good flathead story

I was over a friends house on sunday when another friend drives up & says he has a 53 flattie in just bought for $300 in the bed of his P/U, so we get a cherry picker & put it in his garage on a old tire.He said it wasn't running when it was in the truck( dump) and parked about 30 yrs ago.But it did turn over with a breaker bar.
So we pull the dist. cap, file the points & find the rotor in 2 pieces, throw a rotor on, put it back together, run the fuel hose into a can & prime it alittle, hook up a battery with a push button solonoid & try to start it, no luck!!
Realize the coil wire to the battery isn't connected right we hook it up, hit the starter button & bada bing!! it starts up like its been running a hour before!!!!!!!!!! And stayed running!!! didn't even miss a beat.
couldn't believe it!! Didn't even smoke!!!!!
Love those motors!!!!!!!
jimV

 

Hey Man,

Flat heads get such a bad rap but you cant kill them with a sharp axe! Mine ran with broken rings in every piston, 20psi on one, 30 on another an an average of 60 (100psi is the norm) accross the others. I love them!

Dan

 

I pulled my 8ba out of an 50 F-3. It had been sitting in the woods for 25 years. While pulling it(in the woods), I put a breaker bar on the crank. Expecting a stuck or, the very least, stiff engine, I yanked the breaker bar for all it was worth. I smacked myself in the face HARD with the breaker bar when the flattie spun over smooth as silk. I paid my $200, took it to the shop, sanded the points, hooked up a fuel line, cranked it over by hand a couple times, then with the starter with the coil unhooked to build some pressure(with new oil) and fired it up. It too started and ran like it was running yesterday. I agree, they're great motors.

Karl

 

ah, i feel better now.......

They may out-run it. They may have more power than it. But, they'll never kill the flathead spirit!

 

hey may be able to do all that but can they look as good when they're doing it?

 

That's what I like to hear! means more potential customers

As a kid I really didn't want a flatty or even respect them.
A guy who is to this day a real smart ass was working on a rusted out 53 Ford Ranch Wagon, I was driving a 68 GTO Convertible 400 ci 4spd Posi.
I was an OHV guy all the way. I learned alot from this this guy, He is still a Ford Fanactic to this day has a 64 Falcon Sprint 4gear ragtop.
He worked on his 53 & his dad had all this speed equip in the garage.
One day he drives this derelic to school,pops the hood & a shiny set of finned Edelbrocks,3 pot polished intake,Stainless gen cover & several other dress up items as well as a set of headers. The body was a piece but the drive train was the hot ticket.
I was turned around @ that moment & hence started the quest for the 34 coupe that I would eventually own today. That was like 26yrs ago.
Flatties are the Sh*t Man!!!!

 

I have one I am getting ready to start soon,I hope it goes as well! Hey Kevin you have a web site with all your stuff on it???

 

Hi man,

I've followed your posts and i think your chasing too many variables at once. Whats the latest state of play with the motor?

Danny

 

Great story Jim. Thanks for sharing. Does that mean you're looking for a flatty to put in your bucket?

 

hey, hey! take that kind of talk elsewhere!

 

I particulary get a kick from the OHV guys who think that every other flathead has a cracked block. My ratio of good to bad finds is more like 8 or 9 to 1. And thats even here in the land of frozen blocks. Im particularly fond of getting mine from trucks as they often have Merc cranks and Johnson lifters installed during a rebuild (many factory rebuilds too)

Another engine that is just as well known for starting after a 30 year sleep in a field is the Ford Y Block. Like the flattie the walls are super thick and blow the freeze plugs and not the block; isnt that why they are called freeze plugs?

 

i bought a 51 ford tudor about 6mos ago with an8ba flattie in it. im so glad i wnt the flattie route. although i dont know a thing about em

 

I had a flathead that I built around 35 years ago for my 32 5w, been sitting all those years in a dirt floor shed since the 32 got a FE ford drivetrain. When the 32Rat project got started, the engine was pulled out to get "rebuilt"....didn't need it, had 3 stuck valves, fixed those, never pulled the pistons, still had the paint inside the block(old speed trick)...rebuilt the carbs....fired it up!!! Good Engine.

