyfordv8.org/early-ford-directory.cfm My 40 Mercury has the Optima in the reproduction Ford case, but I had to make the hold down for my 53 out of angle iron. The 47 should be able to use one of the universal hold downs similar to this one, with a simple modification of making it adjustable.. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/gmk-3140-301-481/overview/

Are you talking about putting RTV at the point the arrow in the photo is pointing to? The U-Joint should be lubed with a semi-liquid grease, such as John Deere Cornhead Grease. Use a full tube for the first fill and then add 2 pumps every season. The cork seal is usually enough to keep it in the U-Joint, but the amount that you show in the photo is pretty normal. Some of it could have come from trying to put chassis lube in the fitting. Make sure that you have the correct fitting, so that the grease gun nozzle will fit correctly. The inner cover grease hole should line up with the outer cover grease fitting. I doubt that RTV will be as good as the cork gasket, because there is always some movement there and the cork does a better job of sealing in these conditions.. You should make sure that the rear slinger in the transmission is in good shape and installed correctly. Excess end play in the transmission can also contribute to excess lube in the U-Joint area and the rear end.

The voltage drop can only be made when the circuit is loaded (ie: starter turning, headlights on, solenoid picked, etc). To check the voltage drop in a positive ground circuit: Connect the COM (black) lead of your meter to the NEG battery post and the POS (+ or red) lead to the load (headlight) Activate (turn the lights on) the load and read the meter. The reading for the headlights should be less than 0.5V, Typical on my 2 cars is 0.3V. Next connect the red lead to the POS battery terminal and the black lead to the grounding connection at the load Activate the load and read the meter The reading should not be more than 0.1 V. Typical reading on my 2 cars is 0.03V The reading for the starter circuit should be 0.3V or less for the supply side and almost 0V for the grounded side. To check in a NEG grounded system, revrse the meter leads. The generator circuit has a connection at the generator and another at the voltage regulator. Correct gauge wire is important here. The current in the circuit varies too much to be able to give reasonable voltage drop readings.. The grounding of the generator and regulator is very important and can be checked with your Ohmmeter. Disconnect the grounded battery cable and measure between the cable at the battery end and the case of the regulator and generator. These readings are valid with a fully charged battery and may be different with a partially charged battery.

I guess I should have given more of an explanation of why I don't believe in adding fuses, with the one exception of the cigarette lighter. I believe that a fuse should be in that circuit or the lighter disconnected. A 6 volt system has problems when the voltage drop in a circuit reduces the voltage below the optimum operating voltage for the circuit. Each connection adds some resistance in the circuit, so when you install an additional fuse in a fuse holder, you add 4 connections, each of them with some resistance. Depending upon the current in the circuit, the drop across the fuse circuit could be around 0.1 volts. The headlight circuit would be a good example. A typical light switch in very good condition, will have a 0.1 voltage drop, the dimmer switch, also in very good or new condition, will have another 0.1 voltage drop. The circuit breaker adds another 0.1 drop and the wires and other connections will add another 0.2V drop. So if your battery is at full charge of 6.5 V, your headlights see 6.0V. That is a good voltage for the bulbs and they will shine bright at about 90% of full brightness. Now as the light switch gets older, it can drop as much as 0.3V and the dimmer switch as much as 0.5V. Now your bulbs see 5.2 V and are about 60% of the stated output. Add to this the poor reproductions of the bullet connectors and your lights could see another drop of 0.3 and you will have very marginal headlights. The light output of an incandescent bulb drops in a geometric progression as the voltage decreases. The best insurance against a fire is a good wiring harness, with few connections in each circuit and each connection is in good condition. I like Narragansett Reproduction wire harnesses, because they solder each bullet, spade and ring connector, and their wires are the same gauge as the original. Rhode Island is another good supplier. I have not found a good supplier of the bullet connectors. Depending on location, they last between 5 -10 years. The ones in the engine compartment fail first due to the rubber sleeve deteriorating from the heat. I check the voltage drop in the high current circuits every Spring and do a visual inspection of all connections. I find that 1 or 2 connectors have failed. My Lincoln still has all of the Ford supplied connectors and they are still in good shape after more than 60 years.

I have been driving my 40 Mercury since 1976 with no added protection and don't feel the need for it. I do disconnect the battery when the car is in the garage,

You can try this site for an answer. http://www.mafca.com/tqa_e_block.html Have you measured cylinder taper and diameter and compared them to piston diameter? You may need to use new pistons if the block and pistons are worn. Have you talked with someone in the Chrysler Club who is familiar with Maxwells?

The overall length is 9.562" and the crankshaft end is1.872" ID. The model A rods have an overall length 9.312 and 1.497 id at the crank end. I found these dimensions in the Green Book (1928-1948 Ford Chassis Parts Catalog) and cannot give you the center to center measurements. I hope that this helps you. Are you sure that the bulge was not from the factory? It seems to me that it would be easier to find pistons with the wrist pin located in the correct place for the rods than to shorten 4 rods by heating them and shrinking them. That process has so many issues that have to be resolved, that I find it hard to believe that someone would take it on.

