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

[Terry Harper]

4 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

However, why the hell is the exhaust getting so hot? The muffler is setting a wood block on fire! That's abnormally hot. That's still a secondary issue, possibly related to the carburetor or possibly valve timing being off by a tooth on the timing gear. I'm less convinced that's the problem, but something needs to explain the ultra-hot exhaust.

 

Going back to Dykes Automotive Encyclopedia

Engine overheating indicated by boiling over:

 

10. Exhaust is "throttled" too much

 

Take the muffler off and see if that helps with the exhaust temp issue. Eliminate each possibility one at a time even if it doesn't seem probable or likely. 

[pmhowe]

28 minutes ago, Terry Harper said:

 

Going back to Dykes Automotive Encyclopedia

Engine overheating indicated by boiling over:

 

10. Exhaust is "throttled" too much

 

Take the muffler off and see if that helps with the exhaust temp issue. Eliminate each possibility one at a time even if it doesn't seem probable or likely. 

And do the easy/less costly things first, for which Terry's suggestion qualifies.

[Ken_P]

Yes- I was beat to the suggestion, but pull the muffler and try again. Cheap and easy.

 

We’re all pulling for you brother. Best of luck!

[edinmass]

Some of the best and most joyous times of my life have been spent with large early 30’s cars, and some of the most depressing and frustrating times of my life have been repairing 1930’s cars. Fortunately, it’s about fifteen hundred to one on the ratio of fun to pain.

[AB-Buff]

Matt i’m just remembering you had Lock and Stitch work on that block. You obviously sent the whole engine to them. Did you have the water elbows off at all? Could they have possibly stuffed a rag in it to keep water from leaking on their bench or in their area? Did you check any of that? Also I’m still thinking that you were just not priming the pump I think at this point I would surgically drill a hole for an 8 inch pipe tap, make a nice plug that just fits the ID of that centrifugal pump and not sticking up too far so it looks nice and slowly fill that radiator with that plug out, when water comes out of the top of that pump put that plug in and fill it up. But first check to see if they happen to stick anything in that engine. It’s possible some worker bee stuffed a rag in it to keep water from leaking out of it I don’t know. Just a thought. Easy to do without tearing anything down.

if you look at the sketch of that water pump there’s literally 8 inches of air space above the inlet and the outlet. I’ve got a swimming pool and I can let water into my centrifugal pump and it takes it quite a while before it picks up water and flushes the air out , takes a lot longer than you think.

L

[edinmass]

On modern cars, we pull a vacuum on the coolant system to purge air and prevent hot spots and steam binding. Unfortunately, on early open systems, it doesn’t work.

Edited July 29, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Roger Zimmermann]

On 7/28/2021 at 4:35 AM, Terry Harper said:

 

 

Engine overheating indicated by boiling over:

 

8. mixture too rich. (note that too rich = hot... an engine running hot because it's lean is an old wives tale)

9. Using too much gas

 

You wrote somewhere that for the 2 and half minutes running time, you used about a gallon of gas (or half). Terry Harper wrote a list of reason why an engine can overheat, among them the two above. That huge quantity of used gasoline is making a lot of heat. Could that be our problem?

[Matt Harwood]

11 hours ago, AB-Buff said:

...I think at this point I would surgically drill a hole for an 8 inch pipe tap, make a nice plug that just fits the ID of that centrifugal pump and not sticking up too far so it looks nice and slowly fill that radiator with that plug out, when water comes out of the top of that pump put that plug in and fill it up.

 

 

Can you clarify? You probably didn't mean an 8-inch pipe tap, maybe 1/8-inch? Where would you recommend I drill a vent hole? I thought of that and figured I could plug it. It would only need to be very small.

 

Cooling passages are definitely clear, including the crossover in the crankcase. It has to be an air bubble.

[ply33]

Matt,

 

Is there any fore-aft tilt in how you have the engine mounted in your test stand?

 

I don’t know how your engine is fitted in the car but many of them have the front slightly higher than the rear which would help bleed any air from the back of the engine when you fill the cooling system. If you don’t have that then a pocket of air in the back would create a very hot spot which might blow the water out of the front of the engine. You have aluminum heads which are very good at transporting heat (which is why they use them for higher performance applications) so once some place in the engine gets very hot that heat will be transported across the whole top of the engine.

 

Might not make any difference, but making sure that the fore-aft angle of your engine in the stand is the same as it will be in the car just to make sure any air can get out the way the factory intended.

