fe powered 58 rambler american gasser

[mygasser]

the thread taps arrived today, too late to get out and cut the threads though. we'll get that done tomorrow along with some countersunk holes in the plate and through the top of the tunnel ram so we can attach it.
neil.
edit, i also ordered a nice shiny centre/horn push for my nice shiny steering wheel. 

[mygasser]

i took delivery of a 4" length of 4" internal diameter stainless tube today. i intend to make an adjustable tapered piston ring compressor to make future engine builds a little easier.
neil.

[mygasser]

today we tapped the stud holes in the ally plate and loctited the studs in place. next it's neatening the edges/corners and drill/countersink it to bolt it to the tunnel ram.
neil.

[mygasser]

a little more done today, just need to cut the bolts to length ready for final assembly. that is once all the black paint's stripped off. it wasn't much but it seems more..... which is good. 
neil.

[mygasser]

today we set to on the tunnelram base with my (lidl's own) sawzall and a couple of grinders. all the bits that interfered with the adapter are now gone and it fits a treat. the corners/edges of the carb plate are smoothed off and the super length bolts are all cut to length. we're waiting for blast media now to remove all the paint from what remains of the tunnel ram . it's done as far as modifications go so that's another job ticked off.
neil.

[475fetoploader]

I certainly think that will work out right fine. Glad to see it coming together for you.

[mygasser]

I certainly think that will work out right fine. Glad to see it coming together for you.

thanks, i see no reason why it shouldn't. i'm glad i got the tunnel ram so cheap (£250), it would've hurt cutting up an expensive one 
neil.

[mygasser]

that's that done then, even though we didn't need to do it yet. but i couldn't resist  . we'll have to knock up the engine run stand now to check out this 360. the results will determine if the nash can be on the road this year.... or not. fingers crossed 
neil.

[mygasser]

we started to remove the paint from the tunnel ram today.... i know i said we'd start the engine run stand but i got distracted. so sue me, lol. well it appears it's not painted, it's powder coated. my heat gun wouldn't touch it so out came the plumbers torch, that works a 'bit' better then. we got just over 3/4 of the way round the base section in about 1 1/2 hours! bl00dy hell that stuff's hard! then it was dinner time which seemed strange so early.... 'til i noticed i'd not changed the clock in my garage, doh! pics tomorrow after hopefully finishing the base and top sections. they will need blasting as the primer powder coat doesn't fully come off. the sand/garnet/blasty rough stuff arrived today as well as the handheld spot blast gun so we'll give that a go tomorrow too.
neil.

[mygasser]

we made a start on the run stand today.... finally. we grabbed my engine build stand from over the road as well as 1/2 of the 2" angle iron work bench ashley saved from a skip at a place he worked. first job was remove the seized carb from the 360, redrill my lift plate to suit and bolt that in place. then we could lift it up and remove the iron bellhousing and clutch and bolt on an ally fmx bellhousing.  then the build stand's mounting 'spidery' thing was bolted to the bellhousing and slid into the stand. we cut a 2x4 to sit under the sump down tom the stand which held the engine slightly uphill, ideal to run it. lastly before dinner stopped play we cut and bent some more 2" angle and bolted them to the engine mounts while pointing down to the middle 'leg' of the stand. the plan is the engine will be held at those 3 places and the whole shebang will be stabilised by a cross beam on an extension of the middle leg to which a radiator and dash mount will bolt. either side of the cross beam will be new swivel castors keeping it all mobile.
hopefully we'll get it done ready to test the 360 by some time next week (read... next weekend, lol). we'll get more use from it once we've built ashley's 352 and later my 390 so it's all worth it. plus by just changing the engine mount section it can take other engines too.
neil.

[mygasser]

forgot to say i made an offer for a pair of chedelbrock 500cfm carbs today on ebay. it wasn't a daft offer so we'll see how it goes, fingers crossed.
neil.

[mygasser]

we got all of the run stand frame made today and the radiator mounted with top and bottom hoses. we added the front crossmember with castors as above but i wasn't happy with the engine's stability so we also put a stabiliser off of each side's engine mounting leg. that fixed it, it's solid now.next it's add a 'dashboard' so we can moniter the vitals and have an ignition switch. oh, and we'll have to fit a battery/fuel tank tray too. we're getting there though and by removing 1/2 a dozen nuts and bolts the engine build stand is back to stock and the rest breaks down to 3 seperate bits so not too bulky.
neil.

[mygasser]

so as you may know i'm frugal (ok read tight, lol) so on that basis i've been looking at different hydraulic roller lifters for my fe big block engine. i can buy small block ford ones for under 100 quid whereas the fe ones are 600 quid up. it seems the lifter bodies are the same but as the lifters are spaced further apart on the big block the link bars are longer too. some on fe forums have used small block ones with no issues, others say they won't work (have they tried though?) so i thought..... it's only metal so i'd cut the link bars and add the 1/4" needed to match my engine. it means i can do the roller cam conversion for about 400 quid which is not even twice the price of a stock replacement flat tappet cam and lifters.
neil.

[jayb]

Make sure that the oil hole in the lifter body does NOT line up with the oil hole in the lifter bore.  The oil should come from the clearance volume between the lifter bore and the lifter, not directly from the oil hole in the bore.  You will over-oil the top end if those holes line up.

[mygasser]

Make sure that the oil hole in the lifter body does NOT line up with the oil hole in the lifter bore.  The oil should come from the clearance volume between the lifter bore and the lifter, not directly from the oil hole in the bore.  You will over-oil the top end if those holes line up.

thanks for that although i wasn't planning to 'run' oil through the pushrods so would that still be a concern?
neil.