1488 wakes after a 29 year nap...

Forrest39

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1488 wakes from a 29 year nap...

9471488 ran a few weeks ago after not running since 1987. The car was in storage in a number of states including MI, PA, NY, and most recently eastern AZ. I have traced history of the car back to 1970 and am hoping to get as much of their story as possible. The car is mostly stock and has a number of original parts. The interior is original except for the drivers seat cover which was redone by the PO. The original carpet disintegrated as I removed it. There are a few pieces that I will try to keep in play. I am blessed with a few LAT goodies to include LAT 70 wheels, weld-on traction masters, Tri-Y exhaust, and the hi-po can with dual point distributor package. There are a few dings and dents that will need attention, but luckily on minimal surface rust.

The engine is the original 260 block topped with 302 heads and 2-barrel intake manifold. The PO mentioned that his understanding of the SBF block was that if there were 3 freeze plugs, then it was a later 260 block and the same at a 289 and therefore could be bored out to 4.000”. And since a 302 is just a stroked 289, that a 302 crank will bolt right in. As the engine hadn’t run in almost 30 years, I elected to treat the cylinders with marvel mystery oil and allowed it to sit for 6 weeks. Following the firing order, I pulled each spark plug and moved each piston to BDC prior to the compression stroke and dribbled in 2 ounces of MMO and reinstalled the plug. I then rotated the crankshaft a quarter turn and repeated the process for the next piston in the firing order. This allowed the MMO to squeeze into the piston rings and hopefully prevent a stuck ring, assuming the valves had a good seal. I disassembled the autolite 2100 and cleaned out what was left of the rancid fuel and varnish, lapped the parting surfaces with fine grit sand paper, and reassembled with new gaskets. As I wasn’t sure of the state of the dual point distributor, I installed a spare MSD electronic ignition distributor. Like the DP distributor, it does not have vacuum advance and I am on the fence about using it when the car is back on the road for fuel economy reasons. While I had the distributor off, I fashioned a very long 1/4” extension to a cordless drill. After changing the oil and filter, I motorized the oil pump counter clockwise. The oil pressure immediately came up to 50 PSI. The fuel pump was a bellows type but the bellows were completely melted due to prolonged exposure to fuel. I was able to find a bellows kit and tried to repair the pump, but the pump would not move fuel - I’m guessing the poppet valves had lost seal. I replaced the fuel pump with a new Holley HP -125. I mounted it in the original location, but may move this elsewhere to keep the heat away. I connected a 2 foot rose to feed the pump from a Sriracha bottle that was carefully wedged behind the passengers seat. The water pump was seized so I removed the fan, fan belt, upper pulley, and generator. I figured I would just run off the battery with a temporary electrical setup. Powering only the fuel pump, ignition, and starter, I was satisfied that I had covered all of the necessary steps to wake the beast.

With a quick shot of starting fluid, I flipped the interim master switch which was ty-wrapped to the left hat-brace. I allowed fuel to flood the carb and after being sure the accelerator pump was charged, I gave the intake a quick shot of starting fluid. A quick press of the start button and the engine snapped to life. It took a time or two to achieve a stable idle. My brother Doug had his eye on the oil pressure gauge and I was relived that it immediately indicated 50-60 PSI. Without an operating cooling system, I figured I was good for 2-3 minutes before shutting it down. That was the extent of the Sriracha bottle’s fuel supply anyway. Here’s a video for entertainment value. My son Walter did a great job of taking iPhone video and I’ve included a link here…

https://youtu.be/Yu9rlGu1Kwc

I hadn’t reconnect the accelerator pedal but I wanted to assess the clutch. After allowing then engine to cool down, I decided to attempt moving the Tiger back to it’s corner. I ran the clutch and my brother ran the throttle and walked along side - my entry for this years’ Darwin award. The clutch had a great feel surprisingly. I am missing the reverse lockout so it took a bit of fiddling to find first gear. Again, more video.

