Technical saved a flathead from the scrapper. how'd i do? **UPDATE**

I know nothing about flatheads but this was literally on the way to the scrapper, I stopped the guy and asked him what his plans were and he said he was heading to scrap it all. so 40 bucks later I have this motor. I am currently searching the threads trying to learn everything I can about them. I have some questions though if you guy could help me. how do I find out the year? size? ect? thank you

 

I'd check it out thoroughly. Hopefully, he was going to toss it because he didn't know better.

 

Looks like just what I need....its an 8ba

 

49-53

 

Well, thats the first time i've actually seen one of those road draft tubes.. They must of got tossed in favour of the ones with an oil cap on em.

 

It is the truck motor. You have the wide belt pulleys and large clean out oil pan.

 

Step one: put a wrench on the crank and see if it turns freely.

 

Some fun research for you

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

 

it had a tranny attached to it that had a couple blown gears in it so im pretty sure/hoping that's why it was pulled. it came out of a f5 big truck he said. ill pop the heads off and see what it looks like and try and turn it over tomorrow.

 

thanks a lot 53olderthanme for this it helped a lot!



it looks like I got myself a 1952 ford 239

 

Well hope its not froze up... You will find tons of info all over the web on these flatheads... Beware of flathead fever though! I got one of mine out of an old boom truck with around 30k miles on it... Those old big two ton trucks usually dont have a bunch of miles on them. Hopefully your motor is one of those! They are fun motors and it doesnt get much better for a traditional rod.


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

If it does turn over you better magniflux before buying any speed parts!


Posted using the Full box of Crayons on the kitchen walls App!

 

^^^^^ +1

Check real close for cracks, sometimes the truck engines got overheated a time or two from being worked real hard.

Don't panic if cracks are found, some are now "normal" for these days and can be repaired and cyls sleeved. Wish I had saved some that went to the scapper years ago, at todays prices for good cores the repair costs whould have made good sense.

Ed

 

Good score!

 

please don't hang it from the rear !!!!! the block ain't real strong back there, bolt it from the side using the exhaust manifold bolt holes. we have all heard of the guy who went in to the service in the 60's, and when he got out ,found his flathead on the floor broken off at the rear from the hanging weight...

 

That rules!

 

Nice save....I would have done the same thing.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

At forty buck, you are not out much. Pull the heads and look for cracks between the valves to the cylinder bores. There are other places for cracks but that will be the first place to look.

Do some reading on the flathead to get up to speed. A good spot to start is at http://www.btc-bci.com/~billben/flathead.htm. A forum dedicated to the flathead V-8 is http://www.flatheadsrus.com/viewforum.php?f=6&sid=2bd2d1d6b6eebad570a2dab6d71e07a7.

The size would be 239 cu. in., 3 3/4 inch stroke and 3 3/8 bore.

Neal

 

Using the exhaust manifold mounts are fine, but using a conventional engine stand is not a problem on the later engines. The problem is with the earlier engines with the extended bell. I have a complete '51 Merc and a '50 short block hanging on stands like this and have never had a problem, even through a 180 mile move in the back of a pickup.

 

Nice save. I have one in my shop waiting for the right project to come by.

 

thanks a lot for the info guys im gonna start breaking it down now and see how everything looks inside.

also thanks kevin and the others that proved the rear mounted engine stand is ok, I didn't see any reason at all why there would be trouble, but I was a bit worried after reading the "it will break off" post!!

 

I hope your $40 score turns out GREAT! Good Luck!

 

I have a complete 59a hanging from an engine stand from the "delicate" bell bolts for over twenty years. Maybe the aluminum heads make it light enough........

 

Nice save! Don't know why people throw this stuff in the shredder.

 

scrappers are idiots. makes you wonder how much money they toss out the window by scrapping items with a much higher value.

 

Like the tweakers that broke into my shop and MOVED an $800 dominator so they could rip off an $80 drill. Morons...

 

No such thing as junk early Ford parts anymore.

Even if the block is bad there is still $40.00 worth of parts and accessories there.

 

Question time! how the heck can I get the motor to turn over if all the crank bolt does is keep tightened? the motor moved a little bit back and forth and then the bolt just started turning?

btw heres the pics with it taken apart some, everything looks real good. I am now 95% sure it was yanked out of the truck because the tranny was crap. only problem is it was stored for the last (who knows many years) with no carb on it so now the pistons have some light pitting on them. everything else looks very good with no cracks and the bottom end is still fresh with oil. the top end looks good but I currently have oil dumped down the pistons to help them break free. cylinder walls look nice as well.

so back to my question how do I get it to turn over if the crank bolt just keeps tightening? should I just pop the crank and pistons out?

 

I don't think that is supposed to happen. Can you try to remove the bolt and see if its stripped?