Hi Guys ! . I took the old Dodge in for the vapor recovery smoke test, turns out the (plastic) fuel tank had a crack in it, I fixed it using Permatex #2, that's the old fashioned "Aviation" Permatex, nasty brown stuff that really works well but you don't ever want to need to remove it again..... I thought I'd posted and update, sorry . So, I got an offer of help removing the engine and tranny from my dead 1959 Nash Metropolitan FHC, first I have to clean all around the car and move a dead 1959 #113 DeLuxe VW Beetle .
Then I'll need to move the Metropolitan........ I can't figure out where I put my little Chinese battery powered air pump / emergency light thing-a-ma-jig (technical term there) so I went and bought a new one plus an adapter to plug in the ciggy lighter plug and have a longer wire with battery clips, took that home and guess what ? . Chinese junk, claimed 100 #, I left it run 30 minutes and only got 20 #, gave up and put both cars up on safety stands, took the wheels to the gas station and used their air hose, 6 out of the 8 tires filled and are holding air . The 6 year old 1,000 miles use VW tires that were facing the sun, leaked through the sidewalls profusely . That was last Friday and lots of cleaning and sorting of junk from trash and leaves (I work out side all year 'round) , filled a milk crate with scrap metal and hardware I stupidly left out side to be ruined, filled two 100 gallon "C.A.T.S." trash cans , whew, how did I do all this work before ?! . Saturday was a total bust, the old tires shop that still sold skinny & narrow tires (155R15) is gone, the two closest tire shops couldn't help so Tirerack.com to the rescue ~ $256.00 later I have new tires in bound, they arrived to - day and are dated 2021 (yay !) I hope to get them mounted up tomorrow and maybe some more cleaning . These new tires are made in Holland, I hope they're any good . New tires these days are designed to degrade in 4 ~ 5 years regardless of use . I hate this but too many scrap tires world wide you know . SWMBO says I have to stop working Thursday because it's my birthday, I have to set out the trash, leaf and waste oil cans ~ she says she'll take me wherever I want to go for lunch, this means Howard's Cafe just South West of downtown Los Angeles, she hates that area and doesn't like Howard's Cafe either but says 'okay, if that's what you want' . Somewhere I have a picture of the Met all cleared of junk around it, if I can find it I'll post it up ere long, looks like the rest of this week is busy .
Thanks I was trying to log back on and couldn’t do it so new account new name. Have you heard anything from CHARLES cchar ? I’ve texted him sent him an email and nothing talked to him probably 4 or 5 months ago.
Some progress...... I still have more to do before doing a leak down test, I want to see what shape the top end of the engine is in, I rebuilt this engine about 30,000 miles ago but I push it hard and the failure was due to overly advanced ignition timing, with some luck I'll remove the engine, flip it and replace the entire crankshaft, it's already at .030" and I'm pretty sure I have a standard one salted away, who likes oversize bearings, right ? .
That's a battered old 1959 #113 Deluxe Beetle, it has a full synchro tranny installed and a clapped out original Typ 1192C.C. 36horspower engine, I paid some thief $1,600.00 for it , supposedly rebuilt, I tuned it up sharply , rebuilt the brakes and 6 volt electrical system and began driving it and felt just like 1972 again (the year, not my age) , it was great in spite of being a piece of junk . I was zizzing across the Panamint Valley just South of Death Valley in the 115* heat when a connecting rod let go and crashed through the cylinder block . Now I have another fully rebuilt ( ! $$ WOW !!$$ PAIN ) long block to install, part of the moving around of the cars was to set up a vapor barrier underneath the plywood so I can wok on the Beetle and not have to worry about more rusting.... Maybe I'll get it going again in 2022..... one of my foster boys is keen to help and of course, ride in it.... I hunted up some original seats and need to have them recovered, there's only -one- place I know that can do the correct '59/'59 only seat covers and won't put any foam in them... I can bore you to death with the little details of things fixed . (11.21.21 OOPS ! Ah stil kain't spel gud .)
Still working..... I got back to my spare BMC 'B' series 1500C.C. engine to-day, the bearing journals look pretty good, the bearing shells show so little wear it's possible this was a good engine I ruined by leaving out in the weather . I soaked the pistons with KROIL and let them soak as I undid the cam chain and sprockets, removed the front and rear engine cover plates and undid two of the connecting rods . Then I used a sledge hammer to shock #'s 1 & 4 pistons until they moved a little bit, reinstalled the front crankshaft bolt and gently worked the crankshaft back and forth as the pistons freed up and slid in their bores, allowing me to turn the crank and access to the # 1 & 4 connecting rod caps . These engines use very clever engineering to get maximum power out of a tiny displacement they reducing friction : only THREE main bearings ! . To prevent breaking or bending of the cast iron crankshafts they have *very* large and sturdy main bearings and the bearing caps are precision fit to the cylinder block instead of sitting proud like in most engines . The flip side is : they're hard to slide out, BMC drilled and tapped a 9/16" threaded hole in each main bearing cap so you could use their special factory tool sort of a big "C" shaped thing that straddled the main bearing and used a bolt to draw the tight fitting bearing cap perfectly straight out of the block . Not surprisingly, I don't have this factory special tool, it took me a while and a slightly smashed finger to get the crank out, in the second picture you can see the brownish residue of a decade or more of oil on the crank's bearing journals . I'll try to wire brush them clean then mike the journals to see if it's a standard or undersized . I also bashed my head, then when I smashed my finger I realized it was time to stop after only 1/2 day, I was able to get the crank inside out of the weather (it's supposed to begin raining before sun up) and all the tools put up before collapsing in my pain chair in the back yard and napping a while in the sun with my B-Dog in my lap . When the cloud cover rolled in and it cooled off, I felt it safe to take a shower with out fear of falling . I'm going to try and give the cylinder block away, I know someone needs it desperately but I don't want to hold onto it any longer . With a little luck this will be a standard, unground crank I can clean up and use in the little red car..... I did check it for cracks ~ it rings like a bell so no worries there . -Nate
MONDAY DECEMBER 13TH. ? Is everyone O.K. ? . I watched the T.V. new of the seven states impacted by tornadoes and am worried .
