What are you currently working on??

ok I'd LOVE to meet the jack@$$ that designed the heads and spark plugs, on a 04-08 5.4 Ford truck engine, so that I can plant my size 12 steel toe somewhere he wouldn't like. These engines have a 2 pc spark plug, the threaded shell crimped over the lower portion where the electrodes are. Today at work, I spent 6-1/2 of the 8 hours that I was there, trying to change plugs on one. Not my 1st rodeo with these trucks, the state of IL owns a gazillion of them. In 6-1/2 hours, I got 6 of the 8 extracted and replaced. haven't tried the 2 back ones on the drivers side yet. Didn't have time. Ford says these are "100k spark plugs".... they really need to be changed every 2-3 years MAX, even if they only have 20K miles on them in this amount of time, to prevent this headache. they tend to get left alone until they present an issue. no matter how many miles they may have on them.
the way the 2 back ones on the pass side broke, they wound up being the worst PITA to extract..... the threaded shell came out by itself, over the porcelain, with the whole porcelain still being stuck in the head. I was almost ready to give up on the far back one and start pulling the heads before I FINALLY got it out. It doesn't help that they had to put half of the engine UNDER the cowl...…

Usually I run about 50%.... as in 1/2 break like these have, and 1/2 come out intact. so far on this one, I'm o-fer.
they put different heads on these engines in the vans, didn't have this hassle. and finally got away from this stupidity on the pickups, in '09/ I cant believe it took them that long to realize they had a problem. I'd bet you anything, these engineers who designed this setup, never tried to change them out even once... at least once the prototype left the dyno.....
they should have quit while they were ahead, and kept the 300 inline 6, the 302, 351, and 460. I have worked on my share of those too, have never had this sort of problem with any of them. Much simpler and more reliable design. No, they had something that just flat out worked, and they had to keep playing with it til they fouled it up to a point of no return. Idiots.
Not just talking about combustion chamber and spark plug design either. They must have forgotten the K.I.S.S. principle, starting from when the paper in the drawing room was still blank.
When I run into problems like this, I wish I could move the truck to the parking lot and get a crate of explosives and watch it go "BOOM" with pieces scattered all over..... surely Ford doesn't think that experiences like this would make me want to hurry down to one of their stealerships and buy one.... I fought this while my co worker finished up an exhaust manifold replacement on a virtual twin to the truck I have been fighting with.... those 5.4s like to eat them for breakfast and dump them for lunch...… and they aren't fun to change either...… the last exh manifolds I did away from work, were on a late 90s Chevy C3500 HD dump truck, with a 454... MUCH easier! the last one I did at work was a '14 Expedition belonging to the state cops.... we try not to point them out unless it is complained about..... what a pain.
 
Going to replace the bushings in the head stock on my metal lathe this morning. Will pull the olds ones to get the right length, size, etc. then run to town and get them. 90% sure they are standard 1/2" - 1" bushings. When the new ones are in will drill a hole through them at the bottom of the oil tube to get the oil down to the shaft where it belongs.
 
chieffan said:
Going to replace the bushings in the head stock on my metal lathe this morning. Will pull the olds ones to get the right length, size, etc. then run to town and get them. 90% sure they are standard 1/2" - 1" bushings. When the new ones are in will drill a hole through them at the bottom of the oil tube to get the oil down to the shaft where it belongs.
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If that is the Sears 109 lathe built by Dunlap the bushings are not standard. One of them is adjustable. Don
 
Was at that website before I even picked the lathe up. Ton of good information. Mine is the early version 109.20630. Had an original front adjustable bearing in it yet, just no more adjustment. Had to bust the bearing up to get the nut off to put on the new one. The lathe worked but with bad bearings get a lot of chatter so going to rebuild. Will work on the cross feed while waiting on the bearings. Tail piece has been cleaned up and working fine.
 
Back bearing is not standard either. Factory size of the shaft was .7551 so a auto parts bushing won't quite do it without reworking it some. Adjustable reamer would do it but found a matched pair and have them coming. Going to check with the local machine shop and see if he wants to mess with turning out a adjustable bushing. I have the drawing with measurements for one.
 
Working on the gib's for the cross slide while waiting for parts. Want to replace them with brass but dfon't have the brass in stock right now. Originally there were two adjustment holes for the gib. Problem was when the slide was retracted out past the main base unit there was only the front screw holding adjustment on the gib. I drilled and will tap a center hole for a third adjustment as well as a locking screw for the slide. I drilled the hole oversize for about 2/3 the distance so would only have about 1/2" to tap for the 8-32 screw.


CS bottom.JPG CS hole.JPG CS top.JPG
 
Will get some pics up later today but got the new adjustable bearing with rear bushing yesterday. Need to get the threads cleaned up on the adjusting nut, 3/4 X 16 thread. I have a mechanical drawing of the adjustable bushing. Going to run that by a machine shop in town and see if he wants to try making a couple. I'll keep one and sell the other. Have the brass on the way for the gibs. 1/8 X 1/4 X 3"
 
The blade is re-mounted on the MF8E now with correct geometry. Lift seems to work fine, and set up a "hanger" to hook a short chain to the blade to hold it up while the tractor isn't in use. The hydraulics bleed off in a few days and the blade settles to the floor without it.

