B Valve Train Issue

Here is my pop-in-law unloading the other B.

Would love to see a pic of your 55 gal plastic electrolysis setup sometime.  Been thinking of making one myself.  Love all the comments of this forum and the progress of your B.  Hope all continues to go well.

davh wrote: Would love to see a pic of your 55 gal plastic electrolysis setup sometime.  Been thinking of making one myself.  Love all the comments of this forum and the progress of your B.  Hope all continues to go well.

Be sure there is some valve gap before starting it, probably 5 or 10  thousanths more than the hot specification.

Gerald J.

Gerald J. wrote: Be sure there is some valve gap before starting it, probably 5 or 10  thousanths more than the hot specification. Gerald J.

Yep. I have them set at 15 thousandths now, which might be a tad tight after it gets warmed up, but I am gonna be careful to make sure they don't burn.

I have been really enjoying the dialogue back and forth on this project, and like many others learned quite a bit.  DickL has  a world of experience and much to teach would be mechanics such as myself.

The silver coated copper core plug wire showed up today and I have cut it to length and the little clips are soldered on to the plug ends. I used one of my plugs to make sure the boots were set so the rubber goes down past the ribs of the porcelain to the smooth part, but not touching the steel shank. The ends that attach to the magneto cap have the clips too, but I formed little blunt spikes that fit into the dimples of the distributor copper contacts like a glove. That wasn’t all that hard to do as I over applied solder and let it form little teardrops that I formed to fit with needle nosed pliers. When I get everything to fit just so a small bead of high temp RTV will seal the wire to the boots.

I wouldn't run it 5 minutes without water in the block. The heat is built inside the firing chamber heating the sleeves and valves. Without water around the sleeves they are going to be really hot before you will feel much heat on the outside of the block.

on the electrolysis , how long it works ( hours) and how often it needs cleaned, depends on the "rods" that collect the rust / paint/ crud off your parts......... one thing you might try is to replace the "rods" with material that has more surface area...... I have used 1 or 2 inch pipe , flat strap 2 inches wide / 1/4 inch thick , 2 inch angle iron,  old leaf spring off a car, etc....... MORE SURFACE area is good... use 3-4 equally spaced around the barrel.

Edited by steve(ill) - 01 Dec 2017 at 8:53pm

OK, A buddy of mine gave me a set of leaf springs from an old dead log truck and I cut a couple up to make new anodes for my electrolysis setup. I am redoing my hood and gas tank for the B with the same primer/sanding/painting process as the fenders, radiator shroud and tool box. I am amazed at the difference as the paint I applied in late August is already peeling and the part is absolutely foaming! Maybe I can have it cleaned up and primed before the weekend, as we are off to the in-laws for Christmas. We'll be down in Mena, AR for a few days and tractor work will be on hold.



Above is a shot of the barrel with the springs used for the anodes. I used my angle grinder to cut them to length and kept the curls from the attachment points to hook over the edges.



Above is a closeup of how the paint I applied in late summer is already starting to soften and come loose. I think this may be a good move as not only is the color match not right the smoothness of the finished paint is just much better with a good layer of primer to bind to. When the hood is finished the gas tank is going to get the treatment too. The huge anodes seem to be working much much better. I skimmed off the crud to show the progress, and this has only been going on for about two hours.

I know the hood is exposed here, and will turn the thing over to get to the now exposed end treated before ending the electrolysis on this part.
  

john2189 wrote: Theropod,  on the parts tractor, what are the front hubs?

I wish I had your work ethic theropod. My projects seem to sit idle most of the time. I've tried the electrolysis. I can see that it will work, but my problem is my battery charger. I have to use a battery in line just to get it to run, then when the battery reaches 100% the charger shuts off. I can't keep the process going long enough to accomplish anything. I've tried using a worthless battery that wouldn't charge up in a 100 years and that don't work either. I need to find a older charger that still works. I'm enjoying keeping up with your progress, but it reminds me of my lack of progress lol. Keep up the good work.

