The Car Which Shall Not Be Named III (1935 Lincoln K)

[Matt Harwood]

Digressions are always welcome. Here are my top 10 things to do to your car to make it reliable, fun, and safe, in no particular order after the top 2:

 

1. Fuel system (clean gas tank, electric fuel pump, rebuild mechanical pump, fuel lines to eliminate rubber, rebuild/adjust carburetor)

2. Cooling system (flush radiator, new hoses, water pump, check fan for fatigue, clean block as necessary)

 

3-10:

Ignition/tune-up (points, plugs, condenser, coils, plug wires, set timing, dwell, etc.)

Starter, battery, and heavy-duty battery cables, clean all grounds

Re-pack wheel bearings, inspect/adjust brakes, service as needed

Alignment, kingpins, steering box

Tires

ALL fluids, including steering box and chassis lube

Replace any questionable wiring

Exhaust (fix the exhaust leaks, because 60% of old cars have an exhaust leak of some kind)

 

[Matt Harwood]

Both my light switches showed up today, so I can finish wiring the headlights. Maybe I'll get to it later this week. Nothing done tonight because it was Melanie's birthday and we went out for dinner instead. She definitely deserves it.

 

Both the foot switch and dash switch showed up.
The headlight switch even has a knob that's very

similar to the choke and throttle knobs already

on the dashboard.

 

But perhaps more importantly, Jim called and said the water pump is done and I could pick it up, so I'll head out there tomorrow (Tuesday) morning and get it. I expect I'll call in sick to work or just blow it off (what am I going to do, fire me?) and focus on getting the pump installed and the engine filled with fluids. I'm ready to hear this sucker run.

 

We'll see how it goes tomorrow and how busy it gets at the shop...

[Laughing Coyote]

32 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

I'm ready to hear this sucker run.

And a bunch of other folks as well. 

[ply33]

2 hours ago, Laughing Coyote said:

And a bunch of other folks as well. 

And without a video it didn’t happen.

[Matt Harwood]

   

 

Terrible day at work. Got nothing done. Went home. Will try again tomorrow.

[dalef62]

1 hour ago, Matt Harwood said:

   

 

Terrible day at work. Got nothing done. Went home. Will try again tomorrow.

Try again tomorrow to get nothing done????  Good Job 👌👍

[Matt Harwood]

Tonight went a lot better than last night. It was my goal to have it ready to fire tomorrow so I could hit the button with my mechanic, Roman, there as back-up, but I didn't quite get that far. Every job is a little bigger than you expect and takes a little longer.

 

I did, however, install the water pump which consumed most of my time. It's a little more complex than just bolting it onto the engine. First up, I had to make a passage for the lower radiator hose--I built my engine stand without taking this into consideration so I had to improvise. I just took a hole saw and blew a 4-inch hole in the 4x6 that makes the foundation of the stand. Good enough (or not, but I'll get to that). 

 

Drilled a 4-inch hole for the lower radiator hose.

Not pretty, but it'll work.

 

Next I had to modify the rag joint between the water pump and the generator--it was slightly too large to fit inside the water pump housing. As I did with the engine mounts, I chucked the discs into my drill press and carved them down to size with a cut-off wheel. Messy and stinky, but effective. It was a bit of a wrestling match to get the rag joint bolted to the water pump shaft (also requiring a trip to the hardware store for some longer bolts), but eventually I got it. Then I loosely bolted the water pump to the back of the generator, and again, it took some finesse to get them to mate up properly. The water pump shaft fits inside the generator shaft for support (in fact, it's the only support for the water pump shaft except for the packing and the bushing in the back cover), and it was a bit of a trick to get them to connect and get the bolts through the rag joint and into the generator shaft bracket. I was only able to get three of the four bolts in there--I need to turn the engine over to reach the fourth one so I'll wait until it has some oil in it and we're confident in hitting the starter.

 

Three out of four bolts are in the rag joint.

Fourth will need the engine to be turned over

so I can reach it.

