Projects My First Flathead... NOW WHAT?

I'd be more than happy to know why @jimmy six

Nothing is irreversible on this so far and all I've spent on is the bolt on stuff. I am at a good point for changes, so if you have suggestions please do tell me.

But otherwise, I'm sure I'm not done with slapstick comedy and parts raining down on my head...

 

Here is the flathead valve tool I was talking about. Keep your eyes peeled for 1 at the swaps. Makes installing and removing easy. Its about 24 inches long and notice the profiles. You may be able to make one but my guess is its forged.

 

Yes, I have two or three of them . . . and one is a quality forged one that is about 36" long - it is the one that I use the most. I've found many of them to be low-quality . . . heck, they bend way too easily. I'll take a picture of the 'good one' and post it later this weekend.

 

At the begining it sounded as u were a little discouraged. Many engines do not need as many specialty tools a flathead does. Also it seems one is enough for a lot of guys ( except sdc's) for many. I really did mean insult u or anything but many times the first is the last...good luck and as I said, I'll enjoy reading..I've many GMC 6's but one Olds and one Pontiac and own a Ford Y- Block which I hope will never need too o'haul but sure I could..

 

I have a Ford 300 big six in the back of the shop that I'll get back to on the next build or so. I'm actually enjoying learning on this flathead though and have a desire to do another one, but probably a lot simpler than I'm making this one.

 

Pulling this info from the 1CM MERC CAMSHAFT thead c. 2010 over here for reference.

I have obtained an EAB cam and am hot on the hunt for an 8CM cam. I've decided there's more wisdom in adding some stock cams to my pile before I get all gung-ho on aftermarket cams and all the ***ociated things that go with them like ground chev stems and/or adjustable lifters.

What I think I'm going for the first time around on this engine is a ported block (by the book), stock stroke and likely bore, new stock size valve kit, stock lifters to match an 8CM cam (.338 lift) and the EAB heads (which should have .345+ clearance as I understand it) topped off with the Offy triple & 94's and out to some oddball lakes headers I'm making, then into 4" x 3' bottles.

No, I don't make anything easy on myself.

I also started reading the Bishop/Tardel Flathead book. Lots of stuff I have already absorbed but many cracks filled in.

 

In the interest of keeping notes, to go along with the EAB and Merc cam(s) I'm adding to my list of options, I'm also on the hunt for a set of good, late 52-53 lifters, which are 1.750" as opposed to the 8BA lifters which, I believe, are 1.720"

52-53 EAB & Merc lifters 1.750" have 3 holes (instead of 2 like the 8BA's), P/N EAB-6500-A

 

Also of note, I picked up a few stray B3AE-6500-A lifters today on the cheap. I'm trying to figure out if this number is a factory post-production replacement part number for the EAB lifters or something else entirely. I've seen these numbers referenced together and ***ociated to 1954.

 

I seem to have forgotten about this thread, but I'm planning to get the engine rebuilt this Fall/Winter.

I am working on making headers currently.

Does anybody have any idea why the bolt holes on the flanges are all the same, large, size and not sized appropriately instead? The front port bolts are 7/16", the rear and center port bolts are 3/8" but all the holes are for 7/16" (mine are Speedway, but all the ones I see look to be the same way).

 

Probably because they're cheaper to make that way, plus they don't have to hold such close tolerances when they make the flanges.

 

They want them loose and easy to install . . . such that they don't get any returns. Now - if they had better designs and better manufacturing tolerances (manufacturing), they would make them a bit better. Speedway is all about cost - quality comes second (that's my opinion on a lot of what they do).

 

They're just plasma/laser cut, likely a huge sheet at a time. Tolerances are one thing, sure, but totally oversized bolt holes baffle me when it's just a CAD file and no tooling.

I'm ***uming it's not going to hurt anything since I've never heard of anybody saying it did, but it bugs me.

The other thing I ran into on them was that whatever they used to cut the holes for the pipe appears to have hardened the surface. I had a cheap 45mm step drill that I THOUGHT was a great idea to open up the holes (which are actually under their advertised size to begin with) and get a clean, perfect hole to sleeve into. It ended up chewing up the bit.

I ended up having to open them up with a die grinder, which is obviously effective but not my first choice.

