Charlie Adams' Journal

Just completed replacing the head this evening, and so far I'm pleased. This work was needed because my original head developed a crack on the number 3 combustion chamber. Thanks to John Tokar for supplying me with the correct head for my 1622 engine. First indications are that the rebuilt head has turned out well. The car started on the fourth turnover. I quickly realized I had not replaced the temperature sensor--fortunately I had tape over the hole in the head so little coolant was lost. I also had to tighten the water outlet bolts to stop a coolant seep. There is a slight gasoline seep from the banjo union of the rear carb--I'll tighten that tomorrow. Took the car out for a short drive and I am pleased with the performance. It seems to have at least as much power as before and perhaps a little more. Oil pressure is 50 lbs at idle and 60 lbs running with water temperature holding at 160 degrees. Fairly smooth idle at 1000 rpm which I will turn down to 800 rpm. I also plan to add extensions on the fuel overflow tubes and do a compression test tomorrow. If the weather holds up, I'll also replace the broken speedometer cable and perform the test needed for recalibrating my speedometer.