I can purchase this 8rt FLATHEAD, side loaded transmission, driveshaft and complete 1946 rear end for $3000. What are y'alls thoughts. My experience includes only SBC's in the cars I have built so I am just an amateur mechanic but have wanted to challenge myself with a flathead set up. What are y'alls thoughts on the price? It would be going I in the 30 coupe pictured. Everything looks really clean and was told it all has been rebuilt, so I guess I have to trust him Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Price seems high if the seller is a stranger. Any do***entation on the rebuild? Can you speak with the machine shop that worked on it?
I'd say it's way too high for a pig in a poke. Can he pull a head, the intake, and the pan to prove the rebuild? If he expects to make 3 grand off these parts he's going to have to prove it is nice. A gasket set is cheap. Take along an experienced friend when you view the opened up engine.
I bought a undo***ented rebuild last summer. opened it all up. intake, heads and pan. paid half that for the motor. running in my roadster currently. good side shift box is worth a little coin for the gears to swap into a topshift case. 46 rear is a couple inches wider than the earliers 40 rear so it can look a little off depending on the build.
Hit up oldsboy. hes local, and built a very nice motor recently. will tell you who to go to and might have a lead on a motor ALOT cheaper. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/members/oldsboy.9165/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/oldsboy-_t-sedan-build.549465/ or Hiboy https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/members/hiboy32.438/
Yes. It’s really a ****shoot. See if he’ll agree on half the cost with the remainder on hold until you get it on the road.
If it were all do***entable, and a physical inspection supported the paper claims, it could be a decent deal...….as most overpriced sellers like to say, "you can't build it for that.....". In the recent past I've followed up on ads like this. Usually they were anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months old. Despite some fantasizing elsewhere on this board, our hobby is shrinking in interest (though not dead) with each p***ing day, which makes it tougher for sellers of this kind of package. I wouldn't give more than $100 for a strangers flathead if he wouldn't let me do as alchemy suggested above. Without inspecting the insides you've got a high probability of buying a dud when it comes to flathead V8s. Sellers with not much knowledge of flatheads balked at letting me do that because they believed a ****oned up engine enhanced value...…………..like I said, they don't REALLY know flatheads...…….or, more cynically, they know theirs probably looks bad inside. Like putting value on anything...………..condition, condition, condition. One additional comment for consideration, the '46 rear end is wider than the earlier ones, which can look a bit odd on a Model A...…..…...not awful, just not as nice.
Three large is Capital money for this (unknown) package. Alchemy is right, as usual...Open it up and look. A new customer brought me a '46 Ford coupe for a Chevrolet transplant. He offered me the flathead in it ("rebuilt!") and a balance of $$$. When I finished the job, I discovered the transmission was blown. When I opened the flathead up, 2 spun bearings had wiped out the crank. But the Offenhauser heads and intake were good... (All that shineth's not gold...)
I just rebuilt one. I have close to $3,000.00 including machining in it. I did the ***embly myself. If you can do***ent what was done including looking for cracks it's a fair price. You need access to the machine shop that worked on the engine. I would have no problem at all letting a prospective buyer talk to my machinist if I was trying to sell my motor. But then again I would want more than $3K for it.
Good advice from everyone above. When dealing in flatheads caution is the word. I acquired a "rebuilt" flathead with a project awhile back. Never been fired. Could see new pistons through the spark plug holes. Thought I'd change cams and install it in my roadster. It was "rebuilt" - new pistons, bearings, oil pump, etc. However it was bored too large and piston to cylinder clearance was excessive. The heads had been milled excessively and you could see where the pistons hit the heads just from rotating it by hand. The block had not been hot tanked! Valves had not been ground, but had been marked where they came out. They were not installed where removed. Half of a split guide was poking up into an intake port. Oil galleys were full of crud. On and on with half***ed poor quality work. Just glad I didn't pay for this one! I have a different block at the machine shop now and will install the new parts in the properly prepped block. Buyer beware!!
Agree with all the cautions above. Also engine has 8BA head on left side and 8RT head on right side. Not familiar with 8RT but if cc of comb chamber in heads is different, there's another problem.
You’ve got three separate components there, with the engine being the most valuable. Heed the advice you’ve been given above. It’s not a critical problem in the so-called “rebuild “ but the non matching cylinder heads.....to me.....is a big red flag that the motor was not built by someone who cared about the work. With easy availability of matching heads, whether stock or aftermarket, why would anyone do that? I’d bet that the transmission has not been rebuilt. We do them for a living and have found that most people just go with them as-is and just repaint them for the next car. We see those transmissions after the owner realized the things didn’t shift right.
FWIW, i have a receipt for just $5k for the flat head in my car(including machine work, parts, and ***embly) 51 truck block 4" merc crank Isky max 1 cam and valve train parts EAB heads additional cost for: 12V Gen, Mallory dual point built by Bubbas, vintage Edmunds 2x2 intake, ford script Holly 94's, rebuilt starter, higher flow water pumps... having said that i would probably be tempted at $3000 for an entire drivetrain. as others have said, Trust but Verify if you have access to one of those small endoscopes maybe you can check out the cyl through the plug holes. i have used this one in the past and it works pretty well. https://www.amazon.com/Endoscope-Bo...0683&sr=8-7&keywords=endoscope+for+cell+phone
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