PISTONS

I installed the pistons this week. My ring compressor wouldn't tighten up enough and hold so I made a compressor sleeve with the top tapered. Also mounted the flywheel and clutch. About ready to button it up, just have to work out the proper torque for the rod ends.

FITTING THE CRANK

The crank measured right on the std. dimensions so I just had it polished and ordered new bearings from Small Ford Parts. The rear main was a tight fit on the crank from the thrust bearing surfaces. After working these down on Emory paper I ended up with .002" clearance. The bearing clearance was also .002" so good to go.

FRONT SLIDERS AGAIN

This chassis came to me with one slider installed but the inner dirt sleeve wasn't installed. When I put the other side on I did some things wrong so here we go.

If an F type has the up lifted lugs on the top cross tube then the king pin has to come out the bottom and the long thread goes on the top so that you can mount the wing bracket. The short thread on the bottom holds the diagonal brace to the chassis.

I read Clarrie's method for mounting the slider on this type Morgan and it worked fairly well. I made up a 3/8" all thread rod and made the 2 slotted plates. The plates should be made from 1/8" X 2" flat bar about 8" long so you have a handle for pulling them out. That takes a bit of brutality to get them out under all the spring pressure but it can be done.

Here is the whole bit all compressed and ready to install. The rebound spring is loose but could be compressed with the rest of it. See the next try.

Here it is in place and ready for the slotted plates to be pulled (2nd photo). I pulled the bottom one first and tapped the spring into place. When pulling the top one there was a big BANG as the energy was released. Be sure your flying wires are in place. I dropped the threaded rod down from the top to hold it all in place when putting the king pin back in.

 On the second try I did it different. I put the rebound spring on the rod also along with a 1-1/2" long piece of 1/4" standard pipe. This worked much better because the whole assembly was put in place and the bottom nut was removed allowing the springs to relax into place. Then I removed the slotted plates. It was still tricky getting the top end of the pin into the cross tube.

VALVE JOB

I installed the valves yesterday and today with the adjustable tappets I had ordered. Wow was that a tricky job. Trying to adjust the clearance with the valve guides falling out over and over. I finally figured out to turn the engine on its side. I used a regular valve spring compressor but it was too big so I had to place a spacer block on top of the valve head to make it work. Very tedious. #7 still needs a keeper (on order).

Following that chore I needed some inspiration so I hung the bling on the block to see what it will be like. I like it!!

I am waiting for the machine shop to finish up the one bad rod babbitt and then the crank and pistons go in and the engine can be finished up and installed. WOW.

BLOCK WORK

I got the block back from the machine shop. He installed a new sleeve to replace a sleeve that was bored too far. He also did a valve job on the block and valves. I've ordered adjustable tappets, new rings and main bearings and an oil filter kit.

Some cleanup on the block is recommended such as opening up the water passages to match the head gasket. Here is to original and the finished job. I'll be adding a water pump also.

Cleaning up the manifold studs I found 2 of them with frozen nuts. Here is a quick trick to fix that. Cut a slot across the nut flat down almost to the threads. Put it on a hard surface and put a cold chisel in the slit. A sharp rap with a hammer will split the nut making it easy to remove. A die cleans up the threads. The Ford engine has all modern American threads.

FITTING THE CONNECTING RODS

The machine shop polished the crank and all bearing surfaces are within tolerance so I started fitting the connecting rods.
I had considered getting new shell rods or having these re-babbitted but the machine shop guy thought they were in very good condition. I got some Plastigauge and checked the fit of the rods.

After loosening the rod I can read the Plastigauge. 3 of the rods came in at .002" clearance which is within tolerance. One rod was out so I'll have the machine shop shave the cap face and hone the bore.

I got my big thumb in the way but the reading is .002.

GEARBOX INSTALL

I decided to strengthen the mounting of the gearbox and made these plates to under the cross members.

At the same time I modified the studs so they could be tie wired together. They were too short to just drill the end of the stud. I installed them with RTV on the threads so I hope they don't leak.