Lavron's '64 Build Thread

[poboyjo65]

Hurry up, Mike! The suspense is killing me!

Jim

Me too but that rusty throttle cable bracket is too! & the oil cap.did you run out of paint?

[lavron]

Me too but that rusty throttle cable bracket is too! & the oil cap.did you run out of paint?

The throttle bracket is temporary so no paint for it The oil filler cap will be painted next time you see it, maybe

Go to commercial,,,

I did, cleaned all the stuff off the car today if I get a chance I will try to get something done on the exhaust, I guess I am kinda procrastinating on that because it is a hard place to work on, sharp bends and not a lot of room. Not to let everyone down but I will be taking the car to a shop to have the exhaust finished up I have no desire to do any more than I already have on it

As I was picking things up I did "finish" a couple of things so I wouldn't have to find a place to put the parts, I got the third brake light hooked up and the horn finished (probably not how you thought I would do the horns)

Most likely it will be next week before I attempt to start it.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

The oil filler cap will be painted next time you see it

All cleaned up, I know it doesn't look much different than the pictures I have been posting but there is a reason I was keeping the pictures cropped close (that might be an air horn on the inner fender )



Gauges are all ready to go.



Exhaust, not so much.



I had to go to town so didn't have enough time to get something in there, I think I am down to that and advancing the initial timing and then I should be ready to give it a try.

So exciting but so nervous

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

I actually tried to start the Comet today, didn't happen

Initially I was getting no spark, I had my suspicions that it was the weather pack connection on the distributor, when I unplugged it one pin was pushed back in the housing, I just took it off and used three spade connectors, then I was getting fire, literally, I lit the header outlet on fire no big deal it burned the gas out and went out.(I was unable to hook the headers to the exhaust pipes so there are just little short pipes attached)

I rechecked timing and tried to fire it up again and it is so close to starting but that little battery ran out of juice so I quit for the day and left it charging.

I think it will start soon, I may need to get the battery out the truck or buy a full-sized one for the car

I may go through and adjust the valve pre-load first, I didn't really do much of a job the first time and just set them all by eye, not sure if I set them too tight it would cause it not to want to start because it is leaking too much compression out? That means I will be pulling the valve cover off and maybe the fan so I can get to the crank bolt and be able to turn it over by hand.

On a positive note, the engine cranks fine and there was nothing contacting that shouldn't

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

Pictures or it didn't happen

https://youtu.be/IHY8PU77h_Y

Not quite as happy as I could be, I will tell you guys in a little bit what the issues were but wanted to get this up for you to see.

See Ya,
Mike

[SASSY]

Hey Mike!!! Getting over the nerves of first start, congrats
Fred

[tomb22]

Way to go
tom

[lavron]

Hey Mike!!! Getting over the nerves of first start, congrats
Fred

It had to happen sometime

Way to go
tom

Thanks Tom.

So here are the issues I had; I went 10 minutes at 2500RPM, the video is at the beginning of that (sorry for the shaky bad camera work) after 10 minutes I shut it down for 10 minutes, started it back up for the final 10 minutes at 2500RPM, about 1.5-2 minutes in I broke the fan belt causing the temps to rise and start spewing steam and hot water out the overflow, I shut it down, it looks like the belt was running on its side before it broke, maybe it was not wide enough?

I hope it did not get too hot and warp the head or anything, no leaks anywhere still I can see. Also steam is hot and burns you if you accidentally get your hand in it

I will get new belts tomorrow hopefully I can do the other half of the break-in? #4 exhaust port discolored the stainless really bad a blue color the rest are sort of yellow now.

The engine is pretty smooth if it wasn't for it being so loud you couldn't tell it was running (well it was vibrating everything off the fenders) I think at idle it should be pretty good if I could get to that point really can't tell if there are any exhaust leaks or vacuum leaks yet and it starts right up. I still want to test the rest of the running gear out but not really at 2500 RPM.

See Ya,
Mike

[poboyjo65]

Back when I was messing with bikes if we put a new 4 into 1 header on it we had to put in bigger jets or else the pipes would turn blue. you may be a little lean. Congrats on the milestone!

[lavron]

Back when I was messing with bikes if we put a new 4 into 1 header on it we had to put in bigger jets or else the pipes would turn blue. you may be a little lean. Congrats on the milestone!

I am sure a lean condition might exist, I think I will get that all worked through as I go once I get past this cam break-in.

I am actually pretty impressed so far myself, let me count the ways; '78 Ford 250 block and crank from the junkyard, Head from a stuck '72 200 motor from another JY, 6 Ford Tempo 4 Cyl.rods, a broken DuraSpark distributor from eBay (repaired), GM HEI ignition control module and S-10 coil (I won't mention that again ), Homemade aluminum spacers under the header, Ford FE solid cam pushrods and hydraulic lifters, adjustable rocker arms from an early 144CID Ford Falcon, Custom rear sump oil pan, 2000 Mustang V6 flywheel, '98 Mustang V6 bell housing and starter, and a 3G Ford alternator - AND IT CRANKS, STARTS & RUNS! I am not saying that to impress anyone with my talent but to say if I can do it almost anyone can Will have to wait and see if the rest of the build impresses me

May be Thursday before I can try again, tomorrow I have to go see the back doctor in the morning and when I get home, fix my driveway again, I just did that and we had another gulley washer this evening, I haven't looked at it yet but I know it is going to be bad, I am going to have to get a truckload of gravel eventually if this keeps up.

See Ya,
Mike

[Jims65cyclone]

IT'S ALIVE!!! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!! Congrats on a successful start-up.

Jim

[lavron]

Congrats on a successful start-up.

Thanks Jim.

I guess maybe I lied to everyone a little and said it would be Thursday before I got back on the cam break-in, I got home and got everything taken care of, got the new belts on (a bit short but I finally got them on) checked that the wife was off the phone for a few minutes and got the cam break-in done with no mishaps.

So today for your viewing pleasure a short video with it idling and a few little revs, I have a full video of the break-in but figured no one wanted to watch ten minutes of the engine just sitting there running at 2500 RPM.

https://youtu.be/d7rLKd4y98U

I tested the clutch and it works, now all I need to do is get the cable bracket back on there and I might be ready for a quick trip around the yard might do a little more testing after the gas pedal is attached while it is still on the jack stands.

Wife visited me in the shed, said it was loud but she would make herself available to film the maiden voyage

See Ya,
Mike

[SASSY]

,Rollin, Rollin, Rollin, get that doggie Rollin,,, Mikee!
You get the idea!!
Fred

[Jims65cyclone]

So today for your viewing pleasure a short video with it idling and a few little revs, I have a full video of the break-in but figured no one wanted to watch ten minutes of the engine just sitting there running at 2500 RPM.

https://youtu.be/IHY8PU77h_Y

Isn't that the same video you posted on the 11th?

Jim

[lavron]

Isn't that the same video you posted on the 11th?

Not sure why it did that, try this one instead;

https://youtu.be/d7rLKd4y98U

See Ya,
Mike