The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Announcement! New Stovebolt Tuning Guide Available!

One of our great resources Nathan Hall created (with me) a very nice Tuneup Guide for our old trucks. Between his valve adjustment procedures, Jeff Pohlar's Timing procedure and many other documents, we are starting to get some really cool stuff together! As always, this document can be displayed on the stovebolt site as well. Peggy knows you are always welcome to put the stuff here too.

Please check it out, critique it, help make it better, and enjoy it too!

http://speedprint.com/deves50/doc/natestuningguide.pdf

Lemme know!

Deve, I'm feel sure this will be welcomed by many who are into our old hobby. Knowledge is the best resource and it comes in many different ways. This is one of them.

Very nice. Glad you guys are here. This is why this is the best site.

Accurate compression testing, I believe, is best done on a warm engine , if possible.(might consider adding such)

Any chance that you might have some drawings for the engine stand? Also, do you have any pics of the stand without an engine on it? (from diff. sides) I've been wanting to build something like this for awhile.
Thanks for the very well presented information. Keep up the great work.
Dave

The engine stand is the front of a badly burned out 1954 half ton, so all you do there is cut off the front of a half ton frame and use the back for a nice pickup bed trailer. Nothing goes to waste. Then its just a matter of 3 inch square tubing cut to match the stance of the truck so that the engine sits as intended. So, measure from the floor to the top of your truck frame on all four corners (where the stand needs legs) and subtract the wheel height and you are good to go. Then weld 4 plates the size of your wheel bolt pattern on the bottom of the legs. Sorry I don't have pics without the engine. Get 5/16 walls on your 3 inch so its stable. Any other questions, ask away. Happy to help.

thanks for your help. APPRECIATE it very much!!!!
Dave

Another question. Did you make the rear engine mount so that you can test more then just a 235?

Yes, since the frame is 1954, the frame is angular rather then squared at the rear mounting point. This is the difference between earlier bell housings and the later ones. So, I made a couple of wedge mounting pieces that bolt to the frame to accept all of the earlier 6 cylinders back to the 1930's. This special mount system then accepts the standard rear motor mounts from ANY vintage thru 1962.

Hint: Go to your local older style Printing Shop that uses printing presses. Ask them for old printing press blankets. This is a nice thin rubber blanket about 12 inches by 18 inches. Makes super nice mounting rubber. While you are there, ask them for old Form Rollers. These are 12 inch wide (or so) by 3 inches around rollers with bearings inside each end. These make really great roller systems for putting on the end of your power saws or metal cutting saws. They usually just throw both away.

Again, thanks for your help!!
Dave

If I may offer my two cents:

Compression gauges are the least accurate way to determine 'engine health'.

Leak down tester (if it doesn't run)
Vacuum gauge fist (if the thing run)
everything else.

Also setting the points gap with a feeler gauge is the least accurate way to set the gap. Many manuals state that you need to use a dial indicator and adjust the arm with that. The reason being worn points are not parallel and with a feeler you are setting the minimum gap from ridge to ridge, not the absolute distance.

My 42 Ford runs better when the point are set with the dial indicator. Brand new points might be the only time a feeler is going to be accurate as the electrodes are still parallel.

A dial gauge and mounting base is $20 and can be used on the differentials, transmission, engine, etc etc lots of places.