Help with the 8BA Flathead Ford

I just got 2 motors with intentions of using one in my 1930 Model A Ford 2 door sedan project.

The one I am planing to use is an 8BA Motor. It has a cracked head but was still running when it was removed from a heavy farm truck. The motor has always been stored dry since removal.

I would like to rebuild it for my A and get it to run well and reliably.

How can I accurately identify the date of manufacture?

How many cubic inches is it and what are the horsepower and torque rating?

It apparently would have come with a 2 piece bell-housing. I only have the forward piece. Should I be looking for the rear piece or a one piece bell?

I want to use a T5 from an S-10 truck behind it. Any issues there? I have seen this done but know of no one who has done this. (I am able to machine and weld competently so I am not scared of this.)

Thanks in advance!

Mike

 

Look for the date codes stamped on the top of the motor on the intake mounting boss. Go to the Early Ford V8 club of America. They have a real good data base on everything flathead.
If it is a stock bore Was 3 3/16 with a 3 3/4 stroke. it was 239 CID and 100 horse. Torque was 180 to 196 depending on what year. You will need the 2 piece housing of the truck flathead. It works the best on the T5 conversion.
Is the head cracked or the block?

 

I think Speedway Motors sells the S-10 ****** adapters.

 

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_specifications.htm

 

I was told the head and i trust the guy I got it from. I am going to get it stable on an engine dolly before I pull the head back off for inspection.

 

Check for cracks radiating out from the head bolts. These are normal and okay. But be concerned about cracks from the valves to cylinders. These will have to be pinned and the cylinder sleeved.

 

I will check it out carefully, Thanks! Another thing about this motor is it has a huge generator. I was told the truck was once a state highway maintenance vehicle. How many Amp is this generator likely to be? Can it be set up as a 12V unit and could it be a good street-rod piece or should i just opt for the power gen?

 

I would opt for the power gen. You may have the 80 or 105 big truck genset. For the amount it will cost you to repair particularly if the armature is trash the PG is the right direction.

 

I am gonna ask. This motor did not come out of a big truck did it? The distributor is on the front p*** side correct? Not the rear of the motor.

 

The distributor is on the front p***enger side. Likely the truck was only a 1 ton maybe a 2 ton dump truck refitted with a grain bed.

 

hot tank and mag it first before sinking money into it I'm currently rebuilding a 51 8BA out of a f100, turns out it has a merc crank!!!!! that was a nice score

 

machinng costs are high on these.....get prices and a plan together after you get it back form being cleaned, sometimes the blocks just arent worth fixing

 

Just curious. Want to make sure you were not getting off into a 337 Lincoln flathead. They used those in the larger trucks as an optional V8.

Flatheads are great engines. Rugged and reliable if done right. Hot tank it, magnaflux it and go from there. 90% of them are all salvageable. It have over 20 of the 8BA's and a couple of 8CM's stocked away all are good and solid. You won't find a more trick looking setup when they are dressed to the 9's!

 

Johnny....You scored a home run their!

 

Johnny, Get into the archives on the HAMB and read all you can find about the flathead. All of your questions are answered here. Go to a good bookstore and buy a good tech book on rebuilding the flathead.
You won't know what you've got until you get it tore down. These engines are full of unknown surprises even though they run.

Don't forget to draw blood when you remove the valves..

 

These block rarely crack heads. But blocks, OH YEAH. most are repairable or live with, from the centre studs to a water hole is nothing to fret about. They can crack anywhere on the to surface and also between the main webs at the crank journals. So as long as you crack test it armed with correct information and spend on a good block base you will be racing. If the its only the heads just go YAHOO and toss them in the s****, and someone will give you a pair of cast heads for nix.

 

8BA = car motor cast into the head. Truck motor heads are 8RT so motor or head was changed, are they both the same? Also the truck carb is 8RT compared to 8BA Ford logo if original. Could be anything in that engine, some were factory relieved, if worked on could be adjustamle lifters, understand truck heads had higher compression possable due to the relief material removed? The bellhousing is a short ring because the late truck trans still have a big bell, you do have to get the lower starter mount plate with it. You will have the bigger 12" clutch. Get radiator too, it will be too tall but the tanks can be used with a shorter core to make one as I did. Get an alternator adapter & chevvie 1 wire, forget the gen especially if you want more carbs they won't fit behind it. But you need the pulley... Oh, and the pedalset & master cyl, hell get the whole crossmember, ...park brake handle... steering?

