Hello everyone, as a follow up to a previous post I have recorded a couple videos of my 51 Ford running, one video cold and one after it’s warm. Granted, the video makes the ticking seem louder than it actually is in person, but it is what it is. Oil pressure during both videos was around 40psi. I’m planning on road tripping this car soon and this is the only known potential issue so I’m trying to make sure I can avoid a breakdown! Road trip is going to be about 400 miles one way, for context, so I need to make sure the car is in tip top condition. Here’s a link to both videos: https://youtube.com/shorts/CGOLaDrhnaY?si=3ht32_IrGUIs5J- rhttps://youtube.com/shorts/MQPOiPueSyA?si=3U8YhU0DSuwv4hGT
I'm fairly sure yes. It seems to be coming from the top of the engine. Granted like I said it seems a bit louder in the video than it actually is, but maybe only by like 20% louder at the most. I dont know much about flatheads, maybe ticking like this is normal or at least not a major concern? I have no idea though
I don't think that's normal. You should try to isolate it with an "engine stethoscope" (a long rod or screwdriver will do). If it is in the top of the engine, I would suspect a loose valve. Do you know if the engine has adjustable lifters? These days, even a large proportion of stock rebuilds have them. Some of them have a tendency to "open up" by themselves. There have been two instances in the last month, here and on "The Ford Barn" where this has happened to folks with "stock rebuilds". An exhaust leak would be between the block and the manifold and on a flathead, that's down a ways.
Sounds like a loose valve. Really loose. Not normal. My 8ba has a minor valve tick when cold, but it goes away after things warm up. Does yours get any better after you drive it a while?
Yes, it quiets down by a lot. After driving around for a bit you can’t even hear it unless you pop the hood and listen.
A lot depends on whether it has adjustable lifters or not. If it does, you can pull the intake and readjust the valves. You also should do something to make sure they don't move so you don't have to go through this again. Normal procedures are to squeeze the adjuster bolts in a vise or press to restore the interference fit or maybe use some green (for assembled parts) Loctite. If it has regular lifters, a valve adjustment is more difficult, but has the advantage of not changing on you, so you can probably run it the way it is. If you don't know, it might be worthwhile to pull the intake and take a look-see.
it might be a lifter i don't know much about them but in a regular engine a wore lifter would make a ticking
I think a little background knowledge is in order. Flathead Ford valve lifters are a complicated subject. First, NONE of them were hydraulic (except for some 337 Lincolns, with which we need not concern ourselves). The originals were just chunks of metal and required the stems of the valves to be ground down (or occasionally built up) to set the lash. Because of the nature of reground cams (a smaller "base circle"), adjustable lifters became necessary to make up the difference and also to make the setting of valves more "user friendly". Over the years, the quality of available lifters diminished, resulting in soft wear surfaces and adjusting bolts that will not hold their set. Chevrolet valves can also be substituted as their slightly longer length can make up for the reduced base circle. So you can see that flathead valve problems can have a variety of causes, which can require a variety a variety of solutions.
You should be able to pull the fuel pump, (including the base) and be able to see if it has adjustable lifters.
Checking your manifold vacuum at idle may give you a clue of whether you have a valve train problem. https://mavink.com/explore/Automotive-Vacuum-Gauge-Chart Didn't some flatheads use a split valve guide that could occasionally work its way loose in the block? They may have been only an aftermarket repair item not used in O.E. production.
It's possible, but very unlikely, as the spilt guides are a pre-8BA feature. A lot of times, folks will use the later valve components on an early engine, but I have never heard of vice-versa.
Actually that would be really easy on this engine as the fuel pump was converted over to electric and there’s just a blanking plate there.
I pulled off the blanking plate and DANG it is pristine in there! It does have adjustable lifters too it would seem.
Good, now you might get lucky, and find the lifter bores have been cross drilled, to make it easy to hold the lifters during the adjustment process.
What type exhaust manifolds or headers do you have? On my flattie the center tube was not parallel with the front and back tubes and would make a weird noise when rpms came up. My brother noticed it. I did not. I pulled them off and surfaced them all to the same level and the ticking I had was gone. Not saying yours is the same but easy enough to check from underneath. I ran my hand around the pipe in the middle on the block and it came back with a black soot so I knew it was leaking.
Just wanted to post one more video for reference, this is how the engine sounds after it’s fully warmed up and been running for about 30 minutes or so. The ticking is lessened a lot.
As the engine comes up to full operating temperature, clearances for things like valve lash tend to decrease. Same thing happens to piston skirt to cylinder wall clearance. I think it was the L79 327 SBC that had solid lifters and loosely fitted forged pistons that when cold-started, made a magically precise ticking sound. After the engine ran for a few minutes and built some heat, the magic and musical sounds slowly faded away.
I've listened to a variety of Flathead Ford V-8's in my life-time... as written above adjustable tappets have interference threads. Recently, engines that sound as yours had tappets that were purchased from a company that has a zip code of 68528.
I spent 4 hrs Thursday leaning/ straddling the front fenders of a 40 Ford pick up helping adjust the valves; should have heard the racket they made. If I didn't help he'd still be adjusting! Had to modify the adjusting tools. Don't know yet how much quieter it will be.
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