Block's in worse shape than I thought

Ok, so Carquest of Upland has my block for 5 weeks giving me every excuse under the sun as to why they haven't done anything to it yet. Then last week Jody promises me to have it done by Friday and that he'll call me with an update. The call never comes so I call yesterday morning (Monday) and he says that there's an issue with one of the exhaust port, it's got a crack. REALLY, and he couldn't call me and tell me...I have to call him? He's never called me with an update!

Anyway, I'm ranting...

So I pick up the block and check it out. (see photo with arrows) It definitely has another crack that only showed up after he machines the valve seat. He tells me that they (Carquest machine shop) don't do crack repairs and he doesn't know anyone (used to but not any more) who does...REALLY? So I ask him if I can take it and try to repair it myself. He says that repairs are usually done by drilling and tapping and then screwing in a plug that can be machined flat when the deck (top) of the block is machined. He tells me he'll give me some leads on who to purchase a repair kit from...he doesn't!

So now I will get some advise from friends in my Model A club (Art and Steven) as to what can and should be done now.

I probably wouldn't worry too much under normal circumstances except that I want to install a high compression head and Model B cam shaft which will place extra stress on the engine and potentially cause a failure....ARGH!

I've gotta fix it, no other way around it!

PS: You'll note that there are two other cracks in the block deck that are referred to by the arrows in the photo...these I knew about and was told by Art and Steven that they need no repair as they are minor...only going from water jacket to water jacket. Makes sense to me.

Fenders almost ready

I finally got the call from Gongora's Auto Body that my fenders will be ready to pick up today. They are putting the final touches on them and so I dropped by to take a few photos. The top photo shows color sanding them before buffing. I must admit that it's tough to watch as they sand away a beautiful finish only to (hopefully) buff out a beatiful shine...I hope they turn out. More photos of the finished product on Monday!

Progress? Frustrating!

Not making progress the way I'd like. The fenders have been at Gongora's in Pomona for over 5 weeks and the engine block has been at the machine shop for almost four...still NOT finished. (in spite of the promise that they would be) Sooo frustrating as every time I call to check on progress I hear comments like "There's a lot more involved than we anticipated" or "There are some un-forseen issues with the block". Why even get quotes...every time I hear these words I think "Great, how much will that cost me?".

So the latest is: from David at Gongora's Auto Body "The fenders will be painted today and ready to pick up next week" and from Jody at Carquest in Upland "keep calling to remind us".

Everything hinges on the work now being done, or not done, as the case may be!

It's getting harder and harder to even think about referring anyone to these guys for future work. Now I know why I couldn't find anybody in the Model A Club who had used Gongora's, even though he advertises in our club newsletter....Argh!

All I needed was a bigger hammer!

Pics of Model A block and vavles

Well, here are some photos of the block. It's now in the shop to have valve seats put in and shave the top of the block. (Carquest machine shop - Upland) So they magna-flux it and find several cracks and repairs on the deck as well as the right side. I've decided to go ahead and use the block even though I am going to a 6.5:1 ratio head. At least I know what potential problems could be.

I should be getting my fenders back from the painters on Friday...then it's on to the body. And while it's in the shop I'll be working on the rear end. (Not mine, although it needs it!)

One more post on the A-Bone

I have decided to have someone else do the paint and body work. It was suggested by some of my fellow club members to try Gongora's Paint and Body shop here in Pomona. David Gongora made a decent quote and so I have bead-blasted the fenders to get him started. So far so good. I'll do the body, hood and doors in a few weeks when I know where I stand with the rest of my restoration.

In working on the engine block I busted 7 studs in the top of the block. Even with heating them up. I purchased a 'head stud drill out kit' from Snyders and it worked like a charm. I may need to helicoil only ONE stud hole. Pretty lucky! I'll upload some engine photos tomorrow to show why I'm redoing the block / valve seats. Pretty sad shape.

More on the Model A restoration project

One of the benefits of owning your own machine shop...After researching various internet blogs and chatting with Club members, I decided to lighten the flywheel. (Which means I'll need to balance the crank as well) I was able to lighten the flywheel by 22 pounds from 65 to 43 total weight. I'm told this will add to the engine response time off the line but not hinder the hill climbing. We'll see.

After machining, a new starter ring was installed by heating the ring and chilling the flywheel. It worked like a charm. The photos above show where material was removed from flywheel. Basically 14 pounds was removed from the outside diameter and 8 pounds was removed from the i.d. I probably could have done more but I was leery of reducing wall thickness too much.

Here's a list of the engine and drive train changes I've decided to make:
- 6.5:1 High compression head (Brumfield?)
- reground cam shaft to Model B standards
- lighten flywheel
- balance flywheel and crank shaft as an assembly
- install 3.27:1 ring and pinon in rear end
- machine block by installing new valve seats (intake and exhaust)
- install modern valve set
- aluminum timing gear with new steel gear on crankshaft

I'll keep the Zeneth carb for now with the option to change to a Weber at a later date, based on performance. (Gotta save some money somewhere!)

Updates on my 1931 Model A Ford

This past summer we stripped the Model A down to the ground and started cleaning and repainting. I had the frame bead-blasted and powder coated black and it turned out well. Clean and neat. Now starts the process of reassembling everything. We power washed the axles and replaced some damaged brake lines (upgraded hydraulic brakes) and cleaned the drum and replaced the worn brake shoes. Repainted everything gloss black and reinstalled.

In this photo you see the motor in the foreground with the finished frame in the background. I have decided to upgrade the head from the original 4.2:1 ratio to a high compression 6.5:1 ratio head. (purchased from Steve Salazar in La Verne) Steve will also be grinding my cam to Model B standard in order to accommodate the higher compression of the new head.

Re-restoring my 1931 Ford Model A Coupe

Well, it's been a long time coming but I can finally say that I am starting to re-restore my 1931 Model A Standard Coupe with the help of my son, Andreas. I have now owned this car for exactly half of it's lifetime, 80 years. I restored it for the first time in 1971 with the help of my grandfather, Elmer Tolman. Thanks to my wife, Monika, I've never sold it...although I was tempted to many times over the years!

Update needed

If only I had the time to keep this blog updated? But I do, I just keep forgetting about it. I will try and do better this year. (New Year's resolution? I'm even late with that!)