T-Bucket build? Or rat style jalopy.

Had to think back to the early 80's and high school shop class. I remembered some of it.


Tombstones.

The last two bends. The brake did pretty good for the most part. 1/4" or better yet, 5/16" angle all around would have been much better. For long spans, 18ga is about the limit before it starts to flex.

Cleaned up the corners.


First time a passenger door has been on there in at least 30 years. Prolly longer.

They are just sitting on there, finished they will drop down flush with the body rails. Some notching is needed and I'll prolly take that last return on top and angle it back in to the skin and tack it in place. I used the 18ga and if I did it again, I would not hesitate to use the 20ga as this was a bit of a workout. With the bends and returns, it's more solid than the stock door.

I bent it over my leg a bit and it's close to the body contour. It'll be tight as it's tacked in place.

Supposed to rain all weekend, maybe they will develop a matching patina.

 

Nice work!

 

Looking at frame options, mainly ideas for how to build one myself.
A guy can buy a complete kit, less engine, for pretty cheap. No rust. The assembly video is pretty cool to watch.
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Spee...bMq9vi9yr7YsY8yBXfWBVwhTwyexw_AAaAmBrEALw_wcB
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Nost...EL29kdYkhztNOx5et0MY8hUyu35jXcOwaAm2YEALw_wcB

 

Talked to the machine shop guys today, they had a 239 flathead in the back being built.
They said both blocks could possibly be salvaged, depending on what they find after shot peening the blocks.
Cost was actually very reasonable, to clean and inspect the 8BA block, and only disassemble the other block for parts, came to $550.00, with the install of cam bearings. I might just stop where I am and bring them both in. If I can get the cam and crank out after removing the last of the stuck valves,(disassemble myself) that cost drops by $150.
4-6 weeks out. Which is in line for the time frame I had figured.
Debating on getting some of the cost back and have them do both blocks, maybe sell one after. Or build two.

 

I don't know what you are cutting your metal with, this HF power shear is worth every penny of the $65 bucks, maybe twice over.

I bought one to put a furnace in, beat the crap out of it in a muddy basement and miserable attic. 2 solid months of work and it didn't miss a beat.

Last year we put cab corners and rockers on my friends truck, same thing, hasn't missed a beat. I'm still running the original cutters.

 

Lots of progress going on!

What are your plans for this area:

 

I have been looking at that area and think the easiest and cleanest way is to just cap it off flat.
I thought about making a short bed/trunk or turtledeck off of that edge, but it would never look right and also hide the back of the original sheet metal that's actually in good shape, aside from one bullet hole.
So, down the side and trim to fit the contour. Not sure if the edge should wrap around a bit, or try to make it seamless. Pretty sure metal will melt pretty quick if welded on for too long. Will prolly fold the edges and make it look like a panel.

And a strip to fill in and cover this space at the base, try and make it look like it belongs there.
I think I can put a bend in it and have it look like a "factory seam".

Then there's the gaping hole down each side under the doors. That might just get a Frankenstitch patch down each side. Make it uniform with a neat edge and call it good. It will fill the hole and cover the damage on the other rear corner in the pic above.
I think a repair was attempted at one time, it kind of matches the bottom sheet.

And that bottom sheet will be cut out and replaced with another clean section of 18ga, maybe fit plywood into the bottom of it.
For today's progress, cleaned my garage and found the surface of my workbench, boxed up some parts and placed them on that surface, made a motor plate, because it will come in handy. Removed the exhaust manifolds, no broken bolts, managed to get two more valves out. Perforated a couple stuck valves guides with a drill and filled the remaining stuck things with PB Blaster. Will let it sit then attempt more valves tomorrow. Monday I may test the motor plate and lift her up to remove the pan and see what surprises are in there.

 

The "Will it Run" guru. His video's are some of the best I have seen. Great way to pass a few hours if you're a gear head. Jennings Motor Sports. Pretty sure he could have gotten this engine running as is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njL8MEJx4Ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtIXR6pHiWE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TicXODBr9hE

 

When you said bed I got thinking, our forefathers often didn't have much money to work with -- and perhaps law enforcement was a bit more relaxed when vehicles motored around at 20 mph too.

Repurposing old cars into trucks or tractors was a common rural thing to do.

Start with the old family touring car.




Do some & although they had hand saws and gas welders to work with. They were thougher than us.



And there you were with a functional truck.



Notice what we would call the "B pillar" appears to be attached to the seat.
I believe with yours they repurposed the original car body rear section.

