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By DryLakesRacer - 3 Years Ago
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Background: 3 weeks ago while idling into cruise nite my wife an I both smelled something. In the left side mirror I saw blue smoke from the thru bumper tail pipe. We pulled out of line and checked it was only on the left. We came home.
The next day I did a compression check on the one cylinder I had changed a piston 2 yrs ago and the spark plug was coked black. Compression on all were all the same at 150. Having to know, I removed the left cylinder head and found the piston top different than the rest and could wiped clean. With a shop towel. I hate being under the car but removed the pan and the one rod and piston. Cylinder wall was perfect .0005” top to bottom. .0015” clearance on the skirt. Rings looked and were NOS Ford with a chrome top. I decided to replace the rings with Hastings set with cast second and top and the .010 under rod bearing since I was there.
I also decided to look at the valves on the head. Total miles since a rebuild I knew nothing about was 11K miles in 10 yrs. The intakes were so carboned up it took off the right head and found the same thing. I lapped a few valves and they were good. I was happy to see new seats If there was any valvewear it was minimal. I bought a .530 seal cutter and installed viton seals. Extra work to check spring height on every one for clearance on the retainers. I also blended the new seats which was not done.
I’m in reassembly now and after the bottom was back together I installed the heads. At this point I decided to check rocker arm oil. With no plugs, rocker arm assembly or push rods, I ran the engine on the starter. In about 30 seconds I had oil on both sides, the passenger side first. Definitely not a lot but a steady flow. I’m betting there was no cam bearing “trough” or work done to the block. There has always been oil up top and out of the drain lines when the engine was warm.
Just the intake is left and I’ll probably leave the dual quads but the Blue Thunder and new Summit carb I have new in boxes is tempting. I’m hoping this the last time I’ll be in this engine. The single piston swap was my screw up 7 yrs ago and something’s you just continue to pay for. Thanks to Ted and Tim’s advice over the phone as always.. I’ll report back when it runs.
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By 55blacktie - 3 Years Ago
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DLR, sorry to go off topic, but was the Wilwood MC pushrod the correct length? I know it's adjustable, but mine was too long. What did you do about proportioning valve? I have the Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve but had to mount it on the engine-side; there wan't enough room for it on the battery-side. Plenty of clearance/w Sanderson headers; hopefully, ceramic coating will keep the heat off the proportioning valve and MC.
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By DryLakesRacer - 3 Years Ago
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55.. I bought Wilwood’s Mustang adjustable rod. I did a lot of pre-measuring on the MC to the plunger to the end and to the pedal compared to stock which I was either lucky enough to do before starting or smart. I’ll go with luck. I set the Mustang to the stock one and it was pertect.
if you look at my MC you will see an extended heat deflector I bought from Prestige TBird in Santa Fe Springs Ca. There also is one between the MC and prop valve. They are pained BBQ black and have a silver stick on sheet reflector from Home Depot. Definitely helps but with a heat gu the Mac is 120* up to 140*.
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By 55blacktie - 3 Years Ago
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Thanks, DLR. You're the 2nd person who said he used the Mustang MC/pushrod. Mine is not yet in service, so I'll go ahead and get the Mustang pushrod and compare. My MC is 15/16ths, which was recommended by Wilwood and Dave (Drop 'em, Stop 'em) for disc/drum manual brakes.
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By DryLakesRacer - 3 Years Ago
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I too have the 15(16” MC. Mine work great, better than all drum but slightly under vacuum assist. I also have 11 x 2-1/4” rear drums from a F-150. Since there is room I wish I would have drilled a hole in my pedal arm above the stock one for a little more mechanical advantage. It would never go into any bind. Now with my AC panel it would be tough to do. I would cut a bolt shank to fill the hole I didn’t use so I wouldn’t loose any of the pedal arm strength.
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By Ted - 3 Years Ago
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James. Did you put a fresh hone or some kind of cross-hatch on that cylinder you replaced the rings on?
