Ford Blitz Restoration/Rebuild

[Lynn Eades]

Tony , (it seems, based on MLU stats, about 25% of Australians, are Tonys)
I'd be truly surprised, if you're were exempt!!!

[Private_collector]

Well Lynn, I can't speak for my other "Tony" bretheren, but earlier tonight I sat down and typed a long posting to send, on the topic of cleaning parts & soda blasting. After about 20min of typing & going back to make typo correction, I hit the wrong button and promptly erased the entire thing by refreshing the page! Demoralised sufficiently to not attempt to redo the bloody thing.

I'm obviously not immune!

[Lynn Eades]

Tony, My full commiserations, all the more if you "hunt and peck" like me.
Good to know it's not just a Kiwi thing. (this is the cruel and manipulative bit) We should get back on track. What did we miss?

[Private_collector]

Front axle reassembly has started today. Wish it would do so without my involvement! I had hoped to have the whole lot back together, but what a hope I had. Not even close.
Front axle & steering reassembly 1.jpg
In this photo, you should be able to see the new felt seal in the steering joint. They've been soaking in oil for a couple of weeks now, and are a snug fit. No grease should be sneaking past this stuff! Turning the steering ends needs a little more effort since these were installed.
Passenger steering knuckle 1.jpg
The fresh brake junction block arrived last Thursday, with some other small brake bits & new intake valve seals. It came from MacsAuto. Now I need to start thinking about where I put the new brake lines I made some months ago! They're in the workshop somewhere.
Front axle brake junction block & bracket.jpg
I only had enough time to fit one of the brake backing plates. A test fit of the brake hose shows it will fit just fine. I was worried that the length I asked for was incorrect, but looks to be Ok. The primed bolt standing wonky of the steering arm is just sitting there. I had previously forgotten to strip and clean this bolt, so it's drying insitu.
Driver side front brake set 1.jpg Front steering reassembled 1.jpg

I had originally bought 2 tubes of grease. One for each side. Once again, what an under estimation. I sunk a whole tube full in each CV joint space, and i'm still not happy that there is enough. Fortunately I got cautious while in town Saturday, and bought an additional 2 tubes. Should have purchased a new grease gun, because the bloody thing wont pump properly as of about 1700hrs. I called stumps about this time, and downed tools. Try again next weekend!

[Private_collector]

More work done on the engine strip down.
Bare engine bottom end 1.jpg
Pistons are out.They couldn't be removed without damaging several. Then found that they are unusable anyway, from sitting in cylinders that are severely rusted below the piston tops. Worse still in lower bore. Piston rods will not be reused, due to the force I had to subject them to while removing. No big deal there. I have a brand new set of 8BA rods that arrived on Friday (I saw this issue coming). New pistons & rings were planned originally so no great loss there. Resleeving is no longer desired, it's mandatory. I won't be overboring these walls. Besides, thinner walls means higher running temperatures, so thats not a good idea.
Cylinder wall 1.jpg
Crankshaft looks good. The mains aren't worn at all. Some wear at piston rod points and these will be ground down to 1.990", to accomodate the new con rods and bearings.
Crankshaft removed.jpg
Cleaning of the sump is a most disgusting job. In the progress of which, I found 2x rust holes on one side, a small external crack (easily fixed) and a mysterious cluster of three small holes towards the front of the pan gasket surface. These have been deliberately drilled but seem to have no beneficial purpose! I'll get a friend to braze the rust-outs and I will weld the holes and the crack, myself.
Oil pan cleaned 3.jpg
This little nugget was unexpected. Finding something like this is very disappointing. On this engine, i'm now used to it! When I bought it, it was supposed to have been a 'good' engine to rebuild! Hmmmm. Well, it's mine now, so I will persist. If I discard this one, it'll just go into the scrap, and that would be a shame. After removing all the crud, the idler gear and cam gear are both rooted, but both are available.
Oil pump idler and cam gears 1.jpg
Can't wait to get the block crack cleaned & crack tested. It better bloody well pass! With all the new parts in it, this should be just about factory frest.

[Private_collector]

Can anyone help me out with answers to the following questions, please?
The questions relate to interchangability of early VS 8BA parts in general.

1) Are 8BA and earlier 24 bolt heads interchangable in relation to functional use?

2) Are 8BA and earlier front-mount water pumps interchangable between the two blocks?

3) Are oil pans different between 8BA and 99A or 59A?

4) What are the reasons why an 8BA block would not fit in a CMP? More to the point, an 8BA block fitted with all possible external parts of correct engine type!

I have come across someone selling a French made Flathead V8 block which may be better proposition to having work done on my old one. These blocks have some of the characteristics of 8BA, some of the features of earlier 24 bolt blocks, and some features which are unique to the French made ones, such as thicker main bearing caps and added strength and thickness of block webbing.

Any assistance with the above points, or other info on the French block suitability, will be very much appreciated!

[David Dunlop]

Just a thought, Tony. If you have a pharmacy or chemists handy, try checking with them to see if they can get the type of soda you need. I needed some sulphur for the garden once and found it a lot cheaper getting it at a local pharmacy than the gardening centres in the area.

David

[T Creighton]

Originally Posted by Private_collector

Can anyone help me out with answers to the following questions, please?
The questions relate to interchangability of early VS 8BA parts in general.

1) Are 8BA and earlier 24 bolt heads interchangable in relation to functional use?

2) Are 8BA and earlier front-mount water pumps interchangable between the two blocks?

3) Are oil pans different between 8BA and 99A or 59A?

4) What are the reasons why an 8BA block would not fit in a CMP? More to the point, an 8BA block fitted with all possible external parts of correct engine type!

I have come across someone selling a French made Flathead V8 block which may be better proposition to having work done on my old one. These blocks have some of the characteristics of 8BA, some of the features of earlier 24 bolt blocks, and some features which are unique to the French made ones, such as thicker main bearing caps and added strength and thickness of block webbing.

Any assistance with the above points, or other info on the French block suitability, will be very much appreciated!

Hi Tony,
It looks like a new phase in your restoration is beginning. Very interesting. Good luck with it all.
There is a lot of stuff on the web about all this but you could start with

http://www.btc-bci.com/~billben/flathead.htm
and in particular
http://www.flatheadv8.org/bellhousing.pdf

also AJV8's catalogue gives a good comparison of part no's between the early and later flatheads.

Regards, Terry