 

Sometimes a plasma cutter will leave a very hard slag adhered to the surface that you won’t even notice it.
A Die grinder will remove it before taking a drill bit to it.

 

Just an update on the Headers on this engine:

 

Coming back to this thread since it is finally getting to be in the way of finishing the car. I still need to get the rest of the gunk out of the engine. I still need to get the clutch situation figured out (so I can finish the pedals). I still need to ***emble it.

Fortunately, I have most all the parts I need and spares too. I have abandoned the tube headers for now since the steering layout has changed and they were a time ****.

 

Greetings,Patmanta!!!....I sure don’t want to rain on your parade but have you cleaned up the valve seats and pockets with a wire brush and REALLY looked closely for cracks yet?....that is step 2 after getting the valves out on these things....

 

Yeah, everything looked good 5 years ago when I did the tear down. Everything is just filthy now from being kept misted with WD and shop dust. The crud in the valley is still the crud I wasn't able to get out before.

 

Got a 10" flywheel from Prewarandmore and a matching clutch setup from Millworks Hot Rod yesterday. Now I can install that, allowing me to dial in my pedal setup and check that off the list.

Once that's done I will need to pull the engine to clean it and do my rebuild. Still not sure how I want to go about getting the block cleaned, DIY with Purple Power or try to find a hot tank shop and re-do the cam bearings.

 

Six years down the line and I have decided to seek professional help for this Flathead problem I have.

Meaning the snapped head stud, cylinder hone/bore, rotating ***embly work is being handled by Powerplay Engine and Machine up in Wilmington, MA now.

I ended up pressure washing the block and made A MESS of my driveway (I still feel dumb and I do not recommend this) but knocked a lot of the crud out. I chased the water off with WD40 and didn't get any flash. I am having the block shake n baked now though.

This all has me re-thinking the 8CM cam and wondering if I should just put something much more aggressive in there since everything is apart and I am throwing money at it anyway. I'd like something that can be driven on the street but doesn't have to be super comfortable as long as I can get my little 1500lb car down a 1/8 mile compe***ively. Any suggestions? I need something that won't require relieving my EAB heads.

 

Patmanta: Go over to Fordbarn and pose your questions.
You don't want to build an engine that is impractical for street use,
runs hot and constantly needs attention.
Even a stock 8BA would give your lightweight car plenty of pep.

 

After a lot of thought I decided to keep the 8CM cam in the '51 Merc I put in my '51 coupe. It did it because it's a relatively heavy car and the Merc cam is a "torque cam". I don't know if it's the optimum choice for a 1500 lb car, though.

 

Honestly, I really do want to make this car pretty nasty if I can; I intend to race it.

I have pretty decently high compression EAB heads so really I'm just trying to figure out how much lift I can get away with without having to have the heads cut for clearance. The 8CM should clear but some of the other cams I see people seem to like tend to lift higher than the .338 of the 8CM.

The cams I've been able to identify that have lift that would come in under that are the Isky 77-B, Isky 88, Schneider 260F -.326, Winfield 3/4, Winfield Full, & Winfield Semi.

 

Smart move. Your Merc cam will be fine.

 

I did put a MAX-1 in the engine I built for my "Tub". After I had milled and reworked the Edmunds heads to come to .050" squish, I still had plenty of room over the valves, IIRC it was a smidge over .080" and I never touched that area. The MAX-1 has .364 lift on both intake and exhaust. It is interesting to note that all of the aftermarket cams that you mentioned (except the Schneider 260) have significantly less lift than an 8CM.

 

Yeah, That has me scratching my head a little to. They all seem to mostly pick up duration.

I went out and pulled some measurements off the heads and they look a little odd now that I get them out of the bags they were in. The heads look like they were cleaned, peened, and decked.

The piston reliefs are not consistent and the valve areas are very rough. I couldn't get consistent enough measurements to really get a good idea how much valve clearance I have. I'm not really sure where on the head I should pull that for reference really either. I got everything from .330 all the way up to .375 depending on where I measured. I found one stalac***e like high spot that was .303 so I'm a little concerned about these heads now.

I took some pictures of the one I inspected, an untouched set to EABs, an 8BA, and a 59AB for comparison.

This is the EAB I'm talking about here:


A set of unmolested but rusty EABs:


one of the 8BA heads off this engine:


59AB: