37_Roadmaster_C Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Thanks everyone for the insight. It shines a very bright light on the details of the Nailhead heads. @Bill Stoneberg, the 37 is not a Nailhead but the 60 is a 401 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 Good news... The last set of heads I tried were the best set. No cracks or recession of the valves. These will be the ones we will use. I also delivered parts to the machine shop and they are starting work on it this week. End of this month is still doable they said. Plus I got good Bar B Que... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 (edited) On 9/14/2020 at 12:33 AM, 37_Roadmaster_C said: Thanks everyone for the insight. It shines a very bright light on the details of the Nailhead heads. @Bill Stoneberg, the 37 is not a Nailhead but the 60 is a 401 . Robin, Sorry. I did not see you also had a 60 Electra. What model is it ? Edited September 15, 2020 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 2 hours ago, Bill Stoneberg said: Plus I got good Bar B Que... There are priorities in life! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37_Roadmaster_C Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 7 hours ago, Bill Stoneberg said: Robin, Sorry. I did not see you also had a 60 Electra. What model is it ? Bill, my 60 is the Electra 4 door hardtop. I honestly do not know the actual model number. The amazing thing about my car is that when it was bought new in early 1960 by my grandfather it was titled to my father. Right now it is an original stock one owner car with about 70000 miles. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share Posted September 27, 2020 (edited) Another week of really no work done on the car. I did talk to the folks doing the engine and it is torn down and getting cleaned in prep for boring. He thinks it will be able to clean up at .030 over. Waiting on the heads too as we had to reorder guides. They may be done this next week. In the meantime we are examining how to take this ring gear off and not losing parts. This is 1 of 4 sections that have bad teeth. Its a real mess and I was glad to find one in much better shape. Edited September 27, 2020 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 I knew a couple of welders who worked the midnight shift building up the teeth om the deep rock tunnel boring moles. A good welder could build those up with a minimum of monkeying around. Worth investigating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 Dang, Bill. Mine was worse than that! A little filing took care of it. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Ran across a "My Classic Car" segment on YouTube today. A black '60 Electra 225 and a blue Olds '88 4-dr compared. Both out of the Schmidt's (National Parts Depot) collection. An interesting comparison! If you haven't already seen it, it's worth a watch. Take care, NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 If the flywheel teeth looked like that, what did the starter drive teeth look like? NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted September 28, 2020 Author Share Posted September 28, 2020 5 hours ago, 60FlatTop said: I knew a couple of welders who worked the midnight shift building up the teeth om the deep rock tunnel boring moles. A good welder could build those up with a minimum of monkeying around. Worth investigating My best friend did that earlier in his career. Spent 2 years 50 ft underground digging a storm drain that was 16 feet or so in diameter. I could ask him to do that but I found a good ring gear to reuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick man Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Bill a couple shots of inspiration .... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 2, 2020 Author Share Posted October 2, 2020 Pay day today and we finally got to order (and pay for) all the AC components. Tired of messing with the mock up unit, it’s good to get it 90 % to fit but need the real unit for the final fitment. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 4, 2020 Author Share Posted October 4, 2020 More parts came today. I love that Fedx delivers in Sunday. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 (edited) It was almost 100 F here this weekend so having an air conditioned garage made Rob happy. He spent the weekend mounting the AC unit and fabricating the beginning of the covers for the firewall. The AC unit is big, it has to be to keep the greenhouse that is the interior cool down here. Below is the AC unit mounted and the template for the covers. Edited October 12, 2020 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 While he was working on it, he found that the car had a leak on the passenger side and the floor looked like Swiss cheese. I am sure my wife would not want to fall through the floor so a floor pan replacement is in order. Luckily it was only that one side but it is just more work to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drhach Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 What is the AC unit from? Will use that for heat as well? Or do you have two separate systems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 It's amazing how comfortable the older cars could be with factory a/c and still be almost totally lacking in heat insulation compared to modern cars. Especially in the doors and roof! Hidden a/c condensate seeps, compounded by the hard rubber floor mats of the time, and those floorpan perforations "happen" with time. A strong case for the non-rubber-backed carpet mats, which don't trap moisture under them. One thing leads to another! Enjoy! NTX5467 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 On 10/13/2020 at 3:35 PM, drhach said: What is the AC unit from? Will use that for heat as well? Or do you have two separate systems? I am using there Vintage Air. Magnum IV. It has both heat and AC. Its bigger size wise then the factory unit. I put one in an early Riviera and it works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drhach Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 7 hours ago, Bill Stoneberg said: I am using there Vintage Air. Magnum IV. It has both heat and AC. Its bigger size wise then the factory unit. I put one in an early Riviera and it works well. No issues with legroom for the passenger? It looks pretty tidy for the engine bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 16, 2020 Author Share Posted October 16, 2020 4 hours ago, drhach said: No issues with legroom for the passenger? It looks pretty tidy for the engine bay. In