I decided to do another engine for myself, so I got this from another member. Last night my cheif mechanic (5yr old daughter) and I tore it down. This is what we found:

I had a similar engine once. I soaked the whole thing in some deisel fuel for a few weeks, then pulled it out and rinsed it off. I tore it down, babbit still looked good, rehoned the cylinders, put it back together, it ran great.

Hey Tim, I'd say you have a challenge ahead of you! What are you going to be able to salvage from this unlikely looking motor?

Paul
SoCal

Aw, just toss 'er in the hot tank for a day, steam clean it, apply liberal penetrating oil around the slugs and tappets, and she'll possibly come apart. Then, it's all done except for boring, honing, rebabbiting, align boring, valve seats and guides, and a few miscellaneous operations.....piece 'o cake.

You'll need to do an environmental impact statement before you touch that nest around the crankshaft.

We found two dead mice and had a short discussion about the black plague before we SCRUBBED our hands clean. We did get the engine completely apart. I am guessing that the crank will clean up undersized, all the babbbit is shot. Some of it peeled off while coming apart. The cast iron pistons did come up, but I had been soaking them in rust spray for two weeks. The cam was the hardest thing to remove. I had to heat up the middle bearing. Suprisingly, the cyl walls look pretty good.

I pressure washed an engine this summer, big mistake. I was covered in grease splatters along with the side of the garage and my camper. It ruined my clothes and took hours and hours of scrubbing to get the grease off the walls. I decided paying a professional to "boil" it was worth the money, so that is where it's headed next.

I just finished tearing down my 28 Olds engine today. It also is going to the machine shop for the tank and machining.

It is suprising how well a mess like that will clean up. It is a lot of work, but usually the damage doesn't go deep.
An electrolysis tank works well on an item like that. Put the whole thing in the tank, and when it comes out, pressure wash it. Most of the grease will loosen and float to the top of the tank, so it doesn't spatter grease so bad when you pressure wash it.
Bob

Got a chance to get back on this project a little, I thought some of you would like to see how I "pulled" the transmission apart. It was stuck pretty good.

My brother Ern had an engine like that that hadn't been run since 1942. He needed an engine quick to replace the cracked block in his '26 hack for a three-day event. We opened the motor up, babbit looked good, pulled a few shims, cleaned the insides with Stoddard solvent and put in the bands from his ailing motor. Dropped the "substitute" in and ran the hack for the weekend. No one behind us had any trouble following the tour route thanks to the smoke trail we left and no bugs on their windshields since we killed 'em all as we passed through. We're working on rebuilding this motor right now to put in his '26 touring project.

I'm glad to see your shop looks kinda like mine. There are some people who would have you believe--and it's probably true--that their Model T shop is hospital clean all the time. I don't think they tear down engines that look like that, tho. =) That one looks like a lot of work to me but I have one setting on the bench right now that started out about like that. I stripped it down and took it to Great Falls and had them cook it and shot peen it after I honed the cylinders enough to see that they looked pretty good. Came out very nice. Just like new cast. I don't know about there, but here 26/7 blocks are hard enough to find that they are worth a little extra money and effort. Good luck. Keep it posted so we can see how you are doing.

I'm glad to see your shop looks kinda like mine. There are some people who would have you believe--and it's probably true--that their Model T shop is hospital clean all the time. I don't think they tear down engines that look like that, tho. =) That one looks like a lot of work to me but I have one setting on the bench right now that started out about like that. I stripped it down and took it to Great Falls and had them cook it and shot peen it after I honed the cylinders enough to see that they looked pretty good. Came out very nice. Just like new cast. I don't know about there, but here 26/7 blocks are hard enough to find that they are worth a little extra money and effort. Good luck. Keep it posted so we can see how you are doing.

well I piddled on this engine for 2 weeks off and on,never took anything but the head off,and it runs better than the 1 in my truck.so I dont think you will have any trouble getting yours running good going thru the proper channels.

Hey Mack, I think you need to tighten up a bit on those spokes before hitting the road!!!
...Michael Pawelek

From the looks of it,I'd say you're not the only one who "piddled on it"<g>

Making some headway on this (finally!). The transmission is done, precision balanced with a new "jackrabbit" clutch inside.

Using this splash setup creates a stiff breeze while being balanced!

Thought I would post a photo taken today of this same engine. Mice are gone now and I've had a few minutes here and there to work on it. It's very near completion and is for sale to anyone that would like to own it. If no one buys it I'll probably put in my own car.

Hey that is a chevy head on there.So that is how it fits? I was wondering.Looks real nice,You are welcome to make mine look that good.Tell me more about the color and type paint you used.

