Technical Need flathead schooling

I've had 4 cars with Ford & Merc flatheads, down to 1 now with a couple of spare flathead engines. I have another in the machine shop which was a questionable decision. It required a 60 over bore and 3 sleeves installed. Probably not worth the cost to rebuild but being the nostalgic fool I am, it will be ready to pick up in a few weeks. Just waiting for the crank to be polished. Not much into speed upgrades other than some of the vintage parts I've had on hand for years. I have a few sets of EAB heads, some nice original Johnson adjustable lifters, Merc 4" cranks, EA cams, Edelbrock and Fenton dual carb intakes. Picked up some Fenton headers as well as another nice unknown steel set that came with a Merc motor I bought. Just basic preferable pieces on the cheap. I did splurge on the rest of the drivetrain for the '30 coupe though. Wanting to keep up with modern day traffic I bought the entire Modern Driveline package with their adaptor housing, clutch, pressure plate, hydraulic throwout bearing, Z-spec 5 speed Tremec, etc. I went with the Ford 8" with a 3.79 or 3.80 (not sure, would have to check) gear.

Continue to familiarize yourself with your needs and options and keep your ear to the ground for deals as they present themselves. Good luck!

 

100%. A "totally rebuilt" flathead lying on a garage floor are often miles apart from the truth.

 

Agreed. Mine is also a 292 and it surprises a lot of people who are use to a stock or "mildly" hopped up flathead.

 

My advice is to get one for your own. They're fun and easy to work on.
As far as running on the hot side, it depends on how the owner maintains them. I always run mine with no thermostats. I don't really need them in SoCal.
I think the biggest concern are the cracks. You have to know that not all cracks are bad and that some are. It depends on where the cracks are.

 

Yes it is. But may be worth it in parts.
This one nearby is one worth looking at.
https://www.facebook.com/share/17nT7tagkP/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

All of the above!

 

I wouldn't go as far as say its a myth. What I would say is it's more often than not a lack of proper block prep and other factors.

For as ingenious as the casting of the block is, Ford did a ****py job of cleaning them afterwards. Most of the blocks I've encountered still have a fair amount o casting sand packed around the water jackets. This is compounded over the years with just general crud and rust scale build up which, basically, prevents the coolant from making contact to the cylinder; thusly causing poor cooling and possible high temp conditions.

After checking that a block is good by mag AND pressure testing, any rebuild/bare block work must address this. This means some type of manual cleaning needs to be done to get it out.

Combine this with clogged radiators, people removing thermostats, old water pumps and, sometimes, just an out of tune engine that is not timed right, gave the flathead the reputation of being a hot water heater.

That said, the nature of the design of the exhaust ports, does heat the water inside the block. If care if taken upon rebuilding, good water pumps are used, the radiator is cleaned, and other tricks that should be done to most modern head gaskets, there is no reason a flathead should be overheating with normal use.

 

Hello,

My first car was a 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery I purchased with a flathead motor. That was not how I saw the original build. We were all sitting in our cars and/or standing around them, of course, talking about them as teenagers. When all of a sudden a rumbling comes into the driveway made all heads turn to the left as if in a pro tennis match. The sound was so nice, all conversation stopped.

No, it was not the flathead, but a powerfully built 348 motor in the reddish Ford Sedan Delivery. At the time, no one had ever seen such a hot rod that looked like a sedan, but had a panel truck area in the rear. Sure the local TV service trucks and plumbing trucks that show up when necessary were in the “delivery”
group. No one gave them much thought as it was not a vehicle a teenager would drive.


But, this one had the power to turn heads. The sound made everyone wonder what was under the hood.
An old friend from junior high school, now at our high school was an avid hot rodder. He had just finished the hot rod build the night before the Friday night cruise and hangout. So, it was a surprise to everyone that this cool sounding hot rod came rolling into the drive-in restaurant parking lot for the evening.

As we all talked and into the late evening, the comments about the build was good and bad. Good for the 348 motor, it rumbling sound, and LaSalle transmission with the tall floor shift. Bad, was the paint. Not a bright red, but a lighter red/orange/pinkish color. The parking lot lights said it was slightly pink. The teenagers all called it “Salmon Pink.” The owner called it “racer orange,” as he had just painted it in the latte night/early morning hours.

Jnaki

The conversation went on a**** the teenagers as to the salmon pink vs racer orange color choice and ended up salmon pink. The owner was mad and rolled out of the lot. It was his first custom color mix and spray paint. Now, he wanted to sell his cool creation. But, no one wanted to buy such a build and color.

I was the only teenager who had a bright future for this hot rod build sedan delivery, so I offered a sum just below his asking price. We argued for weeks and finally, he sold me the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery. But not with the 348 motor. He had installed a stock 80 hp flathead motor which lowered the price to my level. Instantly, I went from the top of the fast hot rod group to one of the slowest cars in the drive-in lot. Ha!

The great thing was the flathead was so reliable in all sorts of weather conditions. It only required gas, a little oil and consistent driving skills. The flathead motor power was fine for flat street driving, even with the other seat occupied. But, with a few rolling around teens in the back, it needed a powerful foot pressing down on the gas pedal for more power, even on slight grades such as going over the steep, Signal Hill roads to get to Bixby Knolls before and after daily high school trips.

80 hp was fine for the flat roads, down the coast to the beach parking lots, but the steep roads along the journey to the beach required a fast running start, no traffic and no one or extra weight in the back cave. If there was a fully loaded gas tank, two/three heavy longboards in the back and the normal beach stuff, cooler, towels, etc sitting on the floor, it was slightly overloaded.

That caused a necessary down shift to 2nd gear for the climb up the next steep hill along the beach roads. Even going 60 plus, the wind behind us and no traffic, it still was straining to get up the hill.

If there was traffic, definitely a downshift was necessary to keep up with traffic and sometimes, even a downshift to first gear if a brake light cause a drastic slow down. On some road trips with only the p***enger seat occupied and nothing in the back, the same PCH road caused downshifting to be used, just to keep up with traffic.

The flathead motor was definitely underpowered. If one is delivering a TV or plumbing supplies for service on the flat neighborhood roads, it was fine and handy with the area in the back cave full of supplies and room to carry boxes. But, any hills required downshifting to overcome lack of power from the stock motor.
a similar motor
When I saw a cool built up flathead motor on a stand at Reath Automotive, it was a great dream. Three carbs, shiny heads, header pipes and a red color motor made it very tempting to get it installed in the sedan delivery. But, as teenage pocketbooks go, most of it went to gas money and the other went for food. Two requirements necessary for survival.

Those guys said it would have at least 200 hp with the way they built the motor. Isky Cam, Jahns Pistons and a Reath Custom Crank. Now, that would have been excellent as an added necessity for the lack of power in my 80 hp flathead. Enough power to make those climbs as if it was an SBC motor… YRMV

 

And another…..

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Fz9cnYVvV/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

Be true for many engines and many guys, but when one of my two V8 flatheads won't start or won't run well I always feel pretty certain of quickly figuring it out.

 

I agree on not being cleaned out well but I've seen many original, never cleaned flatheads that never run hot. The problem with overheating has a lot to do with the 8ba and they absolutely dismal timing. The full vacuum distributor is junk even on a well running v8.