60HT 430 Rebuild Photos -- Here we go !!

[bcomo]

Well -- I drove the girl down to Janke's machine shop, and left her in very good hands to get her complete rebuild.

The only thing that will be left of her old self will be the block, crank, and head cores. Everything else will be new.

They'll also do a complete engine balance and drop the tranny for me to take to the tranny guy next week.

Here are some photos. Janke's is a highly regarded machine shop in business for 30 years, and usually does high end dragster, oval track, and other special engine jobs. He said that the guys in the shop were happy to be working on the T-Bird -- they appreciate the old girl.


Inside the shop: (Clean and neat -- I like that !!!!)




Here's one of their engines:




Here she is after they pulled her engine out --




Now this really scared the heck out of me --




Here is the 430 monster minus the extra stuff. BIG !!!!




A shot of the back shows how really WIDE the 430 is.




More photos will come after the teardown.

[tbird430]

That looks like the original tranny torque convertor as well. Glad to see it "is finally happening" for u, looks like a great shop too....

[fomoco59]

That's always so exciting !

[bcomo]

60 HT 430 Rebuild -- More Photos

Yes -- it's the first engine I've ever had rebuilt.

The engine was torn down today, and I finally got to check the casting numbers. She is in fact a 60 Ford 430 cast in Feb 60. The data plate shows a production date of June 1960, so this could be her original engine -- I'd like to think so anyway. Everything inside of the engine, rods, pistons, was still original Fomoco.

She had some bad main bearings, BUT the crank is OK. One of the rings was cracked and fell out when they took out the pistons. Can you believe that.

There was absolutely no sludge, or crud. It was so clean that we wondered why those main bearings went bad.

This is what you call a basket full. Parts waiting for a first bath.




There were no head thermostats. But notice the brass diverters. I told them to leave them alone.




The crank still has the hand written assembly code number, and also stamped on the crank.
Well -- at least I know that the oil screen was clean.




Engines waiting for pick-up in the assembly room.

I want one!




More photos as it progresses.

[Alexander]

You have chrome valve covers on your 430? I have never seen that before.

[bcomo]

Yes.

I have a chrome dress-up kit for the 430 that never existed.

I also have all of the stock stuff to go back if I want to later on. But, I like the chrome.

[tbird430]

I'm glad to hear that is the original block , when u told me it was red with black paint sprayed over it, I was thinking it was a 1961-63 Lincoln Cont. replacement 430cid!!!

On a side note, the brass diverters may need to be removed before they acid bath ur block...? I might be wrong, but I would also like to save u ALL the money I can!! What do u other 430cid T-Birders think?

[Dan Leavens]

Bart the pictures are excellent and it looks like your 60 is in very good hands going through this process. It must be great to know that much originality of the parts are still in the old girl after all these years. Did they do a compression test on the motor?? Keep the pictures coming.

Dano Calgary,Alberta Canada

[bcomo]

Are you thinking that maybe the acid bath will eat the brass?

They are pressed into the block, so if I remove them, they can't be reused again. Lincoln Land has them for $115 a pair -- Geez.

I would appreciate any input.

[bcomo]

Dan:

No, a compression test wasn't done.

The rebuild was for two reasons:

First, I began to notice very sllght bearing noise on startup untill it warmed up -- after the bearing(s) became warm, no more noise. I knew that the old girl was asking for help.

Second, she always had one lifter that imtermittently had problems staying pumped -- ticking off and on.

Other than that, she ran perfectly, with no miss or blowby, and after teardown the combustion chambers looked clean with just traces of carbon.

The one unexpected item was that one of the rings was cracked, and 1/2 of it fell out when they removed that piston. That would have been a catastrophy if pieces had dislodged in the cylinder wall.

What finally made my decision to go ahead with this was the reputaton of the shop, and the price of $3,000. That included removing the engine and transmission, complete rebuild using a Master kit; including all machine shop work, balancing, and reinstalling the complete engine and transmission.

The Master kit alone from Kanter for the 430 would have cost me $1,550 plus pulling the engine myself, the machine shop work, then reinstall the engine and transmission myself.

While the transmission is out, I'm taking it to a shop this week that has worked on COM's for a rebuild, including the torque converter. I have a price of $800 to $1,000 for that.

[Dan Leavens]

Bart the price sounds very reasonable @ $3K and it was great to find out about the ring now and not later $$$. It sounds like this shop is exactly the type of shop that will take extra care on this project. It's not often that these guys get to work on a classic T-Bird. I had the same thing happen when I had mine in last winter and tried a reputable " muscle car " shop who had a good name. They looked at my 58 and the first word out of one of the guys was my father used to have one of these, that he used to work on. Pricless!!!

Dano Calgary,Alberta Canada

[KULTULZ]

I have a chrome dress-up kit for the 430 that never existed.

I also have all of the stock stuff to go back if I want to later on. But, I like the chrome.

Chromed rocker covers were available. How many (and which) other parts are chromed?







All of the above is not correct, but shows how one can be dressed with brite parts.

[bcomo]

I have the chrome items that I believe were the typical items for the 352 dress kit. Valve Covers, Air Cleaner, Oil Breather Cap, Surge Tank Cap, and Regulator Cover. It's tough to look at it all torn down now during the rebuild.

[KULTULZ]

I have the chrome items that I believe were the typical items for the 352 dress kit. Valve Covers, Air Cleaner, Oil Breather Cap, Surge Tank Cap, and Regulator Cover. It's tough to look at it all torn down now during the rebuild.

Shown is the FE Dress-Up Kit (1964). MEL rocker covers are unique. Your complete air cleaner housing is chromed (looks nice) whereas the FORD kit had an open element air cleaner.

I have seen photos of a similiar setup and would like to know its' origion. Plating is an expensive venture these days.

The engine looks good...!!!

[bcomo]

Ahhh -- to get those prices again.