John, I know that you will drive your Zephyr next summer and enjoy the driving. I don't own a trailer and have driven my 40 Mercury more than 10,000 miles since 2004 when I finished the last restoration, and over 90,000 since I have owned it. I drove my other one another 10,000 miles over 20 years. I don't worry about burning a little oil, if I have to add a quart every 500 miles, that is only once or twice a summer. I don't like oil leaks as I have to clean them from my driveway and garage floor, as well as clean the mess from the bottom of the car. But Ford engineers seemed to be able to thwart all of my efforts as the car seems determined to mark it's territory. The latest leak is from the water pump bushings. My other car had the 8BA valves and every spring, I would have to pour some MMO down the carburetor and add it to the oil and gas to free the valves. After killing all of the mosquitoes in a 1/2 mile radius and making all of my neighbors complain about having to close their windows in the nice weather, they would free up and stay that way if I ran the engine twice a month.. It did get much better after 5,000 miles and the next owner didn't have the problem. My point is unless you are going to drive more than a couple of thousand miles a year, and do most of your driving at speeds of 55mph and above, you don't need to make a lot of modern improvements to the running gear.

John, I have the valve removal bar. If you were not lied to about the rebuild, your guides should not be stuck in the block. They will be difficult to pull down to remove the keepers, but it will not take long to get the knack of it. If they are stuck, the best way to remove them is to break or cut the heads off and drive the guide down to release the keeper. Most machine shops would be glad to just do the machining, but I don't know of any that will warranty the engine, if you do the assembly. I am not a fan of Egge pistons. I had 4 of them hitting the heads after just a few miles of running. I am not the only one that had that problem. It seems that their quality control is not as good as it was in the last century. The 8BA type of valve is more likely to stick than the split guide type used originally. I don't know if they will work well with the hydraulic valve lifters. Replacing the rear oil slinger with the rope seal will help with oil leaks and the one piece front seal is almost a requirement, because the cost is so low compared to the benefit.

Not that I know of.

John, I don't know any machine shop that will work with you on the re-assembly. Either they do the assembly or you do it. I suggest that you have them do it, so that they have to warrant their workmanship. Built-Rite Engine Rebuilders4 reviews · Engine Rebuilding Service958 N Du Page Ave(630) 629-4021 Has a lot of Ford flathead experience, but like any job shop, will put your engine behind its regular customers. You are a one time buyer and its regular customers are its bread and butter. I thought that you found a rebuilder in WI. I would not modify the engine with the 8BA style valves, solid lifters or the Melling high volume pump that everyone says you need. You will not be driving the car for long distances at high speeds, so you really don't need these modifications. Your engine was supposed to have a recent rebuild before you bought it, so most of the parts should be in good condition. The only special tool that you need for the tear down is the valve removal bar. An engine stand with an adapter to hold the engine by the exhaust ports will make the job easier. I have an engine sling and valve removal bar that you can borrow. You do not need to perform any tests before teardown. Once it is at the machine shop, they will measure the parts and let you know which ones are out of tolerance and need to be machined or replaced. Because it is such a pain to service the clutch, I would send the disc and pressure plate to Fort Wayne Clutch and have them rebuild it for you. You can call me anytime that you would like to discuss anything that I have said.

I saw this listed in the Early Ford V-8 Classifieds. Maybe some one here would be interested. http://www.earlyfordv8.org/early-ford-classifieds.cfm?t=For%20Sale&c=Automobiles&id=8648

J Booth, that is the first instruction that I have seen to connect the radio to a terminal where it is possible to leave the radio on with the ignition off. Thanks for posting it, I learned something new again.

Back in the day, they would exchange a worn out engine with a factory authorized rebuild. the core would then be rebuilt and sold to someone else. The only tricky part of rebuilding the early V-8 engines is how to correctly size the rods for full floating bearings. I heard that the V-12 engine used fixed inserts from the beginning, so that would not be a problem. A good machine shop should have no problem rebuilding a V-12. The key is that the shop knows what it is doing and is careful to do the job right. Some shops do good work for their regular customers, but shove the hobbyist job off to an apprentice.

All of the radio installation instructions that I have seen, call for the radio power wire to be installed on the ignition switch side of the the coil resister. This is so that the radio is only on when the ignition switch is on. The center terminal of the circuit breaker is used to protect the car from a short in the accessories, such as the cigarette lighters. This separates the lights from the accessories. light circuit breaker 2.pdf light circuit breaker.pdf

My color chips are very close to the sprayouts that you received. If you want to paint your car the color of the sample that you posted, ask your painter to color match it.

I believe that your original unit had coils and they were removed.

See this topic http://forums.aaca.org/topic/258182-resistance-in-ignition-circuit/?hl=%2Bcircuit+%2Bbreaker it has the Service Letter description of the circuit breaker.

I use a scrap piece of oak to pry up the one on my Mercury. Remember to not stretch the belt too tight, it will damage the bushings in the water pumps and the front bearing in the generator. You should have 1" of movement half way between the water pump and the generator.

The 35 Ford radiator cap was nit pressurized. Here is a link to a drawing of the correct P/N 48-8100 radiator cap. http://cgfordparts.com/ufolder/fordpart.php?number=48-8100

Ask your question on the Ford Barn. I believe that he has done engines for some of the people that post there. I would also ask on the HAMB. The owner posts on both forums, so there may be some biased replies.

Dennis Carpenter reproduces the antenna for both the open and closed cars. http://dennis-carpenter.com/search.aspx?ss=antenna&d=2&tab=cars

The last post by the originator was in 2012.

My memory may be failing me, but I remember that the 34 still had the straight axle and the spring does not affect either the caster or camber. The king pin controlled the caster and worn king pin bushings will give you a shimmy.

That mixture will work about 10 times faster than WD40 and about twice as fast as PBlaster or other penetrating oils.