1947 Shorthood

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Hey all! Decided to document my build, as I have found so much good information on this site, mostly from build threads, and sometimes all it takes is some random picture to solve whatever I'm working on. In any case, lets get started!I picked up this '47 shorthood up in Northern Illinois, and ended up driving back home on back roads to Eastern Kentucky like this:

Needless to say it took a while.... I know those wheels / tires aren't exactly made for high speed, but for the record they did just fine at 50mph for the ~400 miles I had to drive. In any case, I got it running up in Chicago, all it took was cleaning the main jet, and with a separate fuel bottle it started right up with only a few cranks! After I freed and cleaned the brush holders, I was able to weld no problem, so all that gave me the confidence to do a full rebuild. I'm really looking forward to prettying this machine up, going through it, and feeling confident about it working for a very long time. The machine is a hand crank only (no spot for a starter), the small exciter coils, and the chain drive adjuster. I saw on MotoMarks build that he was able to put a rheostat and remote on his machine that had small exciter coils, and I'll likely be trying to do the same, assuming it worked out okay for him. Now for the photo dump!

Last edited by coolbreeze; 4 Hours Ago at 11:44 PM.
Reply:A few photos to give a general overview:


The disassembly begins! I've never taken anything like this apart before, so it's a fun learning experience. It's nice that it's not very fragile... I used this setup to pop the cover free, and soon noticed that you have to take off 'exciter generator' in order for the cover to come off.

The motor honestly looked pretty good. Lots of corrosion in the coolant galleys, but from what I've read, you can run a white vinegar solution in the motor for a few hours, and once it's clean, neutralize it with a baking soda solution, then you're good to run coolant again. I used 5% white vinegar to clean the radiator already and it did quite a number. I'm not sure it got everything, but it definitely helped. I am happy about that, as the radiator looks to be original.

This leftover styrofoam is kinda nice for organizing parts hehe.

The last thing I got to do yesterday was pull the oil pan, and am glad I did. Lots of sludge on the oil filter screen and in the pan itself. I don't think I've ever actually seen true sludge before to be honest. Pretty cool. I've only rebuilt my toyota 22re in the truck pictured above, so working on this motor is really cool. Tomorrow we're floating the red river, but I hope to organize everything and clean all the parts I've taken off, and then likely borrow an engine hoist on saturday to pull the motor and armature. Stoked! My full gasket kit came in the mail from BWparts, and it looks pretty complete, though the 'no leak' rear seals are calling my name, as I am unfamiliar with these type of rope seals, so my confidence in a good installation is pretty low. They seem like cheap insurance for me, despite their price tag.Last edited by coolbreeze; 3 Hours Ago at 12:02 AM.