What are you working on?

It's Oakland time again! The engine was supposedly rebuilt in the 80's. The car was advertised as "70% restored" and clearly that was complete bullshit so I was very surprised to find new valves, pistons, cross hatch, and a very clean assembly. I was a bit surprised to find used gaskets covered in clear silicone. I have a complete gasket set so its disassembly, clean and regasket time.

Check out the crazy bottom end oiling system and oil pan screen and the bolt on crankshaft weights!20210328_144320.jpg20210328_153738.jpg20210328_153759.jpg20210328_153820.jpg20210328_153807.jpg20210328_160159.jpg20210328_160152.jpg20210328_172611.jpg
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With the nicer weather coming on to us in the near future, it was time to do a little work on my Travel Trailer. I had to replace the charge controller I had for my solar panels for of grid camping because of cheap switches and manufacturing. So while doing the install I figured I would install the 12v battery disconnect switch that I had bought late last fall on Amazon. Got it all hooked up but I could smell that unmistakable electronic burning smell after a few minutes. Turned the switch to the off position and my fingers got really warm, almost to the point of being burnt. Quickly disconnected the battery and removed the switch and put a meter across it in all combinations only to find one of the + connection was shorted to the casing. Can't return to Amazon as I am past my returnable date. Pissed me off as I thought this would be a very robust switch to use. Gave a negative product review with an explanation of what had occurred. We'll see how far that goes. ):
 
I'm not sure which one you used, 71D, but I've sold literally dozens of Allstar part number ALL80156 disconnects to a large-scale electrical contractor for installation on various pieces of equipment far more serious than a camper. It's rated for 175A continuous, which is far more than your camper should ever draw unless you've got God's own inverter running a Bridgeport or something similarly unexpected. If you are, I stock a Cole-Hersee unit rated for 400A for the same guys. I can't remember the number offhand, but it's at least twice as much money as the Allstar's approximately $25 US price.
 
doc, i need relay for my fav welder, something thats "fast" will handle some serious load, and is wired kinda like an old ford but doesnt take much load to trigger, ill see if i have the part number laying around,
 
Tonight I disassembled the oil pump, cleaned, painted, lubed and reassembled it. Then I moved on to cleaning the block deck. Cleaning the cylinder head gasket surface. Installed the copper head gasket and head, then torqued it down.

Make sure to take a close look at the close up picture of the cylinder head. It has a very interesting repair. Four drilled and plugged press fit pins? Water jacket pin holes? Its not like you can go buy a new head for this thing. Its nice work really.

After that I moved on to the intake manifold/ exhaust manifold assembly. The previous owner panted the intake black and the exhaust gray, but at least he made zero effort to do it correctly. He just brush painted it over the rust the bolted it to the freshly rebuilt engine. He used new gaskets but never made any attempt to clean the manifold gasket surface. Thats the kind of work I fully expected to find in the engine. Its basically how the rest of the car was "70% restored".

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71dusterman said:
You getting ready to shoot someone Stretch?
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Not at all. My buddy who owns it was a bit stressed at first but he has had about 5 years to accept it. I think the rarity of this car helps a ton. There are 5 known to the Oakland club.
69.5CUDA said:
what the hell reason would you need to drill and pin the water jacket for?
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My guess is a casting flaw that resulted in pin holes.
 
Stretch said:
Not at all. My buddy who owns it was a bit stressed at first but he has had about 5 years to accept it. I think the rarity of this car helps a ton. There are 5 known to the Oakland club.

My guess is a casting flaw that resulted in pin holes.
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Yup. I've seen at least two other heads from flatties repaired like that.
A very crusty old machinist told me years ago (he was the guy who showed me the repaired heads) that his job when he first started at Ford in the 40s, was in the engine repair shop in the factory. He was full of stories of neat old, simple fixes like that.
"You lazy shits today think ordering up new parts is the way to go. In my day, we had to FIX shit!" was one of his favourite speeches. :)
 
That is the original paint colors. The painter found original paint on the fire wall. The orange was found on the wheels.
 
Have you sent pictures of that to Peter Eater? I told him that wasn't an uncommon combination back in those days, shortly after I dubbed his roadster "The Dreamsicle" because of its similar paint scheme.
 
Stretch said:
I didn't do the body or paint. I just painted the chassis and built the wood. I can't take any credit for how the body turned out.
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True, but you did the wood framing and the best body guy in the world would have problems installing metal panels over wood framing if the framing wasn't done tickety-boo.
 
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