[Terry Harper]

• 
   

Matt, before you drill holes etc. that were not required at the factory go through the basics.

 

Again, back to basics:

Dyke's Automotive Encyclopedia

 

Engine overheating indicated by boiling over:

5. pump not working

 

Are you sure the pump is actually pumping? I assume a key or pin secures the rotor to the shaft? What if this was inadvertently left out or sheared? Stranger things have happened. On the bench a light interference fit would make it appear as if the rotor was secure to the shaft when spun by hand. However, with the additional resistance imparted by the coolant that might not be the case. Sounds improbable but than again how many of us (after bashing our heads for hours) have said  - without checking if it where true or not... "... but it has gas!"

 

Looking at the diagram Could it be the Oil temp. regulator is restricting the flow? 

 

I know your frustration. I have a recalcitrant engine that I have been struggling with for months. Working through its issues has taken a lot of time and caused endless frustration. Its a war of wits and patience. Its like playing Whack-a-mole. However, do the basic's first than move to the outer fringe. Check one possibility at a time than test. Think of it as if your job is to find WHAT ISN'T the problem as opposed to what is.

 

We are all pulling for you and I am sure many of the folks on here, if possible, would gladly be there, in person to help you.

Edited July 29, 2021 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[neil morse]

13 hours ago, AB-Buff said:

Matt i’m just remembering you had Lock and Stitch work on that block. You obviously sent the whole engine to them. Did you have the water elbows off at all? Could they have possibly stuffed a rag in it to keep water from leaking on their bench or in their area? Did you check any of that?

 

Helping brainstorm this problem is way above my paygrade, but I've been thinking along the same lines as what AB-Buff suggested, above, just in terms of one of the most elementary diagnostic approaches.  If something worked before and now no longer works, what was changed?  In this case, what changed was the metal stitching job.  Is there any possibility that the metal stitching job somehow resulted in one of the water passages becoming blocked?  As Buff says, checking for that would be a good idea.

[prewarnut]

Can we go back to the cam timing issue and exhaust opening too early and thus, in turn, air intake opening/closing too early for a minute? Wouldn't this do two things to create heat: 1) add heat to the exhaust manifolds as stated but also importantly, 2) make the car run too rich (listed on the VanDyke's troubleshooting list)? I thus wonder if it is effectively running rich because less ambient air is entering to get mixed as some ambient air might be expressed out the exhaust at the premature intake valve opening although I would think it would run a little rougher. Could pulling a plug and inserting a boroscope quickly show valve positions as you rotate a cylinder through TDC? Could this be a 10 minute exercise to cross one issue off the list? You have another armchair mechanic rooting for you.

[aron_budapest]

I offer you If you have a mobile phone or other device which has a heat camera check how the engine is getting hot. Maybe you will see a causeless hotspot. And the check of the water pump flow by big water tank is a good idea.

If you fail to solve the problem,still have the fastest and much expensive tea-water boiling machine of the world:)) Sorry, bad joke my fingers crossed to have the solution!

[Bloo]

1 hour ago, prewarnut said:

Can we go back to the cam timing issue and exhaust opening too early and thus, in turn, air intake opening/closing too early for a minute? Wouldn't this do two things to create heat: 1) add heat to the exhaust manifolds as stated but also importantly, 2) make the car run too rich (listed on the VanDyke's troubleshooting list)? I thus wonder if it is effectively running rich because less ambient air is entering to get mixed as some ambient air might be expressed out the exhaust at the premature intake valve opening although I would think it would run a little rougher. Could pulling a plug and inserting a boroscope quickly show valve positions as you rotate a cylinder through TDC? Could this be a 10 minute exercise to cross one issue off the list? You have another armchair mechanic rooting for you.

 

Do any cam timing specs exist for this car?

 

On most old cars, the overlap is almost centered at TDC. You can count the number of teeth on the crank gear, divide 360 degrees by the number of teeth to see how many crankshaft degrees equals a tooth. Then, watch with a borescope if it is the only way to see, or through the lifter access if that is practical. Knowing how many degrees a tooth is, and that on nearly all these old flatheads the overlap center is within a very few degrees of TDC, the error should glare at you.... if it exists.

[1957Birdman]

Hi Matt,

I offer the following as a possible reason that the exhaust is getting so hot. I know this article concerns a Ford Y-Block but it seems to me that it still could apply to your situation: Cracked Exhaust Manifold – Classic Thunderbird Club International (ctci.org)

 

The main point is that if the spark advance isn't working properly it can cause problems with the fuel not igniting fully in the compression stroke and ending up burning inside the exhaust manifold. That could explain at least part of the problem.

