Hot Rods Update on the confused pickup ~ short video

You guys might remember this long term build.





My pal Dave is in the early stages of rebuilding the Flathead that he discovered had a crack in the block and unceremoniously pulled from the confused pickup shortly after he teat drove it.

Dave has a lot of good parts in the old engine including some really nice pistons that are .125 and the builder seems to thing that's too much bore and the engine will run hot.

BTW ~ The engine NEVER ran hot even with the cracked block.

I value the opinions of the knowledgeable Flathead Guys here on the Hamb that know far more about them than Dave or myself. HRP

 

That's easy, tell them SBC stories. LOL. Gary

 

I took a virgin 8BA and bored it .125 because that is what Joe Abbins book said to do in order to exceed 300 HP on my blown flatty. It did its burn in just fine and never had a high temp. 160 thermostats, 4 core copper and brass radiator. Electric fan (be nice). No issues so far. That is the limit of my knowledge HRP.

 

Danny, 5/16 by quarter (.125" over) and 4" Merc crank was a 'standard' for me. I had a collection of Std./Std. Merc cranks, and bought Silvolite pistons for bargain prices!
Never had a 'heater', only one with a crack in the block that ran from an exhaust valve to the cylinder wall, and all the way down (!) to the pan rail.
I got crazy and did a 304" with a 59L, no problems. Sold that one to a bud, he pot 30K+ miles on it.

Can't understand all the Newby Experts that 'KNOW' flatheads can't be bored in excess of .060"! They live in fear...
Makes me feel old and 'lucky'!
Guess that's why they now make sonic testers...
Many dark tales of 'core shifting' when Henry's guys were pouring those 59A's. Train would rumble past the rouge plant, and cylinders would get poured in 'earthquake' conditions. We should have lost way more than we did...I had great success. (and great teachers!)

 

Just curious...is this the same engine builder that missed the crack on the first go-round?

 

Mike 5\16" is .3125" and was indeed a pretty standard "big" overbore for 239 and 255 flatheads.I couldnt say about the earlier ones,I never worked on many of those. I remember being told 3\8X 3\8 was about as far as you could go?

 

My flathead is a 3-3/8 x 4" engine, and had the water jackets sandblasted clean when it was rebuilt. I think this is the reason it runs at 170 degrees down the interstate.

 

Had my 3 5/16" engine for over 20 years. Never have had an overheating problem even with a stock 39 radiator.

 

Emphatic no! HRP

 

just checking...

 

I had an 8BA bored to 3 5/16. Before it was done, the machinist said there was "plenty of meat". When it was done, he found a rust pit in the bore that required a sleeve. It was not a problem, but it just goes to show that there is no easy answer to this question.

 

have we looked at having the cracked block repaired?

 

My 8BA is .125 over...there is still plenty of meat

 

Wow why is your deck surface cut so short under intake surface???

 

Yes,but the decision was made to find a better block. HRP

 

Uhh...I don't know?

 

Mine is bored to 3-3/8s. Broke the cam in at 2300 rpm for 22 mins. and she never made it to 160 degrees. Now that's not driving it but it was still about 75 degrees out. Hey green monster you see my deck surface. Iv never seen one that under cut like you have there. I hope you don't have head clearance issues.

 

It looks like your missing 1/4 inch of your deck surface.

 

I see what you're looking at now...it's an optical illusion!
I just had the deck surface cleaned up, no milling. The block was .060 over when I bought it with an aftermarket cam, but I've been running the motor for 500+ miles no issues.
Here's another pic. The block was painted at the machine shop, you may be seeing paint lines instead of shadows.

 

Danny, my 8BA is bored .125 over and no issues here. It runs cool with 160 thermostats and a Walker radiator and a mechanical fan. The only issues I've seen were rare cases of core shift or possibly severe internal water passage rust problems.