our test fitting there doesn’t seem to be. The main passenger (my wife) is 5 2 so I hope there are no issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 Floor is out, it took 2 try’s to get the right floor pan. The first one that was sent was for an Electra and an Invicta. It did not fit. seconds one was for an Impala and it will fit well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 (edited) It took a number of tools to cut the floor out.... and nothing survived. Edited October 25, 2020 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smartin Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 The grinder with the adapter for the 3" cutoff wheel...I've tried a couple different variations of that. None of them were ever very stable or balanced. I use one that is specifically for those wheels and nothing else...works great. It's also what I use for 99% of my spot weld grinding/removal. I've tried those round spot weld drill bits...they just walk all over the place it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 11 hours ago, Bill Stoneberg said: It took a number of tools to cut the floor out.... and nothing survived. Fiberglass would be messy, but easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 On 10/15/2020 at 9:14 PM, Bill Stoneberg said: The main passenger (my wife) is 5 2 so I hope there are no issues. Back about 1983 I sold a 1978 Electra that I had been driving for a couple of years. A buyer called and made an appointment to see the car. I told my wife that some great big guy and his tiny wife were coming to look at the car. They showed up and he was over 6' and weighed close to 300#. His wife was about the size on one of his legs. My wife watched me sell the car from our window. "How'd you know that?" she asked. I told her "The guy asked me three times if the car had a split front seat." He lived right off the main road about 10 miles south of us. I saw that car in his driveway for years. Bernie 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 (edited) Trial fitting of the floor pan and a picture of the exhaust manifold. The floor pan is from a 1960 Impala. The exhaust manifold has 3 big cracks in it and whoever had the car before me put 3 gaskets on the middle section to try to get it sealed. They got it to seal at the expense of cracking the manifold. The manifold itself is made of unattianiam so its going to be a hard search. Dual exhaust and driver side manifold = hard as hell to find. The picture is the easiest crack to see. Got called today and the engine is done so its time to go get Bar B Que and an engine this week. Has to stop raining first. Edited October 28, 2020 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drhach Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Find a good welder who can do cast iron, those cracks are fixable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 (edited) http://www.2040-parts.com/buick-1959-1960-364-401-nailhead-lh-dual-exhaust-manifold-electra-invicta-i2212230/ http://centervilleautorepair.com/exhaust Edited October 29, 2020 by avgwarhawk (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted October 29, 2020 Share Posted October 29, 2020 Cast iron will crack/shrink with age. Be sure to use some "heat washers" under the bolt heads so a bit of movement is possible during hot/cold cycles. Some of the stainless steel "end locks" can work, too. Conventional wisdom usually indicates "nailing tings down tight", but that's usually when the cracks happen, by observation. NTX5467 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 (edited) Over the weekend we got the motor back and the floor pan in. Floor pan came from a 1960 Impala. It fit a whole lot better then the one we tried from another vendor. This morning I was able to find a candidate for a manifold. If it is not cracked I will be in luck. The guy I am buying it from is checking for cracks. I spent part of Sunday watching the Saints game and at the same time replacing all the lights in my instrument panel with LEDs. Edited November 4, 2020 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 LEDS? Gonna need sunglasses to drive at night? Glad to see the project is progressing nicely! NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 3 hours ago, NTX5467 said: LEDS? Gonna need sunglasses to drive at night? Its better then not seeing the instruments at all. Besides, I try to avoid driving at night in this car. But just in case..... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted November 4, 2020 Author Share Posted November 4, 2020 (edited) I forgot an amazing item I saw when I was at the engine builder shop. They had a connecting rod from a 14 liter (875 or so cu/in) engine that they were replacing. It was big and heavy and connected to a piston the size of a coffee can. Edited November 4, 2020 by Bill Stoneberg (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 There are some BIG engines out there. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 LOTS of weight slinging around in that engine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted November 4, 2020 Share Posted November 4, 2020 3 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said: There are some BIG engines out there. Ben Wartsila Engine are some of the large the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank DuVal Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 Fairbanks-Morse also. The wastewater treatment plant (Richmond, VA) had 5 and 8 cylinder Fairbaks_Morse gas* (not gasoline) engines that drove the main pumps. Rumor was they were designed for ships. The pistons were 13" in diameter. When asked how much oil we needed to buy for an oil change, the reply was 5 cans, just like your car. Of course, they were 55 gallon cans!😁 Here is a picture of a large valve I got years ago from a similar engine, next to a "normal" sized car valve. 17" long. * Methane, since we had lots of it around the plant. 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRJBUICK Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 On 11/2/2020 at 4:29 PM, Bill Stoneberg said: Its better then not seeing the instruments at all. Besides, I try to avoid driving at night in this car. But just in case..... bill could you let us B60 people know what led's you used, where you got them from, and did you change the color. my dash is pretty dim Thanks Marty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 Well, you got your small blocks and then you got your big blocks. 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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