 

Then I tightened all the mounting bolts.

 

Installed the water manifold and tightened the end

nut on the water pump shaft. Then I filled the

grease cup with Lubriplate 115 water pump grease.

 

My plan was to fill it with fluids and see if it leaked overnight, but unfortunately the lower hose didn't quite fit even with my amazing hole-drilling. I'll need to make a slightly longer hose that will bend a bit--that's OK, I have three feet of the 2.5-inch lower hose on the shelf for just such an emergency. I'll do that tomorrow.

 

  

The lower hose's angle isn't quite right so I'll need to replace it with a slightly

longer version. It'll work, I'm sure.

 

I did, however fill it with oil. This sucker takes three gallons of oil, so I bought the cheapest 5W30 I could find--about $1.25/quart. The plan is to run the thin oil for about 15 minutes, then drain it and have a look to see if there's any metal shavings in it. Then we'll refill it with something more suitable, either a 10W40 or a 20W50 for longer-term running and testing. The good news is that my brass float and the oil level indicator work perfectly.

 

  
At least the oil level indicator works perfectly. I didn't screw that up.

 

Tomorrow we'll get that lower radiator hose hooked up, the last two oil lines to the water pump connected, and we'll see what happens...

 

Will it run? Will it blow up? Will something expensive

break? Who knows? And check out my mini gas

tank, which should hold enough gas for this

efficient engine to run for, oh, about 37 seconds.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Cadillac Fan]

Will be keeping my fingers crossed this morning. 

[dalef62]

We are all waiting patiently for the sweet sounds from the V12!!!

[Matt Harwood]

Sorry guys, no running engine today. Once again, the real world got in the way and didn't leave me much time to get things done. Roman went home before I was ready to fire it, and I don't want to do anything without him as a back-up. The last jobs were to finish installing the oil lines to the water pump, install the lower radiator hose, fill it with gas and water, and install that last bolt in the rag joint. The oil lines were a little challenging and that rag joint bolt really didn't want to go in, but everything else was easy.

 

  

Oil cooler fittings were a bit challenging to install.

 

The only thing left to do was crank it, which I did. I didn't turn on the ignition but I used the starter to turn it over just enough to install the fourth bolt on the rag joint. Once that was secure, I cranked it for a few seconds at a time to see if it would build oil pressure and pump fuel. I did find a fuel leak at the carburetor and discovered that gasoline destroys that lovely black high-temperature paint, so I fixed the leak by tightening the fitting a little more. Cunifer is wonderful stuff. I'll touch up the paint later.

 

Gas eats the high-temp paint. Dang.

 

But the thing that concerns me most is that it's not building any oil pressure. There's no oil creeping up the line to the oil pressure gauge. None. I cranked it for a total of about two minutes at 20-30 second intervals but it never built any oil pressure. Should I be worried? I didn't want to fire it until I knew for sure. 

 

 In this video, you can see it turning over but there's no oil moving up the clear tubing to the oil pressure gauge. 

 

I have a few theories and I'm running with the idea that at cranking speeds, it's simply not moving enough oil to fill all the oil passages, which are massive. There are two 1/2-inch pipes running the length of the crankcase distributing oil to the main bearings and the oil cooler. They probably hold half a gallon of oil by themselves. Then there's the fact that I packed the oil pump with Vaseline--at 30 RPM it might not be moving fast enough to displace the Vaseline and start pumping oil. Finally, there's the very real possibility that I somehow installed something incorrectly and it's not actually moving any oil.

 

Anyone care to chime in? I'm pretty stressed out over it...

[edinmass]

Time to build a pressure pot. It’s one of those tools you use every three years. I can’t live without mine. 
 

well I wouldn’t be overly worried, I would be concerned. If you use the pressure pot just before you start it, you will be safe to run it for 20 or 30 seconds without any issues and that should be long enough for it to build its own pressure.

 

you can make one out of a Freon tank for less than $20.

