Funny, in the 60's everyone wanted a Chevy V-8 in their 40. Put in the Chevy and rebuild the flatty. Then you can reinstall it if you want to.
Yes it was just a old beater ... But I miss it and wish I had not sold it. At least another HAMBER owns it now and is actually a BETTER care taker of it than I was. I had more fun it that old 40 than any of my other cars ...
FLAT HEAD....my $.02.......ford in a ford ....chevy in a chevy...etc, etc, etc. "AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"
Even though the actual poll shows a slight lead for the Flathead, I am leaning toward the suggestion that I bolt the 283 in now and rebuild the Flathead for later, made several times. That would get me going faster and cheaper and remain traditional as well. I really thought the poll would be swayed more heavily toward the Flathead Although it is still early
the flathead; iconic, great looking, cool sounding,and traditional...and so is the chevy, which is on the stand ready to go. use the chevy. bowtie brown, forget your meds again
I vote for your 283 or one of my own super secret engines: Lincoln Y block Lincoln flatty Olds Rocket Buick nailhead and I have a 283 too but I like your better
Toast, do you know Sam Rambo? He's got a 283 in a '40, that's been there for 45 years or so. You might talk to him to get his opinion. Sam's '40 is as traditional as it gets. In 1980, the last year I lived in Tulsa, Joe Gaddy in Broken Arrow had a '40 coupe for sale. It had a 283 mated to the original drivetrain and I drove it. Very nice driving car. Joe told me he and Orville Adair would run down the highway at 80 mph, no problems. You can do as others have said, run the 283 and take your time rebuilding the flathead. If you decide you like the 283 in the '40 and wanna keep it that way, sell the flathead ( to me! ) Edit: OK, Joe has corrected my memory (thanks, Joe). The '40 was wound tight at 65 (see his post below) and the 283 hasn't been in Rambo's '40 for 45 years (thanks again, Joe!)
Hey arkiehotrods, that would be me [Joe Gaddy]. Who are you? PM/email me please. As far as my 40 driving nice, it did, just not at 80. If I said that I lied [hey I was just a pup then], it was wound tight at 65, much less 80. As far as Orville, he never drove that slow, haha. Sam Rambo's 40 is basically the same set up [I found him the 283 that is in it]. Not 45 years ago though. Sam's dad, Charlie, drives a 32 highboy with dual quad 283 and early drive train. That set up works just fine, in my opinion for a pretty much local driver. If you want a road car, you had better find a two speed Columbia. Joe
You can never beatthe look or sound of a flathead, they ALWAYS attract attention!!! Btw, the intake that I got from u is being put to good use.
Running a French Flathead in a 31 PU with a 39 trans & a 3:27 gear out back. Does the job. Can run 70 all day with it Butch
Toast did you say you have an 8BA in the `40 right now? Or is it an earlier engine? You know I'm a Ford purist. In my humble opinion enough Fords have been through GM transformation process. Take my own car for example. The stock Flatty will outperform the brakes and 6.00 x 16 bias ply tires, and that's in a tubby `41 Coupe. I most definately will install a 276" 59A when time and money permits but some chassis tire and brake upgrades will go with that. I swear all the Chevy powered street rods that I pass on the highways have those fancy engines in there for decoration or something because they all seem to drive like sissies. Scouts honor this is true. I have no idea why people build these monsters and drive 50 mph in the slow lane. What's the point? The 221" Flatty in my car is original, near as I can tell. Dunno what oil pressure it runs because the gauge is broken. It did start a little rod knock a while ago so I pulled the pan with the engine in the chassis. My suspicions were confirmed when I checked the rod brgs. They were beginning to delaminate. Not bad for 70 years old. The mains were fine and so were all the crank journals. So I slipped a new set of standard rod brgs in, cleaned the pan and screen and off we went. Cost me about $150 all together. Even stopped an oil leak in the process. Who needs a Chevy?
I just looked back and saw you have an 8BA already. That's great, easier to service. Freshen that baby up and go!
Built and ran 10 flatheads through the years. Great little motor I grew up with. Finally got off the merry-go-round when the "gotta have it" guys drove the prices way too high. Put the SBC in and I'll bet you never take it out.
Hey, I understand the whole Ford in a Ford thing. However I have never left a car stock in my life! So the question here is use a nicely warmed small block that is done and in my shop or spend every penny to build or buy the type Flathead I would want to put in the car. Also, I will need to change gears either way. I love the Flathead and if money were no object, I would build one today. It just seems to make more sense at this time to use what I have and rebuild the flathead as money permits and put it back in later. I currently am trying to work a deal with a guy on a real nice Merc flathead that is just what I want but it is real expensive and will drain most all the car funds. I also just don't want to tear it down to build the current motor, My car building time is very limited these days and I want to drive it.
I ran a hot 296 Merc flathead in my 40 for the first 10 years. I loved it but found a couple weak points. One being the axle keys kept shearing off. Got to the point that I could fix them in about the time to change a tire. The other thing was the transmission. It was rebuilt and worked great but would lock up between 1st and reverse once in awhile. I would have to remove the side plate and shift the sliders manually and put it back together. Didn't happen often but was a pain. I put a late model 56 Chevy rear end in it and converted the trans to open drive and it was better. In late 70's I replaced the engine with a 289 Ford and C4. It was a cruiser but just didn't have the power my old flathead had. I thought about the C4 conversion for the flathead but heard it robbed too much power from the flat head in the end. I currently have a 350 Chevy in it and a 350th. Love it but sometimes I wish I still had the old flathead.
283. Mine has the stock trans, stock 3:78 rear. We drove over 2000 miles round trip to the LSRU from Denver. No problems. 18-20 mpg. Never overheats. Burns no oil. Can buy engine parts anywhere. Cruises nicely at 70. I really, really like flatheads, but if you are going to drive A LOT, a 283 in a stockish '40 is kinda hard to beat.
If I ever redid my 40, it would get a 401 nailhead, but that's just me. I know....it's not on your menu. Sounds like you've already got it figured out, put the 283 in it while you rebuild the flathead. It's a no brainer since you've already got the Chevy done. Me, I'm not a flathead guy so I'll stick with my 327 sbc until that nailhead comes along!
Another vote for the Flatty, you should be able to deal off the 283 and build the 8ba real nice. Scotty.
Go with the 283 for now while you get the funds to rebuild that flatty. Later drop the flatty back in it.
get yourself a cragar adapter and make a front mount in she goes no cutting and you can go back to a flathead over a weekend, when you want. ive had a 283 in my car for years with original drive line best thing i ever done for the car it now gets lots of use
Thanks for all the help and advice, what all do I need to get to convert to 283 till I can redo the flathead?
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