Let’s get an engine installed.
The steering box had some serious incontinent issues so it had to get new seals installed.
Two different pullers are needed to disassemble the steering box. One for the Pitman arm and this one for this upper flange. It has to be removed as the shaft comes out through the housing. The Green Book tell me it’s important to mark it’s position before removing. I believe in the Green Book! The Green Book was written by very wise folks way back in the day…
All apart…
According to Wiki, this contraption is “known as recirculating worm and sector, is a steering mechanism commonly found in older automobiles, off-road vehicles, and some trucks”.
Ahem, that is our cars they are talking about! Come to think about it, I just realized that this car is SIXTY years old!
I actually never had a need to take one of these apart until now.
New seal pressed in. There is also a seal for the upper shaft.
These boxes from German ZF were actually black when new but most of them have lost the paint. It is not easy to make paint stick on aluminum but I used an etching primer for aluminum so we’ll see how this holds up.
That looks pretty snazzy installed. The shaft on the bottom is called Pitman arm and it is one of the few automobile parts that does not have another name.
Now I can connect the rest of the steering components and I have a working front end again.
With a functioning front end I can roll out the car and take a look at the stance with those new springs in the front. At this point I don’t even have the engine, cooling system or battery in and it looks pretty low to me.
It does feel stiff though so maybe it will not sink much more when the weight is added. We will see…
Well, the plan to use the hot rod motor built by Odvar came to an abrupt halt. Turns out that the engine used these light weight moly pushrods. (above) They are almost an inch longer so they use short composite adjustable lifters. I think the idea is that you dial in the height to get the optimum lifter geometry but the lifters came apart in the engine so I scrapped this plan.
So, back to plan A. That’s OK with me, the engine that came in the car ran well but I might as well freshen it up a bit.
Make B18 Great Again-Kit
Since the engine was rebuilt at some point, it already had the updated neoprene seals front and rear but since the car has been sitting so I might as well replace them. When I bought the car, I test drove it around the block in minus 50F and six feet of snow some January morning. I do recall hearing a slight cam gear noise so I will upgrade and replace the fiber gear with this aluminum version.
When an engine sits for an extended time, a lot of solids in the oil will eventually land in the bottom of the pan. Now is a good time to clean the pan and install a new pan gasket.
Cam gears are actually made in Sweden, how about that!
The flywheel looks like it was machined when the engine was rebuilt so I just cleaned it up and it should be all good. Clutch assembly looked rather new but I am installing all new stuff.
Generator brackets: I was initially going to check and rebuild the generator but since I am not going for factory original I am going to install an alternator. I just ordered a 100 Amp unit, that should keep the lights on!
These guide rings are discontinued from Volvo cars but I found these from Volvo Penta. Now I can say I have “Marine Quality Guide Rings” and that is almost as good as “aircraft” or “milspec”!
Like so…
The pulleys after plating.
New sleeve. This is what the front seal wraps around so I want a smooth surface.
The steel crank gear was a little tight on the crank snout. It is amazing what a little heat from my industrial hair dryer car do.
VP tells me that the aluminum cam gear is not noisy like the steel version so it makes for a good upgrade compared to the OE fiber gear.
The dot…and the line…marks the spot. Just like sex and dance, timing is everything.
All sealed up.
I made this tool to keep the engine from rotating when torquing the flywheel bolts or the front pulley bolt.
I let the engine rest on a bench to keep it steady while installing the flywheel.
Oil pan reinstalled.
These new steel tubes that emanates from the water pump comes painted and ready to go. I like shiny things!
Because of the thick paint, they don’t fit in the water pump right away. You have to remove some paint on the tube.
The water pump seals against the head with two o-rings. I am sure when the engines were initially assembled, the water pump was already installed on the block and the head was just laid on top of the o-rings.
So when installing a water pump with the head installed, I have to apply pressure upwards. Since I don’t have three arms, I used a threaded rod to push the water pump body upwards to put pressure on the o-rings while tightening the bolts. On the right side, a long bar with leverage.
Same issue with the lower tube. After removing some paint, all good.
Engine with propeller installed. The propeller helps thrust the car forward. For that reason, propeller speed is very important, especially on take off.
A bit of a milestone: Engine where it belongs.
Next: Install transmission so I can freshen up the wiring harness and incorporate the overdrive wiring. I am using a J-type overdrive from an “E” car so the wiring is different.
Mo later…