 

I'm not a flathead expert - have only had one Ford and a couple Mopars that I've actually drove & worked on. But, did work as driveability tech at an import shop for a spell.

When I'd get a pissy car that wouldn't start, I always would remind myself that it only needed air, fuel, and spark. Then I'd get a cup of coffee.

I'd start w/ checking spark, then check compression - make sure you have a motor; not a paperweight. If there isn't any spark, it's gotta' be points (file 'em down), coil (steal off of known running engine), wires or plugs (steal/borrow as needed). Fuel is easier to figure out. Just use a can of ether. That'll start anything!

The real important thing is calm down. I can't think my way out of a wet paper bag when I'm pissed off. My dad is an 'intuitive' kind of guy; he comes up with theories as to what is wrong. Working in a shop made me a much more 'sequential' kind of guy; When I don't know what I'm up against, I just run basic tests to narrow stuff down. Before long, I've (usually) at least got a pretty good idea of the direction to go in.

And not to hijack the thread...

I also had a flathead ford which amazed me. Sat in a back yard in Seattle w/ coffee can over carb for years. Kitted the carb and put points in it - Swiss watch! Had a '49 Plymouth - looked like shit and had (I think) a wristpin knock. Ran it from Mountlake Terrace to Ballard (approx 25 miles round trip) through Seattle traffic for years. Damn thing wouldn't die. Hadn't thought it'd make a week; had planned to put a 440 in the P.O.S. as a sleeper... never did.

 

I have two flatheads, one is out of a 51 1 ton anf the other is out of a 41 coupe, the 51 is cracked in three spots, the 41 is still siezed and i havent started on it yet, but both of them had a huge mouse nest in the lifter valley

 

my friends uncle has had an f5 in his trees for many many years. He was cleaning out the trees and told my friend to haul the truck out of his way, so my friend pulled it to his house. He isnt interested in flatties but I looked under the hood a few years ago and saw it had an 8ba and was missing the passenger side head, and as I dug into the cylinders through lots of leaves and packed dirt, I discovered that the pistons were very melted and 3 had gaping holes (like over an inch around).

This summer (a few years later). For some reason my friend put some wd40 into the cyls on both sides and let it sit for a few days (as the motor was obviously stuck). He hooked up a battery and kept clicking the starter for about 30 min and damned if the thing didnt come unstuck! Wouldnt start though, so he looked in the distributor and there was no rotor.

He drives to my house and gets a rotor from me and we bring it back to the motor and put it in, dump gas into the carb and put the fuel line into a can of gas.

BOOM

pops right off and starts running! WITH NO PASSENGER SIDE CYLINDER HEAD AT ALL! Even runs fairly well, but im guessing it wouldnt have any power.

I cant believe how the coil wasnt dead and the carb works, let alone how it runs missing a head.

 

My dad told me a story about a friend and his trip to tiajuana. They were driving a 4 door plymouth with a flat six and blew a piston on the way back. The thing got them back to oakland, with three tickets for the excessive smoke and about 50 quarts of oil. They left it running when they stopped to get gas.

 

I have been enamored with the Flatty since I first layed eyes on one at a car show when I was a kid. I'm puttin' an 8ba in my '41 Ford. I got mine from a pal who pulled it out of a '52 Ford that was in the middle of a full resto. He turned it over every now and then but it hadn't really run in over 14 years. I recently fired it up and it ran very well. Blew out one small black cloud then continued to run as long as i kept the fuel going. Really happy about that.

 

jalopy kid, Every junkyard flattie or stored flattie i have ever taken apart had a mouse nest in the lifter valley!! they just love them.
One a friend of mines , after he cleaned it all out the springs where all pitted & they kept breaking , after 2 in a row he replaced them all & its fine now.
jimV

 

There is something about an old motor that has been sitting for years that just draws a man into trying to get it to run again. Can I wake this thing up again after all these years. A buddy had a cherry 42 coupe that came with a parts car. It sat for almost 20 years. Yeah...Ya just have to try...right?

