Blown head gasket repair, older siamese "F" block. (1962/3)

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I actually did have a 63 but I swapped engines, I do remember morgans, I cant remember if he ended up with mine, I think his was really similar? Mine was red,center diff, dash had black marker writing to tell what the switches were for, flip top,red seat covers? It cant be the same rig because i swapped engines way back in the late 90's. Definately pull the head, gasket or valve issue, never seen a piston fail!
 
Thanks. The last owner wasn't much for info, just that it came from co, and had sat in cali for a good long spell. It matches the description of one morgan sold in 2003. Unfortunately all the old birf links are long since dead, so I can't verify.

Curious thing though- he also claimed a motor swap. Finding the factory match was not at all what I had figured. When daylight comes around I should be able to confirm. His had a fiberglass patch repair on a roof corner. It should confim.


And does nothing to change anything. :doh:

Next plan is to pull the head for inspection.
 
Im gonna start calling you Johnny PI ! I looked at some of the 63 red 40 pics and it looks identical to my old one? I cant get the pics to enlarge, but if I can get an interior pic I would know for sure. Have not seen those pics for years!
 
whitey45 said:
Im gonna start calling you Johnny PI ! I looked at some of the 63 red 40 pics and it looks identical to my old one? I cant get the pics to enlarge, but if I can get an interior pic I would know for sure. Have not seen those pics for years!
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Dig through my 63 thread (when I bought it home). There are definitely some details particular to this rig. The hole for the gun rack are why I'm calling it morgans, but who knows?
In all his for sale ads (2003) he lists the parts that put the pieces together. When I get home from work I plan on running john's archive trick to unlock the for sale thread on pirate and know. It looks like the pto and tools have long gone, but he consistently mentions some wheeling and dealing for the stamped bezel. I've since grabbed one off eshan, so it'll look correct
 
I actually took the stamped bezel that was on mine and I still have it !! I have some pics of mine here somewhere with the licence plate number,and if you look at morgans pictures there is a red 63 40 with black cali plates and acorn hubcaps, 99% sure that is my old 40. but I think yours is the red one with the for sale sign in it.It has white spoke wheels on it! Mine also had a red painted valve cover.
 
Working doubles; no time to pull the head yet.

I can also tell that this rig had a complete brake job done (cylinders and all) within the last ten years. I had one leaky cylinder that needed honed and that was it. All the shoes looked new still.

It came on chrome rims (that rubbed the control arms), and came with five riveted clip style wheels (and the caps).
It's on black Wagon until I afford rubber for the stock rims.
 
You know you have a problem when you'll drive forty miles out of your way (on break) to finally have an answer.

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Johnny pi for the win!


So, so, so pleased at this point.

No time to inspect further though.

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You have your cheap fix :)

Well as cheap as reduing the top half is

Look foward to seeing it run... And now you still have a spare engine... Just incase :)
 
:bounce:

Finances are tight, but so are cruiser guys. I couldn't afford the set, but a good man gave me a loan to see it through before winter sets in.

This will be realtime, so feel free to chat here and stop in over the next few days.


I'm at a serious point here, and in need of some tips.
I'm ready to plow on, but it seems only right to me to clean the frame and coat it (while the engine is out). At the very minimum I intend to do the engine bay forward, but if it's not overly complicated I'm down to pull the rear section and get the whole thing.

I have three days off...

How hard is it to pull the body, and would someone give me the rundown? From what I'm seeing the steering column, the brake/clutch lines, and the vac shift lines are the only things major that need pulled to get the body off. I'm sure there's more, but it's 830 and I've just gotten off from a long week's worth of work.

Thanks in advance.

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The hard part isn't really the pulling off the body... It's the things that break when trying to do so

Steering
Clutch line
Brake line
Body mounts
Harness
Bib
Fenders
Shifter/linkages
Fuel lines

I may be missing some more :)
 
I hate doing things twice so for me it would entail everything getting media blasted, inspected and repaired. Like Johnny noted, it would be opening up a can of worms......................, especially if you wanted to enjoy it before diving into such a project.

to be honest with yourself, unless you have seriously considered ALL the parts you will be dealing with via the removal of the tub, and presumed that they will all need some sort of attention/replacement I wouldn't dive into it. I can barely accomplish what should be a 3 hour project in 3 days with these vintage vehicles. Not to mention EVERY Land Cruiser I have ever broken down despite the condition seems to have the 40+ year lean that has distorted the body and body mounting areas which will probably all stand to under go some messaging before dis-assembly in order to help with a correct re-assembly.

I don't mean to sound pessimistic but there is a good reason behind the cost associated with most restorations or even minor repair work

very cool you have the original engine
 
IMO just...
repair the motor
Get it tuned really well
adjust the brakes
Lube and change fluids

... enjoy for when one day you have a good amount of time... a week isnt even enough :)
 
X3 on opening up a can of worms. I believe Jim (Cruiser_Nerd) has posted before on how he coats his frames to slow rust down. Johnny probably has some good ideas too since his isn't a garage queen that gets parked for the winter. Sorry I've got nothing for protection other than staying off salted roads.
 
oil undercoating... works well.. environmentalists hate it :)
 
JohnnyC said:
oil undercoating... works well.. environmentalists hate it :)
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I remember back in the seventies I would dig a hole and dump my used oil. Today I would spend jail time. Of coarse at the time the city of Phoenix was spraying used motor oil on the dirt alleys to keep the dust down. As a kid in Wisconsin I remember tanker trucks with spray nozzles across the back of the truck spraying everything that wasn't paved. I also remember my mom going mad when ever I walked on one of those roads because of what it did to white tennis shoes.:meh: With everything we did years ago would think four eyes and three arms would be the norm today.:rolleyes:
 
They don't salt the roads here, so i'm not overly worried about rust. Thanks for the candid advice. It can definitely wait until next summer for paint.


On to other questions then; should I use copper spray on this head gasket?

I've never used it before, but I've never been into an engine this old.
 
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