Low compression

[rob love]

Removing the doghouse and the two angles is a little bit of work (moreso on a mk1 than a mk2), but once the dog house is off, working on the engine becomes a whole lot easier. I cannot imagine trying to do a valve job with the doghouse in place.

Lynn was mentioning stuck valves. I had several stuck on my flathead after it sat for a couple years. All the stuck valves were the ones right under the spark plug holes, so a little tapping with a small brass drift was able to seat them without any removal. I would tap it down, crank the engine, tap it down again, crank the engine....after 3 or 4 of these all but one got better. The last one actually fixed itself while sitting overnight....those self healing Fords.

[Malcolm Towrie]

Originally Posted by rob love

Removing the doghouse and the two angles is a little bit of work (moreso on a mk1 than a mk2), but once the dog house is off, working on the engine becomes a whole lot easier. I cannot imagine trying to do a valve job with the doghouse in place.

Lynn was mentioning stuck valves. I had several stuck on my flathead after it sat for a couple years. All the stuck valves were the ones right under the spark plug holes, so a little tapping with a small brass drift was able to seat them without any removal. I would tap it down, crank the engine, tap it down again, crank the engine....after 3 or 4 of these all but one got better. The last one actually fixed itself while sitting overnight....those self healing Fords.

Rob, Lynn, sorry, I hope I'm not coming off as a bit of an ungrateful dick here (I probably am ). The doghouse is not the problem, IMO. It's the angle iron supports. Can I remove the heads with them in place? The carrier owner has some parade obligations in the spring that preclude major surgery at this time. But checking the valves, gaskets, etc if I can just pop the heads off may be feasible.

Malcolm

[Lynn Eades]

Malcolm, I don't think there is enough room to get the heads off with the lower rails still in place.
You will have to lift the head 1 5/8" to clear the outer studs, but higher to come off the center (2 3/8") and top (inner) studs (2 1/2")
Bearing in mind that you can probably roll the head "out" to get off the higher studs earlier (if you follow) but you would need to be lifting the head "square" from the deck, for say 2 1/4".
I don't have a carrier with an engine in it, but don't think that is possible.
It would be good if someone else chimes in (in case I am telling porkies)

In your current situation, maybe a re read of Robs advice is a good move?

[charlie fitton]

You can access and inspect the valve (springs and tappets) by removing the intake manifold. you can quickly assess whether something is stuck that way.