It didn't jump to life and purr like a kitten but it shook, snorted and farted. Some of the valves were stuck open. We pulled the plugs to find the dead cylinders, squirted ATF onto the valve stems through the spark plug holes and then popped the valves shut with a screwdriver. We had to repeat the process on each offending cylinder until the valves freed up. It ran better with each additional cylinder. When all 8 were restored to service, then it sat there and purred. There is something very rewarding about getting an old engine running again.

We never did anything with the car or the engine but what a sense of accomplishment for a Saturday. It may not be as rewarding as getting that freshly painted 2000$ rebuilt engine started but it's close.

Grim...it's an internal combustion engine not a Swiss watch or a damn computer. You were sooooo close when you got it to backfire. Don't give up.

 

MMmmmmmmmmm.....Flatheads. I like 'em.
Kevin, If I can one runnin', anyone can. I wish I was closer. I'd be more than happy to lend a hand. I'm still soakin' a big 'ol stroker last aprt in the mid 50's. I'll prolly let it soak til spring while I collect parts.

 

My brother-in-law told me of one that he had. Seems some guy had a late 40's ford p.u. that was hotroded then wrecked it. His dad then put the motor on an oil rig and converted it to run propane. Supposedly only had 5-10 hrs on it in the rig. It sat for about 5 yrs when he told me about it. About 15 yrs later I asked him about it and he still had it. He said he wanted $200 for it. I went out and looked at it. Hell It was out in the middle of a field uncovered, sitting on a wooded pallet. I tried to turn it over with a breaker bar but it wouldn't budge. My brother in law said if I stil wanted it I could have it for $60. I told him if he helped me load it it was a deal. Took it home put MMO in it and turned it the next day. Took the heads, intake, off, it looked new inside. Put aluminium heads, dual intake aluminium timing cover& dist with new innards, 2 new waterpumps on it and fired it up. sounds real good. Now all I gotta do is finish my DAMN MODEL A so I can drive the damn thing.

 

I was a diehard Mopar nut for 30 years. I still drive my '68 Super Bee (440-4spd) to work everyday and have a nice '67 GTX and my pride and joy; a '69 Roadrunner with the factory 440 6-pack. But it and the GTX sit in the garage collecting dust every weekend since I got my '34 Ford coupe and a '36 Ford pickup. Both are flatty equipped and besides a Mitchell overdrive in the coupe, bone stock. They are a blast to drive, and very reliable. Went on a beer run yesterday picked up 6 30-packs and logged another 100 miles on the coupe. Dang dry county! It gets 18 mpg, just don't expect to make a quick stop for gas, everyone over 65 has a flathead story to tell!

 

Yup

 

Never had one.......that ran.....
I bought a 53 Mercury years ago, for the engine. Car had sat for over 20 years ( wrecked car ) I was going to put it in the 32 Roadster that I was working on. ( the one I still have.......with a SBC ) ..My thinking was that with a flathead, I would be able to use the 32 frame as.....is and not have to build a new chassis.......

I bought a bunch of parts for it. Pretty stuff...heads, intakes and a 404 camshaft. Johnson lifters..you know..the good stuff........CHEAP......this was 1981 to 1983 and nobody wanted that stuff....even at Hershey it was cheap.

Put all the stuff on the stock Mercury....and had it sitting on a engine stand......looked great.......the BEST LOOKING engine I ever owned.....But I put a SBC........in the Roadster. Swaped the engine for some much needed 32 pieces.. He put the Mercury in a 53 F-100 and it ran.....unbuilt with my pretty stuff on it....

Always wondered WHAT IF....

 

there have been legends that flattys will run withoutand heads..........flattys don't take no crap! let them try to run their hemis with no heads!