Strange i didn't see this thread before! The tank belongs to Swedish Erik Hansson, running Scandinavien Street Rods in LA. The last HP numbers on the blown flathead, was over 600...! A friend of mine are actually going so visit him in a couple of weeks, painting a Modell A LSR car Flat Ernie, how is the French comeing along? ............................... Taildragger&fenderless
Bert Griffins Granddaughter here: -Street legal with plates kinda hard to drive with roll bars though -well over 300 hp -been running at bonneville since 04' (4-banger before this) At 80 years old he is still building and racing and that is amazing if any of us will be able to do that lol Right now we are building a 32' ford for myself with an identical engine as his 518. He is an amazing person to talk to not just about cars but he does know he fair share about them.
I have a question about "real world" driving a flathead powered car. I own a nice '50 Ford. It has the stock engine, and it's been rebuilt and runs pretty well. Starts everytime, doesn't get hot...... some carb problems, but I think I solved them. Anyway, the question is this........ I want to drive this car as a driver. I mean daily, and normally. I want to an underdash a/c and a 5 speed in it and enjoy it. Am I dreaming? EVERYONE I talk to tells me to pull that engine and put a ____________. Fill in the blank. SBF, SBC, Y-Block whatever. I don't want to race the car at the track, I have a race car. I don't want to pull a trailer, I have a pickup. I would really like to keep the flathead, but it's got to go down the road with the air on and a smile on my fat face. Any advice from the guys who really drive these cars? Thanks. Elmo
I think the good people that run this board can chime in on daily driver use. I am finally buttoning up mine and it will be in what I would consider a daily driver. I will be running power steering and ac with an electric fan. (power steering pump where the stock fan goes, see the March serpentine pulley setup. Just google "march flathead") One must understand that a 239 is roughly 4.0 liters. In 1990, a stock Jeep came with a 4.0 6 cylinder and was putting out roughly 170-180 hp. It's not that hard to get the same numbers with a flathead and still maintain good idle characteristics and driveability. You already attest that it starts easy and doesn't overheat. I also read from old articles that overdrive flatheads from the 40's and 50's were getting 20 mpg so, no matter how old the design, I personally think it would be a good choice for a daily driver if it isn't giving you issues now. Do it!
It's not. The block is still in the crate. Life has gotten in the way. Soon, hopefully (but I've said that before).
One of my uncles had a 53 Mainline w/od trans, I don't remember him having dual pipes, the flatty was stock as at the time it was a late model car, however he liked to drive it on the redline, said it would do 110 indicated in 2nd over, but didn't want to pull more than that in third. He got a black 57 Merc 2dr HT after that, had a 312 and push button trans. Same uncle had a 49 1/2 ton w/flattie and a 60 short box and cab high cap, it was red, we took it deer hunting a few times, pretty long road trips, 3 guys dad uncle and me in the middle cruised it @ 55/60 old truck was happy. A modern trans is the best and cheapest upgrade for just about any vintage vehicle.
folks did it everyday for a long time, and with a few modern touches should last a lot longer than they did back in the day. Carry a few spares that arent on the parts store shelves (fuel pump, points/condensor that kind of thing) and you'll do just fine.
Thanks for the input. I'm thinking that with the 5 speed and an 8", I can keep the rpms where they need to be. I agree with you about all the 4 cyl cars running around with a/c, power steering and all the other goodies. They are doing fine. I have the chassis pretty well done that is going to go under it. Fatman clip, disk brakes and leaf sprung 8" with 3.0 gears. Now I'm going to have to figure out pulleys for a/c and power steering. Or maybe leave the steering manual. Hmmmmm. I guess a 390 cfm 4 bbl would be good as well?
Hi, please say high to Bert from Michael from Germany. I'll stop by his workshop when I`ll be in So-Cal in June. I met you there in June 2010 ,right? Maybe see you there, too And yeah Bert is a great person! Michael
I saw a TV show that used all these parts & more on a Flatty & when it it went on the Dyno it peaked at 278HP!! The guys on the show where shocked! They couldn't believe that was all the HP they got out of it for what they spent!!( a little over 9K i think) I Myself find it real hard to believe, especially at the Low RPM they turn. Seems like every dyno reads differant also!! LOL JimV
The Jalopy Journal
