Ford Model A Pickup Restoration December 2001

I could finish my mobile engine rack for the engine. The idea for this tool is from the book 'Model A Ford for the Restorer' page 242 (from Victor W. Pagé). I also have started with disassembling the engine - a dirty job.

All the parts for the rack, freshly painted and ready to put everything together.

The rack is ready for the engine. It has 8 wheels and can be moved easily, the upper frame can be rotated by 360 degrees and fixed in every position by a tension band.

For different loads the frame has different mounting points, so the 360 can be made easily by hand. Because I was not sure where the balance point is, i decided to drill a whole set of holes. When the engine is fixed in the frame, I can find out the best mounting point for the whole weight.

The mounting points are two modified spark plugs connected with a L-profile. Soon I will see if my seriously ;-) static counting is correct and if everything will hold the weight of 250 kg.

The engine is fixed in the rack an no problems occurred. Now I have to find out the correct mounting point.

Upside Down - a 360 turn can be made by one person, the engine can be fixed in that position with two tension bands.

After the disassembly of the pressure plate, the heavy flywheel and the cylinder head I had the first view inside the engine. The next steps are dismantling of the valves, the will be replaced because they are in a bad condition. Also the valve seats have to be milled for a proper seat and a good compression. The actual pistons are oversize by +0,045" and for the new pistons, the cylinders must be drilled out to the new oversize and honed afterwards.

This is a view from the button, you see the crankshaft and the rods.

From top you see the cylinder and the valves (in and out). This is a so called flathead engine, which means that the head on this motor is just a flat cap.