 

We are all pulling for you and your success in this. There is an answer to this problem.

Lew Bachman

1957 Thunderbird

[Matt Harwood]

Took a break from Lincoln work for a few days. This was our place today for our annual open house. About 300 cars and more than 1000 people showed up and we raised more than $1500 for charity.

 

 

Tomorrow I'll get back to work. Step one will be to cut off the muffler and see if it runs any cooler.

 

Step two is taking the water pump apart and seeing what's going on in there.

 

If nothing is obviously amiss, then I'll drill a hole in the top of the water pump to vent the air.

 

I also have a new oil pump on its way so I'll eventually have to tear it down and get inside. 

 

Tomorrow will be interesting...

[Matt Harwood]

As promised, I did a few basic changes. First I chopped the muffler off.

 

Was the muffler a restriction generating heat?

 

Then I removed the oil cooler bypass that Gary gave me and reinstalled the original oil cooler. Not particularly difficult although it was a little awkward working under there. I also removed and disassembled the bypass valve for the oil cooler in case it was the source of the low oil pressure. Unlikely. It's a simple plunger and a spring that opens up a passage back to the crankcase if the oil is too cold and thick to pass through the oil cooler. Even if it was completely non-functional, I can't see how it would have any effect on oil pressure. 

 

Oil cooler reinstalled. Bypass is visible on top

of the outer tube.

 

      
Bypass for the oil cooler is a simple device that probably 

does not affect oil pressure either way. Cleaned and

reassembled it anyway.

 

The result? A very loud V12 that didn't go supernova. It ran longer than it ever has and didn't overheat. It gradually climbed up to 200 but not like it did before and it wasn't violently steaming and puking. I even got it to idle on its own for about a minute and while idling at 450 RPM it was holding about 180 degrees. Looks like the muffler was part of the problem. I never would have suspected.

 

 

I'm still not convinced there isn't something else amiss and I may yet drill a vent hole in the water pump. The radiator seems to be doing its job with the top very hot and the bottom almost cool enough to touch. Is the water pump moving enough water? Is the radiator flowing at the proper rate? I just don't know.

 

And the manifolds are still seriously hot when it's running. Is it too lean or too rich? I fattened it up to get it to idle and to be able to release the choke, but I'm not sure that didn't add to the heat problems. But if I can get it to run on its own, I can tune it. Right now it stalls instantly when I crack the throttle.

 

All that said, my oil pressure problems are only getting worse. When it's running smoothly, there's decent oil pressure (~20 psi). When it stutters, it drops instantly. Eventually it was running along at 800 RPM with 0 PSI showing on the gauge. I have found a rebuilt oil pump and I'm not going to run it any more until I get it installed. I'm just worried that I've done some harm to the important parts, so I don't want to make things worse. I haven't decided how we'll proceed with installing the pump, either somehow put the test stand on one of the lifts and change it on the test stand or pull it off the test stand and put it back on the work stand. I hope I can figure it out. 

 

And as long as I'm tearing it apart, I guess I'll send the manifolds out to be coated and I'll rebuild the carburetor--does anyone have any recommendations for a good carb rebuilder? 

 

I think this is progress but I've taken so many steps backwards that there's still a long way to go.

Edited August 1, 2021 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Terry Harper]

27 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

I think this is progress but I've taken so many steps backwards that there's still a long way to go.

It is indeed progress Matt. 

[JV Puleo]

It is progress indeed...

Perhaps it isn't my place to comment, not having much V12 experience (although it was a Phantom III) but you are going about this is a systematic manner - which is the only way to solve a difficult mechanical problem. re the oil cooler....it probably isn't the problem but after you have got it running to your satisfaction you can always take it off again...knowing that it is the only thing you are changing.

 

Do you have specs for the oil pump., especially clearance top and bottom on the gears? I'm guessing its a gear pump and, by nature they are about the last thing to wear out but it does happen. If the pump is truly rebuilt (and not just cleaned up) it should have new gears with proper clearance top and bottom. It will be very small - maybe only .002.

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Get a snap on oil pressure guage in it. Don’t run it unnecessarily until it’s addressed. I would not trust that guage. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[maok]

Yep, I agree, next step is to replace the oil pressure gauge and confirm no blockage or leak on the line that feeds it.

