Magneto setting, doubles as a good sanity test

[Steve King]

A while back I posted a thread about a 25 coupe with broken magnets and beasted field coil. The question was to fix the problem as original or put in splash bars. Well I have had help at our last meeting of the Central Wisconsin T's. The poles of the magnets were properly identified and recharged back on a flywheel with excellent triple gear pins. I have a field coil on order and I believe my crankshaft thrust is actually pretty tight. It really is a test of one's sanity getting the magnets to the same height even with the proper tool. A man would also like to truly thank the first brass screw supplier for manufacturing a screw that won't work with the original ring gear. What is the story about that anyway? Did someone make 10,000 screws before they tried one in the Ford ring gear? So I can trust these old screws which haven't been ground shorter or replace a perfectly good gear. I apologize ahead of time if this subject has been beat to death before. I'm still new to this.

[speedytinc]

I believe the screw thread issue came about after a large quantity of ring gears were produced in China. Those folks dont know there is a difference between a 14-24 thread & a 1/4-24 thread. So, 1/4-24 brass screws had to be made to mount all those expensive, screwed up ring gears.
Its up to the buyer to know what they need. Langs sells both screw threads.

I would not reuse 100 year old brass screws. Too risky.
Ever see the CARNAGE done to an expensive field coil + when they fail?

[speedytinc]

I checked with Langs & see Snyders still only sell the incorrectly threaded ring gears.(1/4-24)
When getting a new ring gear, remember to get the correct over-sized screws.
Original screws are too small. #14 is .242" diameter, vs 1/4 is .250" Enough difference to be an issue.

[Mark Gregush]

Yes maybe, but the retapping to 1/4" has been around for a long while too.

[Steve King]

Work is continuing on the 25 coupe tranny. I ordered correct screws from Langs for an original ring gear. As I was cleaning up the driven plate I realized the holes were badly egg shaped and the clutch push ring pins badly tapered. I found a very nice spare in my stash, shown on the left, that fits my fourth main beautifully also. I will also try the square hole on the u joint while it's much easier.

[speedytinc]

You may not be aware there are 2 different push ring pins. The ones that came for the wide drum are tapered smaller.
A good fix for the slightly worn holes in the late drive plate is to use the earlier (large pin) plate to better minimize the slop. It appears you had the later push ring with the earlier output.
Dont throw the worn drive plate or the finger ring. The drive plate holes can be welded up & re-drilled. They are not being reproduced.

[Steve King]

Work continues on the 25 Coupe engine. What started as a magneto repair has become an opened pandoras box. The engine had original cast iron pistons with number 4 cracked on top. Luckily the rod and main babbits were excellent with many shims. Repaired two freeze cracks in the jackets by drilling holes at ends and v'd out with an air file. Filled with Belzona 1311 Ceramic R metal. Filed flat with a file, it doesn't sand well. Got the block cleaned up to .40" over from Metal Crafters in Stevens Point. Thanks MTFCA for the drawing with dimensions for the block adapter engine stand mounting plate which I built this morning as vendors are out again. Set the crank mains to .001" to .0015", turns nicely with a 10" adjustable. Would have been nice to get a Stipe cam, none available. Getting ready to set field coil clearance.

[Mark Nunn]

Thanks MTFCA for the drawing with dimensions for the block adapter engine stand mounting plate which I built this morning as vendors are out again.

Steve, would you be so kind as to tell us where you found a drawing for the adapter? I need to make one too. Thank you.

[John kuehn]

You’re doing a good job putting the engine together. Here’s a reminder that often gets overlooked.
When setting the gap between the mag ring and flywheel be aware when setting the gap in the vertical position and turning the engine on the engine stand the weight of the transmission will cause a few thousandths sag. Whatever the amount is you can turn the engine to vertical and add shims to get it back to the gap you want. You probably already know this BUT it has happened before with others only to find gap problems after it’s all put together. It’s mentioned in the Ford service manual but still can be overlooked.
Good luck!

[Dan Hatch]

Very informative thread about transmission rebuilding by Herm. Miss him on forums.
https://mtfca.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2114

[Steve King]

Mark, I copied the stand adapter from a drawing provided by Mack Jeffery Cole. It was simple and I used 1/4" plate. The design is nice because it offsets the weight due to the heavy flywheel and transmission when you get that far. The thread is engine stand adaptor plate.

[RajoRacer]

One problem with the full plate stand adapter is that it's near impossible to capture the center main bearing nut in the middle of the block to remove it or hold it to loosen.

[Steve King]

Steve, I'm not saying it's ideal but it is offset to 1 side. In the picture I can get a hold wrench in there. I could have helped myself by offsetting the adapter on the stand plate. I set the mains in another stand that bolts to the 4 exhaust clamp stud holes actually. I am using this stand adapter to make the engine vertical for magneto work.

[Steve King]

This is the stand I'm using for main clearance adjustment and valve work. Imagine the head off here the engine can be flopped back and forth so the deck or crankshaft is on top. The device in front swings up and bolts with 1 bolt in a head hole thread and has 8 spring loaded pins to hold the valves up while you put all 8 keepers in and adjust valves. You can look in the bottom of the crankcase which is on top, turn over engine until the cam lifter is on the heel cam and adjust the lash of that valve. The spring loaded pins holding the valves up allow the valves to open and close like normal and you don't have to stand on your head to see the cam heel.

[Steve King]

After a couple months work I started the rebuilt 25 Coupe engine last night. What started with complete magneto repairs ended up with a rebuilt engine, new Kevlar band linings, and replacement of transmission parts with good used that I had. I drove it lightly around the subdivision this morning. It shifts good. I had set up the mag field coil to magnets with a vertical engine and clearance of .032". It starts on mag. Wondering what people are using for break in procedures. I will be doing the usual head re-torque on this Z head a few times when it's cool.