1951 Mercury Flathead question

Hey guys

I have a stock flathead in my 1951 mercury project I am working on and would like some recommendations on how to make the car a reliable driver. I will throw up some info on the motor just to give you an idea of what I have and see what recommendations you guys have.

The motor is from what I can tell an all original 1951 merc flathead. It has 47000 original miles on it. Car has not been on the road since the 60s but the motor has been run frequently since then.
Parts I believe to be original from the factory still on the motor: oil pump, fuel pump, water pumps, carburetor, intake manifold, headers, radiator, Oil filter, heads. Car has been converted to 12 volt

The motor runs pretty well but I have been noticing more recently, a decent amount of blue smoke from the exhaust when I rev the motor a little, there is also a fair amount of liquid that comes out the exhaust. Also from the oil breather after the car has been running for a few minutes there is some whitish colored smoke that comes out. I dont know if this is normal and am ***uming it is not.. any recommendations on how to fix it would be great.
Looking to keep the flathead in the car and know that the motor can be reliable once I put some parts in it, Any recommendations on parts to get that may fix my problem listed above and to make subtle improvements on the motor are greatly appreciated.

 

It's normal for a motor with problems, and yours has some. Blue smoke out of the exhaust is usually oil burning, and a lot of liquid (beyond condensation) usually means a blown head gasket or a crack into the water jacket. Time for a tear down and inspection.

Bob

 

mine has a little blowby (really nice smell to smell inside the car) and it has its moments with blue smoke. you could probably put a set of rings and a hone job if the cylinders arent to bad to do a quick fix. driving and reving are two differnt thing. mine only belches blue if im letting the engine slow me down when i come to a stop and then get on it after that, just loaded up. keep an eye on your coolant level and see if its dropping, if its not, might just be a bunch on condinsation in the air. mine sat for 25 plus years and its the smoothest running flathead ive ever had!!

 

Do a compression test and pressure test. From info provided, it would seem an engine rebuild may be in order. Good luck.

 

Thank you guys I was told by my father several years ago that it needs new waterpumps and a coolant flush, I am guessing the motor hasnt been rebuilt but know very little about the car before my father bought it someone started restoring it and then lost interest/time so I may have to find someone to take a look at the motor to see if any of the above has been repaired. I really dont want to drive it until I know im not doing damage to the motor

 

The old rule of thumb, applies to all motors, not just flatheads. As long as it's carrying oil pressure, isn't losing coolant through cracked block/head gasket, and don't rattle and bang............ If any of those happen, to prevent further damage, shut it off and call a tow truck.

 

this is true. The engine actually runs very smooth, It leaks coolant out of the waterpump on the right side which I have replacements for and the radiator has been reconditioned but it is the original. Also exhaust header gaskets and header to exhaust down pipe gasket need to be replaced they both leak

 

If the oil in the crankcase looks milky you have water in the oil.

 

Oil when i changed it was just dark, no milky or cloudyness, just black from sitting for about 10 years. Considering having a mechanic look at it when I can get it roadworthy, not very far off right now.

Also has anyone ever changed out waterpumps by themselves on this type of car, i have the two replacements but they are also the motor mounts on th car so i have to jack the motor up and do them one at a time. Is it something I should attempt in my driveway or leave to a professional in a garage? I have installed brakes suspension and other miscelaneous parts on newer vehicles so I am pretty mechanicly inclined

 

Don't forget the bolt accessed thru the lower radiator hose opening on the pump, when removing the old water pumps (not accessible or seen until lower radiator hose/s are removed).

 

Do the pumps yourself, it's not difficult. If you get someone to look at your engine, make sure it's a guy who knows flatheads.

 

There was a guy who contacted me on this site through pm that is in my area who said he does rebuilds on flatheads, If i change the waterpumps and head gaskets out and im still having the same issues I am going to look into that,
I also really need to do something with the carb the screws for adjusting it are all stripped out and it leaks some fuel from around the fuel line fitting which the more i am reading the more common it is with orginal carbs that have been refitted with new fuel lines.