Next is to build the angle linkage from the lift lever to the blade.

DAC

102_5724.JPG
 
Now that I have the k321 back together for the NH S-14 that originally came from it, and we haven't seen any snow in a while, (have had this one back from the machine shop for a year now) and having had the head back off of the k341 in the s-16 and finding it coated with oil, replaced the exhaust valve in it and it still gives me fits starting when cold out, popping and farting before it starts, besides being able to see half of the top ring due to Piston wear, I decided to take a closer look at the k341 that I saved from the burnt Ariens that I bought for the snow blower. I looked into this engine lightly when I parted the rest of the tractor and it appeared as if I would have to tear it down completely and rebuild it from the ground up, well I decided to get it up on the bench and take it apart to the point of replacing all the gaskets and seals and take a closer look. The cylinder and Piston look much better than what is on the s-16 now, and is 20-over. With the block cover (that big pc of aluminum under the flywheel) off, I can see that it has a 10-under rod already as well. Definitely not a recent rebuild but it's been done. Once I got the sheet metal off, I could see that it didn't get hot enough to burn the oil and grease off of it, and looked up inside at the governor gear, it's plastic but unhurt. Since k341s are getting hard to find, I don't want the one in the s-16 to blow up, now's the Time to pull it and mothball it til I can rebuild that one, it's STD still, so I want to save it. My son is buying a house with a much bigger yard and though he has not asked me yet about getting him a tractor he has asked the wife if she thought I'd let him have or at least use one of mine. He's getting just over an acre, so whether he knows it or not his will be my "test yard" for different machines. I haven't decided whether to let him use this s-16 or my CC 129. He ISN'T getting that one for keeps, that's for sure. Possibly this s-16 if I don't decide to hang a for sale sign on it, as he's getting married this year and we have to help pay for that, may be selling a bunch between now and then because of it,
I have a lot of parts and such already stashed away, I can do alot with these tractors at the moment without spending much on them. But winter was so blah I didn't have the ambition to do a whole lot.
 
Got the brass in yesterday for new gibs on the metal lathe. New drill chick for the tail stock & head stock also. Looking at working on the Polaris Ranger transmission. No HI range. Dogs wore off on one gear inside. Gear is available off the net for around $260. Neighbors hired man is a former JD mechanic so checking to see if he will help do the gear change work. I can use the neighbors shop, just add a little heat. I have worked with him before on various farm equipment items so kind of know his tools. Has a good basic line but don't have a lot of the other items like pullers, snap ring pliers, Bent needle nose, etc. Going to check with a Polaris dealer this morning and see what they want for the parts and what all the recommend doing to get the job done right. $1800 for a rebuilt transmission, $700 for a used one. Will cost about $5-600 to put a new gear in mine but will have something that will last me the rest of my life.
 
Heading out today on an three hour trip to pick up some new axles for my trailer. Presently I have a 16 foot with a single axle and I just don't like hauling my it's down the highway. Found a guy that has a double axle set with wheels and tires so I am going to upgrade to a safer setup. Going to be a little welding but enjoy running the old welder so not really work for me.
 
Got the DC motor and all controls off the treadmill yesterday. Figured out what I would need for pulleys, jack shaft, etc. to get the speed donw to metal lathe speed and still maintain the power. 6K rpm motor so figured the pulleys using 4500 rpm as the mid way range. Plus the lathe has a 5:1 gear reduction to really get it slowed up when needed. McMaster Carr had everything I needed. Thing I do not like is trying to figure out the pulley/belt width with the number/letter designation. Who ever dreamed up that concoction up was sitting on his thinker. Always got my belts by the old belt number or by belt top width and length. Don't get any simpler than that.
 
chieffan said:
Got the DC motor and all controls off the treadmill yesterday. Figured out what I would need for pulleys, jack shaft, etc. to get the speed donw to metal lathe speed and still maintain the power. 6K rpm motor so figured the pulleys using 4500 rpm as the mid way range. Plus the lathe has a 5:1 gear reduction to really get it slowed up when needed. McMaster Carr had everything I needed. Thing I do not like is trying to figure out the pulley/belt width with the number/letter designation. Who ever dreamed up that concoction up was sitting on his thinker. Always got my belts by the old belt number or by belt top width and length. Don't get any simpler than that.
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When you sit on your thinker it cuts of the blood flow and starves it for oxygen. The less you have to use the gear reduction built into the head stock the better. Those planetary gears are noisy. Don
 
Yes they are noise and put a lot of wear on them with constant use. They sit back there like theyr in an echo chamber. If I have it figured right I should be able to turn the lath between 200 and 900 rpm with one belt setting. Plan to use the large pulley on the lathe the majority of time. Can run the motor in the upper speed range or around 3500. Used that for my starting figure. Will see how it works out.
 
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