'55 R-122 rehab


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Golden Jubilee
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Post Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:37 am

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

lbesq wrote:Think I asked this on the forum before, so please excuse the lapse in memory. Is not the Exhaust/intake manifolds on the SD220/SD240 the same? If so, I may have an unbroken exhaust.


Lloyd,
Yes they are the same. If you have a good one I may be interested. I also want to check into the surplus manifolds Scottso mentioned earlier. I thought mine was good 'til I got them split apart. There's a crack heading to 2 O'clock and another going to 5 O'clock in this picture.

Image

I believe it can be repaired, but I won't know til I can get it to someone. In the meantime I'll goo it up and put it back together. It may not be worth the cost of the repair if NOS replacements can be had for less than 3-4 hrs labor- By the time it's welded and ground flat again.
'55 IH R-122- BG265 w/TBI fuel injection
'64 Porsche 356 C
'68 and '73 BMW 2002s
‘14 VW Passat SE TSI
3 Vintage Sears garden tractors ('66-'74)

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Post Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:41 am

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

Those are fairly minor cracks, should be able to take care of those easily. I imagined crack in the engine side of your exhaust manifold. My Brother-in-law took one of my old manifolds to a fellow who was supposed to be expert on Cast. I have been to afraid to peel off the JB Weld to see if the fellow actually fixed it right and just thought it would look better with JB Weld covering the area. My suspicion is he used an arc welder on it, without Preheating the cast before welding and is covering a botched job.
If you can find NOS then that is great. Let us know how much and how many they have.
Lloyd
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Fri Aug 23, 2013 2:52 am

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

I picked up some "magic paste" from the flaps yesterday. I drilled some 1/8" holes to stop the cracks. I ground out most of the cracks. I blew them out with compressed air and wiped them down within thinner and dried them with a torch per the directions. I smeared the cracks/holes with the paste and let dry. Later today I will file it all flat and repaint/mount the manifolds. I think this just may work. This stuff sorta looks like jbweld. Perhaps it's the same stuff that buddy used on your manifold Lloyd.

I got my new plug wires yesterday. Unfortunately they were pre crimped on both ends. Not that big of a deal. I just peeled open the dist. end and shortened everything up. So now I have a proper set of wires.

I put plugs in all of the drains/taps in the cooling system. I installed a mechanical oil pressure gauge (just for the initial startup/ run in to ensure I've got good oil pressure). The coolant hoses are in place. I didn't install any heater hoses as I doubt the heater core is any good.

My wife and I drove about an hr and a half round trip to pick 5 gallons of "recreational" 90 octane gas (non-ethanol). I want to try to avoid ethanol gas in this truck as it won't get driven daily... I don't think.

Our vintage 1955 IL license plates showed up. I think I can reregister them and use them on the truck. I'll talk to the DMV about that when the time comes.

I was filling the engine with oil yesterday when I noticed that some engine oil was dripping onto he floor on the drivers side. Grrrrr it looked like it was coming from the oil filter housing. Closer inspection revealed it was actually coming from the pushrod cover. I snugged the boots with no change at all. After dinner I removed the cover to find the machine shop had put the gasket on upside down. Lucky me- I had bought another gasket intending to repaint the cover some day. You see I had taken the time to strip and paint the valve cover, pushrod cover, both timing covers, oilpan, and the front motor mount semi gloss black before taking them into the machine shop for final assembly. The shop thought they should paint the WHOLE engine silver... I figured I'd do the oilpan during the next oil change. The timing covers will stay silver and I already refinished/installed the second motor mount and valve cover that I had. I'll strip and re re-paint the pushrod cover today.

I intend to crank the motor over with the starter motor to build oil pressure today. Not sure if it will happen tonight or not, but I should here it run in the next 24-48 hrs. My wife keeps telling me about all of these "new" things I have to do over the next few days so my time in the garage is getting spotty.

More updates soon.
'55 IH R-122- BG265 w/TBI fuel injection
'64 Porsche 356 C
'68 and '73 BMW 2002s
‘14 VW Passat SE TSI
3 Vintage Sears garden tractors ('66-'74)
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:22 pm

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

I finished up the exhaust manifold. Looks like it will survive. While torquing the manifolds together one of the studs sheared. I drilled it out and replaced it with a 3/8-16 1-3/4" bolt. Job done. I repainted and reinstalled the pushrod cover. Good to go. With the cooling system sealed up I started pouring in coolant only to find that it was flowing out of no less than 8 different spots. All 3 freeze plugs were leaking as well as 5 spots between the head and block ( with no pressure- it jut flows faster with 7psi of pressure on the cooling system). The machine shop says they all do that and I need to put alumaseal in it. I'm calling BS. Anybody have any experiences with a rebuild. I know with a properly machined surface and similar materials (head/block) with little more than oil between the two surfaces they will seal. Prehaps old ih motors are different. Any thoughts?
'55 IH R-122- BG265 w/TBI fuel injection
'64 Porsche 356 C
'68 and '73 BMW 2002s
‘14 VW Passat SE TSI
3 Vintage Sears garden tractors ('66-'74)

Golden Jubilee
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Post Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:54 pm

