Technical Flathead build - Common problems?

Dollar for dollar a lot of money for a very little hp

 

Yes, you are correct. Do this for all 16 valves and you need to rotate the motor over 16 full revolutions and that is not counting how much you move the crank to get the next valve at full open.

So say it’s a quarter of the full turns, you know a nice low number. So maybe 20 full revolutions of the crank to adjust all your valves.

With a tool like these it’s two turns. That’s my only point. It’s a nice, easy way to set your valve lash and you can whip one out in the time saved spinning the motor over lashing the valves.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

true ... but smile per mile far out weighs the dollar/HP value as soon as you hear one running !

 

Yeah i have a 51 merc still flatty powered. Straight pipes to the rear, neighbors love me.

 

I was lucky. A retired machine shop owner built mine. He had a '51 Merc block (one of many in his old collection) that could have been used standard. Went .30 over, Egge pistons, Isky cam, Edelbrock heads, Mallory distributor, Edelbrock dual intake, Strombergs, Red's headers, T5 with a Cornhusker (Krylon32) adapter & runs great. $5500 for the rebuild. Worth it for the sound, fun & looks of people when they ask "What is that?"