Hay all was looking for some brake parts the other day and ran across 2 ford F1trucks one 49 & a eather 51or 53, still with the complete flatty v8s in them. OK now first off i know 0% about ford flatheads so what would these motors and ******s be? Second how bad are parts cost wise & in availbility, they both have hoods on so werent rained in BUT one was missing a carb and the other missing plugs so i imagine not a tinker and start project Third i can pick up both motors and ******s for $200 or $300 bucks would this be a decent deal.? again i know nothing about these engines so please bare with my whats it worth question here If theres any more information you need please ask i'll do my best to answer them Cyric
even with a hood , the carb being off and spark plugs out on one of them would make me think there could be some problems..do you know if they will turn over? i'd expect the worst and pay accordingly
Ditto. It ain't exactly dry in Arkansas... If you want 'em, go ahead & buy 'em. I'd pull the heads first just to see if it was worth the h***le.
Parts for flatheads are available but the cost of building a flathead engine is higher than a SBC or most similar OHV V8's. I agree with these fellas, pull the heads and pay as little as you can for them.
Buy Them! I have bought almost every flathead i have come across. They have become rare. But then i am an Flathead maniac Where in Arkansas are they? Have famely there. Br Shell
Ok guy thanks for the info any ideas on the size and HP of these engines? Hay Fenderless i live in the north Central part the state
First off, Pull the oil drain and see if - or how much water comes out.. Oil is heavier than water so all the water will be at the bottom of the oil pan and will drain out first. If theres more than a cup or 3 of water in there, then you may have to do some work on the crank as the water line will be up near the bottom throws of the crank shaft... You are ussually not going to be able to pull the heads off very easily even once you get them home and have them soaked in oil for a spell. I wouldn't attempt to pull the heads in the field, that's just silly and usually results in 8 hours of a wasted day without getting one head off. Besides, They may just run as is.. Buy them both cheaply, motors are worth 100 each without the truck, Lots of other trucks out there run or will run for under 500. I have ALWAYS bought the trucks cheaply and got them to turn over and run before taking anything apart. Most of these trucks ran when parked, some ran well and some had good rebuilt engine that are fair easy to start. .....Parts are plentiful and there is a very knowledgable gang on the msn flathead forum that have been there and done that. The msn flathead forum is a small group of some of the Best and most Knowledgeable guys from around the world, bar none. Good thing about the MSN Flathead forum is that smart*** terds need not apply as they get booted fast... ......Parts are available some cheaply most not, but almost everything is available if you know were to look... Flathead Motors and parts did get swapped out on a regular basis so you never know what you may or may not find under the hood.. If they are still complete original 49-54 Flatheads then they are the most desirable flattys so you won't have a problem if you decide to sell at a later date or??? Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and find a 4 inch 'merc' crank or other goodies inside the engine (parts got swapped)... Buy them, have some fun and learn a little along the way, possibly about why the Flathead is considered the real original hotrod engine (other than maybe the Ford 4 banger that came in T's and A's). The fact that there are still so many Ford Flatheads out there in the fields is a testiment as to how good of an engine they are..... GM outsold Ford from 1928 to 1954 by a factor of alomost 2 gms to 1 Ford. Yet there are very few surviving GM engines from that time period. When you parked a Ford in the back 40, it was still running. When you parked your gm of the day, it was dead and usually went for s**** soon as it was not a runner. (The running vehicles could still serve a purpose someday but a dead one was s****ped as it wouldn't start or move under it's own power) Buy em, If you don't, Many here Will... Site unseen and running or not... Have Fun! moe ... .. .
Cores are worth $100-200, I would pick them up. But plan on spending $3000-5000 to get one rebuilt. Almost 90% of the time, you have to get one cylinder re-sleeved anyways.
If you can get them for around $100 or so. Dont want to pay much more than that in case they're boat anchors.
Thank you all very much for your input i'll talk to him a bit more about them next time i see the fellow i might be able to pick up truck and all fairly easy we'll just see
The Jalopy Journal
