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March 16, 2003
5.0 Hours

Surprises in the Engine Compartment

Spring has sprung here in Cleveland! Instead of spending the day in the basement powdercoating parts, I decided to put in some time in the garage getting ready to pull the motor.

The first thing I did was start stripping the remaining accessories and other external parts such as the starter, distributor and water pump. The starter came out without a problem--two 5/8" bolts and it was out. The gear seems to be in good condition, and the flywheel teeth are also in apparently good condition. Amazing that starters really haven't changed that much in 60+ years.

 
Starter came out without a problem. Dirty, but in good overall condition. Also note the 6 degree ADV mark
on the flywheel (arrow). Speaking of the flywheel, it's about 3/4" thick! It must weigh 60 pounds. We'll find out soon.

Then I pulled the distributor. Again, easy and no surpises. Teeth on the distributor are in good condition, but the shaft has a little wiggle in it, so I'll have it rebuilt and rebushed. I'll probably have it recurved to take advantage of modern fuels. I also noticed that the spark plugs in my engine have been upgraded from the trouble-prone 10mm plugs originally installed on 1941 engines only. There was a dealer notice in the early '40s that said if a customer complained about fouled spark plugs, they could drill the spark plug holes to a larger, standard size. With modern fuels it wouldn't be a problem, but from a parts acquisition position, the larger holes will make it easier to find spark plugs.

Next, the water pump had to go. I started with the thermostat housing, and instantly broke the first bolt holding it to the valve body. Then I broke the second bolt, even after soaking it with penetrating oil. Crap!   Now I'll have to drill them out of the housing. What a pain.

I removed the three bolts holding the water pump to the block. Important reassembly tip: the mounting bolts go into the water jacket. Remember to install them with thread sealant...

The water pump mounting bolts penetrate the water jackets.
The front of the engine is a mess--oil, grease, mud, coolant and
who knows what else are caked on. Get the scraper...

Then the fun stuff started: I pulled the rocker cover. Surprise! The engine I thought was in such good condition shows signs of serious neglect. The rockers, valve springs and everything else under the rocker cover is caked with oil--coked oil--which indicates that it wasn't changed very often. Not a problem, but probably not surprising. Everything will get freshened with a rebuild, anyway. I just hope there's no serious damage to the rocker arm shaft or the block.

What a mess! I guess I shouldn't have expected it to be clean,
but this is worse than I thought it would be. The sludge is thick
and sticky, and burned on in some places, indicating that the
oil spent a long time in the engine without a change.

The neat thing is that it has dual valve springs and shaft-mounted rockers, typically reserved for high-performance cars these days. Impressive engineering. I also like the easy adjustment of valve lash using the screws on the back of the rockers. Nice work, Buick engineers!

I wrapped up the day by removing the wiring harness, its clips on the firewall, and the rest of the wiring in the engine compartment. I also pulled the horns, battery tray, horn relay and voltage regulator. The engine looks pretty bare sitting there alone, ripe for picking...

Engine looks ready to come out. Soon.

I'm hoping to try out my cadmium plating kit this week. I've got a 10 amp battery charger, which is perfect for plating a pair of brake baking plates. I'll have results soon and you'll see them here.

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E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net

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Last modified on 02/06/2005

Thanks, Fidget!