Projects What kind of heartache will this bring me?

The car:

The engine:


So I'm new to flatheads, never torn one down, never gone beyond installing an intake manifold on one. The car came with the existing motor, which has had parts changed on it from what I can tell, since the heads are 59AB heads, has a crab distributor, headers, had a single wire alternator, etc. I can't read the numbers on the bell housing, so I don't have that to go on. I have an Edelbrock slingshot manifold, with two new 97's ready to bolt on, and two different sets of heads I could install - a set of Ford Canadian aluminum heads or a set of Edelbrock heads that are new, but unknown from when, since they look like they have sat on a shelf for years since they are completely aged. They are script heads, not the block lettering, and have 8.5 on the water necks.

So the big question - what kind of heartache can or may I run into by changing out the heads? There are studs on the engine now. Possible snapping a stud taking the nuts off? If I take the heads off and find cracks, do I just bolt them back on and pretend it didn't happen? Since it's studs, and I have no idea if they have ever been removed, I'm ***uming I should just leave them in and not try to swap to bolts?

I read here on the HAMB that there can be issues using aluminum heads with factory studs, and saw one recommendation of drilling the heads holes 1/64" out to prevent seizing. Is this a common practice? Am I better using some No Seize on the studs instead?

I know the heads on a flathead don't make as much of a difference as swapping a set of SBC heads does, but I would like to just for the vintage look. Or, am I really better off just running it the way it is until I decide to do a bigger engine and make it all happen then.

Dadn5kids

 

The Edelbrock heads I have.

 

I think you need longer than stock studs to mount those heads, so they have to be swapped. Might work on the Canada heads though.

I'd also be interested to hear answers to this, I'm afraid to take the heads off of my roadster's engine for the same reason, I'd hate to break a stud or discover some issue that "spoils" a currently good engine.

 

well, as my dear old pappy used to say, if it's got ***s or wheels, it will give you trouble. tear it down , if it brakes, it needed to be fixed anyway.

 

What about just driving it until something does happen however be prepared for the worst when and if it does. That being said, the car looks to be in pretty good condition and a great driver 'As Is'. Why fix it if it's not broken. You could chance swapping in the parts without any issue(s) whatsoever. How long is a piece of string?

 

For a street car the sling shot idsthe biggest gain. You do have some risk with changing heads and honestly, not that much gain by taking that risk.
if it was mine......I'd run the slingshot and hang the heads on the wall

 

^^^^ this......good advice.
Personally with a closed hood, how often will you see those finned heads ?
I actually prefer the look of original heads, - don’t see them so often.
Nice Tudor !

 

Why risk breaking head studs by changing your heads, just send them to me.

 

If you want to use the finned heads, you will need longer studs and some studs WILL likely break trying to remove them. This will lead to creative language and possibly new entries for the dictionary. Removing broken studs is a pain in the ***. Also, you cannot use a regular tap to clean up the threads in the stud holes of the block. If you do, that stud hole will never seal again. You must use a thread chaser. Slingshot manifold, leave the heads for now is the best bet for this car. Sure, the finned heads are cool as hell, but opening up that can of worms is probably not worth it IMHO.
Andy

 

Paint your heads black. Run some acorns and throw on the dual carbs if you got the bug.
Be prepared, changing over to two carbs isn’t a plug and play.
The engines not exposed. Save your heads for your next open engine Hotrod.

 

Lots of sage advice, I think I would ****on it back up and drive it. Enjoy it for the summer, gather some info and then make a choice on your mods. Great lookin' C-dan, Carp.

 

If you don't start no **** there won't be none.

 

Run it as is and gather parts so you can change everything at once when the time comes. Be a nice fall or winter project.

 

If you do this, the "Never-Seize" won't help you much, but the next guy will appreciate it! I am in the camp of those saying run it until you're sure of what you have. On my car, I had the fancy finned heads for a long time, but never installed them until I had a fresh engine ready to go in. Dealing with broken and replacement studs is much easier with the engine on a stand.

 

I think that motor is too clean to not have been apart before, but all you can do is take a chance and see what happens. Me I would probably mount the carb set up on it, tune it, and get it running to see how it runs. If it doesn't run very well then you'll probably have no choice but to dig into it. Plus I have a saying "don't make more work for yourself than you need to!"

 

...if it aint broke, don't fix it...

 

Run it, enjoy it. Find another to build meanwhile, by the time this one is tired, you'll have a fresh one to swap.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I would run the Canuck heads.

 

Unless you can find some Allstate Heads !!!

 

Looks good to me! Leave it and see how it runs. It has a hood on it anyway.

 

Don't open one of these................

 

I would drive it like I stole it.

My old Deuce mordoor came with a warmed over flathead and I was leery that it would give me problems but I decided to drive it hard and if I blew it up I could fix it or replace it with a small block Chevy.

I drove the car like I would any other car,around town & on the interstates for more than 10 years and never had any engine problems,I would suggest driving it as is until you have to rebuild it. HRP

 

What kind of heartache will it bring you? Nothing that money can't fix, unless of course, you worship that green stuff in your bank account, and can't stand the pain of parting with it like so many people in this world.

 

I'm faced with the same decision on my 32 Sedan, having both a Slingshot intake and block letter heads.
But to my surprise, the engine was a recent rebuild, so I decided to run the stock heads and intake for a while, just to get a theoretical performance baseline.
When the body comes off for paint I'll probably put them on then.

 

Since you already have taken some of the engine apart, I would follow through
and install the heads you desire. You are not the first to confront this "problem"
and will never know unless you try. Not doing it will gnaw at you. You already have the parts, so go for it.
The feeling of accomplishment will make it all worth while. That's what a hot rod does.

 

Bill Burnham believed Henry Ford had three men at the end of the line where Flathead castings came out of the foundry. Each of them worked on a different part of the block to make sure that it had a share of cracks in the block. When I read that in his column, I jumped up and shouted, "Finally the truth has been told!" And, I thought back to every Ford I owned with a Flathead and realized, even if he was speaking metaphorically, he had hit on the truth. Many of us who had no other choice didn't find ways to patch around some, and a lot of them were wasted for no other reason. Which leads me to your question. Unless you take the engine out and go through it with a trained eagle eye, leave it alone. It runs, and like my metaphorical Grandpap used to say: "If it ain't broke don't fix it." That engine will treat those parts the same way a human body would treat something transplanted into it. It will reject them and probably shut down and die. Then, you're going to have a different at***ude towards Flat Motors. When you ask what to replace it with, I have a few words from my Grandpap on that.

 

From the sound of it, if he installs the finned heads he may end up having to see them more often than he probably wants to.

 

For now I would run it and enjoy. The car looks good, the engine looks clean, have fun.

 

I'd just drive it as is for a while and do all of my homework in that period. That is unless it came with a reason that you can't drive it. If the car is complete and runs and drives reasonably well I'd drive it for a few months and get a whole master plan going while driving it and making everything works right.

ARP shows stud set 154-4101 for 38/48 24 stud flatheads with Edelbrock heads. Rather expensive but you pay for the name and quality.

 

Leave it stock and drive it? Holy Hannah! We're hot rodders man! Since when do we heed advice from our pappy's? Tear it apart. Rod it back together again. Open your hood proudly at car shows and yell to the world "I'm a HAMBer and damn proud of it!