Flathead hand cranks

Does anyone sell hand cranks for 48-51 Ford flathead motors? I'm looking to have one on hand for when my starter decides to peter out.

 

your determined to lose that thumb aren't you ?

I really don't think you could hand crank a v8 with any kind of compression
I have push started mine a few times and it takes three guys

 

Without a compression release, I'm not sure this is feasible.That said, you could make one with a large speed drver and an old ratchet..

 

Why shouldn't that be possible ? The cars were supplied with a crank when new
Years ago we had an old Bedford truck at the junkyard I worked at with a 6 cyl.inline at about 250 cu.in. I started that by handcranking many times due to a weak battery.(6volt).
It shouldn't be much worse with a V8 flathead.

 

Oddly, there were handcranks made and available for all the flathead V8 Fords. I'm not sure that they were included in the factory tool kit available with the new cars but they were available. The 32-48 V8 and 32-34 4cyl. ones were two-piece.

I'm sure the 49-53 were 2 piece also.
CORRECT, same as the early ones but only for pickup and truck applications 48-52(?) according to the 1948-1955 Ford Truck Series 1 through 6 Ch***is Parts Catalog.
The Car parts catalog does not list a hand crank and extension.

 

Hand cranking would be possible but as I recall a hand crank provision was eliminated in the mid to late 30's possibly the 40's on these engines. So far as I know there were no hand cranks on '49-'53 cars. The last one I remember hand cranking was a '36 in the middle of winter.

 

Hand crank ratchet was installed through '48 on cars. Crank and I think some other tools were phased out as standard '36--38 period, but full set of tools remained available through dealer. My '48 has it all, including handcrank, as it was an export car.
You need to get a crank extension right for your car...differing front sheetmetal and bumpers meant different cars got different extensions. The handle part was the same for all except a few 1932's, and served as lugwrench as well. Starting a flathead by handcrank is entirely feasible. Leave AAA to rescue soccermoms in Dodge deliveries.

 

. But,of course you can crank a flattie!, It's very easy in fact. Just pull the crank handle to a point where you are pulling up and can feel the compression STARTING ,place your thumb beside your fingers, not wrapped around the handle.
Then with the ignition on ,simply pull up,hard and fast and it will start as long as there is nothing wrong with the fuel and spark.

But in the meantime $pend $ome money and get the starter rebuilt. they are tough and will last for years,even with 12 volts running through them.
Where to buy one? check any swap meet .

 

I'm rebuilding my starter, but everything costs money. Even just parts is a lot of money. I was just trying to find a way to drive my truck in the meantime.

Here's hole

 

Our '47 Mercury has a hole in the front panel, and a channel in the splash apron for a hand crank.

Can you see the small oval shaped chrome piece in between the two horizontal grills?



That's the cover over the crank hole.

We don't have a crank for it though and I have no desire to try one out.

 

By the way, I believe JOBLOT Ford Parts SPe******ts in LI, NY sold new crank/lug handles (40-17036) for the V8s and the extensions(51A-17040) which carried them up to the 50s.

 

Cadillac invented the self starter for a reason,,, Push it down a hill.

 

Sorry,I thought you meant the car in your avatar. I have cranked many a Ford Truck like yours,mainly because I was too poor to buy a new battery. Just do as i described up top. In fact any Old Ford Parts supplier will have cranks for the truck. (looked under the seat?) .They are easy to crank and with 7-1 compression,your baby sister can do it.

 

Actually the v8s crank easier than the A model due to the smaller bore.The most difficult and most treacherous engines are the single cylinder cars, ie single cyl Cad,Olds,Northern ect.They will break your arm if you are not careful.They are impossible to start without a comp release.

 

Is there a hole in the radiator for the handle to reach the crank pulley on that truck?

 

Believe me, you will get VERY tired of hand-cranking a car. Especially when it's 90º out and you've just flooded it.
Trust me, I know from first-hand experience. After the starter ****ped out on my 2CV, I decided that I could simply hand-crank it for the summer.

WRONG!!! It's just too much work, esp. after flooding it once...

Charles Kettering was more smarter than you and me, use his invention well, gr***hopper.

Cosmo

 

Whats wrong with a push start? Is your leg broken or is it an automatic? I used to push start my '39 P.U. by myself all the time and I'm not exactly the picture of fitness.

 

Well, the hand crank will get you going if your car is in a garage facing an uphill driveway, and do it without working up a sweat. Hardest part on my '48 is removing a license plate bolt and swiveling the plate out of the way...

 

I saw my dad hand crank his 40 a number of times. Prior to Kettering, people hand cranked everything, cars, trucks, fire engines, many with huge engines

 

Park it on a hill.

 

Those Sherman tanks that came with the radial aircraft type engine carried a crank with maybe 3 times the throw of a car one clipped onto the tail...not for starting, but to swing the engine over and clear oil out of lower cylinders before using the electric starter.

 

Ditto. It would be nice to have one... if the flatty ever ends up in my '50 like yours!

~Jason

 

I did a post on the same thing months ago... at the time, they were out, and didn't know if they were getting any more in.

~Jason

 

I contacted them and unfortunately they don't have the extensions for the v8.