sweetpotato Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Well, I finally tackled removal of my oil pan today. All the bolts are easy including the 4 front ones accessible through the holes in the crossmember. But, there are two directly above the crossmember with no holes to get at them. I couldn't get at them with a socket and u-joint and finally got them with an end wrench a very little at a time. I have no idea how I will start these two when I put it back on. If anybody has a thought I would appreciate it. I am going to clean the screen on the oil pump and when I took the pump off there was no gasket where it meets the crankcase. The shop manual says there is a gasket there. I might have better pressure when I reinstall with the gasket. I got my rocker arm shaft cleaned and that was a job well worth doing as it was almost completely plugged with sludge. The new plugs for the ends that Pirate gave me fit perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shadetree77 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Glad to hear you're making good progress. I remember having trouble with those bolts above the crossmember too. I can't provide much help with those. The only thing I can suggest there is patience. If you have someone around with a small hand they might be able to help. I just barely got them started after what seemed like forever using the tips of my fingers. Definitely do those two bolts LAST. How much sludge did you have in that pan?My pump didn't have a gasket either. My guess is that the original gasket disintegrated long ago. I put one on mine when I put it back together and everything works just fine. Make sure you get that oil pump shaft lined up with the distributor shaft when you put the pump back on. You'll feel it fall into place and the pump body should fit completely flush on the engine block. If it's got a gap in it, that means it's not lined up right. Did you replace your lifters and push rods? When I took mine apart, I discovered that my push rods had splits in them at the seams. I didn't know until I squirted high pressure water through them to clean them. The soldering was coming apart where they are sealed together. I also replaced my lifters which I don't suggest you do unless yours are completely worn down. I ended up with a defective lifter that caused me a LOT of trouble. If possible, I suggest you just take apart and clean your old ones. Try to stay away from the cheap Chinese reproduction parts offered nowadays if at all possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 The only recommendation I would make is to buy a ratcheting box end wrench for reinstallation of the bolts. I don't know what I would do without my set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpotato Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 About an inch of sludge in the low part of the pan. I didn't see any obvious problem with the push rods. The biggest problem with refurbishing the rocker arm shaft is getting the eight soft metal brackets off without damage to them or the shaft. They have a slot which allows them to bind on the shaft when the longer bolt is tightened but I could see no good way to put anything in the slot to open them up enough to easily slide them off. I just carefully drove them off with a piece of wood and a lot of oil. I do have a good set of ratcheting box ends and thought maybe one of them and a wood stick lever to push up on the pan bolts might work to reinstall the two hidden ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shadetree77 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 You're right about that rocker shaft. I used a piece of wood too. I still managed to crack one though. I couldn't find one ANYWHERE either. One of the fellows on the forum here came to my rescue and sent me one ABSOLUTELY FREE! I have since bought an entire spare rocker assembly just in case I ever need it. If you crack one let me know and I'll share my stash with you. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpotato Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 You're right about that rocker shaft. I used a piece of wood too. I still managed to crack one though. I couldn't find one ANYWHERE either. One of the fellows on the forum here came to my rescue and sent me one ABSOLUTELY FREE! I have since bought an entire spare rocker assembly just in case I ever need it. If you crack one let me know and I'll share my stash with you. Good Luck! Thanks! It does help a little to polish the "varnished" areas with crocus cloth. They slide a little better then. I actually may have solved my future parts problem since a couple of weeks ago I found a derelict 2 door '53 Special straight 8 in a small town very near me. What are the odds of that? It is not a great candidate for restoration but has most of it's "stuff". Now I have to convince my wife it would be a good thing to haul it up here to add to the rest of my boneyard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Save yourself the grief of beating the brackets or stands off with wood block, mallets, etc. Just use the rockers: pull back against the spring and let it go to snap against the stands. If after cleaning the assembly is still difficult, use the same technique.Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLYER15015 Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 When you get the oil pump off, check the bottom plate for flatness. Especially if it is aluminium, as they tend to warp. Check the clearance of the plate to the gears. Should be no more than .0025". Mine was .0045" and low oil pressure. You can emery down the housing on a flat plate, and check the clearance with plastigage. Check your pressure relief spring. Should be 2.75" long. I stretched mine to 3.25" an put a 1/4" washer behind it. Now have 30# at a hot idle.Just my $ .02........and worth every penny.Mike in Colorado Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpotato Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 When you get the oil pump off, check the bottom plate for flatness. Especially if it is aluminium, as they tend to warp. Check the clearance of the plate to the gears. Should be no more than .0025". Mine was .0045" and low oil pressure. You can emery down the housing on a flat plate, and check the clearance with plastigage. Check your pressure relief spring. Should be 2.75" long. I stretched mine to 3.25" an put a 1/4" washer behind it. Now have 30# at a hot idle. Just my $ .02........and worth every penny. Mike in Colorado Thanks for the heads up Mike. I did check the gear clearance and it is good (the '52 shop manual says "not more than .004") but when you reinstall the cover with the thickness of the gasket it is going to increase by the thickness of the gasket. I suppose that is taken into account with the spec. given in the shop manual. Seems like the less clearance without binding the better. I hadn't thought about stretching the spring to increase oil pressure. Makes sense. I couldn't find a spec on the spring length it just says replace it if it appears collapsed. Nobody seems to sell new ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLYER15015 Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Sweetpotato,Mine is a '40 Buick w/ a 320 (origional) in her.My spring stat's are above, and my book says no more than .0025 clearance from the gears to the bottm plate. Mine was at .004 when I started gasket included. and oil pressure was 15-20 lbs at most. With the clearance decreased to .0025 and the spring @ 3.25", I now have 30# at a hot idle. That's using Shell Rotella 10-40.Mike in Colorado Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpotato Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 Thanks Mike, When I get the new gasket I ordered I will do the final check. I have the '52 shop manual with the '53 supplement. It does say " no more" than .040 so with your success at .0025 I will try to get closer to that. I did notice that the driven gear (the one on the shaft) had different clearance than the other gear so I will use the one closer to the cover for the check. That is definitely a beautiful '40 Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nahuelsan Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Hi sweetpotato!I´m new here in the site, and I've read this thread about the bolts... you can try releasing the engine mounts from the chassis and rising the enginejust a few inches. You con do that with a jack and piece of wood, lifting the engine from the cranshaft pulley. You can gain some room for a tool or your hand...I hope this words will be useful for you.Nahuel from Argentina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpotato Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 Thanks Nahuel. I got it a few weeks ago with a shallow u joint/socket combo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nahuelsan Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 Excellent! Glad for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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