theropod wrote: john2189 wrote: Theropod,  on the parts tractor, what are the front hubs?   They are 5 lug type, and I am not sure of the pattern. They “look” like Ford spacing, but I haven’t given them a good looking at yet. In the unloading picture one can see that there is a brake drum on one side and a bare steel wheel on the other. I do know these were not standard equipment for a 38, and were added who knows when. The donor had a freeze cracked block when my pop-in-law bought it for parts. I am going to get the donor jacked up and pull them off late next week as I begin to split the old machine. I am going to pull the entire steering system off, so they need to go anyway. The transmission and differential seem to be in good shape, but no PTO. I will probably have to replace the bearings and get new seals, and I am not sure about the spindles if they are the same as the ones on my 38. I will get a picture of the hubs and post it later today. I have to make a run into town early today and pick up a goodie for the wife’s Christmas present. My problem there is she was born on Christmas day, so it’s a double tap for me.

Above is the inside view of the 5 lug hub with the brake drum mounted for some reason.



Above is what that looks like from the outside.



Here's what the other side looks like with a steel wheel. Below is the inside view of that.



Of course the seals are non existent, and the bearing are rusted junk, but just by looking these hubs seem to be about right to fit on my project B. I had plans on making the front end tighter anyway, so new races and bearings were already on the menu. My upright pivots bushings (whatever they're called) are in much better shape than this, but probably need replacing nonetheless.

With these hubs I should be able to find some nice new steel rims and 3 ribbed tires to follow. Maybe some flat spoke 4 " wide trailer rims? Yep, new studs and maybe chrome nuts on both. I think the brake drum was just used as a spacer, but I will look into the difference more fully when I pull things apart. Both hubs look exactly the same to me.

Is there a chance these are hubs for an old pickup, or trailer, and never intended for the tractor? I know AC didn't offer these in 1938. My tractor has the disc looking center with a set of hoop type wheels that lock at 4 points with bolts.

HoughMade wrote: This charger from Tractor Supply will work.  It's what I use.  It doesn't need a battery to run as it is old tech, a dumb charger, if you will.  Inexpensive. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/traveller-2-6a-manual-battery-charger

No, don't give up on the process. It is just too cool.

It takes the ability to apply sustained wattage. Think of this as a battery in reverse, and instead of acid as the electrolyte this is a base. The electrolyte carries the current from anode to cathode, and displaces iron oxide (live rust) with ferrite (dead rust). An extra oxygen atom is added to the iron oxide which stops that molecule of iron/steel from reacting with oxygen further. The iron molecule cannot absorb another oxygen atom.

cathode ( + ) {sacrificial steel}
anode ( - ) {part to be treated}.

The supply voltage can vary, but probably shouldn't.

amp X volts = watts.
12 V X 10 amps = 120 watts

This is what I am running when my anodes are fresh. The amperage drops as crud collects on the anode and reduces surface area.

That isn't a lot of power!

I would love to try the DC function on a good welder where I could crank the voltage AND amperage.

48 V X 15 amps = 720 watts

To do that with 12 V it would take nearly 33.8 amps! A 50 amp charger should be able to do the same thing, or better, IF it is not one of these computerized jobs. What is needed is a constant flow of power through the process.

How many watts are applied determines the POTENTIAL action of the process. As I have learned larger plate size on the anode side makes a big difference in not only speed/efficiency of the process, but greatly increase the longevity of anodes. With the little 1/2" rods I was using I had to clean them every 8 hours, or less, to keep a good reaction going. With these big wide springs I ground to shiny steel before using them they only need wire brush cleaned every couple days. Again this will depend on how covered in rust the part to be cleaned is.

My hood has very little, if any, rust, but the process gets under paint and works on the steel anyway. Just checking it and it already looks like paint stripper has been applied. After a couple more days my angle grinder wire brush should clean it up enough to rinse it off in hot soapy water, dry it, sand it, clean it again, prime it, sand it, clean it again and finally paint it. Then my gas tank is going to get another round in the barrel, and refinished.

Whew!


Edited by theropod - 20 Dec 2017 at 3:23pm

Looks like the brake drum was there to space that rim from the hub a bit so the rim and tire didn't drag on the axle end. The other rim has more offset.

Tractor fronts or wagon wheels will be available with several offsets and will be reversible to allow using positive or negative offset with the same rim.

Gerald J.