Surprises tearing down an engine......mine are good, yours?

Bought a flathead at a swap meet several years ago. It was sitting in the back of a guy's pickup. Said he didn't know much about it. It was an 8BA with a set of al. heads and a Weiand 2 carb intake, so I bought it. Took the heads off to check it out when I got home and found a welded C-T 4 1/2" stroke crank with a 3 3/8 bore. Cool!

 

pistons from my flathead six...

All of the top rings were busted-


The top ring was completely missing from this piston... probably was in the muffler...


The rest of the pistons were in similar shape...




Top ring groove was twice the size it was supposed to be...


I drove the car daily for about 3 months before I tore it down, and it ran fine, no smoke.

There was enough slop in the timing chain that I'm not sure how it ran as well as it did, check out the wear in the timing gear...


Pete

 

found this in a flathead once

 

A friend bought a '40 Ford standard coupe last fall, and it had a 59A in it with standard bore and 8BA pistons and rods. It's got an aftermarket independent rebuilder's tag riveted to the block; maybe such a modification was common among rebuilders at one time.

 

Make sure it also has an 8BA crank to go with the rods, otherwise you'll have oiling problems.

 

I found out that my flattie out of my shoebox was rebuildable. Yeah!!! It'll be going in the Model A.

 

Although I have not tore it down Ibought a cherry 85 silverado that was knocking so the owner said for 500 bucks. Took it home noticed the oil pan at1/2 cylinders had a huge hole you could see end of rods through pan.Thought what the hell put a battery in it it ran pulled it in building the amazing part is my sons jacked it rolled out from under truck and told me a lifter was hanging out of bottom of oil pan I told them that there was no way so I rolled under the truck to see for myself guess what they were right which means the cam has to be broke if this does not prove sbc are not the toughest engines ever made nothing does.

 

Went over a bud's shop one night, just got the intake back on the 289 in his '46 ford 1/2 ton, I (just joking) asked if he took the red rags out of the lifter valley. That's when I got that deer in the headlights look! Sure a shit, looked down the pushrod holes and it was distinctly red!

 

ive torn into a lot of flathead fords lately like you i found an 8ba crank inside a 59a that was in great shape. but to get to that one i went through a lot of cracked cylinders , mouse nests in valleys pistons that seamed to be part of the block.....and on and on.
been monkeying around with muriatic acid on stuck pistons (really stuck ones)
it works on the aluminum but supposedly wont bother the block

 

acorns. just a bunch of acorns...

 

what did i find in an engine... well...

the Vagabond brothers, and a lot of you all know all about my 455 horrors, but i think that only one other person knows about what i found when i tore into it last spring... 32 cents. yep. two dimes, a nickle and seven pennies were in the oil pickup ... go figure how THAT shit got in there without raisin all kinda hell

 

Tell me more about the muriatic acid adventure. I am contemplating that or using hole saws to get the pistons out of my block. I have done just about everything else.