Need plenty of your advice please

[rickjen]

I have just pulled my my grey motor out of my FC wagon ( Barn find) the car is in amazing condition with near no rust and straight as!. The son who I brought it of said his father brought it brand new and rarely  drove it then parked it in the barn 37 years ago. When I got it home put battery in it disconnected fuel line motor wanted to start, but did not let it. Speedo says 37534 miles son says original . I tend to believe him.
Advice I am after while I have motor out should I dismantle completely and put new bearings, rings etc. I am not a mechanic but did a lot of work on grey motors during my speedway days in the 60's. Sure I can handle it. Where is the best place to buy parts?, ebay or club connections.
As this is a hobby does anybody out there have the special tools required for grey motors and FC in general they want to sell, I have a harmonic balance puller and tension wrench only.
I live in NSW central West 2810
Look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks in advance
Rick

[FCRB26]

If it was me i would get the head recod for unleaded put a carby kit in it flush fuel tank and fuel lines rebuild brakes from scratch and go from there..

Depends on your budget maybe a compression test would give you some idea first and once heads off see what the bore looks like.

Pete

[ardiesse]

Rick,

Yes. Definitely replace the rings and bearings.  Today's oil control rings are a way better design than the originals.  I'd also advise getting the unleaded conversion done on the head.  If you're going to strip the block down, get the mating faces of the block and head checked for flatness, or machined.  One other "must": remove the welch plugs and hose all the mud, crap and scale out of the water passages with a Gerni or similar.  If your original radiator core has no leaks, have it reverse-flushed.  If at all possible, don't get the radiator recored.  I have found that replacement radiator cores just aren't as good as the originals.

Replace the timing case oil seal, but check that the hub of the harmonic balancer has a good finish, with no rust marks or groove where the seal bears on the hub.  You might have to work it up a bit with fine wet and dry.

Make certain the oil jet which lubricates the timing gears is clear (chuck screwdriver blade into power drill, locate in oil pump drive, rotate CW, and check the oil stream with the timing cover removed).  Consider also fitting a replacement timing gear set.  Better to replace now than to risk a camshaft gear failing a few years down the track.

If you have a harmonic balancer puller, you only need to get a piston ring compressor to do a successful rebuild.

I asked about grey motor parts at Blatch's in Parkes a month or so ago, and they were very helpful.  They said they were able to source standard-bore piston rings.  Gaskets and bearings are no trouble either.

Hope I haven't sent you into information overload.

Rob

[rickjen]

thanks for quick reply, did not give "unleaded" a thought will take on board what you said.
Regards
Rick

[RET]

+1 on Rob's comments about timing gear. A motor that has sat that long will almost certainly have the oil feed to the gears clogged, and the fibre gear will be very brittle. Only a matter of time (and not a very long one) if that's not checked.

Look forward to seeing progress of this project!

cheers
RET

[john253a]

idd get a full gasked kit
and pull, check, replace where needed and reassemble,

mines 41,xxx and motor never been striped or modded, i just run lead additive (only average a 1000mile per year in her) 

[Crumpsnr]

You lucky lucky son of a gun...
If you find another like it let me know!
Lots of good info there.
I'm with Pete, making it stop is the first port of call.
I'd also suggest making the new timing gear alloy. Even a new fibre timing gear can let go in a surprisingly short period of time.
Regards, Martyn 

[rickjen]

to all members and fellow early Holden enthusiasts, thanks for some valuable and priceless advice. Have taken it all in keep the info coming. Will try and post some pics and keep you up to date with progress. And "yes" Martyn I was so lucky. It was a find you would only dream about, so far with half panels and running gear off, only surface rust and about 25mm hole in passenger floor and battery cradle,
regards
rick

[hsv-001]

As I have said before the whole barn find thing is over rated .It is a myth .Any 4 stroke motor will stop on the compression stroke .A six cylinder holdens no exception and therefore the opposing cylinder will be on the exhaust stroke and the exhaust valve will be open . It doesn't take long for condensation to get in and rust to begin .When the motor is turned over the rings will hit this band of rust and they will break . If you do a comp. test you will be down on compression in at least one cylinder . Once you start to drive these cars that have been in storage for many years the seals and gaskets start to fail .The rust that has built up inside the water jacket dumps into the top radiator tank causing overheating problems ect. Still you have a great car and a head start for a fun project .Cheers .  Haydn

[collecta]

Whole barn find thing over rated WTF that is what most of us dream of finding. There are still plenty more to be found. What colours are the wagon, sounds like a great find well done Rick.

cheers
Scott

[rickjen]

Hi Scott
Do understand where Haydn is coming from and will not take any risks with motor, I think mechanically parts are readily available what is more important is finding a car that has nearly zero rust, complete in every way, apart for front seat "Rat attack" trimming is near perfect, straight as a dye and so far no bog. Shame the pictures do not show the real beauty. But we just dragged it out of it's 37 year grave minutes earlier. Will post more if interested.
Regards
Rick

[Crumpsnr]

Ummmm, yeah!!

[collecta]

Always interested in more.  That is a great find, if it was mine it would get a good clean maybe re-ring and gaskets, brakes obviously interior tidy up and off to rego. I like em rough around the edges. I'm not disregarding Haydn's comments re mechanical, but barn/shed finds do exist as your photos suggest. My fe was a carport find had been parked up there for over 20yrs motor purred like a kitten but did suffer some blowby.
cheers
Scott

[Rustysdungers]

I luv the roof rack they are so handy

[rickjen]

Hi All, couple more pics as promised. Still looking for members and visitors to this forum for unwanted or no longer wanted "specialty tools" for sale that I need to have for engine and overall restore. I have appreciated all the comments so far and will be doing the engine rebuild properly as per advice given . Thanks Rick

[fe350chev]

On the technical info area of the website you will be able to decode the whole car and ascertain whether the engine is an original fitment to the car or not. Always good to get someone on here to do it if you can't yourself. Because some blocks/engines had different block characteristics and it might determine how you go about the build etc.

[hsv-001]

Sorry if I poked the wasp nest but I only meant take your time and think about your moves when restoring these old barn finds .If that is original mileage then you will probably only need to hone the rust from the bores and replace the rings and bearings all the seals and gaskets,renew the brakes, change all the fluids and go over all the electrics . Its still a beautiful old wagon and a great  hobby-investment . Cheers