Flathead rebuilding

Hey all, I'm in the process of rebuilding my 1950 8BA motor. Before I get too ahead of myself in just ordering parts, I want to measure everything to make sure its with in spec.

I'm basically looking for a service manual that gives me all factory specs and allowable wear clearances for the mains, bores, crank etc. All the basics in engine building. I see tons of info that vary on different sites, so I just want to make sure I have accurate info. Any book recommendations greatly welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Oh and here's a few teaser pics.

 

Rebuilding the Famous Ford Flathead by Ron Bishop

Tex Smith's The Complete Ford Flathead V8 Engine Manual by Ron Ceridono

Both are available on eBay

also www.vanpeltsales.com has good info

 

Lot of good info on that site for factory specs, thank you. Wish he has wearable limits too though.

 

You can get the factory shop manual "The Green Bible" off of fleabay in paper or CD forms. It has everything that you will need. And welcome from another FNG shoebox owner.

 

That sounds exactly what I'm looking for, thank you, I'm looking it up now.

 

I also recommend "Rebuilding the Famous Ford Flathead" by Ron Bishop

Sweet shoebox, BTW !

Rich

 

If you hot tank the crank, be sure to remove the plugs to get the junk out of the sludge holder area. Back in the old days, we always bored them 1/8th just to make them bigger. Over on the Ford barn, the guys really like the L100 cam with a hot ignition, a Mercury manifold, and a carb for a 283 Chev. If you find a machinest who wants to bore it .030 "to be safe", look for another machinist.

 

What do you mean by .030 "to be safe"? Is there no .030 pistons available or is it too much for the block to be bored, or other reasons?

 

Welcome to the shoebox/flathead addiction... At least your not putting a SBC in her

 

.030 is a small amount to bore. Find yourself a machine shop that knows flatheads. That is a major. They will know the limits of what a flathead can handle machining wise and have the tooling and fixtures to do it correctly. I took a block to the local machine shop and learned this the hard way.... They build awesome 400+ horse smallblocks for the local stock car guys.... But they got my Hardened valveseats off center. I had to take it to another machine shop that knew flatheads and get it repaired at my own expense. But its right now. Mine I believe is bored .125 over and runs amazing. Im also running a Merc crank and milled factory merc heads. and an Edelbrock 452 4-barrel intake with a '59 chevy rochester 4g carb. Its all under the hood or Id probably put multi carbs on it for the look.

 

I had pretty much the same probably,i wouldnt take it to a place that doesnt know much about them,I had to learn the hard way

 

Thanks for the info. I know there has to be some good machine shops around So. Cal that know flatheads.

 

Good luck with it and Flatheads to me are the best

 

When I built the engine for my Merc. in the picture, and the one I wrote about, I swore I would never build another or put one in any car I would ever own again. However.... I recently finished an '30 AV8 coupe with a '46 engine. Most fun car I've ever built, owned, or driven. Welcome to the addiction man!

 

Do yourself a favor and have your block bored to 3 and 5/16, you will be glad you did. Make sure you get the water jackets clean. Have it balanced and you will be good to go.

 

Where do you get em and who makes the pistons for the 3 and 5/16 overbore

 

Ross pistons will have what you need, and they are in El Segundo.

if the OP has a low mile flathead an .030 overbore will probably be good enough. just remember, suppliers probably dont stock odd piston sizes.

for specs, Ron Bishops book is good.... factory specs will be in the manual for your model.