 

Ted,that sounds good. HRP

 

It's been a while since I decided to pull my flathead for the nailhead. My flathead was/is a 8ba,.125 over Ross forged,stock rod, stock crank. A winter of relieving and porting and a set of small chamber weiand cyl heads. 9.1 static 400 Jr. With 4deg advance.
Cleaning the bottom of the water jackets where the cylinders end by the pan rails was key to keeping it cool. No less than 5 pounds of rust after the boiling of the block came out.
A4 core brass works radiator and a set of good pumps with a mechanical fan a
Lowed me to run 180 on the cross Bronx parkway bumper to bumper for a hour in 90 degree day. After 30k trouble free miles I pulled it out.
It pulled like a stock sbc and cruised in od at 80 all day. I really like that flat head but I needed to be able to do burnouts again so I built a stroker nail head.
Flathead is going into a deuce pick up much like your friends.
Don't be scared big flatheads run just fine in day to day driving . Just pay attention to the details and you will do fine.

 

Anyone else care to comment? HRP

 

My 8BA is staying standard bore. My crack does not cause me any headaches and the motor stays at 160 max. I don't run with thermostats. In fact, unless I live in a cold state like when I lived in Ohio, I never ran with thermostats in any of my motors. "California is the place to be"...how ever the song goes.

Sent from my SM-G930T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Clean water jackets were never clean enough for me...the older guys just hot tanked a block, pulled studs, bored it and cleaned off the head and intake surfaces. (Alphonse had an engine machine shop 'connection'...)
Still, I'd see the rust-scaled jackets and ask why they didn't clean those up. 'Heating rep' flatheads had, and all.
About 20 years later, I was getting ready to build my 'last' big flattie. 59L block, factory relief, never bored, slight ring ridge, nice for its age. (about 27 years)
I took the block down to "Kleen Strip", the operator said "Thirty bucks, it'll be spankin' clean."
It was. Looked like new, inside and out. Gearbox (my machinist) loved it.
It was the cleanest prepped mill I ever assembled. (aside from my Ferraris & Porsches)
Dipping the block is incomparable.

 

Just one more post, I'll be brief. Last post, I mentioned the 59L that was to be my 'last' flathead. Well... my bud Larry (Early Auto, Santa Clara...next door to Sid Chavers' upholstery shop) had this flathead, 59 AB w/ factory relief he had torn down, he called me and said he had a surprise for me. He'd be over Friday evening, (120 miles to my place) and spend the weekend.
When he got here, he opened the tailgate of his pickup and asked me to help me unload the 160 lb. 1860 ANVIL that he and Bonneville Butch were giving me. Wow!
But, soon as we got that down and in the garage, he said "I've got some boxes..."
I thought he just wanted 'em moved, like front of the bed... Here was this flathead, all apart. Really cherry pistons, nice bore, looked like a recent overhaul. .040" over, Man, I was stoked! Complete!
I had Ken at Delta cams (Tacoma, Wash.) grind me a cam. (Winfield SU-1) I have some Johnson adjustables, and a set of Lincoln springs. Just replaced the wire cables on my Sioux valve machine, and cleaned up my hard seat grinder.
Using an 8BA crank and rods with insert bearings. (have 3 cranks, and a box of sets of bearings...a bud gave 'em to me when he 'outgrew' flatheads.) I'm just 'giggly' with this little mill.

Hey! Never have used a 'modern' Offenhauser dual intake before. (always ran 3 or 4 97s...)
Speedway has an Offie dual with carbs 'way back to the rear. 94 carbs are longer than 97s. If I use 94s, will I have room between carbs, but moreover, will there be room for the stock '39 generator on the manifold front mount?

 

HRP I spend a lot of time with 1/4 ss rod going down into water chambers to get all the crud out that I can, and it is always a bunch even after cleaning by shops.......... can't stress enough that after many many moons of running you have to spend the time to get em clean...........pays off big dividends in the cooling, plus it makes my arms stronger by turning the block upside down over n over.......

 

Thank you. HRP

 

Thanks Mike. HRP

 

My flathead in my '39 Tudor is bored to .125 with a 4.125 crank (Scat 286 rotating assembly) and it gets me to and from work every day. Stock radiator, fan, Edelbrock heads and intake, 3.78 rear. About the only time I see the temp move north of 180 is when I push it up to or over 70 MPH for any extended lengths of time, which I generally avoid.