I was very upset.
Because my @1922/23 Touring wasn't running great I decided to occupy myself by putting in new valves. Did I need new valves? I have no idea, but I needed something to do and putting in new valves was going to be it. Everything was going swimmingly until the last head bolt (the one that sits slightly under the firewall so you can't get a socket and breaker bar on it) seized in the head. Not seized in the block, seized in the head. I tried everything to get it out but it was no use.
So I bought an engine hoist and stand and pulled the engine, which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. Once on the stand I spun the head around and around unscrewing the seized bolt, and then drilled it out.
While cleaning out the head I was truly amazed that any coolant had been able to circulate at all; it looked like someone had filled the holes with spackle.
Since the engine was out already anyhow I pulled the crankcase and discovered several nuts laying in the bottom along with about 15 band rivets, as though somebody was storing their used rivets and hardware in there.
It turned out that my original clutch discs were in good shape and just needed a little cleaning, and the spring has plenty of spring left in it. So there's that.
I measured and fit the new valves and determined they needed to be ground down about 10 thou. The machine shop said they could get to it about a week later, so I did them myself holding the grinder in one hand and the valve stem resting on a vise. I got them pretty close, and learned two valuable lessons.
Firstly, a freshly ground valve stem is VERY HOT. Secondly, by the time you finish grinding the eighth valve, the first valve is STILL VERY HOT. After grinding the valves into their seats it was ready for reassembly and installation.
The crankcase and hogshead got the better part of a large can of The Right Stuff and my father commented that the mating surfaces look like a modern art masterpiece. I corrected him that they look like a modern art masterpiece that does not leak oil.
During this whole process my outside oil line got destroyed for some reason, so I installed a new one with the magneto post.
Re-installation of the engine was fairly smooth, if not painless; I only jammed my hand between the ballcap and the driveshaft twice, but DID NOT have to go to the hospital. So there's that.
My ignition was a sort of homemade contraption consisting of a period Remy distributor driven by a toothed belt connected to a gear on the camshaft. It had the occasional miss, no start, and downright dying on the road, but otherwise worked pretty well. I suspect the problem was the large hole in the distributor cap completely exposing one of the terminals.
So I installed a Texas T distributor, which worked very well until I over-torqued the bolt on the control arm clamp and distorted it. Then winter came.
Having the whole winter to think it over, I decided to just convert the ignition to trembler coils and timer. But I didn't have any coils. Or a timer. But thanks to Mike Kossor and Brent Mize I now have an I-Timer and freshly rebuilt and well adjusted coils.
The beautiful new commutator wire loom really showed off how decrepit the rest of the wiring was so all of it was replaced. All of it.
Last Friday was the big day. After the last of the wiring was installed and all connections checked I cranked it over.
Nothing.
Cranked again. Nothing, not even a hint of combustion. Despair was beginning to set in.
I thought maybe I didn't set the timing correctly so I pulled all the plugs, checked the gap and laid them on the head while I slowly turned the crank. The timing was exactly correct, as I already knew it was because I followed Mike Kossor's instructions to the letter.
I was out of starting fluid so I poured a few drops of gas in each cylinder. When I cranked it this time it coughed, then nothing.
Then it occurred to me that the gas was over a year old. I opened the sediment bowl petcock and some brown sludge came out, followed by dark yellow liquid. When it was empty I added 3 gallons of fresh gas to the tank and opened the carburetor bowl drain, watching the foul yellow liquid drain out followed by clean, clear gas.
It started on the first crank; I didn't even have time to release the choke knob before it fired over and ran smooth! With the spark advanced it ran even smoother!
Not knowing whether it would work or not because I had never used it, I switched it over to magneto and it ran SMOOTHER! I couldn't wipe the smile off my face!
I spent the weekend driving relatively short trips, waving at everybody and honking the horn. With all the new wires from the battery ground to the headlights everything is working better. I've never heard the starter spin that engine so strongly!
It's just been a great weekend of fun and enjoyment having solved all those problems over the course of the past 16 months. Then . . .
Last night I observed a little bit of oil leaking out of the top of the mageto post and the wire was somewhat loose. This morning I decided to put a wrench on it to tighten it up . . . and sheared the top of the post right off!
Since we're going to be out of commission for a few days I figured this would be a good time to check the outside oil line for blockage. When I tried to blow it out with compressed air nothing happened. The side that goes into the front of the engine was completely blocked. But it wasn't band material, or shavings, or any other detritus.
It was blocked with about a half inch of The Right Stuff from when I reassembled the crankcase last fall. And it did a helluva job; the inside of that copper line was as clean as the day I installed it, not a drop of oil anywhere in there. If I hadn't foolishly torqued that magneto post I would never have found that blockage until maybe some damage was done.
So even though I only got to enjoy my newly well-running T for three days, I'm counting my blessings.
It's going to be a great summer.
