Ford Flathead re-ring

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$arge

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2010
Messages
15
Howdy all i just bought a 1950 ford custom deluxe more door with a flathead 8 239 co in. the old gent said that the engine had been rebuilt, and it appears to be so but it smokes like crazy!!! i =m thinking he didnt really drive it around much and the rings didn't settle well but i was debating re-ringing it.
do you al think or have you all done it without the engine being removed???
and seeing how the engine was rebuilt not that long ago dod you think i can just reuse the connecting rod bearings again? seems safe enough?
what do you all think?
[P
$arge
 
He lied.LOL
Do a compression check might tell where the problem area is,may be stuck rings, pull the heads and check to see whats going on with the cylinder walls.
 
LOL
unless he took it all apart and resealed it and repained the whole block?! [S
i did a compression ck and they all lie between 90-95 psi...it just smokes like a som-bish!!!
i mean i guess i can live with a little bit of smoke but id rather not..lol
 
Only way to know for sure is to do a compression and leakdown test. Otherwise you are shooting in the dark.

I had a Chevy van years ago that burned oil like there was no tomorrow, I bought it that way. I put a new engine in it and the thing still smoked terribly. I called the wrecking yard to complain and they told me to drive it for a while and see if it would stop. A couple days later it did stop and I figured out what had happened. The old engine was using so much oil the exhaust system was loaded with oil and I reused it. It took a few days driving to burn all of it out of there and when it did the thing never smoked again. :eek::D

I did notice a reduced Mosquito population while I was driving that smoker. :D

Don
 
reduced mosquito population!!! LOL
yeah i tell people that or that i just bought the james bond smoke package :D
although i do think it is the rings (maybe they didnt settle in right) ive tried driving it for a little bit 10 mins or so but they didnt settle down.
it burns a little bit of oil, so thats clue 1
it reduces mosquito population clue 2
it has 90-95 psi pressure in the cyl. not to bad ofr a flattie clue 3
no oil in the radiator or collant in the oil clue 4
and the plugs are oily. [S
ive never reringed just the pistons inside the car before? how hard would it be?
$arge
 
One thing that I forgot to ask was what oil are you running? From what I have read, flatheads work better with a straight weight oil, and lots of guys seem to like Rotella T 30 wt. I run Rotella T in everything because of it's high zinc load, and like it a lot.

Supposedly, some multi grade oils can thin out and slip past the rings and valve guides. What did the previous owner run in that engine?

Don
 
DonsRods:
you know i was just thinking of that, i saw rotella at the local yocal parts store but decided against it, i heard that they took the zinc additive out of it.??? is that true?
i found another site that recommended valvoline VR1 or Brad Penn, but the only one i found was VR1... i dint want to throw that oil in there just in case i was going to re-ring it. i believe its 20-50W?
i dont know what he ran but i can only imagine, i guess i could call him and find out. i could throw it in there tomorrow and see what happens.
the engine runs relatively cool, usually 160-170 rollin down the road, around 185-190 at prolonged stops
good input!
 
You hear so much conflicting info regarding Rotella taking the good stuff out, some say yes, some say no. One guy said he spoke directly to Shell and they say the 30 wt is totally unchanged. I also see Rotella Triple Guard on the shelf now ( I have that in the crankcase of my 331 Ford) not sure what the difference is, but I bought into the claims on the container. :D

I just retired from the marine business and most of the major diesel engine makers list Rotella T as being an approved oil, and I figure if it holds up under those loads it must have some good properties. This is one of those areas where you ask 100 people and get 100 different opinions.

Don
 
Drive it a couple hundred miles, get it nice and warm on the highway. Vary the speed from 45-60 constantly, flooring it in High and letting right off to slow down. Do it on a road with no traffic or the guy behind you will get PO'ed!
If it still smokes after that, it needs reringing.
 
Thanks RPope, thats exactly what i was thinking, i just changed the oil today to VR1, it seemed to smoke a bit less, it might have been like donsrods said, the PO must have been running thinner stuff.
i'll do as you said and post here after a while....
thanks all for the input.
we shall see....
$arge
 

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