Swapping the Engine in the '67 F250 Part 8

I've been writing this particular blog since September 2018, so about 6.5 years....and March this year was the first time since May 2022 that I've gone an entire month without publishing a single post. Why? Well, I was out for almost three weeks with a covid-like illness; honestly it really knocked me out. Fortunately, for the week while I was really ill, work was super quiet, and I managed to solider on without actually cancelling any appointments. But after that, and ever since, it's been absolutely nuts. I have been, and still am, swamped....my maternal grandfather would have asked if I was "crying all the way to the bank?"  

While all this has been going on, time to work on the F250 has been minimal, but I have been chipping away where I can. What follows is a summary of progress (almost) to date, mostly presented in the order it was accomplished. 

The starting point was to resolve the lack of pulley alignment. This arises from keeping the harmonic balancer that came with the replacement engine rather than transferring the original part, as I did with everything else; cutting this particular corner has cost me a lot of time and about fifteen bucks for a crank bolt I no longer need. Oh well!  

I think I mentioned that I had an accident removing the crank bolt from the 351W I put in the Mustang. This time I used the interwebs to find a better/safer way to do it. I started with removing the balancer I want to use from the discarded engine. I had to re-install the flywheel with a couple of bolts, and then I could attach a clamp. Provided you put the clamp on the correct side of the flywheel, it prevents the crankshaft from turning when undoing the crank bolt. I used a two-foot breaker bar and the handle from the floor jack to get the bolt undone.

I then transferred the flywheel to the engine in the truck and repeated the bolt removal process. It's not obvious from either of the next two (2) photos, but the is a difference of about 1/4 inch in the depth/thickness of the balancers.

This is with the correct balancer installed in the truck, the water pump pulley now lines up precisely with the central groove at the crank pulley:

Onto the next problem: The first block plate (aka separator plate) I ordered, which goes between the engine block and the transmission bellhousing didn't fit, and I could not find a OEM version that would fit my drivetrain setup (302 V8, 164 tooth flywheel, NP435 transmission). The best I could do was get an adjustable plate from Summit. 

Post modification the starter opening has been enlarged and does now fit with my flywheel:

The next step is some serious cleaning. The flywheel, both sides of the clutch disc and the pressure plate were cleaned with acetone, lots of paper towels and then brake cleaner until they were absolutely micro-spotless. After that, I only handled the parts with gloves on.

I cleaned up the clutch fork and throw-out bearing, re-installed them in the bell housing and put a very slight amount of grease on the engine side of the throw-out bearing.

I installed a replacement pilot bushing at the end of the crankshaft and then bolted up the flywheel:

Clutch went on next; this picture was taken after the alignment tool had been removed:

Bell housing and clutch fork installed:

Attaching the transmission was challenging. I did this on the Mustang with some help from Samuel Sheep, but this time I was on my own. I still don't have a transmission jack, but I do have two (2) floor jacks and a bunch of wood blocks, which worked perfectly well. My driveway is on a 10-degree slope, so I also built a tapered plywood platform to go under the floor jack and provide a level base:

I needed to push the front of the engine down in order to align the transmission input shaft; this was achieved with a tie down strap:

I was on my own, so I had to be creative with some aspects of the process:

This is after the transmission has been bolted to the bell housing. I have ordered a replacement rubber dust boot to install over the clutch fork and prevent dirt/grim/crap from getting inside the bell housing. Like so many other small parts, the boot was missing when I got the F250...

Transmission crossmember installed. At this point I can remove the tie down in the engine bay and secure the engine to the frame.

This is the view from inside the cab before I put the shifter stick back. This is starting to feel like progress!

To be continued....

Swapping the Engine in the '67 F250 Part 7

I've been really sick again, all last week, with something that shows negative on a covid test but for all intents and purposes is the same. Even now I don't feel great, which is why I'm writing this on a Saturday afternoon, instead of pushing the project forward. 

To recap, at the end of part 5, the engine was pretty much ready to go back into the F250 and, in part 6, I cleaned up the intake manifold and painted it gray. Last weekend I was ready for the next step, which began on Saturday morning with lifting the engine off the stand and setting it down on a dolly:

At this point Amy and Cameron Sheep were off skiing in Truckee, and Samuel Sheep was yet to emerge from his bunker, so I thought I may as well trial install the flywheel and clutch. The first thing to note is the F250 came to me without a block plate (aka separator plate) between the engine and the transmission. The purpose of the plate is to align the starter, and to protect the engine from debris in the event of a clutch blow out.....which means the starter was probably not ever correctly aligned.

I need a block plate that fits a small block Ford V8 with a manual transmission and accommodates the 164-tooth flywheel/bell housing combination - this is a little bit unusual since most small block V8's use a slightly smaller 157 tooth flywheel/bell housing combo. I did my best to order the correct block plate:

This is a trial install, so I just used one bolt to attach the flywheel, and I didn't bother installing the clutch at all. 

