1940 Oldsmobile Barn-Find Restoration by Erndog

3 minute(s) of a 39 minute read

 Well, the stars lined up and we finally got the engine put back in the car. It was a learning experience to be sure. I discovered that we forgot to mark the flywheel when we removed it, so setting it up so that the timing mark was right was a real challange. We finally figured it out and got the flywheel installed. The bolts went in a whole lot easier then, too, since the spacing is microscopically different. Of course, when we went to install the bell housing we discovered that it had to go on before the flywheel, which we had already torqued. It is not as easy to install a flywheel when the bell housing is on already. Then we proceeded to install the clutch. I used the same place to reline the clutch as the one that helped with the brakes. They had the right facing in stock, removed the old, sandblasted the metal and clear-coated it, installed new facing all for $50 with tax. God, I love them! We shortly discovered that the clutch cannot be installed with the bell housing cinched up. Eventually we got past that hurdle. Then we had to get the transmission installed. It took a little inginuity to disengage the clutch to free things up enough to get into the pilot bearing. Finally, we were ready to install the motor. We carefully babied her into place and after some re-education with motor mounts and the oddities of Olds motor mounts, we got her in.

Next we need to start hooking things up and get the new wiring harness in. Also need to go through the fuel system, tank to front. Making progress little by little.