https://youtu.be/BcZlButTTTM

So back to the engine… Now that I know the bottom end is solid, I need to get the cooling system squared away. One freeze plug was rusted and showed evidence of leaking. After pulling the water pump, I found that it was seized not because of a bearing, but that the impeller was occluded with cooling system crud. The thermostat housing was equally coated with residue. I decided to pull the heads to better asses the water jacket and to see if the cylinder were in fact bored out to 4.000” as the PO had informed me. After pulling the heads in the car, I measured the bore which in fact is 4.000” after inspecting the water jacket, I decided that I will pull the engine out to eat replacing all the freeze plugs and clean out the water jackets.
Obviously a 302 crank in a 289 or 260 block is an especially bad idea as the these block lack the lengthened cylinder skirt to accommodate the longer stroke of the 302. I think if I keep the RPM down to a reasonable level then this shouldn’t be too much of a threat.
The resulting thin cylinder bores as a result of the 4.000” bore are a bit of an unknown. The PO ran this engine this way for several years without a problem. I’m hoping to run it for a year or so just to see what it does. My options are to sleeve the cylinders ( a HUGE cost) or to get a 302 roller motor from pick-n-pull and dress it up with an early timing cover. I’m not sure where I’m going with this engine yet, but for the short term at least I will plan on getting it cleaned up and reinstalled.
I will pull the engine in the coming weeks to replace some rusted freeze plugs and to help with some exhaust system repairs.

I'll post some pictures soon. Happy new year to everybody!
Cheers, -Kevin
 

cobrakidz

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Congratulations Kevin - great news as another Tiger comes to life........It looked like a solid car the last time I saw it.
 

michael-king

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Kevin, I found those videos on YouTube a couple of weeks back... Glad to hear the story associated with it. Great work and great project.

As you know lots of help and advice in this club and forum so regardless of which way you go am sure you can find a guiding hand or good feedback.

What a great start for your 2017... A running tiger :)
 

67 Tiger

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302 stroked 289

There are a lot of "threads" all over the internet discussing cylinder length and stroking. All I can say is that the motor in my car is an early 289 block , with 1968 302 crank, rods, pistons, and 4v heads. For the 8 1/2 yrs I drove it, it was FAST. I was in my 20's and I tried to race everything out there, point is it ran and was dependble. Of course a new 363 Dart crate motor would be better.
 

Forrest39

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A few pictures...

Here are a few pictures!

Loaded up and leaving Pinetop-Lakeside AZ.



Gas stop just east of Kingman



22 hours later tucked away in the hangar



Yep. It's a 260 block!
[URL=http://s777.photobucket.com/user/kevinjakey/media/IMG_0949_zpsxtolocjg.jpg.html] [/URL]


Careful wet-sanding reveals some original paint.
[URL=http://s777.photobucket.com/user/kevinjakey/media/Green%20Tiger%20-%20Work%20in%20progress/07816A1B-E141-4084-9FD0-C420AA8B5BCF_zpscvnwanif.jpg.html] [/URL]

Cheers! -Kevin
 

Forrest39

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There are a lot of "threads" all over the internet discussing cylinder length and stroking. All I can say is that the motor in my car is an early 289 block , with 1968 302 crank, rods, pistons, and 4v heads. For the 8 1/2 yrs I drove it, it was FAST. I was in my 20's and I tried to race everything out there, point is it ran and was dependble. Of course a new 363 Dart crate motor would be better.

I hadn't considered that there are really two modifications to the engine. The bore out to 4.000" and separately the installation of the 302 rotating assembly.

I had just assumed the 302 crank in a 260/289 was a bad idea but evidently there is quite a history of this being done successfully.

I still am very curious how this will work out with the 4.000" bore. I guess I 'll find out soon enough!

-Kevin
 

67 Tiger

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IM no expert, but I think a 260 CANNOT be bored to 4". According to Tom Monroe "How to Rebuild your Smallblock Ford".
 

Warren

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OK wife's tale

I've read some postings and heard stories of thicker 289 blocks made into 260.

I am not sure where I read or heard em but recall the illogical thought that would happen as the 260 was shunned for Mustang builds and truly surplus and cheap.
 

HolyCat

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Performance Tuning the Sunbeam Tiger

I think I read something about this in the book, Performance Tuning the Sunbeam Tiger. However, I have also heard that it was not true from others. I guess anyone contemplating boring out the cylinders in a 260 to make it into a 289 should measure the cylinder wall thickness before undertaking such a task.
 

Forrest39

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Once I verified that the 260 block was bored to 4.000", I scoured the forums and found one report about it from a mustang guy in Australia that said he has been running a 289 rotating assembly in a 260 block bored to 4 inches for years with no problem. Other than that, all I have read is that it can't be done. I understand that there is an early and a late 260 block so perhaps all the writings that say that it can't be done refer to the early 260 block.
I don't think I would recommend boring any 260 block to 4.000 but since that's what I've got, I want to see how it does. I think I will keep my eye out for some usable 260 heads and at some point down the road I'll sleeve this block back to 260.