 

Do the pumps your self, its not that bad of a job.

 

You can do the pumps yourself. Put a 4x4 under the front of the oil pan, jack it up and remove the pumps. Be sure to use antiseize compound on the bolt inside the pump when you re***emble. Use stainless steel bolt with anti seize if you can. The intake and carb off a Ford 8BA will bolt right on and the carb is easier to work on.

 

I wouldn't let a few wisps of blue smoke scare me. Keep oil in it, fix the obvious faults and drive the wheels off of it. It was common for cars to smoke a little and go on forever. Flatheads are tough old birds. I've had a few beater flatheads and put a lot of miles on them. Old cars don't have to be perfect to be fun.

If it's smoking like a train or knocking that's one thing but a little blue smoke never hurt anyone. If it starts to foul the plugs consistently then I'd think about a ring job on a low mileage engine like that. If it hasn't had regular exercise you might try adding a qt of Marvel Mystery oil. The rings could be gunked up from sitting. My Studebaker rings freed up and quit smoking once it got some regular exercise. It took a few good trips for them to free up.

 

sometimes they need to be exercised a bit after sitting a long time. Just run it easy for awhile things may get better.

 

Pumps can be done by yourself, just don't forget there is a bolt inside the water intake of the pump.

Also, when you replace the head gasksts do not re-use those bolts/studs and don't be shy with the permatex (or whatever thread sealant you're using)

 

Thank you so much for the recommendations guys I will certainly be doing the water pumps myself just really wanted to hear that someone had done them and it wasnt that big of a job. The more I think about the smoke from the exhaust the more I think it is the combo of not being run and or driven for an extended period of time.

 

I bought a "pig in a poke" '49 flattie couple years back. It started and ran but that's about all we knew. ROLL THE DICE! Stuck it in our roadster behind a T5. Changed the wires, plugs and etc. and it ran fairly well. Did a compression test and all looked good. Changed out the points to a Petronix and that made a big difference. However, we did start hearing a rod knocking after about 1,200 miles or so. Dropped the pan and swapped out the bearings. Not getting any advance so we need to go through the distributor next. With a little TLC I'm thinking this thing may run awhile longer. No water pump issues with this one but I've changed them out before. Just a jack, a few tools and a couple beers! You can do it.

 

Im pretty sure it will run a while with few problems I am going to try and get it on the road in the spring, and run it a little, Once I get it where I can drive it I am gonna have some one professional access the motor and repair what needs to be repaired to make it a little more reliable

 

Make sure your road draft tube isn't blocked.

 

Didnt even think about pcv valve being blocked to be honest completely forgot to since its an infrequent occurance changing one on any newer vehicles but i suppose from sitting it could be blocked or gummed up

 

oo7 what part of upstate NY do you live..?

 

Glens Falls, Lake George Area

 

oo7 To far for me.. I thought you were Closser
go to a Library & see if the Have a Motor manuel on a 50 51 Merc and Read it
a lot of Good Info in it
Just my 3.5 cents
Good Luck

 

Thanks yea i have a few manuals that we have picked up along the way and ive been reading as much as i can on websites and whatnot

 

If you change the water pumps your self, make sure you remove the hidden bolt in the water hose outlet, Ha Ha. Iceman

 

You can learn a lot reading The Ford Barn forum. It's all flathead information. They have other forums too.

 

I threw in a MSD distributor and that Really woke up my 50 flathead. Like you I had some smoke and I ended up replacing the head gaskets and using the spraypaint technique. That took care of my smoke issue, Also remember to use threadsealant on the head bolts. When you replace your waterpumps, use stainless bolts. Also flush the coolant system and rebuild the carb if its the original, the rebuilt kit is cheap. Lastly if your sharing 1 exhaust, run some fentons and dual pipes. This is what I did to mine and I can't complain for a 60 year old engine she runs great! Good Luck!

 

will definately check out the forum always interested in anywhere i can gain some useful info.

As for the headers I had been considering replacing them from what i can tell the fentons seem to be the most popular option would like to get the car on the road and probably replace them down the road a bit