All Small Six Ford 144 Rebuild – Piston Installation & Machine Shop Process

[JoeCrozier]

Hey everyone,

I’ve posted before about this Ford 144 I got for free—literally found it lying in the dirt. It was in rough shape, with water in the cylinders and all, but I figured since it was free, I’d just clean it up, hone it with a drill, and reuse the old pistons to keep it cheap.

Well… I got attached. Now I want to do it right.

My plan is to take it to a machine shop to have it overbored and honed, then order a set of new pistons from Egge (seems like the only place that still sells 144 pistons). My main questions are:

1. When I get the new pistons, is installing them onto the connecting rods something I can do at home with basic tools? Or is this something I should have the machine shop handle?
2. If the machine shop does it, do I typically just leave the whole engine with them from when they bore it until the install?
3. Do machine shops usually order the pistons themselves, or do I bring them the ones I ordered?
4. What’s the usual process for this kind of job?

Appreciate any advice!

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, tell the machine shop that you want to buy new Egge pistons. Ask them what size you should order. Decide if you want the the parts balanced. Let the machinist measure the crank journals and rods and decide if the crank needs to be ground undersize, and if the rod ends need to be resized. Then you will know what bearings to order. The piston pin is a press fit. I forget how the pin is pressed out after the old piston is broken off, but the rod ends is heated and the piston is installed by pushing the pin in the hot rod end, and stays in place when the rod cools. If you decide to spend the money and balance the engine, the machinist will weigh each part and equalize the weights. They will want to balance the crank with the flywheel and harmonic balancer. Good luck