'58 (nash) rambler american family project

[mygasser]

a little more done today, just need to cut the bolts to length ready for final assembly. that is once all the black paint's stripped off. it wasn't much but it seems more..... which is good.
neil.

[mygasser]

today we set to on the tunnelram base with my (lidl's own) sawzall and a couple of grinders. all the bits that interfered with the adapter are now gone and it fits a treat. the corners/edges of the carb plate are smoothed off and the super length bolts are all cut to length. we're waiting for blast media now to remove all the paint from what remains of the tunnel ram . it's done as far as modifications go so that's another job ticked off.
neil.

[mygasser]

that's that done then, even though we didn't need to do it yet. but i couldn't resist . we'll have to knock up the engine run stand now to check out this 360. the results will determine if the nash can be on the road this year.... or not. fingers crossed
neil.

[mygasser]

we started to remove the paint from the tunnel ram today.... i know i said we'd start the engine run stand but i got distracted. so sue me, lol. well it appears it's not painted, it's powder coated. my heat gun wouldn't touch it so out came the plumbers torch, that works a 'bit' better then. we got just over 3/4 of the way round the base section in about 1 1/2 hours! bl00dy hell that stuff's hard! then it was dinner time which seemed strange so early.... 'til i noticed i'd not changed the clock in my garage, doh! pics tomorrow after hopefully finishing the base and top sections. they will need blasting as the primer powder coat doesn't fully come off. the sand/garnet/blasty rough stuff arrived today as well as the handheld spot blast gun so we'll give that a go tomorrow too.
neil.

[mygasser]

we made a start on the run stand today.... finally. we grabbed my engine build stand from over the road as well as 1/2 of the 2" angle iron work bench ashley saved from a skip at a place he worked. first job was remove the seized carb from the 360, redrill my lift plate to suit and bolt that in place. then we could lift it up and remove the iron bellhousing and clutch and bolt on an ally fmx bellhousing. then the build stand's mounting 'spidery' thing was bolted to the bellhousing and slid into the stand. we cut a 2x4 to sit under the sump down tom the stand which held the engine slightly uphill, ideal to run it. lastly before dinner stopped play we cut and bent some more 2" angle and bolted them to the engine mounts while pointing down to the middle 'leg' of the stand. the plan is the engine will be held at those 3 places and the whole shebang will be stabilised by a cross beam on an extension of the middle leg to which a radiator and dash mount will bolt. either side of the cross beam will be new swivel castors keeping it all mobile.
hopefully we'll get it done ready to test the 360 by some time next week (read... next weekend, lol). we'll get more use from it once we've built ashley's 352 and later my 390 so it's all worth it. plus by just changing the engine mount section it can take other engines too.
neil.

[mygasser]

forgot to say i made an offer for a pair of chedelbrock 500cfm carbs today on ebay. it wasn't a daft offer so we'll see how it goes, fingers crossed.
neil.

[mygasser]

we got all of the run stand frame made today and the radiator mounted with top and bottom hoses. we added the front crossmember with castors as above but i wasn't happy with the engine's stability so we also put a stabiliser off of each side's engine mounting leg. that fixed it, it's solid now.next it's add a 'dashboard' so we can moniter the vitals and have an ignition switch. oh, and we'll have to fit a battery/fuel tank tray too. we're getting there though and by removing 1/2 a dozen nuts and bolts the engine build stand is back to stock and the rest breaks down to 3 seperate bits so not too bulky.
neil.

[mygasser]

so as you know i'm frugal (read tight, lol) so on that basis i've been looking at different hydraulic roller lifters for my fe big block engine. i can buy small block ford ones for under 100 quid whereas the fe ones are 600 quid up. it seems the lifter bodies are the same but as the lifters are spaced further apart on the big block the link bars are longer too. some on fe forums have used small block ones with no issues, others say they won't work (have they tried though?) so i thought..... it's only metal so i'd cut the link bars and add the 1/4" needed to match my engine. it means i can do the roller cam conversion for about 400 quid which is not even twice the price of a stock replacement flat tappet cam and lifters.
neil.

[mygasser]

ok so the sbf hyd' roller lifters were offered with a discount code making them £68 so i bought them. but then it'd be rude not to get the cam too so...... that was £299 with shipping (duties/taxes this end too but...) from summit so overall not bad. obviously i'll have to get pushrods to suit but hey ho the big bits are ordered. this is the cam i chose... https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-8918
neil.

[mygasser]

we checked the 'truck' clutch plate on the tremec input shaft and it fits a treat. i'll get a new one ordered before it all goes together.
neil.

[mygasser]

i just followed up on a previous post re the clutch. i ended up ordering a full clutch kit so i could upgrade to a diaphram style pressure plate. these tend to give a lighter feel at the pedal than the stock 3 finger type. the kit from rock auto with shipping, uk duties and taxes was only ?165 so a bargain i thought. i'm finding the puzzle pieces slowly, i just need the lid off the box with the picture on so i know where they all go
neil.

[mygasser]

my roller cam and lifters arrived so i had to have a peek. looks..... like a cam, lol.
neil.

[mygasser]

not an update as such but i'm trying to get a shipping price from a us rod shop to send a pair of ally heads to me. ebay is hard work but his contact details are in the listing so i've emailed direct. we'll see how it goes.
neil.