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Projects The Flathead Ford

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Ryan, Oct 24, 2022.

  1. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

    Ryan submitted a new blog post:

    The Flathead Ford

    [​IMG]

    Continue reading the Original Blog Post
     
  2. engine138
    Joined: Oct 5, 2007
    Posts: 2,193

    engine138
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Commack NY

    Great Pics boss now get to that PTA meeting
     
    lothiandon1940 likes this.
  3. Michael Ottavi
    Joined: Dec 3, 2008
    Posts: 266

    Michael Ottavi
    Member

    A beautiful piece of automotive art
     
    The_Cat_Of_Ages likes this.
  4. solidaxle
    Joined: Jan 6, 2011
    Posts: 662

    solidaxle
    Member
    from Upstate,NY

    You're preaching to the choir!
     

  5. This is a French block correct?
     
    The_Cat_Of_Ages likes this.
  6. LuckyFordGuy
    Joined: Jun 13, 2008
    Posts: 289

    LuckyFordGuy
    Member

    looks nice I love it
     
  7. Spooky
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 2,239

    Spooky
    Member

    I just love these engines. Oh, I know, the sbc has more power and is the go to for many, but,
    the looks, the sound, nothing can compare to a flattie.
     
    CSPIDY and lothiandon1940 like this.
  8. banjorear
    Joined: Jul 30, 2004
    Posts: 4,479

    banjorear
    Member

    Totally.
     
    Petejoe likes this.
  9. 210superair
    Joined: Jun 23, 2020
    Posts: 1,952

    210superair
    Member
    from Michigan

    At the pta meeting:

    Teacher talking, teacher talking, teacher talking....

    Ryan: yeah yeah yeah. Are you into flatheads or what......
     
  10. Now that I've built an engine and a car I really appreciate up close pics so I can get ideas of how to secure and route wires & hoses cleanly.
     
    Outback, OzMerc39 and Tim like this.
  11. Nobey
    Joined: May 28, 2011
    Posts: 1,489

    Nobey
    Member

    Amen Ryan, and thanks for the post......
     
  12. hotrodjack33
    Joined: Aug 19, 2019
    Posts: 4,128

    hotrodjack33
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The dreaded Parent/Teacher Conference is a one-on-one meeting, where the teacher tells you your kid is NOT "working up to his/her potential" ...and it's probably your fault:eek::mad:
     
    Outback and Desoto291Hemi like this.
  13. and there is no greater feeling than to be 1500 miles from home in a flathead ya built yourself and she is just purring down the road........
    DSC02000.JPG
     
  14. sshep
    Joined: Oct 13, 2018
    Posts: 257

    sshep
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    It may not be the best performing, but it definitely is the best looking.
     
    rod1 and Petejoe like this.
  15. Petejoe
    Joined: Nov 27, 2002
    Posts: 12,263

    Petejoe
    Member
    from Zoar, Ohio

    Real Hotrod’s don’t have valve covers.
    Nothing beats the sound of them running on a country road at speed and the look of envy passing by those who are not familiar with them.
    I love explaining them to the young guys. And the sound of a hot cam at idle is to die for. I recently let my 15 year old grandson take my 34 pickup for a run. He’d never driven a standard transmission. Another hot Rodder for life. :)
     
    Outback, Toms Dogs, CSPIDY and 4 others like this.
  16. v8flat44
    Joined: Nov 13, 2017
    Posts: 1,211

    v8flat44

  17. FlatJan
    Joined: Dec 13, 2013
    Posts: 306

    FlatJan

    yes but has been reworked. should be a later 4.2/255 marmon like mine
    but built under license, so still ford
     
    Outback likes this.
  18. Ebbsspeed
    Joined: Nov 11, 2005
    Posts: 6,250

    Ebbsspeed
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Here's what the left rear side of an "unworked" French block looks like.

    French Flathead.jpg
     
    Jet96, Toms Dogs, OzMerc39 and 3 others like this.
  19. Michael Ottavi
    Joined: Dec 3, 2008
    Posts: 266

    Michael Ottavi
    Member

    On the second day of this post, I went back again and looked closely at each image and came to the conclusion in an automotive engine beauty contest, the flathead would win the crown hands down over a Chevy LS distributorless, plastic intake cyclops looking air intake with wires all over the valve covers. Long live the timeless flathead.
     
    Outback, CSPIDY, WiredSpider and 2 others like this.
  20. LuckyFordGuy
    Joined: Jun 13, 2008
    Posts: 289

    LuckyFordGuy
    Member

  21. theHIGHLANDER
    Joined: Jun 3, 2005
    Posts: 10,244

    theHIGHLANDER
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I'm wondering why the top pics are what looks like Hemi orange and the bottom pics are copper. My guess is some creative editing, as in "What if..."
     
  22. Gahrajmahal
    Joined: Oct 14, 2008
    Posts: 493

    Gahrajmahal
    Member

    There’s nothing like rebuilding a flathead ford v8 as I did in my 1953 Victoria. I smoothed the block and put a mild cam in it. Other than that it was simply bored once over and ran stock heads, stock manifolds, split running glass pack’s. It was connected to the stock two speed automatic. It was my daily driver for two years which was interesting with Ohio’s snow and hot humid summers. Still have warm memories of that car.
     
