Grandpa's Flathead on the Outside

About the only real obvious differences between the '53 8RT truck engine and the '53 passenger car engine are the exhaust manifolds, heads, and motor mounts. The dark wires behind the carburetor are loose wires attached to the solenoid which were just laying there when I took the top two photos. Sorry about that. You can see I cleaned up a little bit by the time I got around to the back. You can also see that I use real cheap engine stands.

My main hope for salvageable parts was the aluminum front cover. Ain't it purty? It's real light weight, too. This version doesn't have the bushing for the extension on the end of the distributor which is a good thing for me because the MSD electronic ignition system I want to use in my race car doesn't have the extension. I shoved the road draft tube back into its hole in the intake manifold for this picture.

You can see the freeze crack in the head in the photo above. It is dark because of the oil in the water jacket. The only way I know of for oil to get into the water jacket is a crack inside the block somewhere, usually the crank case, or for someone to add it to the coolant.

When I pulled the clutch and flywheel, I discovered a mouse nest. I'd never thought of hantavirus as a mechanic's hazard before, but this was almost certainly a deer mouse nest. I tried not to stir up any dust removing it and tried not to breathe any of it. Rodent urine is very hard on metal parts, but the rear seal had leaked enough to protect the area.

This view shows the rubber seal that fits between the block and the sheet metal front of the lower part of the bell housing to which the starter bolts. (Confusing enough for you?) You can also see the bulge in the pan which encloses the oil pump, the bulge in the block where the oil pump shaft fits, and the back cover over the oil pump drive system. The circle with the four holes in it is, of course, the end of the crankshaft.

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