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

The sealer in the engine is very common.
I can still see my boss, looking like he was performing mass, adding sealer to customer's cars.
I suspect rebuilders, more often then not, put sealer in their engines before they are shipped.
One " funny" story.
A competitor shop installed a well-known rebuilt/reman motor into a customer's car.
Immediately, severely overheated. Repeatedly.
This shop had very experienced techs working there. Some I admire.
Since old engine wasn't overheating shop used "logic" and blamed rebuild shop.
Phone fight between install shop and rebuild shop went on for weeks.
Finally, the most exerienced tech noticed that rad was dead cold when engine was cooking hot.
Removed radiator and backflushed it.
You guessed it, about a pound of cooling system sealer installed by engine rebuilder poured out!
The sealer had been installed in the thermostat housing. When the tstat opened it barfed all that sealer into the rad where it immediately plugged the rad.
1933 IHC Bus. Cpe
1933 IHC B-3 f
1935 C-1 IHC pickup
2 x 1936 IHC C-30 Fbs
3 x 1938 IHC D-2 Pickups
1938 IHC D-30 fb
1941 IHC K-1
2 x 1947 IHC KB-1 Pickups
2x 1953 IHC R pickups

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Post Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:17 pm

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

VWJake wrote:I finished up the exhaust manifold. Looks like it will survive. While torquing the manifolds together one of the studs sheared. I drilled it out and replaced it with a 3/8-16 1-3/4" bolt. Job done. I repainted and reinstalled the pushrod cover. Good to go. With the cooling system sealed up I started pouring in coolant only to find that it was flowing out of no less than 8 different spots. All 3 freeze plugs were leaking as well as 5 spots between the head and block ( with no pressure- it jut flows faster with 7psi of pressure on the cooling system). The machine shop says they all do that and I need to put alumaseal in it. I'm calling BS. Anybody have any experiences with a rebuild. I know with a properly machined surface and similar materials (head/block) with little more than oil between the two surfaces they will seal. Prehaps old ih motors are different. Any thoughts?

I will agree with the BS call, if they did not deck both head and block, it is their issue to fix and PAY for new gaskets. The soft plugs were replaced? If so, again, the rebuild shop still is to stand the repair. If not replaced, why not? Did they check for interior cracks in the block? One of the Members had that issue, they were minor but still let the coolant out, those were repaired with JB Weld, no real pressure.
Just my thoughts, The putting Alumaseal in my engine, if an old style engine by a shop that Rebuilt it would almost lead to possible legal action, IF they did not make it right.
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:20 pm

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

I haven't touched the motor since Friday. Being a but disgusted that I've spent so much for seemingly so little. My plan at this point is to leave the engine in the frame and replace the 3 steel freeze plugs with brass ones. I will pull the head and measure the deck and head myself. I suspect the problem will present itself pretty readily. The appropriate course of action will be determined at that point. In the meantime I've managed to clean and POR15 the front brake backing plates, the front shackles, and the front axle u-bolts. I've also repaired both front inner wheel bearing dust shields. Those were both rotten at the bottom. I brazed new metal in as I didn't want to take the time to install the MIG kit on my wire feed welder. I gave those covers a shot of paint as well. I'm sure they'll last 'til I get around to converting to front discs. I had a shackle pin that was severely bent and worn. Using the lathe and a tapping die I turned down a grade 5 bolt to make a new pin. Only took about an hr to do. I may make a whole set in the future with grease zerks in them now that I have the dimensions. Nothing else to report today. I should have the front susp. assembled tomorrow and possible have the head removed. Being my last day home for a few weeks I've got to focus ona few other projects around the house before I leave.
'55 IH R-122- BG265 w/TBI fuel injection
'64 Porsche 356 C
'68 and '73 BMW 2002s
‘14 VW Passat SE TSI
3 Vintage Sears garden tractors ('66-'74)

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Post Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:35 pm

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

I would also call BS on this one. Did they put the head on and not torqued it to specs? Properly installed freeze plugs should not leak and should not require sealant in engine block. My 2 cents worth..

Golden Jubilee
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Joined: Tue Jun 25, 2013 5:26 pm

Location: Dinuba, central CA

Post Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:56 pm

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

Changing gears here for a minute, I applaud making your own shackle pins!
1933 IHC Bus. Cpe
1933 IHC B-3 f
1935 C-1 IHC pickup
2 x 1936 IHC C-30 Fbs
3 x 1938 IHC D-2 Pickups
1938 IHC D-30 fb
1941 IHC K-1
2 x 1947 IHC KB-1 Pickups
2x 1953 IHC R pickups
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Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:58 am

Location: Central IL

Post Mon Aug 26, 2013 8:35 pm

Re: '55 R-122 rehab

hubb57s wrote:I would also call BS on this one. Did they put the head on and not torqued it to specs? Properly installed freeze plugs should not leak and should not require sealant in engine block. My 2 cents worth..


I did check the head bolt torque and they all appear to be fully torqued. I will be chasing the threads and looking for debris in the bottom of the bolt holes. Perhaps the bolts bottomed out before they achieved full torque... I also have a nice 24" starrett straight edge that I intend to check the head and block mating surfaces with. Something possibly worth noting- the machine shop has a small long haired cat that runs all over the place. I saw a lot of cat hair on the rockers and pushrods when I replaced the valve cover last week. Wonder if the head surface is covered in it too...
'55 IH R-122- BG265 w/TBI fuel injection
'64 Porsche 356 C
'68 and '73 BMW 2002s
‘14 VW Passat SE TSI
3 Vintage Sears garden tractors ('66-'74)
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