Two things - first, it looks like you have it backwards, the inlet should be the clear side, so that you can see dirt builup. Second, is that the exhaust manifold a couple of inches away? I’d rather have the filter up on the engine, near the carb, than right there next to the exhaust manifold. And I’d insulate the fuel line in that area. No wonder cars of this era had vapor lock problems!
Its in right, theres an arrow to show flow direction. The inlet is on the clear side. What its next to is actually the water pump. Theres a couple of “arms” that bolt up to the engine.
My bigger problem right now is that I drained the oil and the first second or two of drainage was clear. Ive been running plain water in the cooling system so I’d say thats my overheating problem there, bad head gasket. Luckily with this engine theres no overhead cams or timing chains in the way of removing the head. I’d say it should be FAIRLY straightforward, but the exhaust manifolds are all rusty and that means snapped bolts to me. So we’ll see. I think the project needs to take the back seat in life for a little bit.
My mistake, I thought it was a photo looking at the side of the engine, not the top.
So water was draining out of the oil pan first? Then it sounds like your earlier concern about head gaskets was correct, unfortunately. Rockauto has a complete Fel-Pro gasket set (including head gaskets) for $95, would seem to be worth the extra $29 over the $66 head gasket set.
At some point, you will need a set of stands and a decent floor-jack…
fender, I have a thought about your over heating prob.
I agree that it prob. the cooling passages in the engine being clogged, but some things crossed my mind…
you mentioned, I think, that your return radiator hose felt a bit soft and felt as if it lacked pressure…
is it possible that your backseat heater is rusted up inside and clogged , and that that has restricted your water flow and caused the return flo to be weak, and has caused some cooling problems?
just a thought
Anything is possible at this point, but Id say theres certainly a problem outside of that possibility because there was some water in the oil stream when I drained it today. My father in law whos helping me some and was a mechanic for a long time said another possibility could be a cracked head or block. If somebody left only water in it over the years and it froze, that can do it. I extremely hope thats not the case.
Since your engine is all cast iron, there’s a fair chance neither the block nor the head are warped
Nevertheless, if you take the heads off, check for warpage with a straight endge
Use an oxyacetylene torch to carefully apply some heat to the exhaust manifolds, before you start loosening exhaust manifold bolts
oh that s not good about the water in the oil. hope fully its not cracked . like db said, they re pretty strong
Fill up the system with plane water, run it until it is warmed up with the radiator cap off. Pour in a can of alumaseal and leave it for a while. Then drain and refill with coolant. The alumaseal is pretty good at sealing cracks in cast iron.
One of the byproducts of combustion is water. If the engine was not up to operating temperature when you were running it, it is possible that the water you observed is from running the engine cold is that the water didn’t vaporize.
If, when you run the engine, the coolant level doesn’t go down, you may not have a problem.
That would be great @Triedaq . I idled it for about 4 or 5 minutes prior to the oil change today. I haven’t lost much coolant really, but I also don’t get to run it very long. Can’t really drive it far without brakes. That would be great news bc I’ve been dreading the possibility of a crack all day now. Only time will tell though. I’ll still probably tear it down tomorrow.
4 or 5 minutes would make very little water. Sorry.
My prior comment about Harbor Freight jackstands is to infer that HF jackstands are far better than no jackstands at all.
Who knows; the HF stands may be rolling out of the same factory that Sears, Mac, Matco, or any number of other stands roll out of with the only differences being paint schemes and stamps.
It was only a little water. When I first pulled the drain plug I saw it run clear for a second…I almost thought I wasn’t seeing it right, but before I knew it, it was oil. But at this point the only way to really know is to take apart the engine, so thats what I’ll do.
I seriously doubt that Harbor Fake jack stands comes of the same factory that makes them for Mac and Matco
Mac and Matco make professional level tools . . . well, they’re supposed to, anyways
If they stoop to that low level, that they’re using the same jack stands that Harbor Fake uses, I would be severely disappointed
That would be good for Harbor Fake, but bad for Mac and Matco
I discovered (by accident) some years ago that the Blue Point mechanic’s creeper sold to me by our local Snap-On dealer was apparently being produced in the same factory as the much, much cheaper ones being sold at the time by K-Mart and other discount stores. The only difference was the inked logo and the color of the vinyl on the headrest. The hidden “Made in Taiwan” and oddball manufacturer stamp is what led me to that conclusion after a caster broke off… 
If Snap-On has no qualms about this then I see no reason to think the others aren’t doing the same thing.
if you had things opened up for a few days or a couple weeks a lot of condensation could have formed in the engine
This is true. I did have the intake manifold off for several weeks. I tried undoing the exhaust manifolds today and was able to loosen about half, but several are in really hard places to get leverage or are on REALLY tight, and I dont want to break anything. I could remove the heads with the exhaust manifolds on, but theres a cross over pipe that goes from the driver side manifold to the passenger side, which then runs to the muffler. I cant get under the car without a jack. I also noticed one exhaust manifold bolt was missing. Sounds to me like somebody did these gaskets before, or tried to, etc. Who knows, maybe they did them and it still overheated and there was a cracked block or head and then they sold it to me. I put a few trade offers out towards some motorcycles locally but who knows what will happen. Really losing steam on the project. I love the car, but some days its overwhelming.
I’m glad you mentioned that though Wes. Since putting the intake back on and having several heavy rains, I found it does leak somewhere and leaves water right next to the intake and head joining. There’s no question water likely could’ve gotten in there without me realizing it.
yes with the way metal gives and takes heat so easily condensation alone could be source if the atmosphere had access during a few day night cycles.