Hi, i'd be glad to hear some opinions what to do, i'm from germany and have a '53 Ford, i have it for 3 years, it was a real wreck when i got it, it was last registered in 1983. In between i have replaced all rotten areas (rockers, floors and so on...), it has new wiring now, i will install the lowering kit from jamco when i finally have the leaf springs that i'm still waiting for (i ordered the lowering kit one year ago!!!). Also i have to install the front axle overhaul kit, best thing on the car was that it was in running condition when i got it, so i tuned up the engine (carburetor overhaul, new wires/sparks, new fuel pump, new water pumps and motor mounts and so on). But on my first long ride for some reason i don't know the engine went hot, i drove off of the street and then the whole cooling system has exploded and the exhaust has spitted water. We brought the car home on a trailer and pulled off the heads, one is cracked. Last week me and a friend of mine put out the engine to inspect it and i hoped that it is fixable, but sadly it turned out that the engine block has a crack too... So now i have to look for an new engine, and i'm really a big flathead fan, so i want to install one again. But here in germany used flathead engines are very rare and expensive, so i looked on ebaymotors and found a company that sells rebuild engines (jplivin316), the engines range from $ 3000 to $ 3500. Thats a lot of money for me and shipping to germany will be another $ 1000. So my question is, is this worth the money and maybe someone has experience with that company or knows other companys that sells rebuild engines? Of course i could buy a cheap one that needs to be overhauled, but i don't want to have some bad surprises with an untouched engine that sat for years. And if someone has a '49/'53 Flathead for sale, let me know! I went trough maaany problems with my Ford so this will not stop me and i will not give up. I'm very sorry that i have destroyed an flathead, but that was not my intention... I'd be glad about any ideas, i will post some pictures later. Thanks a lot and many greetings from germany! Michu
There has been a fair amount of talk about French flatheads that were produced long after they stopped production in the USA,try an internet search and also post on the main board for info on them since France is a lot closer to you maybe a bargain is closer than you think,Best of luck in your search.
You might try checking on the FordBarn too; there's been a lot of conversations over there about cracked flatheads, repairing them and the French replacements too. Link: http://fordbarn.com/ Ron
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