Hot Rods Flathead stars and planets align

I own and run a European auto repair shop, you know, Porsche, Audi etc.
Last week a Mercedes customer of mine brings his car in for repair, and sees my model A in the shop parking lot.
Cool car he says, is that yours? Yep I tell him. I'm showing it to him and he asks what you running for a motor?
I show him, and he tells me he thinks he has some of those finned aluminum heads for a Flathead out in his shed. He tells me they were out there when he purchased the house 40 some odd years ago.
I started in asking him where the hoses hook up, in the front, or in the middle.
Any name on them?
He's not sure, but he'll bring them by when he picks up his Mercedes.
So I got his car fixed PDQ, as you can imagine, and he brings them in.
I gave him 100.00 off his bill, and keep the heads..
Not bad for a few hours work.

 

score

 

Looks like a good score. I like Edmunds heads because the spark plugs are relocated enough so they clear the exhaust valves and allow extended tip plugs to be run (at least on the 8BA versions). I will be kind of a wet blanket here, but the heads appear to have been used. The first thing you should do is to check the mounting side for corrosion, excess milling, and flatness. Hopefully, they will be fine or able to brought back to spec easily. However, many times, finds like this end up being "wall-hangers". If you have the time, it would interesting to see what the other sides look like. From what I can see, there are no broken fins, which is generally a good sign.

 

They have been ran, but close inspection shows they're nearly perfect. No pitting, plug threads in tact, I'm going to clean them up, and check for warping..

 

Glad they're good. I have purchased two sets of used Edmunds 8BA heads over the last couple of years and both sets turned out to be good, so Edmunds must have done a good job making them. If you find they do need some surfacing work, make sure you measure the clearances and aim for .040"-.050" over the piston to obtain optional "squish"; it makes for a better running, more powerful, AND economical engine.