Backtracking?

Somehow I seem to be back to square one with what I am referring to as the never ending Oliver.  With the first motor we started out with the head off and found a  couple of cracked pistons.  With this engine I was trying to fire it but was having some trouble with it not firing and backfiring.  Upon removal of the valve cover I found the exhaust valve for number one cylinder was stuck in the open position. 

No matter how I tried I could not get this picture to come out well but if you look carefully in the circled area you can see that the lifter is all the way down and the valve is still up.  I proceeded to carefully remove the head but not without creasing the head gasket in two places.

With the anti-freeze drained down I also decided to change the water pump that has been dripping ever so slightly.  The water pump that was on this engine has been sitting for probably fifteen years with nothing in it so the seals are probably all dried out.  Luckily the engine I pulled had a good non leaking water pump that I could just switch over. 

As of now I am waiting on parts but that doesn't stop me from making small adjustments like adding a better drain port for the anti-freeze.  The original drain points straight onto the frame and when trying to catch and reuse your anti-freeze it makes it difficult and not to mention messy.  The simplest way to remedy this is about six dollars in black iron fittings and approximately ten minutes. 

 It is nothing super amazing but to save on mess and save some money by saving anti-freeze it was an awesome investment. 

And for today's final bit I would like to say that I ordered my parts for the Oliver from a place that Grampa has ordered many parts from.  Zimmerman Oliver parts is out of Pennsylvania and the gentleman that runs it is extremely helpful and knowledgeable.  With that said I have a new head gasket and a carburetor kit coming in the mail this week. Someday this project will end with a nice running machine but until then stay tuned and check back next time!