The 300

[Ford Blue blood]

Jeff so glad to see all the smoke stayed in the wires!  Looking really good!  Slow is not all bad, slow is better then stopped.....

[Jeff Norwell]

Thanks Rich,G and Bill!

[lalessi1]

Jeff it looks really FINE! Sorry for the slow response, we have been at the beach for the past week.

[hiball3985]

Great progress, speed is of no importance.

[mustang6984]

Great progress, speed is of no importance.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
      Well...sort of...not in the build process...but post build... can be of some importance.   

[glr7533]

I see you have the engine badge on your glove box door. Talking to Randy Connor when he was still alive he told me these only came on early production cars. Do you know the production date and which plant it was built at?

[Jeff Norwell]

Well...... about 3 weeks ago... I was all set to hit the exhaust shop then to the bodyshop.....
And of course..  a massive hiccup..... no.. a mule kick right in the B***s.
I notice a slight amount coolant leaking just under the thermostat housing... not a drip... just a wetness.....I figured it just needed  a 1/8 turn of tightening and paid no attention.A very good Ford Pal dropped by to double check my wiring and other progress....(I believe in have a fresh set of eyes roll over prior work... just to make sure)
Mentioned the coolant"wetness" and he said.. i should use a flat water instead of a lock washer around the thermostat housing.... because a split washer tends to seep and leak.
Ok... no problem.... I put it on the "to do" list... which never seems to decline.

Drained the coolant, removed the housing,...cleaned,new gasket  and applied the "Right Stuff" RTV(I love that product)
Let it cure for 24hours(which I do with anything)
Next day... fill the system with coolant and..... I have a massive leak coming from the housing and intake underside.
Great.. now what.....?
Drain the coolant again(of what left) Slowly und to 2 fasteners,.. and as I remove the top bolt ...I feel a "pop"... a big chunk of my NOS intake snaps off.

Well.... now what?
I have 3 options..... buy a new intake,repair the unit or find a crappy boring 4 barrel unit.
You must understand this intake has NEVER been on a car.It was a service replacement unit and date coded.

To say I was heartbroken was a understatement.
Back to my options.....I looked up and searched what the cost of buying a new intake was..... 900 USD - 2000 USD..... and combine that with present exchange and shipping.... I was looking anywhere from 1500-2500 bucks ...And with no reassurances a new intake would not be square..shaved ,... already welded upon,...etc.etc.Too big of a risk.
I need to repair what I have..... so.I have another acquaintance .. who is an EXTREMELY talented welder... who after I presented the problem...said he could fix it.

So.... I then removed the fuel system.. and all linkage,etc.etc, removed the upper valve train. the shafts and such.... pulled the intake very very gently.

After doing some research..... I found that this was a very common occurrence with these factory intakes....didn't make me feel better.
So.. off it went...... he told me he was so busy and it would be a month.....
ugh.

Wait wait wait.

Then..I got the call and I was down at his shop and got it.
Absolutely...PERFECT.
I wasted no time this weekend with the help of my friend Terry and got it all back together.....

NOW..... I am going to the exhaust shop.

So.. thats my sad story.... hahahah

And thanks guys for the kind words in the previous posts..... The war continues and we will persevere.

[Jeff Norwell]

I see you have the engine badge on your glove box door. Talking to Randy Connor when he was still alive he told me these only came on early production cars. Do you know the production date and which plant it was built at?

This car is a Dallas Plant car. and was built in October of 57..... The engine badge was bought from a member here on this site a while back

thanks.

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks for the update, Jeff. Wow, I assume the pic of the bare intake was AFTER repair? Very very nice repair. Not sure what we're looking at with the broken area...is that an insert? That hole is way too close to the top surface....should have had some more meat in the casting. I can see why there has been regular issues with it.
BTW, I went by Larry Grillet's old place last week. There's still a 1/2 dozen cars there. Apparently, the family decided to keep some? Definitely not the best of what he had, but maybe some family special memories for the particular cars left. His friend with the 30's Willys at the other end of the building is still there as well.

[hiball3985]

WOW! bad luck. I agree, something doesn't look right, it appears to have a helicoil insert. Enlarging the hole to do that would weaken that area.

[Jeff Norwell]

Yes. definitely a helicoil insert. and to be honest..I never noticed it ever.
I made sure we studded the area.. better than threading into the intake with a bolt.Yes Rich. the bare intake is after the disaster.
One good thing though.. better to happen in the shop than on a 500 mile tour...... That would have been truly a nightmare,.....

But we are all good and back into the boat.

[59meteor]

Jeff, Glad you found somebody really talented to fix the intake, the repair appears invisible. That bolt hole looks like it didn`t have much meat around the top. Seems kinda odd that a NOS intake would have had a Helicoil, unless it was defective to begin with. As for being common, that is a new one for me. I have had a number of factory FE Ford aluminum intakes over the years, including a tripower, but although I have had the occasional valve cover , distributor hold down, T stat, or carb bolt hole strip out after decades of use, but I never had a piece break off that way before. As for the thermostat housing  bolts,  every FE T stat housing bolt that I have ever seen came from Ford with a lock washer swedged onto the bolt. Considering that the T stat bolt holes are blind, and there is a gasket in between, not really sure how any coolant would be able to wick thru the bolt threads.

[Rancher]

Another congrats on a fantastic repair.

Image #1 seems to show "dust" below the failure.
Almost looks like aluminum shavings.
I wonder if the previous Helicoil job had left the hole packed with leftover cuttings?

[Jeff Norwell]

BTW, I went by Larry Grillet's old place last week. There's still a 1/2 dozen cars there. Apparently, the family decided to keep some? Definitely not the best of what he had, but maybe some family special memories for the particular cars left. His friend with the 30's Willys at the other end of the building is still there as well.

Rich..... I haven't been down for quite some time... and I do miss many of my friends in your hood.I remember going to Larry's warehouse(or one of them) many times... filled with 56 fords,T-Birds and he had a love for 55-56 Mopars(specially The Plymouth versions)
Larry did quite well in his life.
The other man you speak of I believe was Delbert.... he owned a true untouched Ford dealership on the corner.It was amazing place filled up with all Delbert's cars...  hotrods,Stockers and such.Delbert passed a few years before Larry.... I really like both guys and Delbert was a very nice man..... He was into racing way back into the 40's.He had a Rail car filled with WWII pacific theatre  memorabilia .... very rare stuff.I believe Delbert's son now is in charge...I met him a couple times.. but I forget his name.Childress is a neat town.

[Jeff Norwell]

Jeff, Glad you found somebody really talented to fix the intake, the repair appears invisible. That bolt hole looks like it didn`t have much meat around the top. Seems kinda odd that a NOS intake would have had a Helicoil, unless it was defective to begin with. As for being common, that is a new one for me. I have had a number of factory FE Ford aluminum intakes over the years, including a tripower, but although I have had the occasional valve cover , distributor hold down, T stat, or carb bolt hole strip out after decades of use, but I never had a piece break off that way before. As for the thermostat housing  bolts,  every FE T stat housing bolt that I have ever seen came from Ford with a lock washer swedged onto the bolt. Considering that the T stat bolt holes are blind, and there is a gasket in between, not really sure how any coolant would be able to wick thru the bolt threads.

Rory..I have no answers.... and these things you mention baffle me as well.... all i know its fixed and ready to go!