Edited July 22, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

6 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Time to build a pressure pot. It’s one of those tools you use every three years. I can’t live without mine. 

 

Can you describe it? What do I need? I can connect it to the oil filter fitting and pressurize the system from there, I suppose. What do you use for the pot?

[edinmass]

I’m in the pool I’ll give you a shout in about half an hour.

[Matt Harwood]

I'll go pick this one up tomorrow. Faster than finding a tank and building one:

 

[Bloo]

1 hour ago, Matt Harwood said:

Then there's the fact that I packed the oil pump with Vaseline--

 

That doesn't hurt, it helps. The important thing is for the pump to be able to create vacuum to prime. Vaseline is a good way to accomplish that.

[ericmac]

I understand the stress you are talking about.  I was on vacation earlier this month and spent far too much time wondering if a repair I started before leaving would work on my Cadillac (it didn't). My preoccupation with the car sort of ruined the trip to be honest. Sometimes the car is in the mood. Sometimes not. I continue to be impressed by your tenacity here. 

[edinmass]

7 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

I'll go pick this one up tomorrow. Faster than finding a tank and building one:

 

I’m so old, they didn’t make them back when I first needed one. We used a 30 pound Freon tank and rigged it up. Worked fine. I have had mine for forty years........time marches on. 

[ericmac]

6 hours ago, edinmass said:

I’m so old, they didn’t make them back when I first needed one. We used a 30 pound Freon tank and rigged it up. Worked fine. I have had mine for forty years........time marches on. 

If you are old Ed, then I am dust as I think I have you by a year or two. 

[ericmac]

I just checked. I am only 39 days older than Ed.

[Matt Harwood]

Fire in the hole!

 

 

[Matt Harwood]

 

Not thrilled with the oil pressure here (and it drops to 0 on the gauge at idle), but there are several factors at play. One is that the gauge probably isn't great. Two is that I'm running 5W30 oil, which is very thin for one of these engines. And three, I may have to tweak the relief valve on the water pump a bit, it may not be making full pressure. But 20 PSI at what feels like 1500 RPM (I forgot to install my tach) is OK and the valvetrain is quiet. If it was really at 0 PSI, we'd hear it clattering. A few more runs and then we'll switch 20W50 oil and that should bolster oil pressure a bit.

But it runs and it didn't explode!

[Roger Zimmermann]

Super! Not yet 100%, but it runs without alarming noises!

[Matt Harwood]

 

 

After shut-down, it puked a bit and started bubbling through the upper hoses. I over-filled it a bit, so the puking doesn't worry me. It ran up to about 180 degrees pretty fast and started boiling at hot soak after shut down, so I'm not too concerned there, either. The fan we're using moves a lot of air, but not really pushing it through the radiator core very well so that's certainly a factor. Again, not time to worry yet, there's still lots of sorting to do.

 

Also note that we blew through about a quart of gas in like 3 minutes of running. That's INSANE.

[edinmass]

The above video, is the only correct way to deal with an engine that has had all the work done to it that Matt did. Everything else is a half assed shortcut. I applaud Matt for spending the extra time and money to do it right......it will pay off twenty five times over when the car is done. Bravo Matt, and three thumbs up. 👍👍👍 I'm impressed!

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, ericmac said:

I just checked. I am only 39 days older than Ed.

 

I always thought Ed was 10 years older than me,  but it was just his mature nature.    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[edinmass]

Mu birthday posted on line is not correct, I use it to throw off the credit and banking scammers.............. so, the real date is the first half of sixty six. Beware of the ides of march. 🤐

[Grimy]

14 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Mu birthday posted on line is not correct, I use it to throw off the credit and banking scammers.............. so, the real date is the first half of sixty six. Beware of the ides of march. 🤐

I get it!  You were born March 15, 1933!!  You're 'way older than I am!

[TexRiv_63]

Congratulations Matt!

[38Buick 80C]

way to go Matt!!

[Ken_P]

Awesome Matt!

