We're working with a seven...
We're working with a seven main bearing 200ci six that was assembled in December 1964, right before Gary's Mustang was bucked and assembled. Sitting around for more than 30 years didn't do Gary's engine much good. Despite protected storage, an engine sitting idle for many years isn't a good thing. Moisture and debris collect inside, causing corrosion issues, even in a dry garage.
To get his six-cylinder rebuilt, Gary needed to get it from west Michigan to JGM Performance Engineering in Southern California. Scott Halseth at the Michigan National Parts Depot store offered to place the engine, transmission, and rear end on one of their trucks for the journey. Our thanks to NPD for helping with the transport. NPD also supplied most of the engine components, including rebuild parts from Federal Mogul Speed-Pro and Fel-Pro.
When we arrived at JGM, we didn't know what to expect from an engine that hadn't run in 30 years. Even though it only had 35,000 miles on it, we weren't sure how it was treated when it ran prior to 1978 and we didn't know how it had been affected by three decades of storage. In this segment, we're going to tear down Gary's six and determine needs, plus perform cylinder head work to get it into the 21st century. Next month, we're going to assemble Gary's engine using JGM's best assembly technique.
 Gary's six has its original...  Gary's six has its original Carter fuel pump. We're going to carefully remove and check with Mustangs Etc. about both a kit and rebuild. It also needs a new filter can. |  Although we're confident the...  Although we're confident the engine castings are original, it was great fun to check them. Here's the cylinder head casting date of "4L17," indicating November 17, 1964, at the Cleveland foundry. Gary's head and block were cast at Cleveland and assembled at the Dearborn Engine Plant, where Ford also built FE big-blocks. |  Although Gary's engine has...  Although Gary's engine has just 35,000 miles, it was not well cared for. Sludge levels were high, indicating a lot of stop-and-go driving coupled with infrequent oil changes. Ford sixes with hydraulic lifters had both adjustable and non-adjustable rocker arms depending on when they were produced. This engine has adjustables. Non-adjustable rocker arms for the 200ci six are hard to come by. Adjustable rocker arms utilize a cup-style pushrod for the adjustor where non-adjustable pushrods have rounded tips on both ends. |
 Cylinder head removal demonstrates...  Cylinder head removal demonstrates what time can do to a stored engine. Even under the driest of circumstances, rust consumes an engine. These engines had steel head gaskets to begin with. This one will get a Fel-Pro composition head gasket for better sealing. |  Here, Jim Grubbs removes Gary's...  Here, Jim Grubbs removes Gary's Autolite Loadomatic single-point distributor. Jeff Lattimer at JGM will rebuild the distributor and get it like new along with dialing in the tuning. Watch for this rebuild in a future article. |  |