1952 Allis CA ignition

I'm in the final stages of a complete overhaul on my dad's 1952 CA that we used on our small vegetable farm during the 70's and 80's. (6V positive ground) It was a small miracle to find this tractor 5 years ago. Long story. I have completely overhauled everything on this tractor with the exception of the transmission. Having trouble getting it started for the first time. I have spark on all cylinders and have put gas in each cylinder manually and tried to start it. Nothing. This tractor was having electrical issues before the teardown. (My father in law put a 12V charger on a 6V system) So far I have replaced the starter, new battery, new wiring, new ignition switch. I have a new voltage regulator, distributor cap, coil, rotor, condenser (not sure where the condensor is located??). Also putting a new wire on from coil to distributor. I have rebuilt the carberator, but still not certain I'm getting fuel to the cylinders. So I dosed each cylinder with gas and I don't think that made a difference. I will try again on a new battery charge. I'm 99 percent sure the timing is right with #1 TDC and lined up with #1 plug wire. I haven't checked compression yet but the engine has all new sleeves, pistons, and rings. I'll be checking that this weekend. Not sure what else to look at. I have the gaskets in place on the manifold but have not put gasket sealer on them yet because I have to pull it off for paint. New manifold so no cracks. Generator was rebuilt before the 12V charger snafoo. The engine turns over nice so I know the starter is fine. Not sure what to do next. I've read a lot of other threads and it seems like I have it all covered. Also, valve clearances were set per book. Done rambling. Help if you can.
 
Make sure #1 piston is on compression/power stroke when it fires. Leave the valve cover off, roll engine with a crank and use a small wire to follow piston travel, both valves should be closed on the up stroke when the distributor gets to the #1 plug wire. I start all carburetor screws backed out 2 turns and fine tune from there. Double check the gasket between the carb and the manifold, you can wrap it with electrical tape just for good measure. Pull the choke out all the way and hit the starter, if it doesn't attempt to fire, pull a plug and see if it's wet, that will tell you whether you have a fuel or electrical problem. When I rebuild an engine like that, I like to pull them with another tractor, slowly with the fuel and key shut off, transmission in high gear and let the engine work without the heat of combustion at first, also check oil pressure.
 
Replaced coil, condenser, and points. Set points gap to .020. Great spark. Still no fire. I will double-check the timing this weekend, but I timed it when I could see the #1 piston at TDC prior to installing the head. Also plan to dose each cylinder with more gas. I have it choked all the way. Also have the carb at 1.5 turns out so will increase another 1/2 turn. May have to change my handle to Head Scratcher.
 
The timing marks line up once every 360 degree rotation, however the valves are only in the correct position to match the spark every other rotation. You need to confirm you have the distributor lined up correctly with the compression stroke. Both valves on #1 cylinder will be loose if you move the rockers by hand. The valve rockers on #4 cylinder will be tight at the same time.

As a quick check, you can swap #1 and #4 plug wires in the distributor cap and swap #3 and #2 plug wire in the distributor cap. That changes the #1 firing to the second TDC stroke. If it fires after doing that, you lined the timing up on the wrong TDC stroke (you were on #1 exhaust stroke, not compression).

This post was edited by Jim.ME on 06/25/2022 at 03:43 am.
 
Thanks for your help. I figured out that I was on the exhaust stroke. The engine runs now. The bad news is there is a significant amount of antifreeze getting into the block. There was a bad freeze plug in the head but that is fixed now thanks to some jb weld in the bottom of the freeze plug.

So now to diagnose why antifreeze is getting in the oil. The cylinder head and block have been machined. The head gasket was installed dry. The head bolts were torqued to spec and in the sequence recommended in the manual. Should I try to put the head gasket on with some type of sealant? Not sure what to do next. The oil pressure gauge was not showing pressure so I was diagnosing that when I found the antifreeze problem.

I had the block cleaned up and there was a small crack between the cylinders....which is common I'm told. New sleeves and rubber o-rings.

Suggestions?
 
Did you re-torque the head bolts after you had run it some?? You need to do that but it you didn't an ran it much you may need a new head gasket. Or the sleeve seals maybe leaking. Way to check sleeve seals is to drain the oil and drop the pan and lay a piece of cardboard under it and let it sit a day or so and look for antifreeze in spots on the cardboard
 
You indicated that the block was machined. Did you check sleeve protrusion when installing the sleeves? If they did not cut the counterbores the sleeves may be holding the head off the block enough that the head gasket cannot seal.
 
I will check the sleeves for leaks with cardboard as you indicated. Now that I think about it I only had machining done on the head. Block and head were both magma fluxed. I will also re torque the head. When I put new sleeves in I used muphys oil soap on the sleeve and o-ring. Seemed like it went well.
 
Sleeve seal maybe okay then but me I use Dawn dish soap on the sleeve o-rings. Don't know how a tire type soap would or would not work on them but I do know the stuff from back when I had a job at a tire shop
 
Those freeze plugs are a common entry point for coolant to get into the engine oil. Replace all the freeze plugs in the head. Why risk a motor on JB Weld, where a simple replacement can be done.
 
Also need to mention that there was no white smoke at all.....which makes me think it is not the head gasket. Now that I've calmed down I think I can repair a sleeve problem without taking the engine off the tractor again. It's a good thing this tractor is family.
 

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