Technical Cadillac flathead horsepower tricks

Subscribing! I saw one of these engines in an auction recently, and I'm now kicking myself for not bidding, as I just got a '39 Poncho that I think this would look good in.

 

Havi, I agree- a Flatcad would be awesome in a '39 Poncho. Let me know if I can be of any help, if you decide to go that route.

 

I think you need to buy Rich Fox's Vega and see if that thing will run with the Salt Cat Jag's straight 8 turbo Buick. Bidding starts at 190

 

HaHa-NO!

I've been called nuts and crazy all my life!

...no way am I crazy enough to try tangling with the Salt Cat guys!

 

I am trying desperately to find out what these engines are worth, as I have an opportunity to buy an unused one with the trans from an old farmer but he won't sell until he knows what it's worth. I can't find any for sale anywhere. I offered the guy $500-$700 but he's still researching. Can anyone help?

 

Im paying 250 for one with a trans. Anyone need a trans for theres?


I want a blower intake....who do I contact?

 

RADUSTIN,

I talked to Collin today, and he's going to try and get a couple out soon. The prototype is on the car and running.

I hope to have one soon!

 

Still kickin' myself, lol.

Been doing some casual looking for one, but been busy trying to get caught up on some other projects first.

Anyway, can anyone provide a dimension off of one of these engines? I'm looking at overall width from the outer edge (lower) of the head to the other head. And maybe overall length from fan to bellhousing face. Or if anyone can tell me if the '39 Pontiac coupe engine bay is the same size as the Cadillac and Lasalle?

 

Haha! Sometimes I can't sleep, because these crazy thoughts get in my head!

Imagine dual 4-71, or better yet, 3-71 blowers, on a cast intake for these Caddy Flatheads!

Stay tuned.......

 

Im going to be bringing my engine to the machine shop soon...so as long as it doesn't have cracks that means Im ready to order parts soon.

I want to get the Eliminator 425 cam as I've found other flattie guys get great results from them, but my engine will be street driven so will this be too much? the ford guys seem to think so.... either way who do I contact to purchase one?

Also, are the cast timing covers and solid lifters still available?

 

www.flatcaddy.com

 

so whats the scoop on the solid lifters. I ripped my engine apart this weekend so I actually know exactly what Im looking at.

are the solid proven yet? or still some what a prototype?

do they just fit right in the lifter bodies...as in drop out the hydros and pop in the solids? does oil flow need to be adjusted?

I have a stuck bent valve...I haven't showed it to the machine shop yet but Im going to assume I need another one. Where is a good place to start looking for one?

I used a OHV spring compressor, popped the springs out in less than 15 minutes. Worked super awesome, I was nervous reading about how others had difficultly.

my pistons and bores look great. Valves are so-so. Cam looks good as do all the bearings. I go the whole engine apart no problem, no stuck bolts, just that one stuck/bent valve. Last thing I did was remove the 8 long studs on the top and ofcource broke the last one off in the block. It can be removed easy enough though.

as long as I dont have any cracks I thinking I'll be good to go.

oh yeah Buddy, my trans in a side shifter not a top. So I was wrong anyways.

 

my pics of the tear down if anyone is interested.

http://s1141.photobucket.com/albums/n589/flatcadmodelA/

 

Hello,I doing much the same with my 37 Cadillac ,have Cyclone heads and dual carbs Question what have you done about dual exhaust? Help if you can thanks Swifty

 

swiftyaloha, read the entire thread. Options are discussed,using stock exhaust. Custom exhaust, like Zibo used, are also in the thread. Zibo's exhaust is bad-assed!

Read the Flatcad racing thread for even more options.

Good luck, and post your build, please!

 

here is one

 

bct, is that yours? Any details?

 

thats beautiful. what manifold and blower is that?

 

Colin finished his 4-71 intake and blower drive system, and it's installed on Dennis's car. Now that is the perfect Flatcad engine!

 

yeah it's cool as hell. I been talking with Dennis quite a bit. Those guys are awesome.

 

I got to looking at the dizzy tower while measuring everything to convert my late model computer controlled HEI to the caddy, and I'm going to shorten everything up 4". Seems easy enough. I chucked the whole stock dizzy tower whatcha-call-it in the lathe and started cutting. I'll get my water jet guy to cut a new flange for the top that I'll weld on once everything is cut down.

Only thing is, the new HEI I'm using has a small shaft dia by about .020" and the main body is too small by about .040 IIRC. So some sleeves will need to be cut to make up the difference. Easy enough. Should have pics by wednesday or so when I have time to work on this again.

 

RADustin, the stock Chevy HEI's I did, didn't require bushings, or welding.

Small cap with remore coil, and large cap with coil.

 

I shortened my dizzy housing and used the HEI setup by 38flattie.
I dont recall all the deal with shortening as it goes back a couple of years now,
All I really recall was that is was not that difficult but did need machine shop accuracy and a bit of fooling around with a bushing.
Not all that much to be seen in the pic's but here they anyway.

 

the more modern gm dizzy is different I suppose. I haven't had much time to fool with it like I thought I would. I did get a bunch of machining done because I changed how to mount everything for a little cleaner look.

 

Colin finished the first run of 4-71 blower manifolds, and they are nice!

He also made a few tri-power setups, although he wasn't thrilled with some of the casting, and welded them up.

I'm hoping Santa Claus sees this, and brings me a 4-71 intake!

 

Ok guys, we can use a little help here! Woody at Design Dreams is going to do some computer simulation port flow work for us.

We have been unable to get scans of the port molds we have. We need to get them scanned into a usable 3-D CAD file.

If you can help us, please PM me!

Thanks in advance!

 

The crank being offset is somewhat of a misnomer. Actually the crank is in the center of the engine and the cam if offset to the drivers side because the centerline of the cylinders are offset 3/16" clockwise from the crank centerline. This allows more degrees of piston travel on the downstroke by around 2 degrees (would help breathing on the intake stroke). It also minimizes piston rock as the rod is past center at the max piston travel. I believe most mfgs. today offset the piston pins to accomplish the same results. Called the Desaxe Principal Henry decided he wanted this designed in his motors. Her's a CAD drawing I made showing degrees of travel on the left bank.

Jim

 

Thanks Jim- that's great info!


So, what do you guys think of a front mount dizzy?

Collin and I are working on a cast, front mount, dizzy timing cover, based on Fiftyv8's cast cover (pictured below).I've talked to Fiftyv8, and he has no issue with us doing it.

The mount will allow for the use of the Ford front mount dizzy, or Flatheads Forever (Norm Frick) angle drive, also pictured below.

 

Collin only has a couple of the 4-71 blower intakes, and a couple of the 3x2 tops left.

If you are ever going to want one, you better get it now!

 

How do you contact Collin? Interested in a 3x2