I feel your pain in the restoration of this engine. One of the engines I used for parts, I had to bust the pistons out of the block with a sledge hammer. All I wanted were the rods. I actually managed to save one original piston, and all the original pins. Everything else was worthless.

Tim
You have mail
JS

Is that one of those 'poor mans Rajo' conversions? I came across the guys website who advertises these - 28 (i think) chev head with the adaptor to go onto the T block.
Cant recall the website - sorry.

Tim,

If your Jern Thunderbolt runs as good as it looks, it will be a winner. Nice work!

Seth

Lets see -

Paint - Lowes industrial size can of green I thought looked nice.

Mail - same to you John!

Poor mans rajo - yes it is. And it was probably my website you came across. www.Gen3AntiqueAuto.com or www.ModelTengine.com (same site)

Seth - Thank you very much for the compliment, would you like to buy it?

Tim(othy),

If I had the money and I wasn't capable - yes!

Seth(ster)

Tim,

What kind of plugs did you use to block off the original intake ans exhaust ports?

Be_Zero_Be

That would be a exspensive engine for sure.
Looks good.

Bob, sorry it took so long to respond, I used freeze plugs obtained from the local parts guy.

We've started another project here, many many photos are on our website for anyone interested. This one is far worse -mouse wise- than the engine above. I've been posting photos on there for the owner, if everything goes to plan you guys can follow the build if you want.

Tim, check your e-mail, I have some questions for you.

Dennis.

Yeah! I found the thread I was looking for!

Anyway. I updated my website with more photos of this engine. It is now up for sale as most of you already know. The price is set at probably less than the sum of it's parts. The labor (about 60 hours) is being written off as a gift to the buyer. Besides, I had BLAST building this and I met a lot of new friends with questions about what I did to that poor old unsuspecting Model T engine!

An ad is in place on the classifieds section, an E-Bay ad is in the making in case no one on here wants it. I am moving forward, I can't cut up my fordor to make this fit. So I'm developing a new plan for the replacement engine that this car will eventually receive. Now I just need to raise the money! Anyone want a brand new "poor mans rajo" super cheap?

The photos are here: http://modeltengine.com/GreenThunderbolt.htm

And there is a write-up about the poor mans rajo and the kit I used here: http://modeltengine.com/model_t_parts.htm

Where do you get prices for the adaptors?
I have the head and intake and exhaust on a 28 chevy engine .If the engine I have has suffered to bad a damage internaly,I could use the head from it.I aint never opened it up.I have been soaking it for a couple years in everything you can imagine since I am working on other stuff.Fiqure the more it soaks,the easyer it will be to dismantle.

I will say this.A freind of mine had this 28 engine on a cart setup for display and he had me cut and weld up 2 seperate exhaust for it.Dual exhaust would be a wiz to put on that converted T engine for a unique sound and maby let it breath better.

Mack,

There is a price list on my website. http://modeltengine.com/model_t_parts.htm Near the bottom of the page. But wouldn't you rather have one already done?

Pushrods? What type do you use? I didnt see them in the list.I may have just announced I am a dumb--- but I cant help it.I just didnt see any.I would assume you would use the 28 chevy pushrods.

I'll work on adding them to the list over the next week or so. I used a pair per valve, one short and one long. There is an angle in there so one really long one won't work. You'll most likely need a fuel pump too, as seen on the one I have for sale.

Ok,

After three people "bought" this then backed out several hours later for various reasons, I have posted it on ebay. It's listed under auction # 330195892527 with no reserve (and for half what it's worth!). I have it set to end in seven days and that should be enough time to get it home for Christmas.

Update:
Well, I guess it's not worth anything. I put it on ebay twice. It's cost me $55 each time and no bids. Now it's under auction #330200813806 ending in 1 day and 15 hours. As of right now, 43 people have it on their watch list, 771 people have viewed it, and not even one single bid. I must be doing something wrong?

One thing is for sure. I won't be wasting any more money on this adventure in marketing. If it does not sell, I'll take it as a sign, and that I am meant to keep it here. Maybe cramming it into my fordor is not such a bad idea....

Tim, I looked at it hard and long. I'd love to have it for that speedster I might build someday. I agree that it is worth more than you are asking. I don't think I can slip it past the better half as something I "might" use in the future. I know she won't consider it an "investment". Good luck with it. It is beautiful.
Noel

Noel

I am getting allot of compliments, but no bids. Maybe everyone is in the same situation, I know I'm having a hard time swallowing $3.25/gal for home heating oil and $3.50 for diesel for my modern truck.