Hey Gang, I redid a 1952 Ford F1 for a guy, and he didn’t want the flathead so I placed it on a stand in the corner of the shop after I pulled it. The intake has 8BA on it, but the heads don’t have anything. I pulled the intake and heads off, and since I knew I was planning on some sort of speed parts for it, sold off the intake and carb but kept the heads just because. So, a few questions for you guys; How do I tell what year flathead it is? Where do they typically crack and is it obvious to see? Any good shops in the DFW area that could check it out? Also, it’s locked up right now so any advice on unsticking it? thanks guys! dave
On the later blocks (8BA style) the only difference between the years is the 53's had no valve seats. The seat was ground directly in the block. Other than that there is no way to tell. Check to see if any of the pistons are way down in the hole, and measure for a 4" stroke. If so, you are lucky and it's got a Merc crank. Check for cracks between the valves and cylinders (probably needs sleeves to fix), the water holes and studs between each cylinder (don't worry about these), and in the oil pan mounting rail (fatal). Might be other cracks in other weird spots, but you maybe won't see those til it's all boiled out and magnufluxed.
I just pulled one apart last month. The crank rods and pistons were free but the valve train was froze. Just take your time soak everything with penetrating oil and try not to force anything. It will come apart....Steve Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have a sneaky feeling it may be a 1952 Model. Sarcasm aside, these engines can be hard to date. There is really no such thing as matching numbers. There is some basic info in the casting such as 8BA,8RT, EAB but for the most part, the casting numbers are foundry info and provide little or no information to the owner. Really at best you can do is get the "year range". ex...1948-53 8RT...1949-53 8BA...You can narrow these down further but it's too much to get into on a single post. 8BAs and 8RTs used a LOM (Loadomatic) advance distributor. The distributor and carburetor were matched pairs. What's done is done but I would have held on the intake. If for nothing more than to keep critters out of it. You do not have a engine yet. Right now all you have is a possible core. Before anything else you need to confirm the block is good. Clean up the head surface and examine it real close for cracks. Learn/research what a "bad" crack is....valve seat...cylinder to head bolt.... Learn/research what a "harmless" crack is....These cracks are said to have a factory part number. center head bolt to water port.... These engine will lock up in 3 main ways.... 1. Cylinder/stuck rings or corrosion. 2. Valves....thus locking the cam 3. Mechanical....like a stuck oil pump. It's a good idea to remove the cam gear if you suspect the valves are sticking the engine. This way the crank will turn without the cam turning and you can work on each of these with out interference from the other.
Find that long fork tool for the valves, it adds to the fun. Then when you can't get the valve stuff out intact, start cutting, you won't be needing it.
Some late flatheads have a date code stamped on the rear of the intake surface... I said some. One of mine has a code but it doesn't match anything that's been published. Other than that; you have a late flathead, 49-53 and that's all that matters.
Ok, great. Thanks guys. I’ll be diving into it this week and will post up what I find. Like I said, I know the intake had 8BA on it but the heads are blank. I’ll work on loosening up everything and see what the deal is. Paint on the motor is a light greenish color, from what I can see. D cheers Dave
Found a few pics of the engine, so the intake has both 8BA and 8RT and has the green paint on it. So looks like it’s the original 52 Truck version. I’ll start looking for the “factory cracks” later this week. d
Tore it down, and two of the water jackets to head bolt holes have those cracks. Valve seats to cylinders don't have any, but I do have the pan rail crack but it doesn't extend into the side wall, it's only on the face of the rail. What do you guys think? Fixable with a pilot hole on either end to stop the crack then fill with JB weld, or take to a shop and see about welding it up..... Or junk? Cheers Dave
That’s a great thread, thanks for posting it. It looks like it’s debatable whether it’s fixable or not depending on how bad. I’ll drop the block off for a cleaning to see if there’s anything else I’m missing before proceeding.
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