I was given a 8BA block and some parts. Is this model worth re-building? I was looking online and it looks like a later model... Are there certain models I should stay away from? Thank you for any help. zak
Perfect block, can be adapted to just about any ****** you would want. Get it magnafluxed and you're on your way. Mike
If it is bare, in great shape, has been mag'd (crack free) and hasn't been excessively bored, maybe 50-150 bucks depending on who you talk to. Mike
I dunno, if it's been mag'd and is rebuildable, I think it's worth more than that! They go for a few hundred round here...
Not sure either. I've got luck and have three standard bore magg'd crack free blocks that wouldn't leave my garage for under $500-$600. They are ***** to tear down & the Frenchies are going for $2-$2,500.
Anyone that thinks they can get a mag'd/cleaned/crack free block for $50/150 is either taking drugs or not living in this world. Or.......if you have half a dozen just let me know your address and I'll be right over to pick them with cash. So, if you are paying $50/150 for a good block.................what are you paying for a good Merc crank???????????? A block that is standard bore/mag'd with clean bill of health is worth $500 and up. IMHO Here is a picture of one of my blocks although it no longer has the cast main caps (it has billet steel) and with the caps/studs I wouldn't sell it for under $850. If it had the cast iron mains it would be $550. No, the bottom end girdle doesn't come with it for that price.
Damn, you guys must think you have gold. Maybe I am just used to being understanding of other hot rodders rather than gouging them. I have never paid more than 100 for a complete flathead engine including 8BA's, albeit they were all in unknown shape and rather filthy. Maybe I am crazy, but tearing down a flattie isn't that bad, and I would rather let somebody who wants it have it for a good deal than hoard it and never use it myself because they won't pay through the teeth for it. My bad Mike
Mike: Neither have I. So let's add this up: $100-$150 for a short block 3-4 hours to tear one down if everything goes smoothly $80 to boil/hot tank it Another $80 to mag it. $500-$700 doesn't seem out of line to me for a guranteed good block. That is just the way the market is in my part of NJ. Now what you said about a buddy or someone close needing it, that would be a different story. You never sold a part to make a little profit to help fund other parts of your project?
I can see your point and if I was running a business for that particular need then I would consider such a price after the labor; that being said, I honestly haven't sold anything for more than I bought it for even to finance my own projects. When I built my 37 I gave away the cab, hood, fenders, bed, everything not used from the donor 36 truck I bought to a handful of people, some I didn't even know. It just seemed right, as I got what I wanted and felt that p***ing on the parts to other hotrodders was the right thing to do. When I look back at all the cars/parts I have given away just because someone else wanted them more badly then me, I guess it seems a bit crazy, but I have no qualms about it. Maybe one day I will get treated nicely and find a great deal, maybe not, but every one deserves a good deal and contrary to popular belief people get them every day. And in reply to the merc crank question from A Chopper Coupe, the last 8BA I bought the guy was selling an 8CM short block (pretty dirty but looked crack free) with the crank .010/.010 for $350 ALL OF IT Mike
Mike: Great outlook and I have had the fortune to both be on the receiving end of generosity and on the giving end. I guess my price has thinking about if a guy was answering an add placed for good, crack free flathead blocks for sale. He goes to Johnny Smith's garage and Johhny throws a number at him. If someone had no knowledge of flatheads, they may not know what to expect. I may also be on the high side with my numbers for I have three good spare blocks. 1 for a future blower motor and the two others are earmarked for my sons. I'm also currently buidling one. But if my dad said he blew up the motor in his '32 or his '49 F-1, they would given away without hesitation. So my response was on a strickly retail perspectivie. Providing someone with a good deal is purely an Old Ford lover good mojo type of thing. Cool?
Of course it's cool, I wasn't trying to be confrontational, just honest. You don't answer to me or anybody else for that matter and seem to be a genuine kinda guy, and from a retail standpoint in the business world, that number would seem feasible. I just get a little upset when people seem to think it is okay to gouge others for "rare" flathead stuff, but turn around and give everyone hell for using a SBC. If we all just did this for the love rather than the money, there would be much less profit being made (somewhat anti-capitalist, but worth it in this small venue), but much more happiness being spread, as people shy away from flatheads based on price most of the time, and that is sad in my opinion. Why should anyone have to sacrifice their vision because someone thinks their flathead block is worth $500??? I couldn't afford to build one with prices like that and most others probably can't as well. Sorry, a bit of a rant, but selfishness and greed have grabbed a strong hold on the hot rodding community and it hurts. No negativity towards you, just a general feeling that makes me shy away from the crowd in general and spend my time building for the p***ion rather than the money. If I pulled up behind some poor slob in traffic who just spilled his rotating ***embly all over the pavement and was SOL, I would tell him to come by my house the next day and he could HAVE one of the flatties I have sitting around (it would need a rebuild of course), just because I have been there and it sure is ****ty. And yes, we are cool Mike
Mike: Well, I'm learning the hard way. What is killing me with my rebuild is machine work. I'll have $1,000-$1,200 in machine work alone. That is not including the cost of the parts. I use to think guys were nuts when they told me they spent $4K on flathead rebuild. I now believe them and will have that in mine when it is all said and done. They certainly aren't cheap and that was my logic my I bought them. Let my boys tell me they don't want them and out the door they go. Until then, I need to hold on to them as long as I still have my job and pay the mortgage.
Well, let's face it, a new crate Merc cost me $325 in 1946! But that happened to be about 6 weeks pay for me then. Luckily my brother had pay saved from his 3 years overseas! figure what six weeks pay is today, so you can see they were never cheap! then came the $35 cam, the $75 heads and the $50 manifold all paid with wages of 65cents an hour. Parts are worth exactly how much someone wants to pay for them! traderjack
flatheads are worth the sacrifice and money.. oh yeah, thats almost anything thats worthwhile...............I cant wait to hear mine crackel and pop like no other engine sound out there.
I would pay 500 to 600 for a checked out good block, only because ive been there and bought 3 150 dollar flatheads before i got agood one. i have a couple of junk blocks im looking to get rid of for free....good mock up blocks if anyone needs them i can bring them to det autorama if need be
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