 

Well, I would get all of that stuff if I could but the rest of the truck went to s**** a long long time ago. It got all used up and then fed into a shredder some where for sure.

I did some more checking on my engine. The timing gear cover and intake are green, the bell is red and the heads were both tangerine orange. the pistons are aluminum. Did 8BA motors have aluminum or iron piston. I think it may have been bored out. Using a dial caliper I found the bore to be 3.225" I also found 2 small cracks in the cylinder deck. In a very typical place right where the water-jacket is real close to a head bolt. One between the front 2 cylinders and another between the rear cylinders. Can these be repaired? I know crack pining is fairly commonly done on these motors. I am trying to get the pistons unstuck just not sure how much harder I should try.

Mike

 

It is unusual for that crack to be missing, my guess is every block has at least one of those 4 studs cracked, don't mess with it. Green is Mercury color, think truck & car was always orange, canadian motors usually used aluminum front cover & any aluminum intakes on late motors are Canadian as a rule. In badly rusted up motors the extreme is to bust a hole in the piston top and carefully sawzall the piston inside out 2 places to bust out a piece & comes right out. But soak and diddle a with it a lot, pull the cam gear so you aren't fighting with stuck valves at the same time. Late rods aren't hard to come by and aren't hard to come by like the early motor parts if you have to mess any up.
Also if it's a green intake and actually Mercury it had a goofy big 4 bolt carb on it but the p***ages are bigger and later small V8 carbs will fit, like 283 chevvie and possable a performance increase without multi-carb. I have a merc intake and a carter 2 bbl from a 326 Cadillac Flathead I want to try with a mild cam.
In the old days motors weren't overhauled all the time, usually fixed with parts that were just kicking around, so you never know what is in there.
These are not as easy to mess with but a lot of fun, and NAPA has a lot of '49-53 parts, gasket set about $75,

 

I will look close at the intake on Monday when I get back to school. I teach machine shop and welding. The kids and myself are going to pick away at this a little at a time. Eventually I will have a a car and they will be a little bit smarter

Good chance the color difference is because the last guy who had the motor out liked the color.

Mike

 

Go to fordbarn, someone may be in your area. Great to be doing an educational deal with it. You have to have a valve bar, PM if you want I can mail you one of mine to use.

 

Bary,

I am guesing this valve bar is a tool for extracting the valves in a flat head. If you could, please send me a picture. I may already have one as my late Grandfather was a Ford Master Mechanic and I have allot of his tools. My Dad has the rest.

 

One style looks like this



2nd on the fordbarn. Not saying that there is not a amazing group of flathead guys here. Just spread it around a little. 2 heads (forums) are better then one.

 

The one in the picture looks like the Zim brand I have, light duty, there are also stamped steel, and the best are KRWilson and Ford brand tools, indestructable. The best way to pull your later valve sets is use the big end to compress the spring magnet out the keepers. Lots of WD40. Push the valve up & pull it out. Pipe or junk socket to drive the guide down a little. I made a hook to pull the retainer fork out, using a solid stainless antenna rod. When the fork is out I try to push it up. With the spring in place still lots of
WD, can tap on down on the guide with the spring pushing up eventually it's loose.
Also there are slots in the bottom of the guide the fork in the tool fits to pull the guide
down. This only works on a reasonably fresh motor usually and a must for ***embly. The quality tool will pry hard enough to break the end of the guide off, not good for re***embly. To grind the valve seats, some will be rusty, will need a pilot that fits the guide bore for your Sioux, B&D, orwhatever brand grinder & 45 deg. stone.

 

look real closely at the valves and make sure there are no cracks around the valve seats....these are the kiss of death. taking valves out of a flat head is alot of fun.....set aside several nights for this. dont expect them to come apart easily

 

Good news! I got her broke loose today. The pistons are domed. If I am at .040 over with a domed piston how much horse power is that worth? Did the 8BA have aluminum or iron pistons originally?

 

Aluminum

 

Depends on, stroke, bore, carb setup, dizzy, and your compression.

 

I see, well the stroke is stock Ford. I think I am going to have the block decked and the heads resurfaced. This providing nothing on the other side is any worse than this side. The bores all look real good. Just a hone job and a fresh set of rings, bearings and a new mild performance cam. I think I am going to run the stock carb and dual exhaust with a stock distributor. Nothing too fancy. 110-130 HP is my guess at this point. More than enough for a fender-less model A sedan.

Likely will do a valve job and polish the crank as well.

 

The normal 6 volt generator can be changed to 12volts by installing 12volt field coils.