    OzMerc39 and Petejoe like this.
  23. caprockfabshop
    Joined: Dec 5, 2019
    Posts: 532

    caprockfabshop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    More likely that the top pic was taken in direct lighting while the pics at the end were taken in ambient lighting. Any metallic paint is going to show different shades and tones in different light. I believe the only "editing" done here was done in the moment with exposure and aperture choices.

    ~Peter
     
  24. Rick & Jan
    Joined: Apr 9, 2008
    Posts: 536

    Rick & Jan
    Member

    '51 Block .030 over, decked, polished Merc crank, Eddie Meyer intake, 94's, Mallory Distributor, EAB heads cut .010, Isky cam, 10 inch clutch, nothing fancy, just a hell of alot of money for not much power, but hey, you can't beat the looks of a Flathead!! Resized_20220929_154045(2)[1549].jpeg
     
  25. VF-1
    Joined: Jan 21, 2021
    Posts: 115

    VF-1
    Member

    Inspiration! I have an old ‘49 8BA (locked up) under my work bench. The bride want it to go, I’m thinking my retirement project. Hmm...
     
    Toms Dogs and Rick & Jan like this.
  26. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,291

    jnaki

    upload_2022-11-1_3-45-34.png

    Hello,
    It was not always SBC or a 348 chevy motor in our lives. If the original first hot rod deal had gone through, there would not have been a 80 h.p. flathead motor in my teenage adventures. It was a long eye opener as to the never ending travels all over the So Cal coastline. Funky? You bet... Reliable? right on cue with no repairs or break downs for the whole time i drove it all over the place.


    Ever since I bought a Flathead Ford 1940 sedan delivery, I was the happiest kid in the whole area. It was my first real car that I paid for with my own saved up money. It once had a 348 Chevy that a friend built up and ran, but circumstances moved him to want to sell the newly created sedan delivery.
    upload_2022-11-1_3-49-4.png
    It was supposed to look like this color and stance. (as we learned, later…) It was painted the night before we all saw it for the first time on a late Friday night. He just got it running and in the late++ hours, he had to get it painted prior to the “big show” at the local hot spot drive-in restaurant parking lot hangout in Bixby Knolls.

    The color was not the first thing we noticed. When it rolled into the driveway, we heard it before we saw it and all heads turned to look. The 348 was not quiet. It rumbled with authority and we all had know about a 348 Chevy motor in a black 58 Impala.

    So, as it goes, that night and the next weekends, word got out that the sedan delivery was for sale.

    WHY? Straight from the owner’s mouth, the comments over the initial cruise in and parking lot discussions, it was spreading around about the color of the sedan delivery. When asked that night, my friend told everyone that it was a “Racer Orange” color he just sprayed on late last night, Thursday. Of course everyone was impressed that he painted the whole car by himself.
    upload_2022-11-1_3-49-44.png
    But, the color in the daylight did not look like the color under the parking lot lights. The word was spreading that the color was a “Salmon Pink.” So, from that point on, when someone saw the sedan delivery in the lot or cruising around, it was called the “Salmon Pink” hot rod. That label was the main reason he wanted to sell it immediately. The odd thing was, it was a fast hot rod, unusual that no one wanted it, no one else had one and it was unusual to say the least.

    Jnaki

    For a budding surf teenager with big ideas rolling around, the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery was just my kind of old hot rod. We needed a cool car to continue our surf forays weekly and after school road trips, so, this cool looking hot rod was perfect. The asking price was outrageous and he did not get any offers. I offered a good price, but he laughed and said no. Then a few weeks later, he accepted my offer and we made a deal. But, one exception: The 348 motor was coming out and a simple Flathead was going to be put in its place. It was stock, and running well, so, I was the new owner.
    upload_2022-11-1_3-53-21.jpeg
    At first, the lack of power from the Flathead was daunting. From the 280 hp Impala to the 80 hp sedan delivery, it was a whole different attitude when driving. The Flathead was one of the most reliable motors around for us. It took us all over So Cal coastlines for exciting new adventures. It just did not have the power to go up into the local mountains or struggled to go up the steep coastal hills on our weekly surf trips. But, what a fun hot rod and the experiences it gave me as a teenager.

    The Flathead motor by Tardel looks like what was offered to me by Reath Automotive. They liked the sedan delivery and instantly, showed me the Flathead motor in the garage area. It would have made the coastal hill climbs like driving around in a 280 hp Impala.

    Power to stay in 3rd gear fully loaded with teenagers, longboards and surf stuff. No more downshifting to 2nd or on the steepest hills, first gear. Yowza! (the built up Flathead motor may have allowed me + the 40 sedan delivery, to rise up in the slowest Cherry Avenue hot rod races a few notches… too) HA!
     
    figure8, hotrodjack33, VF-1 and 2 others like this.
  27. dmar836
    Joined: Oct 23, 2018
    Posts: 357

    dmar836
    Member

  28. LuckyFordGuy
    Joined: Jun 13, 2008
    Posts: 289

    LuckyFordGuy
    Member

    I love flatheads sound good
     
  29. D type
    Joined: Jul 16, 2010
    Posts: 235

    D type
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    A piece of art
    Ny%20motor%201680.jpg
     
    Jacksmith, Outback, VF-1 and 5 others like this.

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