My 1929 Essex
My Progress Page Two
8/15/2015
Today I'm reinstalling the distributor and setting the static timing. Here is the procedure I followed:
Find the timing mark.
Check on the flywheel for “D.C. 1 & 6” and mark it with white paint.
When this mark is level with the bottom of the cut out in the engine plate, you are on TDC.
I put the line between "DC" and the "1&6" even with the bottom of the engine plate cutout.
Put the motor on TDC with No. 1 in firing position.
Loosen the clamp on the distributor, hold the rotor anti-clockwise to take up slack, and move the distributor so the rotor is pointing to No. 1 and the points just starting to open.
This is static timing. I installed the distributor cap and put the #1 wire in position.
Next step was installing the remainder of the wires in the correct firing order.
8/16/2015
Oil Pan
When I cleaned the engine, I did my best to keep the cleaner out of the engine. I decided not to remove the pan until I got closer to engine startup. My reasoning is that the cleaner would break up the sludge in the bottom of the pan. Today, I took off the pan and cleaned it out. I noticed that the pan had several pin holes in it. I tried to mig, solder and braze and had no success. 80 year old metal doesn't like to be heated. The heat produced cracks and made bigger problems than the pin holes. I had a spare pan that also had pin holes and I couldn't remove the drain plug. To fix the drain plug I drilled out the plug and rethreaded the hole to 1/2" x 20. This allowed me to use a standard drain plug. I also used a little JB Weld to be sure the seems didn't leak.
To fix the holes, I made sure that the area was cleaned inside and out. I dented the area where the holes were so that I could have a little more epoxy in the area. After the epoxy set, I sanded it down so it wouldn't be so noticable. I also pushed the epoxy through the hole and spread it on the inside. After it was sanded, I cleaned the pan again and painted it with Rustoleum.
8/25/15
Next item up for repair is to replace the screen on the oil pan filter. Here are a couple of pictures of the screen in its current condition.
8/31/15
One of the forum members suggested that I make my new filter screen larger. This was due to some of the original screens collapsing in colder temperatures. As you can see, the new screen is larger. I used #50 copper mesh and galvanized steel.
9/13/15
I'm getting ready to take the Essex in for an exhaust system. I want to try and start it soon and this is one of the last things I need to do before attempting that. Here are some pictures after I pulled it out of the garage....
9/25/15
...and here is the picture after I got it back from the muffler shop. I'm a little disapointed that they did not have a round muffler, but I can change that myself later on. Otherwise, it's a pretty good job.
9/26/15
Today I took off the front of the differential because it had a bad leak. In order to pull the differential you have to pull each axle out about a foot. I made the gasket and used some black RTV silicone for sealant. It wasn't that hard to do but I'm glad it's done.
Today, I also put the oi pan back on. Once again, I used Black RTV silicone sealant. Before installing, you MUST fill the troughs in the upper tray with oil. This way the crank gets oil imediately upon engine start up. If you don't fill them, by the time the oil pump fills them, your engine will be shot! Filling the troughs can be accomplished two ways. The first way is to remove the side valve covers and pour a quart in the front section and one in the back. I chose an alternative method. After securing the gaskets and troughs on the pan, I used four long bolts to hold the pan in place under the engine. I lined up the pickup tube and started to fill the troughs through the spce that was left. Once I filled the troughs with two quarts of oil, I tightened up the bolts a little at a time until the pan was about 1/4" from seating. At this point I installed all the other pan bolts, removed the long bolts and buttoned everything up.