[ply33]

24 minutes ago, maok said:

Yep, I agree, next step is to replace the oil pressure gauge and confirm no blockage or leak on the line that feeds it.

Blockage on the line to the pressure gauge happened to me once and it took be a long time to figure it out as it did not occur to me that could be the issue with my 0 PSI readings. I went through the oil pump and pressure relief systems a couple of times, etc. before I used a different gauge and found the issue wasn’t in the engine but in the measuring device.

[Matt Harwood]

You can see in the early videos that I swapped oil pressure gauges while it was running. Both gave identical readings.

 

I guess it's possible that the feed from the camshaft is plugged and maybe I'll go in there and clean things out while I'm at it. But regardless of which gauge I'm using, that capillary tube that feeds the gauge is almost always empty, even though I bleed it each time I start the engine. There's just not enough pressure to fill it. That's the biggest clue that something is amiss up the pipeline.

[Bloo]

3 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

that capillary tube that feeds the gauge is almost always empty

 

That is probably normal. I don't think I have ever seen one with the whole line full. They still work.

 

EDIT: Wait. Camshaft? Where is the gauge connected to the oil system? Is there an oil flow diagram for this engine online anywhere?

 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Bloo (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

15 minutes ago, Bloo said:

 

That is probably normal. I don't think I have ever seen one with the whole line full. They still work.

 

EDIT: Wait. Camshaft? Where is the gauge connected to the oil system? Is there an oil flow diagram for this engine online anywhere?

 

 

 

Yep. Oil pressure gauge is fed from the top of the camshaft.

 

[Mike "Hubbie" Stearns]

Matt, I would pull the oil pump shaft and gear to make sure the pin that hold the gear on isn’t broken. The other thing might be the main oil manifold has a hole or connection. Just an idea to think about. Mike

[edinmass]

In the past when I’ve had weird are oil pressure problems, I pulled the oil pan. I then used as a pressure pot to pressurize the system while looking at it from the underside with a flashlight. In one case we  found a large fracture in one of the main oil gallery lines. It’s a good diagnostic tool to see if you have a blowout somewhere. Since you’re going to dig the oil pump anyways,  I recommend you do this test. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Terry Harper]

As Ed said and I am sure your planning to do anyway (I tend to like lists):

1. Pull the pan and pressure pot the system to verify if there are any leaks AND proper flow (i.e. nothing is stopped-up)

2. Have the pump checked and rebuilt (not just a cleaning as JV pointed out)

2. While your at it check the mains and rods bearings for damage

3. Since your into it this far might as well verify and double verify valve timing

4. With the pump being rebuilt send the carb out too.

 

As disheartening as all this sounds you are so close! This car has the potential to be a real gem. But as Ed has pointed out countless times

taking the time to sort it right can is very frustrating and sorts out the true mechanic from the wannabe tractor mechanic. All I can say is keep going Matt - its like Mohammad Ali pulling the rope-a-dope - you take it in the face time after time then you clock em when they least expect it - raise your gloves in the air and or in this case slide behind the wheel - and enjoy the victory.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

You know, now that I'm looking at that diagram, the thing they're calling an "Oil Pressure Regulator" appears to be the bypass valve that I cleaned yesterday. I don't think there's an actual regulator for the oil pressure inside the crankcase. I'll look around, but if there's no oil pressure, it's either blockage, a bad pump, or the gauge is faulty. I'm hoping it's the pump...

[JV Puleo]

Yes..."regulator" simply means the bypass valve that is "regulating" the pressure. I'm guessing it's a simple ball and spring valve. If so, an old used car trick to falsely increase the oil pressure reading was to put a stiffer spring in there or something behind the spring. I'm certainly not recommending that but it tells us that the spring rate is important. If the spring has weakened, the valve will open prematurely.  Unfortunately, I've no idea how you find out what the spring rate should be.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by JV Puleo (see edit history)

[John Bloom]

Matt, I just wanted to give you a little encouragement and share my own thoughts, and I suspect I speak for many......thanks for sharing all of this, especially the difficult frustrating failures. I don’t have anywhere near the mechanical abilities of yourself and others who are chiming in to help you, so I am staying silent.   I am following the thread closely, learning so much I feel like I should be charged “tuition”, and cheering like crazy for you. 

[Grimy]

3 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

Yes..."regulator" simply means the bypass valve that is "regulating" the pressure. I'm guessing it's a simple ball and spring valve. If so, an old used car trick to falsely increase the oil pressure reading was to put a stiffer spring in there or something behind the spring. I'm certainly not recommending that but it tells us that the spring rate is important. If the spring has weakened, the valve will open prematurely.  Unfortunately, I've no idea how you find out what the spring rate should be.