 

Pulled the cam gear off. It has irregular shaped teeth, but evenly spaced. Not sure if supposed to be that way, or worn out. North-South they are thicker than East-West. But the wear on the edge looks the same all around.

And tried to move these. No budge at all.

I have fully removed 6 valves and guides,(lame, I know) there are only 5 under pressure, the rest I can easily turn the lifters. It's enough to keep the cam locked up. The remaining guides are fused to the block, I drilled two of them, next to the stem to try and get them to release. Hit them with a torch until they glowed red, then sprayed with PB, smoked the hell out of the place, and they are in there. Valve on the left has the clip removed and the valve moves fully, but the guide is stuck.

Going to buy a friend lunch and see if he'll help steady the thing in the air while I pull the pan and get medieval with it.

 

Pressure plate. Looks good.

Starter, moves smooth, friction disc, pretty sure this is almost new, the stamp hasn't even begun to wear off.

Remanufactured Borg-Warner, with no sign of a throw out bearing ever having made contact to the forks..

My buddy bailed to watch Indy 500, so I was on my own. Settled the pan on this cardboard to catch whatever.


Flywheel looks to be in good shape. That's coming off next.

Bottom of cylinders/pistons look fantastic. What a shame.

There does appear to be light surface rust on the cam lobes. Maybe it will polish out.


It's due for an oil change/pan scrape.

Not sure how I can flip it upside down to work on it. This style of bell housing is not recommended to mount to a stand as the cast will break, supposed to mount to one of the exhaust sides and work on it like that. Guess I'll be making another plate and see what I can come up with. I really don't want to be under it, it's kind of gross.

 

On a side note, all six bolts for the pressure plate were barely hand tight. I wonder if someone was changing out the clutch and got sidetracked.

 

Water in the oil pump. At least it was clean. It came out with a little twisting, drive gear turns fine.

Flywheel off and the engine suddenly hangs level. Several dozen whacks with a deadblow hammer.

Might be able to just rinse it off, and lay it upside down on the dolly it was on before. Support it with 2x4's, just need the head studs to be clear.

 

There was like 4 quarts of actual oil on top of 2" of "grease" or maybe congealed paraffin.

I wonder how they do with today's modern oil, and maybe more frequent changes.

 

Today, I was on a mission. Removed the remaining valves from the 8BA block, it's ready to tank. It still had one original factory lifter, next to the adjustable lifter at the bottom right.

Put the pan back on the 57 block so it would be stable for wailing away on, and got the last of the guides and valves out. Nothing but carnage. Felt good to whack that last one out. Cam started to turn with the last three, turns free and smooth now that they are all out. Hoping the lobes are good.

I feel like good progress was made today.
Now to flip it over and remove the rest.

 

Trying to determine the year of this block, and I think it is a Pre 59A 1939 Mercury 239.
The cylinder bore is 3 3/16", which is a 239. Before 1939, they would have been 3 1/16"
Bell housing.
Pre-59's did not have the #59 stamped in the bell housing. Mine does not, it has the #4, and in the circle above the remains of #4 and who knows what else. It is supposed to have a 2-4 digit code on the RH side and there is nothing.
\
This is stamped on the right side rear, (cyl#4) and I can find no information on what it means.

This is stamped on the right side front,(cyl#1) and the 99 should be the year and Mercury designation. First number is the year, 9=39, 0=40, 1=41 and so on.
The second 9 means it's a Mercury 239. I Think the other numbers mean nothing and might be from a rebuild. Or some asshole stamped it to make it more desirable, that is also possible.

Water jacket. Merc had a circle in the center with an upside down "keystone" at the bottom. Ford did not.

As you can see, the other block, even though it's the newer 8BA, has a circle center and bottom. The only other difference is the added port relief by the yellow strap for increased water flow, which was added on the 8BA blocks only. This is a Ford block. The 8BA was more commonly used in the F series trucks. The 59 blocks were in the cars.

The only for sure way to tell is by looking at the front counter balance lobe on the crank itself, should be a dimple on it if it's a Merc. Of course I had it exposed, but it's covered now and I'm not gonna pull the pan tonight.

