Pulling A 1931 90 Series Motor. Any Pitfalls?

[midman]

Hello Buick Guys,

 

I am going to pull the motor on my 31 next week to get it rebuilt (babbit bearings started to go, at least the rods).

I've pulled a few engines in my day but never on a car with a torque tube.

Of course there is no shop manual that I can find for 31 that would walk me through it so I am hoping I can I get some tips from someone who has done it? 

Can I disconnect the torque tube and pull the engine and trans like I would do in a more modern car?

If not what would be the correct order of disassembly?

Other than that it is ready to be pulled.

 

Thanks ahead of time for any help.

 

Chuck

[DonMicheletti]

Bobs Automobilia had the '31 shop manual.

 

http://bobsautomobilia.com/literature-and-decals/shop-manual-1931-all-mods.-.-sm-31/

 

However I dont know if it will be of much help when pulling the engine. It isnt a fun job!

[midman]

Hi Don,

 

Thanks but I have that manual. That is sort of a PM guide and general maintenance. Unfortunattly it does not get into the heavy work.

On a side note I had pulled the head as I was trying to diagnose the motor and found that there are no torque specs from back then either.

I did find a reference in an old general service manual (Dikes I think) that stated "Do not use a wrench bigger than 9" to tighten the head bolts."

I got a kick out of that.

 

Chuck

[Guest]

The 9" wrench is about right.  I checked and I can nicely torque 60 pounds with one hand and a 9" wrench.  I have read in manuals tighten so it does not leak.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

  There should be no problem pulling the engine/trans as a unit. May be a little heavy and unweildy. 

 

  Take pictures.

 

  Ben

[Bob Engle]

Separate the torque tube and tie it up so it doesn't drop when you pull the motor.  Keep track of the shims at the frame and motor mount for correct installation later.  The motors pull fairly easy except for the weight.  I like to remove the manifolds, starter and head just to reduce the weight.  However I  install assembled.

 

Bob Engle

[Janousek]

I pulled the head off of ours and left the transmission on the motor when I pulled it.   Remove your floorboards in order remove the trans shifter plate.   The weight of this motor/trans was all my cherry picker wanted.   Only way I'd leave the head on is if you have some good slings.

[Bob Engle]

Just curious?  What's with all the metal plates bolted to the floor??

 

Bob Engle

[Janousek]

Kar Grabber floor rack.   A perimeter around the car where  attachments hook on the outside lip to pull stuff.   In the picture you can see it's a pain in the butt to pull the cherry picker over the plates but I use it more than I dread it.  

[midman]

Well, I pulled the motor and trans. Pretty straightforward but it was tight maneuvering it out of the engine bay with the mounting ears of the flywheel housing.

Craziest clutch and flywheel setup I've ever seen though. A 2 plate "self contained" clutch with its own friction surface..

Anyway I dropped it off ar Reeves last week, now to go through the tranny and clutch. I am probably going to put in an overdrive torque tube setup I picked up a year or so ago too.

I'll post more here as it goes.

 

[dibarlaw]

midman:

 I do not know why I did not look into this thread sooner. But since I spoke to you at the Mason-Dixon meeting and got your email I see what you are up against.

[Janousek]

I like the idea of your overdrive.  We have high speed gears in our car.   I've never drove it before they were installed but sometimes a little more low end would be nice.  

 

We had pistons made that bump it up around 6.5:1 and is a much better all around motor.  I worked with Ross Racing Pistons and they will be on file with them.   Only thing I'd change is to get a little more skirt under the pin to stablilze the piston.   Otherwise they have close to 10k on them without any trouble.  

[1967 - 1997 Riviera]

Have you chosen who will perform the rebabbitting work? Or will you use this opportunity to have the rods converted to insert bearings? Will you be doing anything else to the engine besides that?

 

I love to see the early 1930s big series Buicks getting some attention, so I'd be interested to hear your complete plan of action for the engine.

[midman]

Reeves Enterprises in New York is converting the rods to take inserts and rebabbitting everything else after checking the block and head for cracks. He is going to go over the head and also balance and I am going to do the final assembly.

 

Roger Fields sold me the overdrive unit a couple of years ago. It has been sitting a while but it looks like it was done well. I'll go over the motor and mechanicals on it and hopefully we will be good to go.