Miles

Me and my dad are currently attempting to rebuild his straight eight motor, but we can’t figure out how to remove that valves. It’s our first time rebuilding an engine and we don’t want to mess it up by breaking anything. How do we remove the valves on it? We have the shop manual but it doesn’t say how to and I haven’t been able to find anything anywhere else.

After I took of my distributor I noticed that the gear was still in there. Yet it doesn’t appear to have broken off. Does anyone know if it’s broken, or if that’s the way it should be? It’s off a 53’ Chieftain with the straight 8.

So far, I've been able to take off much of the small parts, but I still cant get the rest. How would I go about doing this? 

19 minutes ago, Ringo64 said:

Nice! May be a steep hill to climb but certainly a good experience. Keep us updated on your progress and we're happy to answer any questions you may have! 

Yeah, it’ll definitely be hard. I’ll make sure to update you guys!

9 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Riiight....uh, hi Miles. Completely disassemble it and wirebrush, derust and clean everything. A little emery cloth on the end of the rotor tip to make it shiny, NEW points & capacitor (or upgrade to electronic - will make your life way simpler) and check the advance canister to ensure it's moving the points plate. Ensure the shaft has no free play and that the points cam is not worn and has a hint of high temp grease on it. If there's ANY doubt as to it's condition, ditch it and upgrade. Not too expensive an exercise. My 389 distributor looked a mess too but I persevered and made it shine. Works perfectly.

As far as spark goes, you need a good earth and from what I can see, you ain't got NO earth! Enjoy!

Well thanks! I’ll try that first. If I can’t get it working I’ll get a new one.

3 hours ago, Ringo64 said:

Looks like a nice project. What are your plans for it?

Well I’m sort of using it to teach myself mechanics. I know a bit, but this is definitely helping me learn. I want to get it running, then driving. After that is interior, and then I might paint it.

My distributor is a bit rusty and Im fairly certain it’s causing my car to not get spark. Does anyone know how I can test it, and if it’s not working what to do to fix it? Its off a 1953 chieftain with the 4.4 L.