The below is copy and pasted from here.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=334280&showall=1

1939-40 Mercury

1939 saw several changes to V8 engines. The biggest changes were due to the introduction of the Mercury, those motors are covered in the next section. The Mercury had an engine based on the Ford V8, but with a noticeable increase in torque and a nice bump in horsepower. The additional power came as the result of additional displacement, 239 cubic inches instead of Ford's 221 cubic inches. The additional cubic inches came from a 1/8 inch larger bore, to 3 3/16 inches. Now we have the reason for 24 studs per head. The lower line of studs on the 21 stud motors is too close to the bore for safe production of 239 cubic inch motors. With the addition of more power came larger main and rod bearings, this time 2.500 inch diameter mains and 2.140 inch diameter rods. Another difference started with 1939 motors is a longer crankshaft. Ford and Mercury mounted the engine fan on the end of the crankshaft in 1939, 1940, and 1941. To allow the fan to be held onto the snout of the crankshaft, the snout was made longer. Starting in 1939 some V8 blocks were relieved between the valves and the bore at the factory. This was done to reduce compression and detonation problems on large trucks. Both 3 1/16 bore and 3 3/16 bore blocks may be factory relieved. All blocks still have four freeze plugs in the oil pan rails. Mercury blocks have round center water holes in the decks that can be used to identify a 239 motor from the smaller Ford motors of the same years.

The 239 cubic inch Mercury engine was also optional in trucks. The water holes in the deck feature a circular center instead of the upside down keystone. Some 239 blocks had 99 stamped into the passenger side intake rail near the front, but not all. As with the LB, an unscrupulous person could have added this marking to a less desirable engine also. The determination on one of these blocks should be made using the center water holes in the deck. Mercury motors will have an upside down keystone at the bottom and a circular hole in the middle. These can be seen in the The 239 cubic inch Mercury engine was also optional in trucks. The water holes in the deck feature a circular center instead of the upside down keystone. Some 239 blocks had 99 stamped into the passenger side intake rail near the front, but not all. As with the LB, an unscrupulous person could have added this marking to a less desirable engine also. The determination on one of these blocks should be made using the center water holes in the deck. Mercury motors will have an upside down keystone at the bottom and a circular hole in the middle.

The series engines got the 99 identification since they started in 1939 and displaced 239 cubic inches.

Features of the 1939-40 Mercury

• 24 studs retaining the cylinder heads
• Water pumps in the block
• The water drains are angled
• Passes the pencil test
• Core plugs in the oil pan rails
• Crankcase ventilation
• Insert main bearings 2.499” diameter retained by studs
• Round center water hole in the deck
• Upside down keystone water hole in the lower center of the deck

 

This is great stuff -- like taking on a new project but with none of the work!!

 

Started my afternoon by removing the head studs, felt pretty good about it, until I broke two in a row. Full stop and swear words that haven't been invented yet. Broke the bastards flush with the block.
Anyway, drilled them out by little by little, by hand with a small square, until they were big enough to pick at with the little pick in the pic and get a thread to pull up.

Proceeded to worry a tap thru them a tiny bit at a time
Right back into the original threads. I just used all my luck for the entire year right here.

Set the lone cast head on it to check if I was straight.

5 minutes per stud to remove the first 11.
4 hours to remove the two broken stubs from the block. fml.

 

Status update. Riding the struggle bus.
Crank is NOT from a Mercury. Much sadness and disappoint.
After breaking two head studs, I was a bit gun shy of the rest, so practiced on one exhaust manifold, even though they may not be used in favor of a rams horn design...
But, got the stub out and replaced it with a head stud threaded and cut down to size. So that made me feel better about my meager skills.



Pulled and labeled the lifters in case they and the cam are to be reused.

Got creative and set the block on the end, supported by a 2x6 and balanced with the best of intentions. (Pausing on head studs and going after the rest of the internals, might be worth it to pay for that )

5 rod ends are removed, one is stuck but unbolted, the other two landed in just the most perfect way next to the block to never, ever get a wrench or socket on one of the bolts. Literally two bolts left. 3 pistons move but unable to remove as the rods hit the bottom of the cylinder. The other 7 are part of the block still. Crank does not budge at all, put a wrench on the end with a bar and no go.

Cam is out.


Sprayed all the cylinders from the bottom with PB Blaster, and will wait for a day or two before pounding on them again. If no cooperation, then I'll reach for the spud bar and sledge and break the bastards out. I need this block out of the garage and at the machine shop so I can pull the body in and move on that. If the block comes back cracked, or otherwise unusable, then I'll try the 8BA block, although that build will be much more expensive as it is missing parts that are not transferable from this block.

 

Ok then, shit fuck. This block is trash. Just noticed this.


Right thru the main bearing support. I'll drop off the 8BA next week and see if this project is going any farther than the scrapyard