So,this friend of mine works construction when he's on summer vacation from college. He came by on Saturday and told me he saw a flathead in a garage he had been repairing. He doesn't know much about rods (he's into Jeeps) so I figured it'd be something lame, but it was worth looking into. He takes me to this barn and the owner isn't home. So we went in anyways. This was laying on the floor of an otherwise totally bare barn... It turned out to be a 59A block out of a panel truck that had been rigged to run an irrigation pump on the farm. It's got the radiator, that sweet 55 gallon drum hood, and a wooden firewall. With the hood off you can see it has all of the accessories, including a Stromberg 97 still sitting under the air cleaner. The throttle and choke had been connected to wires running through the firewall and bent into finger loops. The 3 speed shifts beautifully and easily with nice, solid clicks. There is also a really sweet 4-in-1 Ford guage in the firewall. The face is absolutely perfect. Check out the sweet house plumbing exhaust system too! Now for the SAGA of getting my hands on it... The place it was stored was not the home of the guy who actually owned it. SO, we drove to his farm. He wasn't in the house, but his wife informed us he was in the barn across the street working. My friend is actually a distant realtive of his, so that helped. Pennsylvania Dutch farmers can be a little wary of outsiders. The guy is about my age (27) and when I introduced myself he looked at me funny and said "I know that name..." Turns out I was friends with his wife in high school. SWEET. After that he was super friendly. So we drove back tot he barn and he went to another farmer's place to borrow a big tractor to load it onto my truck. We hooked it all up and half way out the door the friggin' tractor breaks! The shifter cable snapped way down inside the trans. At that point I began to worry. He messed with it for like 20 mins. No luck. (My engine is chained to the bucket at this point, suspended in the air by a tractor that now can't be started and therefore can't let it back down. Plus the tractor is completely blocking the barn doors now.) He took my truck and went back to tell the guy what happened. In a few minutes they cam back with an even bigger tractor to pull the first tractor out! Long story short, they byp***ed the safety on the first tractor to get it started so the hydraulics would work, then pulled it away from the barn and i drove my truck up under it so they could lower the works into the bed. Done deal. Best part was those farmers never got mad or started *****ing. Central PA may not have much, but it has good people. Oh did I mention the price? How does $140 sound? It was a good day.
Thanks for reading all of this. As a bonus, here are some more pics of my cars in progress... Here's the T! My "new" junkyard buckets: And my '30 Cabriolet:
SCORE!!! Please make sure it aint cracked before dropping it into the A... my "windmill" (yes, it powered a windmill) motor I got from our lil hamber momentumfoto had a them in the usual places...
That's pretty cool. I have seen all kinds of cool engines that came out of field pumps. Two months ago we came across a Baby Hemi that was still running, fresh out of a field - replaced by a new motor. It had some really neat valve covers, they said something wierd on them,,,can't remember now. But it pays to live in the country sometimes.....when's the last time you heard of a barn find in the city, right?
My dad builds Irrigators (tm) for ***mins West Inc. Some of the motors he comes across are freakin UNBELIEVABLE! He bought a 71 Corvette with a 350 in it that needed a SERIOUS overhaul. Needed a few sleeves and was just a mess.........SO he went and pulled a 350 outta some farmers field for nothin, I machined it and he still runs it! Talk about neck snappin! Good deals are made with Famers lookin to get rid of that "ol junk" they've just replaced with new Irrigators! Start makin it a habit to ask! **x Brandy
Wisconsin state law forbids ownership of more than 2 former pumphouse hemi's... i'll do you a favor and come and remove it from your place, but dont let it happen again OK?
Thanks for I.D.-ing those... I was wondering! The rad seems like it's pretty much killed, but I suppose the tanks could be salvaged and re-cored. I am definitely going to use the guage if I can. It must've been running not too long ago. The farmer is only a young guy and said it was running when they pulled it. (Weren't they all?) So it likely hasn't been sitting too long. And yes, I will definitely hyave it all checked for cracks. Luckily I have another complete block in case this one is bad. If you look closely at the Model A pics it in in there, overalpping the front of the A to save room. It's on an engine stand with two grille shells on top of it.)
Lol. Thanks! I purposely didnt take any front shots because the nailhead is just laying between the rails loose and all crooked, the frame is sitting on steel wheels and the steering is all just hanging down. It looks like ****! Never fear though, as soon as I can I'll get some good shots of it. The motor is about to go in and once that is taken care of I'm going to do a full mockup just for fun. Larry (Kustom Chief) keeps telling me to keep it 'flaked and leave it in the gelcoat. I keep arguing because the body is pretty old gl*** and the seams really **** and need to be cleaned up. I will probably leave it like that for a season at least. (If I ever get the thing together at all.) Don't worry. It will NOT be flat black.
It's cool where I live because not many people are into old stuff, or are into billet bombs instead, so there's still a good base of parts lying around.
The Jalopy Journal
