Hi, I just bought a 1951 Ford with the Flathead V8. The car was pulled from a barn by the guy who I bought the car from, he said it had been sitting from 20 years. I rebuilt the carb and did a tune up and the engine starts and runs easily. (actually sounds strong) The problem is.. it smokes. It doesn't smoke from the tailpipe, it smokes from the oil filler tube and the tube that vents down below the oil pan (I'm new to flathead's... I don't know what that tube is called). The guy I bought the car from has been very helpful and he said he talked to some flathead guys and they said the car will smoke for a while since it sat so long, but that it will sort itself out. Any truth to that? Like I said, I'm new to Flatheads and I'm in need of some guidance. M
Yes, your friend is correct. Buy some Marvel Mystery Oil. (this is not snake oil!) Pour a small amount into your carb and a few ounces into your fuel tank, it'll loosen up your rings and clean up your valves. The older farts have been doing this for decades. The breather tube you mentioned is the intake side of the system believe it or not. A PVC setup will also help. Lots of info here on those adaptations.
I think your rings are probably a little stickey, therefore you are getting blow by into the oil pan. Good suggestion on the Marvel Mystery Oil which over time will probably help with the ring situation. The tube on the front of the intake manifold is called the road draft tube. It basically only functions properly when the car is in motion. Air passing by the end of the tube creates a vacuum and draws in air from the oil filler tube. Make sure the oil fill cap filtering material is clean so it can draw air through it.
Fantastic. I'm a big fan of MMO already and will get on it ASAP. Thanks so much for the advice, a buddy dropped off some Flathead books for me yesterday (used to run one in a 29 Tudor), so I'll be educating myself here. Thanks again! Matt
I fired my grandpa's flathead up after it sat for 16years...it smoked, we hoped it was just stuck rings....but it turned out a wrist pin had been loose and moving side-to-side, it wore two big grooves in the cylinder wall. I hope yours turns out OK.
My 50 ford smoked like crazy at first. Put a little marvel in it and drove the hell out of it. It took a while, but it finally stopped. I think you will probably be ok with a little time. Good luck with it....and lets see a picture of her!
Me too.. if the MMo does start to improve it soon I'll dig into it. The engine starts and sounds pretty healthy so hopefully it's not a loose wrist pin. M
Superb... more anecdotal evidence.. which is good enough for me! How long before you saw an improvement? I'm thinking of putting some MMO in the cylinders as well, and letting them soak a bit. Before I can really drive the snot out of it, I need to fix the brakes. Two of the cylinders are sticking so it makes for an exciting drive!!! I'm usually a total picture guy.. but I haven't taken a single one yet! Too busy fiddling!! M
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