I got the engine out today!
[URL=http://s777.photobucket.com/user/kevinjakey/media/Green%20Tiger%20-%20Work%20in%20progress/BE38F106-5BD4-4BFC-8D29-D1FF853DBC8B_zpspzs19486.jpg.html] [/URL]


Here's how I got the crossmember out. It's an ATV jack from Harbor Freight. I had to add some spacing material to get the correct dimension. Makes crossmember removal very easy!
[URL=http://s777.photobucket.com/user/kevinjakey/media/Green%20Tiger%20-%20Work%20in%20progress/EC7B9C1A-43F9-4096-98EF-6E0DC282ECA3_zpswmmff3pc.jpg.html] [/URL]

Cheers! -Kevin
 

cobrakidz

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Kevin - good to see you have time now to work on this, looks like a fun project. Keep us posted as you move along, and remember TU in Sacramento is coming up. :)
 

Forrest39

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Kevin - good to see you have time now to work on this, looks like a fun project. Keep us posted as you move along, and remember TU in Sacramento is coming up. :)

I have June 23-26 on a stickey note on my computer screen... It may be a tall order to have a green car on the road by then, but who knows. Today was probably my last Tiger day for a few weeks, but at least it was productive. I got the engine broken down to a short block and on the stand. The flywheel is has a C6XX number and the timing chain cover has a C4XX number so mix and match. I found that the timing chain had roughly 1/2" of play so I gotta look that one up to see what the tolerance is for that before replacing it. No real surprises today just a bunch of fiddling. The hardest part was trying to wheel the front suspension around with the calipers partially engaged. That will be a project for another day...
Cheers! -Kevin
 

Charlie_N

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I got to take a look at the car when it was in Pinetop. Looked like it had an interesting bunch of parts with it and not too bad of shape. Good luck with this come back to life project. Looks like you have already made good progress.
 

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Forrest39

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I got to take a look at the car when it was in Pinetop. Looked like it had an interesting bunch of parts with it and not too bad of shape. Good luck with this come back to life project. Looks like you have already made good progress.

Thank you for that picture Charlie! You got Jim in it too with makes it special.
Jim mentioned that he had talked to a few Tiger people, but I thought that I was the only one that had seen his car. Clearly I was was wrong.
I am lucky enough to have Jim's car as a second Tiger and just hope I can bring it back to stock as I think he would have liked me to. I don't think I can do a full restoration, but with all of the options it has, I will shoot for a 'tastefully modified' presentation. Are you the guy who lives in Phoenix but visits Show low during the summertime?
Cheers, -Kevin
 

Forrest39

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Just a bit too thin...

For the first time in my life, being thin is not a good thing... I measured the cylinder walls of the 260 that has been bored out to 4.000". A cursory measurement indicates the cylinder wall thickness to be roughly .125". I have read a number of different forums to determine what the thinnest cylinder wall thickness is safe to run, and the answers are all over the place.
The general consensus seems to be that .200-.300" is considered a minimum while a few say that .100" is ok.
The PO ran this engine with .125" walls for years with a 2-barrel carb and a 302 crank, but I'm thinking that perhaps this 52 year old block may have been pushed far enough and its time to give it a break before it gives up the ghost. Granted that 30 of those years were spent taking a nap, but the value of this car is with its original engine.
So, I am looking into sleeving the block back to its original 3.800" bore, fitting original size 260 pistons, finding a 260/289 rotating assembly, and finding some 260 or 289 heads. I was thinking about going with a replacement 302 roller motor, but ultimately I want to get this car back to as stock as possible.
I'm still looking into the cost for sleeving the cylinders. The last thing I read on the subject indicated that a typical cost is $100 per cylinder. Obviously keeping the original block makes poor financial sense, but I think it's what I need to do to keep the originality of the car.
Decisions decisions....

Cheers, -Kevin
 

Maliburevue

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Kevin,

If I were you, I would search for another block with the same date code. With all the removed 260 engines sitting in owners garage, you might be able to easily find one here on the west coast. Post an ad on the forum with your date code and see what you get.

Here's an ebay ad for a standard bore 260 engine out of Texas for $150. Don't know about the date code, but the price is right and it is standard bore.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-260-BA...ash=item33adcf4f69:g:smcAAOSwux5YWtgA&vxp=mtr

Another in Las Vegas.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-260-V8...ash=item210823622b:g:Hk0AAOSwKtlWjWPL&vxp=mtr

Another in SoCal
http://www.ebay.com/itm/64-65-Ford-...ash=item1ebf64147e:g:RAkAAOSw-0xYdFRD&vxp=mtr

Here are some Craigslist ads for Socal
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/pts/5944679136.html
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/pts/5940429559.html

My 2 cents,

Gary
 
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