No biggie, but drove the 33 coupe today. First drive for 2014.

[Mart]

Over the winter I pulled the 21stud out of the coupe. Last year I had a loss of oil pressure problem and wanted to investigate. I pulled the pan and inspected the oil pump. I couldn't find anything wrong, but while the sump was off I decided to turn round the two pistons that were in backwards. I pulled the heads and got em out an back in again no probs. I looked at the front oil pressure relief valve and while not exactly pristine, It didn't look too bad. I cleaned it up and put it back together. I found the front cover didn't have a gasket so made one and buttoned it up. My biggest impression though, was that the motor was in really good condition.

I pulled the gearbox and swapped it out for a 39 (but early synchro) unit I had bought a few years ago and gone through and had sitting waiting for use.

Engine and box were put back in and the car put back together.

I had a piece of glass cut and replaced the broken glass in the back window. I restored it to a working roll down type. I had done a few other odds and sods, but got sidetracked then by wanting to re-do the motor in Old Rusty.

Anyway, the coupe was back up and running, so I wanted to give it a run today as the weather was quite nice this afternoon. My mate helped me get the seat back in and I topped off the radiator.

I backed it out and promptly conked out right outside the house (luckily). I had a little fuel in a can so put that in and soon had it running again. Gassed it up at the fuel station and set off on a series of trips round the block.

I had fitted thermostats and the engine temp went up nicely, and settled at 90-odd. I made a mental note to get some lower thermostats. I reckon 88 is a bit too high for a non pressurised system.

I drove a bit more and the rad belched out a load of coolant. Just finding it's own level I told myself and carried on. I then noticed the water temp had fallen. Odd, I thought, but that's safe enough so carried on. I was watching the oil pressure gauge and all was fine and dandy. Plenty of pressure (nearly 4 bar when driving along and about 2 bar when idling)which is really healthy for a non rebuilt flatty.

I had a phase where I had a bit of a misfire under acceleration. I kept driving gently and giving it little bursts of accel and it seemed to get better.

I really enjoyed just tootling about and had a couple of light flashes and thumps up, and lots of pedestrian looking and smiling.

Got back and had a look under the hood. there was some evidence of coolant over the front of the motor, so that would probably account for the onset of the misfire, which did coincide with the coolant expulsion. I felt the hoses and could feel the thermostats had slipped up and tilted out of position, accounting for the step drop in coolant temperature.

The oil pressure problem seems to be sorted, and I think it is down to a mismatch between the dipstick and the real oil level. My preliminary measurement told me that the level needs to be 3/4" above the max on the stick to be at the true max. I had run it seriously low and that would account for the lack of pressure on a longer drive. No damage done, though,the motor looked lovely when I had the pan off.

The other unknown was the gearbox, but I'm pleased to say it performed really nicely. The synchro's working as well as the early type can, and the shifter feeling nicely detented and weighted. It has the neato 39 style swan neck shape to it as well.

Other observations was that the new windscreen seal and cowl vent seal worked nicely, no draughts and it seemed quieter. The new rear window made a big difference, it used to rattle like mad before.

So, like I said, no big deal, but it is easy to just leave the car in the garage when there is so much else to do, and getting it out means moving two other cars.

So just a shake down trip round the block is a big step forward in my book.

Mart.

[bk53]

Sounds Great Mart, here's to a fun Flathead season.

[Vic Piano]

Sounds like fun.

[Sid the Maineiac]

Sounds like you done good !! Enjoy the fruits of your labor !!

[Shadetree]

Mart,
Great job! Looking forward to dragging mine out if it ever warms up around here..

[Brendan]

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sounds good Mart! I took my 36 pickup to the lumber yard yesterday, I had to do a hunny-do list!

[37coop]

nice one mart......after a full year of working on my 51 F1 its just a couple of weeks to lift off,the engine has been fully rebuilt(not by me) and all brakes ,steering ,wiring suspension, king pins etc etc has been done(by me)just the small bits to do then fingers crossed, me being me I,m expecting something to go wrong and am a bit twitchy,i don't know why as I,v been playing with old fords for 35 years , the truck has been bit of a slog at times and it will be good to get back to work on the 39 and make a start on my 37 zephyr coupe ,tore it apart 25 years ago ....oh dear ... but looking forward to making a start on it . good luck, jim.

[dwaynec]

Good job on getting out. It sounds like it was a great day.

I am hoping that maybe this weekend I can get ours out of the garage. We are supposed to get rain Thursday and Friday so that will help in getting the salt off the streets. Now if it would only warm up...

[Mart]

Ok, here's an update on the coupe. I ordered a pair of 75 degree thermostats for a Mini. They were advertised as 74 degree but they say 75 degree on them.

Here's another shot of the engine, showing the arrangement of the pipes. This pic is current.


The idea was that the thermostat should rest against the lower end of the steel tubes. This was not possible because the pipes were right on the bend of the hoses.

Here's what I did.

Here's the thermostat sitting on the end of the pipe. The diameter of the thermostat is too big.


So I ground a couple of chunks out of it.


And set it over the end of the tube.

Note the wall of the tube visible in the grooves.

And then a couple of tack welds.


And then I ground the rest of the diameter down to match the diameter of the tubing.

What looks like the wall of the tubing, is not, it is the burr on the stainless thermostat from the grinding. You will also note a 2mm hole drilled in the thermostat to allow easier filling. You can also see the markings on the stat. 75 degrees C or 167 degrees F. Should be ok for a flatty.

And that's it.

I put it back together and gave it a run. The temp settles at just above 80 indicated, I don't think the gauge is mega accurate, but that looked all right to me.

Mart.

[tiger.1000]

Good stuff Mart (as usual with you); took the 32B out for a spin today to show the world the new hubcap.......the 10 year old at the Esso garage was mighty impressed.

For the first 5 miles the car ran like a pig. Had to keep the GAV open a turn. Then she cleared and all was well. I think the carburettor was arguing with the hubcap.

Does that make sense?

[Bolts]

Real nice Mart. Thanks for the pictures.
Got to drive my coupe for the first time today. It was a thrill and a bundle of nerves.