[dalef62]

You will be cruising in that sweet Lincoln before you know it!!!!  Good job!!

 

[neil morse]

Fantastic job, Matt!

[m-mman]

3 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

And three, I may have to tweak the oil relief valve on the water pump a bit, it may not be making full pressure.

 

2 hours ago, edinmass said:

The above video, is the only correct way to deal with an engine that has had all the work done to it that Matt did.

 

Congratulations!  Lots 'O work, and just a few short posts ago you were ready to install it in the car. The engine test stand was an afterthought.   Much easier to make adjustments when they are in the open.   

 

Hard, hard lessons to learn. 

I am still learning mine. 

[Laughing Coyote]

1 hour ago, neil morse said:

Fantastic job, Matt!

X2

[58L-Y8]

Perseverance pays off!  Kudos!

[edinmass]

5 hours ago, Grimy said:

I get it!  You were born March 15, 1933!!  You're 'way older than I am!

 

I think that would be a physical impossibility! 😝
 

I can confirm that I am YOUNGER than dirt.

Edited July 23, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[edinmass]

2 hours ago, m-mman said:

 

 

Congratulations!  Lots 'O work, and just a few short posts ago you were ready to install it in the car. The engine test stand was an afterthought.   Much easier to make adjustments when they are in the open.   

 

Hard, hard lessons to learn. 

I am still learning mine. 

It took me years to learn to run every engine on a stand or dyno. We do it every time now.

[Matt Harwood]

Did a few more runs on the stand and they all ended the same way: the sucker runs SERIOUSLY hot. We changed to a different fan to try to get more air moving through the radiator core and while airflow was up, overheating was even more pronounced--it ran up to 220 degrees in about two minutes. When the engine was in the car, it would run up to 200 degrees at first, then it was like a thermostat opened and it would cool off instantly to 160 and stay there. What's worse, on the final run, one of the upper hoses was close enough to an exhaust manifold to melt and rupture, so there's boiling water spraying all over the place. That really sucked and made a HUGE mess of my beautiful engine. Solving the heat problem is puzzle #1.

 

Puzzle #2 is whether I should worry about oil pressure. It registers low at idle and low RPM but picks up to about 35 PSI at 1500+ RPM (I remembered to hook up my tach for later runs). That's what the factory says it should have. After a few more pulls, we'll change the oil to some 20W50 and see if it improves at idle. I'm still not convinced that the gauges are doing a good job--lots of air bubbles in the line.

 

Is this enough? I don't know.

 

Puzzle #3 is figuring out why it needs some choke even when it's warm. Running a little lean might help explain the high temps, so some carb tuning is the obvious first step. I fattened up the carb quite a bit but it still wants full throttle to start and about half choke to stay running.

 

My thoughts are a combination of relief that it's healthy (mostly) and dread that old issues might be resurfacing and it's still so far from being ready. I have about 2.5 weeks to turn it into a running, driving car. I was kind of kidding myself and thinking that since it ran perfectly before I took it apart, putting it back together with the same parts in the same positions with the same settings would result in an engine that still runs the same. Obviously that's not how it works but starting from scratch and figuring all this stuff out again is a bit demoralizing, especially since I'm clearly so far from where I was.

 

Tomorrow I have a few tweaks to make to the engine stand itself (I need to raise it up a bit off the ground so I can change the oil), and then change the radiator hoses, refill the cooling system, and try to tune the carb so it will start and run properly and stay cool. We'll start there and just keep chipping away at it. 

I just hope the clock doesn't run out while I'm getting things dialed in.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[m-mman]

12 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

overheating was even more pronounced--it ran up to 220 degrees in about two minutes.

 

Head gasket leak?? 

 

Got any lying around? 

[MCHinson]

In addition to the carb is it possible that the timing is off, causing it to run hotter than it should?

 

On the oil pressure, I would not worry about it too much. Since you have good oil pressure at higher rpms and no unusual noises, it sounds like the oil pressure at lower rpms is ok, no matter what the gauge is trying to tell you.