Scored a Merc Flattie yesterday. Went on local craigs and a guy was advertising a Merc flattie for $100 obo. I text him and ask a few questions an he says it's locked up but "The ad says obo". I offer 50. he says ok come get it. i ask about loading it an he says it's already on a hoist an his father and brother will be there to help me load it.. Quite a drive out there an by the time I get there the Sun is gettin high in the sky. Sure as shit the thing is on a hoist in his drive way. Knock on the door an this guy comes out inna wheelchair. Says "my dad an brother hadda leave and obviously I can't help ya Ya gotta load it yerself, just gimmee $30". Well it ain't like i hadda drag it outta the backyard or somethin , so Sure. I'ts hooked to the hoist but on the ground. I pump the handle about 5 times and nothin happens...WTF? After a while it was 5 pumps per quarter inch. 15 minutes and i got it high enough to move and rolled it out to the sidewalk. Now I gotta get it up to about 4 feet to compensate for the dip at the sidewalk. 45 minutes of pumping and lifting a fraction of an inch at a time and i finally pushed it in the side door. The kid reaches in his pocket and hands me $10 back and says, "I hadda get something for it, we were gonna scrap it inna couple days but you earned it". Thanx Man. Got the heads off while still in the truck and it was out side for a while. No rust on the dipstick is a good sign.
I don't know how much you are into flatheads so I am probably just telling you what you already know. The blocks often crack around the valve pocket. Look for the cracks running between the valve to the cylinder bore. The pictures are not big enough for me to see the cracks. If you have cracks there, it is not the end of the world for the block. Just another expense. If nothing else is salvageable, a 4 inch crank is worth $200 to $300 buck. Neal
As for the $50 he told me his father "Found" the engine in the garage of an empty house he was being paid to clean. The kid said they didn't think anyone would want it and it sat on the local Craigs for almost two weeks with no calls. If I didn't take it they were gonna scrap it. I figger I saved it from being melted down. If the block is bad I have an 8ba Ford I can put the crank in an the heads on.
Ditto....the 4" crank is more than worth the $50 you gave for it! Also, it'll be worth the $ at the local machine shop, to have it cleaned and crack checked. 4TTRUK
Merc engine update: Sadly it has the DEATH CRACK from exhaust valve to number two cyl. Oh well, at least I have only $20 in it and a couple hours time. On the up side I got a better set of heads and a Merc crank. I flipped the block, pulled the pan and checked the crank looks good. Odd lookin oil pan tho. Sets real deep with a relief to the back end? And YES, the block is covered on a rollaround cart and now resting comfortably under a workbench in case it ever becomes feasible to repair it.
Depending how far the crack goes into the valve pocket, it is fixable and definitely not the "death crack". The heads are not worth much. Low compression vs. the ford heads. The block may be what you are looking for but the value is in the crank if it is a 4 inch stroke. Definitely covers the $20. Neal
Yah, I left the crank in it before i rolled it under the bench. Good place to store it. As for the crack, and seat there's also a sleeve to be had. Some of the other threads on here have talked about $1700 to do that much work to a block. I have another 8ba that I'm pretty sure is good an I'll build that first. Got one more to check then I'll decide which one to go with. As for the heads, other threads say EAB had two different comp ratios and EAC's ALL had the higher comp. Some say the "C" in EAC means Hi-comp Canadian heads. I suppose I could "CC" em against an "EAC" head (if I had one)? It has also been said that they lowered the CR on Merc heads to match the Ford heads. Any one got a link to CC numbers for the respective heads?
For $1700 +/- I had two cracks repaired & valve seats installed, eight cylinders bored, crank cut, rods reconditioned, cam bearings, and total reassembly.
Here ya go. OEM Ford heads are listed on the 1st page of data, IE page 2. EAC heads (83 cc) are definitely lower CR than EABs (71 cc). Play with the charts... Brand new Edelbrock #1115s are about the best (obtainable and affordable) heads with the highest CR (61 ccs). Note, as you bore the block, the CR increases. There's better heads than the #1115s, but how long do you want to search, and pay for them? If you can live with OEM on a 8ba, with or without a Merc crank, go for a set of EABs. The file is courtesy Ol' Ron on the Ford Barn website. Search for his comments regarding OEM, Edelbrock, Offy, Navarro, and Flatattack Racing heads. Regardless of chamber size he advocates milling them for .040 -.060 clearance over the pistons and/or valves, and CCing the heads... John
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