Hi guys. I found a V8 flathead engine sitting in a yard. I can pretty much get it for free but don't know if I will be able to use it or not as it has been sitting in the open for who knows how long. Also could anyone identify the year of this engine. There is also a gearbox sitting behind it which is meant to be attatched to the engine. Thanks guys.
Looks small to me, possibly V8-60, but I'm no expert. I'd be concerned about the machined surfaces not having good material left for refinishing. Especially looking at the rusty input shaft of the transmission.
It's a '49-up truck engine. The farmer-4 trans is not much use to a hotrodder, but a '48 or older 3-speed will bolt up to the adapter ring that's on the engine. Pull the heads and find out how much rust and crud there is in the cylinders, and look for cracks. Might as well grab it up anyway, there's lots of parts there for when you get another one if that block is no good. Was it sitting outside with no air cleaner on it?
Hey Alex, glad you could joins us here on the HAMB. Good find, it's a later model flathead V8 49-53. Hopefully it hasn't been sitting out in the weather for ever, and hopefully the bores aren't rusted out too bad. Drag the ****er home and have a look. Can't argue with the price. Great start to a future hot rod project. *****
Nope. No air cleaner. I'll definitely grab it anyway and around about how much do these things weigh?????
around here that motor would be JUNK after the first winter it sat like that. full of water the pan rails would crack and that would be the end of it. down in upsidedownland you may not have that problem. good luck.
If/when you get the heads off, you'll most likely find rust & corrosion which = a stuck engine. Don't waste time trying to unstick it as is. Break the pistons out of -they aren't going to be of any use anyway since you'll undoubtedly have to overbore. Check all over for "death" cracks before even doing that. Look at the bottom (with the pan off) for cracks in the pan rail or in the center main web. If it p***es a visual crack inspection, use a big hole saw in the tops of the pistons-makes it easier to get the rest of them out.
its what is refered to as an 8BA motor, the carb being open like that means even in SA's mild climate that water has gotten down into a few bores. as said, grab it anyway, but it probably wont turn over, pull the plugs and fill with a combo of diesel and AFT, let it sit for a week but get a socket and looooong extension and just work on trying to turn it over each night. if after a week it doesn't budge, then pull the heads and drop the sump and get it to pieces. to be honest with you. motors like this, if you can save the block, crank, rods, sump, timing cover then thats the basics to rebuild a motor. the rest you can get new. cost would be up, but if you want to play with flatheads, then cost and $ per horsepower arent an issue. hope you have scorred well. and hope another rod will be flathead powered.
I use the Farmer4 trans. i never use 1st gear, unless I'm pulling a tree stump out. It also has a pto on the side of the trannie
Problem is, even if all you want to do is salvage all those pieces, you can't get the crank out unless you can turn the motor. The valve ***emblies can be popped out but if those pistons are stuck in the bores, the crank is imprisoned. As I said, the pistons are of no value anyhow so eliminate them from the equation.
There you go HeyyCharger, nothing to loose by getting it home and doing a little wrenchin'. Take flatoz's advise he's a flathead man from way back. Next, we need to find you an early A roadster to sit that thing in. *****
Hi guys. Thanks a lot for the feedback. Will be picking up the gearbox and the Flathead early January and hopefully start working on the Flathead straight away!!!! Aboned mentioned that the Flathead is a 49-53 model. It would be great if someone could give me an exact year. Anyways, I'll keep you guys updated.... Thanks, Alex.
I found a 348 Chevy that was buried in the dirt for years. I brought it home, pulled the pan and the heads, and sandblasted everything while the short block was still ***embled, including the crank, inside the block, bottom of the rods & pistons and inside the cylinders. The engine came apart very easily including the pistons. It now looks like this:
Seeing as how it's a truck engine, chances are it has a 4" crank in it. The crank should be OK unless the pan was full of water.
It doesn't matter what year it is, they are all the same. Truck engine should be 255 cubes. Measure the bore and stroke.
There is no exact year. 1949-1953 was the 8BA. There may be a casting number on the heads. May also have a Merc crank in it (dought it). It probably weighs over 500 pounds complete, I would guess around 6-700. Take an engine hoist if you have one, don't risk hurting yourself.
Did you guys down in Aus. get Mercury trucks like we did in Canada? If it says 8CM on the heads, you might get lucky. Flatman
If you remove the bell housing keep it together with the cover/starter mount plate. If the engine does not pan out folks doing late flathead to T-5 conversions will be interested in these parts.
It looks that way to me also. That makes it a '49 to '53 truck motor, the heads anyway. The crank will probably not be a 4" unless someone installed a Merc crank. pigpen
Like Flatoz said Id take it home, and get her apart. Messy job but a great way to learn abou flatheads. Alex, it sounds like ***** has finally corrupted you at long last. Remember, Flathead or nada (unless its Hemi powered - of course !) Oh and if you get sick of the FH, no sweat i know a few ctas that;ll gladly get that boat anchor our of your garage !! Rat
Also check to see if the timing cover is cast iron or aluminum. '48 truck and '49 car through early '52 had cast iron cover, late '52 and all '53 had aluminum cover.
Oh and if you get sick of the FH, no sweat i know a few ctas that;ll gladly get that boat anchor our of your garage !! Rat[/quote] Hah, that'l be one unique boat anchor, and a heavy one too!!! HEHEH Thanks for the feedback guys and gals. BY THE WAY. I've made a thread, it's called "What engine is this". If you search it. Have a look at it. If you want it, send me a message and we can make a good deal. Im 99% sure that it's a V8 Hornet. Alex.
If you decide to s**** the ****** for some reason, save the adapter ring that attaches it to the engine. It can be used to adapt later model transmissions to FH's.
I looked at the picture of the trans - It looks like it does not have a removeable bellhousing. Shame. I have a similar truck gearbox here. Mart.
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