I'm rebuilding a 1950 Ford Flathead V8. All the machining is done and it's time to re***emble. Does anyone have a chart of torque values for the rods, mains, flywheel, head bolts etc. This is my first Ford Flathead V8 build. Any help here will be very much appreciated. If anyone has some secrets that will help this go smoothly please share. I've been able to source most of the parts from speedway. They have been very helpful. There's a couple of good youtube videos that have a lot of useful info as well.
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_servicelinks.htm Tons of info, and sells great quality parts!
hope you get it all dialed in properly. had my first experience with a flathead in a '53 Merc before had driver's license. no quality tools like a torque wrench, or idea where to get help. after replacing blown head gasket used a length of pipe on wrench handle to tighten bolts. had to replace fiber timing gear too. ran OK after, and did great burnouts in reverse. joys of youth.
Did you have the ***embly balanced? If you reuse all of the components (pistons, rods, crankshaft, and flywheel) that originally came on the engine, you should be OK. If any have been replaced, a balance job is in order. This is to have an engine that runs smoothly.
The motor has a new crank, rods and pistons. The guy that was the 'go to' for balancing just retired. There is no one in my area that does that work now. This motor will be used for cruising around. Not interested in burnouts or that kind of activity. Just want to putter about. How important is balancing? I would be a little more inclined to go out of the local area to seek this work if it were to be hot rodded or raced.
I had the shop ***emble my C69A short block. I found most flathead books left out tons of critical ***embly info, and focused more on performance mode. For example, something as simple as where to cut a traditional rope seal (flush with pan/block or slightly raised) for the front of the crank was no where to be found. I think it’s all straight forward like any other engine except for the valves/lifters and their adjustments other than you want to ensure your valves have sufficient clearance to the spark plug and head.
One of the best things you can own is a Motors repair manual covering that year. It has what you need and now and much more you will need eventually
Balancing the rotating components on an engine is paramount Fundamental engine building. The crankshaft on a flathead ford v8 should be counterbalanced to the pistons and connecting rods.
I would love to get the rotating ***y. balanced but the only local guy retired and there is no taking his place....We need more mechanics/machinists trained in engine rebuilding!!!
Here's a little story for you. I was at a car show about 30 years ago with my '51 Ford. The car was an excellent original, with a do***ented 61,000 miles. I had the car sitting and idling, and a stranger came up to me and started a conversation. It turned out that he had a '50 Ford that he had completely rebuilt the engine on. We talked about a couple of things, and he told me about his rebuild; new pistons, reconditioned rods from somewhere, a reground and polished crank and so on. His complaint was that his engine just did not run as smoothly as he would like. It turned out that while he had spent a bunch of money on his hodge-podge of parts, he had scrimped on it by not having it balanced. We became friends after that, and he came out to my place several times and we attempted to get his engine to "smooth out". We did compression checks, vacuum gauge readings, plug and point changes (yes, these did include new condensers), swapped carbs, in short, everything we could think of, but there was always a noticeable difference between the smoothness with which each engine idled. I always thought it was due to the lack of balancing of his engine. How did it all turn out? I don't know and will never find out. One morning back then, I was reading the newspaper (remember them) and I came across an article where he had been murdered by a tenant of one of his rental places. Why do I think do I think it was balance? First, I think we eliminated all other causes while trying to solve his problem. Second, "Ol' Ron", a respected and very experienced emeritus member of "The Ford Barn" always said you could get by not balancing a minor rebuild because the factory balance was so good. But if you replaced major components (pistons, rods, etc.), a re-balance was mandatory. One thing you could do is a "static balance" of the internal components. Get a suitable scale (they are cheap and super accurate these days). Make sure the rods all weigh the same, as well as the pistons and ring packs. It's not as good as a full dynamic balance, but it should help.
Don’t tap the block threads, especially the head bolt threads. Ford used a special tighter tolerance tap for the head bolts or studs. A hardware store tap will be too loose and possibly cause leaks through the studs/bolts. The solution is a clean out made from an old head bolts or stud. Grind some vertical grooves in an old head bolt, clean up the burrs, thus a clean out that does not open up that tight clearance. It’s not the end of the world if it has been tapped, sometimes it has to be. If it has been tapped expect some weeping around the studs. Various sealers may help with various results.
I read quite a while back here on the HAMB that traditional torque specs are to tighten until you hear a crack and then back off 1/8. LOL
And you can even go one step further. If working on a well balanced original engine with original rods and pistons, match the weight of the new parts to the old. That way you can preserve the factory balance but with new components. It's amazing to me how much pistons, meant to replace factory parts, can vary from the original weight.
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