I cant believe it ..... a flathead is comming home!

A few weeks ago a friend of mine bought a ticket on a church raffle in my name because i wouldnt accept payment for something i bought for her... So i end up with a call telling me that i won beer....not bad i guess but i being a burbon drinker i dont drink beer...so the lady says... it would be easier to give me the money than for them to buy the beer.... church's and beer sounds kinda wild... So i agreed to take the money and figured i would put it towards something hot rod...

A couple days ago i bumped into a guy i know who removed a perfectly good flattie and 3 speed, so i asked "whats your plan for that thing?"...reply...."come look at it and make me an offer....

Well, tonite i stopped by and looked at it... asked him a price...he wanted me to make an offer but i just asked his price....and there it was done....no lowballing, no bickering...just "done!" And to make it sweeter i get the "take that old rearend as well!"

So long story short....The church winnings bought me a smoothly running flattie, gearbox and rear for my future project!

Hope to bring it home tommorrow nite....pictures will follow.

Needless to say......i'm stoked beyond belief considering that these motors are very hard to find here....especially complete and running!

Leon

 

how much does beer cost over there? or did you win a LOT of beer? anyway sounds like a good deal

 

I know that engine!
Toms a good guy so I'm not surprised he gave a price you could accept straight up.
Last time I was talking to him he said he wanted to see it "in use", not stashed away.
Supposed to be tight and a strong runner. Congrats Leon!!!

I'm sure you'll put it to good use...in the A sedan maybe?

 

Oh yea, the sedan will be flattie forsure!

I was shocked when i bumped into him and even more shocked when he told me the price.... so i guess we both win...the motor gets used... and i get a motor!

Leon

 

See? Religion is good for ya!

( but so is beer...... )

 

Damn! How much beer did you win?

 

So i bum a engine lift and myself and Glen went to retrieve the flathead for its trip home... Once there Tom started digging through stuff and loading it into the truck...





And the oil bath aircleaner is like new... and a set of pedals!



and a gear box and driveshaft to boot!



What turned out to be a $500 dollar beer win in a church lottery ended up being a nice collection of parts for my model A sedan!

What do you think of the look of this stuff? I dont know anything about flatheads....


Leon

 

Oh yea almost forgot the rearend....







Any idea what this rearend is????


Leon

 

I guess the rearend was a...opendrive 42-47 Ford banjo, a quickchnage, a Columbia overdrive? Well, which, you lucky devil, you?

Oh, you posted it now...that one's a heavyboy from a pickup for sure but old, not flathead old I don't think, but old.

 

All of it's from an F1 pickup. 48-9 I think.
Of course it MAY NOT be stock to the pickup...but thats what it was all pulled from!

The engine is actually rumoured to be a Merc, but I don't know enough about this engine OR Merc engines to ID it.

Tom used the truck for a couple of years just as he bought it but pulled all this stuff to upgrade it into a more comfortable driver.
289/C4...Volare IFS suspension etc.
Tom actually gave me the original front spindles/brakes, gas tank, shock brackets and some other odds and ends for my coupe last year.
He was kinda bummed out that this engine was sitting under his bench and was hoping it would find a home before it got rusty from lying around.
Definately NOT a hoarder.

Now Leon....we both gotta put this stuff to use!

 

Whatever you use that stuff on, it better have a religious name given it. Gotta keep your good karma flowing, ya know?

 

Holy Roller.

 

I agree all the stuff came from a 48-52 F1 pickup including the rear end.

Nice haul man!

 

Nice score! It looks like it's a good thing your not a beer drinker or you might have missed out on the flathead....guess I would have missed out....

 

the rear looks like a dana 41 to me 48-50 rear end outa a truck

 

That's a Dana 41 all right. 1948/50 F-1 and 1949/50 Mercury used near same unit with different brakes. At least both are 5 x 5.5 wheel paterns.

 

did you say....$500?! And it runs? I can personally tell you how difficult it is to find a "good" starter flattie (no cracks). I can also show you receipts for what it costs to take that good starter to a fresh rebuild. I assure you it exceeds $500. I could have spent a third of what I did and went the SBC direction, but that was never really an option for me. I'll never win a drag race ,but I love that power plant. You'll get a lot of people either wanting to know what it is or wanting to tell you about the flathead they used to have. Great score; I'm jealous!

 

Cool story.

 

Yea, it purred like a kitten when it was removed. I know that they can gobble up money very quickly and i plan on letting it gobble some on heads and an intake...

I have a sbc in my 29 chev...its ok cause it is inside the hood
I have a sbf in my 28 ford Rpu build.... because we dont have many options for flatties or early hemi's
And i guess now my 29 ford tudor will get to enjoy the flattie..

I guess it was ment to be.... last time i heard of this motor the asking price was much more.

I guess i can honestly say i am very pleased with this deal.

Leon

 

No good deed goes unnoticed . the Hot rod Gods have smiled on you.

 

Nobody around here wants one...other than a select few fools like us!
Tom knows its worth more but it wasn't going anywhere at the price he was asking so he let it go cheap to someone who will make the most of it. He threw in the trans and rearend because he knew he'd never use them...Leon might.

Now...LEON.
I hope your new found "Flatty-ness" hasn't got you putting down the SBC!
"ok cause it is inside the hood..."
Shame on you.
The SBC can be just as traditional to a slightly later era, as the Flathead is to its era.
It's all about the parts you use to build it!
It DID arrive in '55!

 

cool, It looks like you got a pretty good deal on that. I paid 400 for my 8BA with No trans or rear end. It is intended for a 29 sedan too unless my wife gets her way and it goes into what she has in mind for it.

 

Bill,

My Sbc is quite nice.... and i agree they can be traditional... I have the camel humps from a early 327... Its just that the flattie is beautiful! When we had Hambandys put in place it was beautiful...

I work with what i can find...and thanks to Tom.... it is found!!!

Dont be shy Bill.....and check those damn ferry reservations for the nats!


Leon

 

If everyone could go to church and get a mint Flathead out of it there'd be alot of greazy hands at the communion rail. Great story and good luck with it.

 

Very kool motor and even better price.

 

Hahaha...I'm only messin' with ya...after Andys build I love those old flatties too! Wicked engines...and they sound soooo good.

Ferries to the Nats?
Naaa...we filled the Caddy with spray foam and ping pong balls...then added a flying bridge.
We're going CUBAN style!!!

I think I have a pic somewhere...

 

I think the moral of this story is to drink more beer and good things will happen to you.

 

actually in this case it seems like, "switch to bourbon and save your beer money" is the moral lol

 

The head looks to have 1CM on them, which would tend to indicate it is indeed a Mercury engine. Of course, parts were frequently changed around on the Flatheads over the years as they were repaired/replaced, so you'd need to check the stroke to confirm you have the more desirable 4" stroke Merc crankshaft.