Technical At my wits end with 8ba flathead

definitely watching this thread. before i bought my '57 ford with a y block, i wanted a flathead, and before that i wanted a stovebolt in a 30s chevy (car is still there, not much left though). i had some but limited knowledge of engines thanks to my dad letting me tinker on things, aswell as answering all my questions. however, my car is several years older than anything he owned, and its a ford, compared to his old chevies and internationals. i had to learn a lot about the quirks of this motor before i could even get it to turn over and try to run, then even longer for me to get it to idle down where it should. brake lines, etc all needed replaced, which my dad guided me, but let me do 90% of it.

a mentor changes everything. i would have given up before i even got to the brakes if i didnt have my dads help.

im still only 18, youve got this, but you might not make your deadline. itll be fixed when its fixed, as rushed work is shoddy work.

 

Regular. I've gone through about 3 tanks so far and it hasn't gone anywhere

 

As far as I know, it's never been rebuilt. Paperwork shows the 65,xxx miles are original

 

Plug wires are fine, no wobble in the dist shaft at all.

 

I'm not sure, could be. Seller left a electric replacement pump in the trunk when I bought it, but it's 12v so pretty much useless to me

 

Yeah I do, but it runs the same with the filter off.

 

Yeah, there used to be an old man who had a 1934 Ford sedan he did a total frame off restoration on, I used to hang out at his shop all the time but he sold the building. There's also a motorcycle shop I hang out at, the owners a family friend and he has a couple old Austin Healeys he's working on at the moment. I do have the shop manual and I've been trying to deduce what the problem is from that, but as far as I can tell its a bunch of things

 

Yeah I checked that vacuum pod, nothing wrong with it

 

He lied to me a lot as well. He told me he drove the car regularly and never had any problems with in, and then after I bought it and told him about the issues he admitted he only drove it 4 times in the 13 years he had it, and 2 of those times he ended up having to push it home. It was trailered to a home Depot parking lot and then my dad drove it to my house

 

Wow that one looks brand new. I bet that cost a lot. If that's dark green, than that's the same color that my car was originally. You can still see it in the trunk lid. Sometime in the 70's it was painted red (fender skirts are left over from that) and all the windows were given red tint. Owner who had it before the guy I bought it from put custom door cards (literal cardboard with vinyl over it, unfortunately very water damaged, a lot of the window rubber is dried out) and custom upholstery, as well as spray painting the car matte black. Previous owner peeled the side window tint off but left the back one. I put the skirts back on. The entire rear wheel arches are Bondo, but they did a good job, except for a huge crack right under the fuel filler. Radio's a dummy also, heater core is missing as well,

 

Yeah I know, but it is a little dispiriting when you've been trying to solve the same issue for 3 years

 

heater core missing isnt necessarily from hodge podging, many many cars never came with heaters. dummy radio could be someone swapping it out with something under the dash, etc

wait, this car hasnt been converted to 12 volts? could be running a 12 volt coil and resistor setup on 6 volts, could make some of the issues you have (weak spark can cause flooding). no need to convert it, but keeping everything 6v will help.

65,000 is quite a bit for a flathead if it hasnt been rebuilt.

 

I agree with previous posters. Test compression and test fuel pressure as two of your next steps.
Don't get me started on how hard it is to find a decent pump these days. Even big name brands are garbage right now....

 

Don't give up! We've all had a ride on that merry-go-round at one time or another. My guess is a lot of broken piston rings and sticking valves; varnish on the valve stems from old gas will do that even if you've had three tanks full through the engine. Sounds like time for a full rebuild of the flattie; 65k IS a lot of miles if they don't get proper maintenance while they're piling up (and it sure sounds like the PO neglected it). Fuel pump diaphragms don't last too long with our ethanol crap gasoline nor do carburetor gaskets. Stick with it; you're not likely to find another one like it if you let it go.

 

also, dont let people poke you for having a more door, they are the exact same as a two door but more usable.


plus, they're cheaper.

 

You need to find out the health of the engine you cant tune out low compression.. These cars were never fast. Stock 100 hp in a 3200 lb car 0 to 60 in 19 seconds and a quarter in a little over 21 seconds 10 years later every one thought a 60 Falcon was slow but their numbers were faster.

 

It has a factory heater. The core was removed because it was leaking. I don't plan on converting it to 12 volt, but that coil idea could be correct. I have the original coil that's perfectly functional, it was only replaced by accident.

And I actually do have a compression tester, I forgot I had it ha ha

 

I was guessing piston rings too. The gaskets on the carb are brand new, I just replaced them

 

65,000 miles sound used up to me.

 

Most/all of what everyone has mentioned is true and plausible. But you need a buddy/mentor to help you get over the hurdle. The Early Ford V8 Club guys are your best bet. Yes, some are still strict resto by the book guys but most have both a resto and a hot rod in the garage. Membership is cheap and includes a member directory that you can look through and find people near you that know these cars and can possibly help or point you to someone who can. I am the current president of RG#24 in GA but give one of these local to you guys below a call. Be prepared they love to talk cars!

Listings of regional groups of the Early Ford V8 club advisors in PA.

Central Delaware Valley (RG# 17)
Contact: Joe Fite
EM: fitey@verizon.net
PH: 215-675-1338

Hawk Mountain (RG# 68)
Contact: Rick Slegel
EM: hawkmtv8@aol.com
PH: 610-926-3061

Greater Pittsburgh (RG# 48)
Contact: David Collette
EM: collettesr@aol.com
PH: 724-368-8226

 

The apropos phrase very well may be 'clapped out.'

Progress!

Locate it => more progress.

Removing one spark plug would yield more progress.

Getting the tester threaded in ...

Posting that result ...

 

I've glanced at the other threads. Do you have a license?

 

Yep

 

Burning oil, popping., no power, little or no oil pressure, low compression, plug fouling, hard start, all indicative of needing a complete overhaul. When the books say "major tune-up" it generally means overhaul or rebuild. These things are so subject to block cracking (Its so common that folks have given cracks a Ford part number). Personally, I suspect you got took.
(check for plugged exhaust system)

 

Do you want to share what the July date is about?

Do you have a 'daily driver'?

 

X2 … agree totally. Wynnes motor honey has screwed many unsuspecting buyers, a buddy bought a car one time, after 100 miles the rear mend howled like a wolf..when we pulled the cover we found it had been crammed full of bananas, it stayed quiet long enough to sell that caddy.
Flathead V8 a poor choice to cut your teeth on.. I bet your wallet ain’t fat enough to rebuild it.

 

Compare your vacuum readings to this chart. Just one I snagged off Google.
Well heck, that didn’t post up very well! Will find another.

 

Follow this link:
http://www.wallaceracing.com/vacuum-guage-reading.htm

 

Sounds like a late 1950’s dilemma…just when lots of junkyards were receiving SBC engines to help solve the dilemma!

 

I've gone through the whole thread and can not find any mention of the coil. The first thing I would do is to try a known good coil.