Hot Rods Anyone using a flathead V8 - 60

A older friend of mine had one in a T-Bucket that he had built many years ago in his youth, it sat for a long time and a few years ago he pulled the tarp of and got it running again, I rode in it a couple of times and was surprised at how peppy it was.

I was always told they were anemic engines & hot rod parts were few and far between, Anyone still use them in traditional hot rods. HRP

 

Every time I hear V8-60 I think of my old uncle telling about his 37 Ford with the V8-60. He said he had to get a run for it and shift to second gear to get over a cow pile.

 

Greetings Danny! I'm not running one yet but I own 3 of them! One is ported, relieved , 30 over, has stainless steel valves and according to the depth gauge on my dial caliper a high lift cam...it must have been in a racing boat as it has an aluminum flywheel without a friction surface, it's just there for the ring gear and it has a sprocket on the front for hooking to the propeller shaft. Also got a Smith Jones 2 Duce intake and a set of EDELBOCK square letter heads....I want to build a modified to put it in and am REALLY glad to hear you say the one you rode in was peppy! Was the 60 you remember rode behind stock or " souped up"? Also if you could post a picture or two that would be cool!....( I'm not gonna break out the old HAMB favorite line of " if there's no photo it didn't happen" on you though!)

 

Not many in hot rods but there are many still running in vintage midget racing.
They can be made to make over 200 hp on alcohol if you have a fat wallet.

 

I remember at the shop I hung out as a kid in the 70s old Harry had two Simca Vedettes with V8 60s in em . Even as a kid I would open the hoods and marvel at how tiny that V8 was ...Never did hear em run.

 

Ran one for 12 years in my midget on alcohol.

Never saw 200 horses.

Maybe 100 ponies.

Over triple the original power from a flat head? Fake news.

 

A friend has one (SoCal). He swaps back and forth between the V-8 60 (two carburetors) and a more normal V-8 flat head (three carburetors) in a severely chopped and channeled 29 Ford pickup.
The car is always ready to run. He drives either this pickup or a similar sedan delivery.

Mike

 

I'm running a 1940 v8-60 in my 30 coupe. Not done yet but almost..

Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I guess you didn't follow what was going on in USAC in the late 50's.
The fastest midget in the country was a Ford powered Kurtis.
Ran straight alcohol against all of the USAC cheaters running up to 30% nitro.
Beat Vic Edelbrock's Ford running 30% and all of the Offy's running who knows how much nitro.
This was at Saugas, Ca. at the last USAC race of the season in both 1957 and 1958.
Roger Ward was driving the Leader Card Offy which was the fastest car on the regular circuit.
In 57 we timed in 4 tenths faster than him. We won the dash, the heat and were a half lap ahead in the main and
picked up a sheet metal screw in the right front tire. You might say we got screwed out of a clean sweep....lol
Anyway, it was a 166 ci Ford with home made Hilborn type injectors and it made 201 hp.
I was the crew chief on the car.
1958 was pretty much the same except we got second in the main because asshole Ward was blocking and the USAC officials sided with him because he drove an Offy. We quit USAC and never went back.
You can take your "fake news" comment and stuff it.

 

Haven't used mine in a couple weeks. Spring cleaning, yard work getting in the way.

 

I've got one here, sitting in the bottom of a shopping cart, engine & trans, complete. Its just a sweetie for sure. Dunno what to do with it really. I was at the Westminster AACA swap meet a couple weeks ago and talked to a guy that had a set of Edelbrock heads and dual 2bbl intake for one, he also had a set of original Ford aluminum heads for one. He said he had a running V8-60 in his '40 coupe but was pulling it for lack of power.

 

I don't have any photo's but as I recall it did have aftermarket aluminum heads and 2 carburetors. HRP

 

Little flatties intrigue me! There are times I entertain the notion of running one in my Tudor, but someone always talks me out of it due to them being underpowered.

 

Probably no more under powered than the original 4 cylinder and they can run all day long with a higher gear ratio, at least 55 MPH. HRP

 

Slightly more HP, but lower torque than a banger...

 

Correct. HRP

 

My brother, the tool, had a V8-60 in his T Bucket. Nice peppy little thing.

 

Hey Pete did that motor your talking about have a OHV conversion? Pete

 

My avatar had a V8 60 in it and was a real dog until you got over 2500 rpms. I was running a 3:78 rear gear and 29" tall tires, they came with a 4:44 rear gear and needed it. They used them in boats and midgets but wrapped them tight, mine woke up around 2500, would be ok in a T bucket with the right rear end but no top end then.

 

No. The heads were modified for flat top pistons though.

 

I run one in my 27 rpu and my 27 touring !!!
I like them, get me wherever I want to go.
Looking for piston liners to redo a 40 motor I have

 

Interesting that you compose this long diatribe and still claim 201 HP.

A V8-60 is 135 cubic inches stock. With a .090" overbore and a .100" stroke it's 150 cubic inches, how did yours get to 166?

While methanol will handle 16:1 compression, a flathead won't.

Referencing "Souping the Stock Engine" by Roger Huntington, on page 179, an Edelbrock Ford V8-100, bored 1/8" and stroked 1/8" giving 267 cubic inches, 9:1 compression, dual carb, methanol,
super race cam, produced a maximum 197 HP at 4600rpm.

Are you sure that wasn't your oil temperature guage you were reading on your 201 Dyno run?

Your expletive of Rodger Ward is off base.

 

By the way, if any of you want to continue with this, email me, they don't like "drama" on this forum.

 

Time to give the V8-60 a break...at least that is what I did with mine.. Put it in the front room for safe keeping and stuck a pole lamp on it. Still ready to go and crankcase full of oil.

 

I was thinking of using one in my old 57 Lloyd Alexander but somebody else wanted it.

 

Care to elaborate Rocky? HRP

 

Thank you. HRP

 

I hope this will not be looked upon as drama, I am only looking for an answer that I don’t know. Would Roger Ward be considered “blocking” or just driving defensively when keeping another driver from advancing? Either you have the steam to pass, or you find the right opportunity to do so, but if Ward was in the lead he got there either through qualifying position or driving ability. Wouldn’t it be strictly up to the followers to gain position, unless of course Ward made a critical error?

 

Greetings ForDors!....as a longtime ( over 40 years) crewman/mechanic/crew chief on circle track cars the conduct of ANY driver being TERRIBLE or a GREAT JOB depends LARGELY on the number of the car matching the number you work on!

 

Danny, are you talking about bob hovers old tbucket?