Hot Rods Flathead Durability

While you are looking for a V8 as far as I can tell, I will chime in with my experience. I have basically as stock Model A (slightly warmed up) Sedan-a heavy car for a 40 HP motor. Well moved from the Bay Area of Calif. to NW Washington with her. I took a week off from work and did about 250 miles a day. She drove just fine at 50ish MPH. Flatheads LOVE slow RPM's and speeds. Couple that with a good oil change regimen and an air filter and you will be fine. They are damn near bullet proof in this way. Oh, I added an O/D that shaves off about 200+ RPMs in 3rd and she smoothed right out. Now I have to make sure I don't speed on accident.

A recommendation for the bottom end is shell bearings as babbitt will last but not as long. Stick with points so if something goes wrong you can fix it by the side of the road.

My 2 cents worth, Mike

 

A rumble of a powerful motor, a new paint job, black wheels, center hubcaps, clean lines and the at***ude of a nice hot rod. Everyone noticed it, but a few minutes later, it was just a hot rod build. Even with the hood up and the nice 348 motor sitting there, did not impress the teens that had gathered. It was nice, but the model of the hot rod did not go over with the crowd. It was a delivery truck/van. Not a cruiser hot rod sedan or coupe. No back seat and only made for two. Cheezzz...

Hello,

Having owned a stock flathead motor as a replacement for a 348 Chevy motor that was originally in the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, it was a problem. I wanted the 348 motor. Then I would have a fast hot rod for my surf adventures and also for cruising around. The longboards are not the most obvious thing for a nice 348 powered 58 Impala weekly at the beach. I did not care that it held only two teenagers. My friend and I would use it as a surf hot rod and the other bucket seat would be good for dates. Ha!

So, when the 348 motor was already installed in a 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, my wishes were answered. But, the owner was stuck on a price way over my budget. But, after weeks of haggling, what was the goal?

To have a fast cruiser hot rod, already had one in the 58 Impala. But, no way to go to the beach for my surf adventures. The modifications of installing a flathead in the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery made the sale in my price range.

Jnaki

At first, I wanted to bash around in the flathead sedan delivery. It was 200 hp less than the Impala. But, it started up right away and ran like a top, not requiring any repairs or maintenance, even new spark plugs. Later, I did change the spark plugs.

So, it now became a regular at the local teenage hangouts and I took all of the ribbing that teenagers could offer. But, it was my way to go to the coastal surf spots in an old hot rod. No one else was going surfing anywhere at the time, so I was a so-called teenage outlaw, anyway… ha! But, the teens did wear the same outfits and sandals.

But, now, I realized the flathead, while underpowered and would not allow me to take someone up to the local snowy mountains during the winter season. If I took several teens rolling around in the back cave, the flathead had no power. So, mountain driving was out of the question.

I was able to go 45 miles each time I wanted to go surfing. That led to 80 mile locations down the So Cal coastline and eventually, 125 mile San Diego and Baja Mexico surf trips. I was reluctant to take it into Baja Mexico, at first, thinking it would have a problem and I would be stuck there. But, it was a flathead and most mechanics anywhere were able to diagnose and fix any flathead motor, in any car or in my case, an old hot rod. So, there was that.

The flathead motor was the most reliable set up of any of our daily drivers. It ran like a top, no maintenance, other than perhaps a can of oil on rare occasions. It even ran well on Pemex Gas from a Baja Mexico gas station. Besides being under powered, I had to drive in 2nd gear up normal steep roads on our road trips, it was a fun hot rod to drive.

For daily drives to high school, everyone wanted me to pick them up despite only having one extra p***enger seat. They were ok rolling around in the back. But, eventually, I had one special person riding in the p***enger seat who was willing to be ready to go at the early hour, so I could get the first visible parking space in front of our school for security reasons. Now, every English Cl*** in school, had a clear view through the windows at my flathead powered sedan delivery parked directly across the street. YRMV

Note: Don’t worry about building a high performance motor. If it is for daily driving at normal speeds, the flathead is reliable. At least it was for me and my 6 years of ownership driving long distances, daily driving to school and cruising around. I was tempted to buy a Reath Automotive built up flathead, but, I had to sell the sedan delivery to go to college. A 6 year old hot rod with plenty of miles of coastal cruising to places most would not go for activity.

It sold in a flash and continued on in another lifestyle, not to my liking, but it still was around at the local beaches. YRMV

 

One thing I havent seen in the initial post and since is what sort of speed do you want to maintain on these LONG drives of yours?

 

Always wondered about this.

I'm sure new tech regarding piston rings has much to do with it, as well, but are there any other reasons older engines can't get the lifespan of today? Modern cylinder finish should work well with the good metal of old blocks, i'd ***ume.

I bet EFI having so much more precise fuel metering has a lot to do with blow by contamination of the crankcase and bearings, etc. but are there any other things inherently short lived about old engines that modern building couldn't resolve without redesigning the entire thing?

-rick

 

A few different application's where a flat-head engine was unique!

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The flathead in my old 4 door Deuce never gave me any problems, when I was on the Interstate I ran all day long with traffic, I put about 12 thousand miles on the car in the time I owned it, I would go flathead again, they do cost a lot more to build than a SBC or Ford. HRP