...I think there's an open canvas under the hood but if 1951 was the year it was mothballed there certainly are a few candidates for those dual carbs you are suggesting...being a Hotrod archeologist might even determine exactly was filling that current void...I'm curious of its past glory...
Hi I'm @RJP and the hardest thing I've had to do in my life is admit to my parents that I'm a closet street rodder...so definitely aftermarket frame (this ones got a couple booger welds on it), brookville 1/4's (dents), door skins(a pinhole), cowl (this one has a weird flap on top), and trunk (paint is peeling) then a chromed SBC (yep even the block), A/C, disc brakes, P/S, digital gauges and heated leather seats w custom inflatable haemorrhoid rings, 9 spd. mercedes trans, pinto front end w Dana 60 out back, paint 'er easter egg blue and pink 2 tone and....of course steel wheels so it looks straight outta the '40's!...
Hopped up four banger, 3 speed, battery, floorboards, and a dago or MorDrop front axle. Then drive it.
I think some history on the car was found it was supose to have had a flathead cadillac in it back in the day, so it might be getting one of those again.
Hello, Since the original roadster was a California car, back then, as a teenager, I would look to the hot rod shops near our old Westside of Long Beach house for parts and supplies. But, for the core of the Flathead motor, we would get a stroked motor long block from Reath Automotive. Then the mystery would begin. Since they opened their shop with two of the most famous So Cal hot rod builders and drag racers Joe Reath and Joe Mailliard. Their supplies and expert mechanics were top notch. Then a few years later, Joe Mailliard opened a shop near our high school. But then, he moved closer to our own home, only a few blocks from our last Westside of Long Beach house. So, by the time I had my Flathead 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery, I had choices that only my pocketbook could afford. Build up the Flathead with a stroked Flathead from Reath Automotive or get an SBC 283 for reliable power we are familiar with, from our Chevy sedans? The stroked Flathead was a choice that no other local teenager had going at the time. Actually, no one we saw had a high performance Flathead power in any car we knew about in our local cruising grounds. They were mostly big V8 OHV motors in the custom hot rods. 10th & Cherry Avenue “If it were yours, what would your next step be?” “Navarro heads and intake, an 8.25:1 compression ratio, and a pair of Stromberg 97s should produce around 160 hp. The addition of a 4-inch stroker crank and another Stromberg 97 can push output up to almost 200 hp.” Jnaki It would have been different with a high performance Flathead motor, but in the long run, the limited pocketbook doled out gas money and oil for the underpowered Flathead for countless thousands of miles of uninterrupted fun all along the So Cal coastline. That was worth it every time for a reliable Flathead motor. Despite the fact that having to downshift to 2nd and sometimes 1st, going up steep roadways and freeway grades fully loaded with surfboards and stuff. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