Then I hit the first snag. The bellhousing attaches with six bolts and two studs. The studs can either be inserted into the engine block or into the bell housing...but not both as was actually the case. This came about because the bell housing was previously attached to the other engine block. Fortunately, I was able to punch the extra stud out of the bell housing without damaging it:

With the bell housing installed, it was immediately obvious that I did not have the right block plate....the one I bought looks like it would fit the 157-tooth flywheel. This was a bit disappointing, but luckily not a barrier to dropping the engine back into the truck. It's actually easier with fewer parts as the engine is lighter and less bulky.

After taking these parts back off I went inside for a coffee and trawled the interwebs for the correct block plate. Then I went back downstairs and, since it was now well after midday, I roused Samuel Sheep from his pit, and after a short interlude, we headed outside. Sam took the next few pictures:

Going once...

Going twice....

Sam had to put the camera down after the above photo because I needed a second pair of hands to help align the engine mounts with the crossmember. It was during this exact part of the operation that our neighbor came over to ask if we had seen her cat; she seemed entirely oblivious to the danger of what we were doing....

This is with the hoist removed and the engine is attached to the chassis with bolts at each engine mount. When I got the F250 the engine wasn't bolted down, it was just held in place by the other components...!

The radiator went back next...

 

With added fuel pump, oil pressure sender and extension:

Installed the main drive pulley:

Added the water pump:

Here's a trick for precisely aligning the intake manifold that I learned from one of the guys in BAMA. First, you install threaded studs in the four corner bolt locations; they should be threaded enough to be secure, but should not be tight: 

Then place a tall bead of gasket sealer at the front and rear mating surfaces:

The manifold is them installed by lining up the four corner bolt holes with the studs and gently pushing down. After deploying several more bolts in the other holes, the studs can be backed out and replaced with bolts. Which, after everything is torqued down, looks like this:

The last thing I installed was the radiator fan. However, the grooves on the water pump/fan pulley do not align with the grooves on the crank pulley. It would probably be easier to see this if the parts hadn't all been painted black. I think this issue arises because I'm using the harmonic balancer from one engine with the fan and pulleys from the other one; and something is a different size. As you may recall, I chose not to try and remove the balancer from the original engine because it is so difficult to do. I will need to resolve this issue before I can go any further.

One last thing was to re-install the hood. In truth it's easier to work on the engine without the hood in the way, but I need it out of my garage, and I want to keep the engine dry as much as I can. 

I drilled 1/8-inch diameter pilot holes in both hood hinges and the hood before it was removed the first time. At reinstallation a welding rod or a nail can be inserted into each pair of holes, which makes perfect alignment of the hood every time a breeze:

To be continued....

Swapping the Engine in the '67 F250 Part 6

I've been waiting for two things before I can re-install the engine into the '67: A dry day when I'm not at work, and another person around to help. I probably could do it on my own, but I need someone else to take photos and call 911 if I have an accident! While I've been waiting, I've been working on the parts that I don't necessarily need yet, but they all have to be cleaned up eventually...

The most fun thing to restore was the intake manifold. This is one of the bits that will at least be partially visible, so I wanted to do a good job. This is how it looked after unbolting from the orange engine block:

The filler neck needs cleaning up but should be reusable. When I removed it, there was no thermostat in the recess!

This contraption connects to the brake booster vacuum line....and it will be replaced!

The connection to the heater hose was heavily corroded and very difficult to remove. I had to put it in the vice and rotate the manifold.

I also removed the temperature sender and the carburetor studs, and then I took the manifold into the workshop where I have a large sink and gave it good wash with soapy water.  

The cleaning removed a lot of greasy gunk and some loose paint, but there was plenty of the latter still to deal with:

This is after a good going over with the wire cup on the drill, and a very small wire wheel on the Dremel, which was actually the perfect tool for this operation:

The paint booth is just big enough to accommodate the manifold:

Two coats of primer:

Two coats of Eastwood "brake gray," which I used a lot on the Mustang, and masking removed:

Painted the filler neck at the same time:

Re-installed the temp sender and the studs for the carburetor and I replaced the heater hose and brake booster vacuum line connections:

The replacement fittings came from CJ Pony Parts:

As I mentioned above, there was no thermostat present when I took the manifold apart, which was a bit concerning...I decided to put one in this time, and I was careful to drill a tiny hole in the thermostat and align it at twelve o'clock.

All ready to go back into the truck....

Worked on a few other parts:

starter before

disassembled

in progress

ready to rock!

carburetor before

after

ignition coil before

in progress

after

Stay tooned for the "big" install!