Fully 25 years ago (I'm sure I'm not recalling everything accurately), I had babbitt let go on one of the rod bearings on my 1936 Pierce 8, the others were marginal at best, but the mains (9) were fine.  I had all rods redone, thankfully the journals were perfect.  When I first started the engine, the oil pressure was very low.  I disassembled the oil pump (clean) but found the relief spring questionably strong, as did a far more knowledgeable friend (sadly, no longer with us).  Presumably, some previous owner had changed to a stiffer spring to compensate for low oil pressure due to failing rod bearings. On my friend's advice, I visited three hardware stores and bought examples of 3/8" diameter springs of varying rates/tensions.  I cooked them all on a pie sheet at 450* to heat treat them.  Then it was time for trial-and-error testing.  I installed only 8 of the maybe-30 pan bolts and added only 6 rather than 9 quarts of oil. The first spring gave far too little pressure.  Dropped the pan and tried spring #2.  In the garage oil pressure with that spring seemed very good, but the spec was at 35 psi hot at 40 mph as I recall.  So I added another 12 bolts (still not all) and another quart of oil and went for a 30-minute drive including some highway time.  Oil pressure was on spec after 30 minutes on a warm summer day, so I replaced the remaining pan bolts, topped off the oil, and had a celebratory beer.

[Matt Harwood]

My replacement oil pump showed up today. I also ordered new oil pan gaskets and a front timing chain gasket from Olson's, just in case I need to go in the front of the engine (I have an idea to test the cam timing without taking it apart). Hopefully it all shows up by Friday. If so, I plan to use the neighbor's forklift to put the whole engine test stand on one of my lifts. Then I can put it in the air, drop the pan, and do my work in there without pulling it off the test stand. That'll save me a few hours' labor, anyway.

 

New oil pump has arrived. Thanks, Ray!

 

Looking at the new oil pump, you may recall that I made two gaskets when I installed the pump--one for the mounting face and one for the outlet fitting to the copper oil manifolds. What I did NOT make was a gasket for the pickup tube. So I'll add that to my list of possibilities--without a gasket between the pump and the pickup tube, it may have been sucking a bit of air, which, obviously, could make for lousy oil flow and pressure. At least it's one more variable to check and eliminate.

 

Sure looks like there's a paper gasket on that pickup

tube mount, doesn't it? I don't remember replacing
it when I put it together. Could it be sucking air?

 

And in looking through my photos, it does not appear that there's an internal oil pressure regulator. There might be one in the oil pump, but I don't think so. The copper manifold does have a plug on one end--maybe that's a place to open it up and see if there's any sludge?

 

Do I dare pull that plug and run a cleaning brush through

the oil manifold?

 

Anyway, that's the plan, we'll see if I enjoy any success. I'm no longer an optimist when it comes to this car.

[John_Mereness]

So, a couple of things I have found as issues over years related to running hot - touchy timing, too lean carb mixture, water pump impeller wrong size, water pump impeller not close enough to housing, water pump impeller spinning on shaft, lack of anti-collapse wires in hoses, air locks (I now drill a bypass hole in all my thermostats), lack of thermostats with thermostat being a flow restricter needed for proper cooling, mouse nests in exhaust, wrong exhaust with too much back pressure, bad water distribution tubes, bad head gaskets and bad aluminum cylinder heads, and most recently a little too much RTV blocking a water passage matched to one too few holes in the water pump gasket.  

[carbking]

Matt - your rebuilding kit is on its way, thank you for the order.

 

A few thoughts:

 

(1) Use two wrenches when removing the fuel line from the carburetor, one to support the fuel valve seat, the other to loosen the line. (Also use two wrenches when you re-install).

 

(2) The kit contains new 0.058 main jets (Stromberg spec). They require a special tool (do not allow your mechanic to use needle-nose pliers). The tool is EASY to make if you do not have one. Keep the old jets; they can always be drilled oversize if necessary for tuning.

 

(3) If the carburetor IS the culprit (not saying it is), my bet would be a previous rebuilder used too small an orifice fuel valve. The Stromberg spec was 0.128. The Grose-Jet WILL NOT supply sufficient fuel for this carburetor. Other "common" Stromberg valves with the same physical dimensions had a 0.099 orifice.