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By DryLakesRacer - 3 Years Ago
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Yes, left all others alone; only removed the carbon ridge with a razor blade and vacuum cleaner. Could not feel any ridge forming. Only cleaned that 3/8” area of the other cylinders and the tops of the pistons. Used cardboard seals in all the other cylinders on that bank when cleaning. Vacuum cleaner was always on, Tough to do in the car.
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By Lord Gaga - 3 Years Ago
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Might it be possible that you installed the oil scraper (second ring) ring upside down in that cylinder?
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By DryLakesRacer - 3 Years Ago
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Lord………that was always my first thought, but that single set was installed 2000 miles and 2 years ago. The rings were NOS Ford like I said above with hard to see marks and the top ring was chrome. I do check plugs occasionally and they were all the same. Water under the bridge now.
Up date is it’s back together only the left side intake gave me any problems as the gasket didn’t want to split the the intake ports. A little bolt hole work and stickum on the outside edge was needed. They were Bests. Like above I cranked it over for 30 second with no spark plugs and it’s ignition off. I watched all the push rod spin and that was enough time to fill both carbs. I also took the time to taper the exhaust flapper valve eliminator, apparently they aren’t for 312’s and I’ve changed mine.
Since the distributor was never moved after a few full pumps it started right up. There noise from an intake rocker on #6 but the rest were fine. All were set at .019 cold. After the temp was close to normal I shut it down and check them all somehow the ticker was at.024. No leaks I can see and the paint smell makes happy right now. Tomorrow I’ll install the lower frame to engine shields and install the air cleaner. The oil fill tube will hold a piece of blue shop towel so the PCV system is working fine. There was no oil film found in the valve, hose ends, or tube in the system. I also wiped all the spark plug wires with brake clean and all of the looked great for 10 yrs old.
Looking forward to using the car this weekend.
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By Lord Gaga - 3 Years Ago
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That engine looks awesome.
Sounds like you've done a very thorough job and like you said, the cause of the problem is water under the bridge. Please keep us updated.
P.S. Those HF moving blankets make great fender covers don't they?
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By DryLakesRacer - 3 Years Ago
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Lord. 100% sure it’s the only 292 with +.040” in 7 cylinders and a 312 std in one hole making it 4/10” bigger than a 292+40. The replacement piston is within 2 grams of the original piston. Doing a .010” hone in one cylinder in the car was not fun especially with protecting everything else, keeping it clean, and runout at less than 0005”. Skirt clearance is at ,0015”. I’m glad it wasn’t #4 or #8. Tooling plus a 3 beam scale is a must let alone patience and time. I’m hoping the Viton valve seals seals aid in keeping the valve from carboning up as bad as these were in 11k miles. Maybe I’ll never know. Now if I could just get the left rear header bolt started…  |
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By DryLakesRacer - 3 Years Ago
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I’ve had the car out 3 times. No leaks so far or noises I was not expecting. Bypass plug has been removed. Reaches temperature a little faster than before and is steady unless sitting at stop lights for a long light. Outside temp had been 80+ goes right down when moving to what is normal on the factory gauge. Exhaust temps are all about the same right at the cylinder head. The engine has a slightly different sound I’m guessing getting carbon build up off the intake valve may be the reason. Sure glad all my heater parts are removed and I do not have a vacuum booster. Not looking forward to ever doing this again..
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By DryLakesRacer - 3 Years Ago
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Update . . . . 2 things:
#1. The engine hasn’t run this good in years. Idle is very smooth which at times in the past shook on occasion. It is also very quiet; I’ve always set the lash at .019” and could hear some noise so hopefully this type of work is done. I’m sure cleaning the carbon build up off the intake valves helped with that. Maybe the de-burring of the oil passages in the heads helped.
#2 . I removed the bypass plug which had been in for 8-9 years when I was trying almost anything to keep cool in traffic. A few members here said it was not needed and they were right. The fan speed and shroud came much later and probably solved the problem. The engine now heats up quicker and when reaching the temp for the thermostat stays for the most part at temp and maybe moves a needles width. For the time being……. All is good.
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