Today we enjoyed Thanksgiving Part III at my Fathers house. Lots of folks, even more food. I only had two desserts at lunch. Perhaps I should finish off the pecan pie later tonight. Then it will be all gone. No more pressure.
Battle of the Titans
It is me vs the small block. I have checked the tolerances (again). Everything goes together fine but when I torque it all down (45 ft-lbs), I can no longer turn the crank shaft.
Just for fun, I loosened all the bolts to 5 ft-lbs and installed the starter. Everything spins nicely like this. Start tightening it back up and the starter can no longer turn it after about 4 are torqued down. Those with more money than brains recommend I take it to a machine shop and have someone else give it a try. Perhaps my pride will eventually give in and let me take this route, but not just yet. I have not exhausted all my information sources.
On the plus side, I now have an excellent understanding of how the starter engages and just how it works. Not just everyone has gotten to seen one run upside down. I enjoyed watching the crankshaft turn and seeing the piston rods going down and up. Also I completely understand the electrical wiring involved. Very simple really. The big wire from the positive(+) terminal on the battery goes straight to the starter. The big wire from the negative(-) terminal of the battery is connected directly to the block (actually via the mounting bracket for the alternator). The block is a neutral ground. When 12 volts is applied to the switch wire the starter solenoid engages and the starter gear spins the crank shaft. The switch wire is normally run back to the ignition switch and through a safety switch. The purpose of the safety switch is to make sure the vehicle is in park or neutral when the starter is engaged. For my purposes I just used a short piece of wire to connect the (s)with terminal to the (+) power lead. Watch it spin. No mystery here.
'68 Chevy
iMike is still hopefull he will be getting his Grandfather's old '68 Chevy. His Grandfather also had a '48. I was telling G about it. After a bit she mentioned she thought I was going to ask if I could go get it. I think she was scared. Hmmm. She didn't exactly say no. That sounds like permission to me.
The '68
The '48
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