Have ? about flatheads

My father in-law is having a problem with his flathead in his 36 ford, first off he had the motor rebuilt several years ago an had been running fine then as he was trying to start it, the motor locked up. wouldn't turn over, locked up tighter than hell.
So he has another motor that had been rebuilt by a reputable mech. several years ago, the motor has been in storage an turned over freely, put it in an was running it for acouple days an dam if it didnt lock up tight. Any ideas, I dont have any experince with flatheads.

 

Does he ever check the oil?

 

I had an old flathead that did that to me quite a bit...turned out to be a loose starter...Bendix locked up on flywheel because of mis alignment,.put it in reverse gear,rock the car back and forth,you would hear it jump back on flywheel teeth..tighten starter,good till it happened again....

 

Electric fuel pump? Pull the plugs and try it. Starter bound? Put it in high and push it back and forth. Will engine turn when this is done? Pull the starter and try it again.

 

I'd check the starter . . . probably something hosed up with the bendix drive.

 

The starter should have a little brace on the front end that will prevent that.

 

Two things come to mind - starter & hydraulic lock.

On the starter, you've got some good advice - pull the starter & check the drive carefully. If anything looks loose/worn - replace it. I've had good luck with the barrel drives.

On hydraulic lock, do you have an electric fuel pump? If so, do you have a pressure regulator? If not, it can push fuel past the needle & seat and fill up any cylinder with the valve open momentarily - of course, it'll eventually leak by the rings, but it doesn't take much liquid to lock a cylinder - anything more than about 100cc will lock most flattys solid.

 

I have checked with pops an the starter isnt the prob. removed it an tried rocking the car, still locked, he's not running elect. pump.
Onthe the first motor thought it could be timing gears but it is ok, thax for your response, Marc

 

I would still pull the plugs and try the rocking again. Could be a water leak into a cylinder.

 

What was wrong with the first one he took out? I know it was locked up but did he find the problem?

 

We pulled it out because it locked up also, havent tore down completly yet, checked cam gears and that is as far as he has gotten on it. hopefully will tear down this weekend.

 

Same carb on both engines?

 

Pull the heads.

Only other thing I can think of is carbon build-up - but that's a long shot.

 

Seized main bearings! Or, check that the transmission hasn't locked up by trying with the clutch depressed, and put a wrench on the drive pulley to turn the engine.


TraderJack

 

We pulled head off an found #3 exhaust had no valve. head broke off stem, toasted block an head, going to rebuild other motor, thanx for all your input.