 

(4) Be aware that the Stromberg EE-2, EE-22, EE-23, and EE-25 were what Stromberg called a "thin-wall casting". Never force the fuel valve seat; forcing it can break a very expensive bowl.

 

Questions - 573-392-7378 (9-12, 1-4 Mon-Tues central time).

 

 

Jon

[Matt Harwood]

Since I don't sit around and do nothing particularly well, but the parts I need haven't shown up yet, I decided to finish the headlight wiring. Am I a fool for working on other parts of a car that may never run again? Am I simply tilting at windmills here? It felt kind of redundant but I needed something to do so I didn't waste another day doing nothing. I don't manage that very well.

 

First thing I did was install a bus bar under the dash. I mounted it using an existing stud--and by the way, every damned nut, bolt, and stud on this car is fine-threaded and therefore 1/4-28 nuts are not something I keep on the shelf--and some double-sided tape. It isn't going anywhere. I powered it using a 10-gauge wire from the ammeter. I mulled this over for quite a while, but ultimately decided that it would be OK. One, worst case it carries 3-4 amps for the fuel pump, 8 amps for the fog lights, and a trickle for the headlight relay, and a 10-gauge wire will easily handle that kind of load. Unlikely that all three of those things will be running at the same time for very long. And two (and most importantly), the wire was already there and ready to use, minimizing the time I spent on my head with my feet over the front seat back. It's decided.

 

Power distribution bar mounted to the firewall.

Yellow=headlight power, black=fuel pump

power, blue=10ga power wire from ammeter.

 

Once I had the bus bar powered, I connected the power wire to the fuel pump relay, so that should [hopefully] work when the time comes. Then I ran power to the headlight switch. This headlight switch I'm using is OFF-A-AB, meaning that it will work pretty much like a normal headlight switch. First position will turn on the parking lights, while the second position is both parking lights and headlights. The factory had the parking lights off when the headlights are on (they're in the same headlight bucket, after all) but I did it this way intentionally since the taillights are powered by the parking light circuit and they need to be ON in both positions. So that's why I did it that way. 

 

Since the headlight relay handles 98% of the power to the headlights, there's only a trickle of current running through the switch and the floor button, which, again, works like any other late-model car. That floor switch receives power from the dash switch and sends power to either the high beam relay or the low beam relay. Easy. So I connected those wires and installed both switches.

 

  
Dash switch (left) and dimmer switch installed and wired.

 

Headlight relay (yellow=low beam).

 

I shopped for the right headlight switch for quite a while and I'm pleased with the one I found. The knob is very similar to the choke and throttle knobs on the lower dash. The headlight switch takes the place of a red Lincoln emblem in the top center of the dash. It was chrome plated so I ran a Scotch-Brite pad over it to make it look more like the aluminum knobs and I'm pretty happy with the result.

 

  
Headlight switch looks appropriate in the dash.

 

Sadly, I can't test anything until I have the engine installed and the headlights mounted, but I'm confident it will work like it should. 

 

Hopefully my missing parts show up first thing next week so I can get that oil pump installed and start working towards making this thing run properly. I'm getting anxious.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[JV Puleo]

It will run and, chances are it will run well. It's pointless to let machines get the best of us...they can certainly be trying but, in the end, if you refuse to give up you'll always win. Believe me, I know how frustrating it can be. I think you are doing the right thing...when I run into what appears to be an unsolvable problem I move on to something I can do. It's astounding how often a solution to the knotty problem occurs when you're not thinking about it intensely. I also predict that when you do solve the temperature  and oil pressure problems you'll find yourself saying "why didn't I think of that"?

Edited August 8, 2021 by JV Puleo
typo (see edit history)

[maok]

Hey Matt, I'm sure you know it already, but you can test your headlight circuit by just checking for voltage at the end of the wiring where it goes to the headlight buckets.

 

If you are getting the correct voltages there then I would call it tested and working, then move onto another thing on your list.

[Terry Harper]

On 8/7/2021 at 6:22 PM, Matt Harwood said:

Am I a fool for working on other parts of a car that may never run again? Am I simply tilting at windmills here?

As John Willys reportedly said "I would rather be wrong as an optimist than right as a pessimist." There is far more right with that car than wrong. It will run again and your moving ahead on other tasks is just the ticket.

[Matt Harwood]

Engine (and test stand) are on the lift. I'll put it in the air tonight after work or tomorrow and get the oil pump changed out. We'll verify a few things, run the pressure pot through it with the pan off, and see what we can see.