A complete 8BA, carb to pan, turns free. A59AB that is frozen and is just a short block. Lots of spare parts as well, they are in the back of my buddy's truck on the way from Louisiana. I know there is a ton of info here on these engines, and plan to do a bunch of reading on the subject. But I want to play with them tonight! (I'm impatient!). In the mean time, should I pull the heads on the 8BA and look for cracks around the valves, or just spray some oil in the spark plug holes, put in some new plugs, and try to fire her up?
the froze one needs to come apart. and if you knew what was good for you you should do that to the other one first if youre gonna run it in anything. the oil passages INSIDE the crank need to be clear for the oil to flow to all the bearings and such. but if youre going to half ass it, clean out the pan, spray some oil into the cylinders, take the intake off and oil up all the lifters and valves.
I agree... for the most part. If the 8ba looks pretty clean, pull the intake and look in the valley, if everything still looks pretty clean and the valves are not sticking, I'd be inclined to fire it up. If it looks crusty and sludgy, you'd be wise to go through it. Also, I know guys do it often with no bad results, but I'm not really for firing engines up with no cooling system in place. Even a few seconds of running can create localized hot spots and in an engine that you have no knowledge of it's history, that can be bad news.
A lot of parts! Five spare 8BA heads(only one right side? Weird.) One pair 59AB heads. Half a dozen water pumps, all but one turn, half a dozen fuel pumps, lots of bearings still in boxes, some boxes falling apart and (probably) useless bearings inside(all useless?),a generator and fan, an extra starter, both rusty, maybe junk, maybe not. Don't see any cracks so far... The 59AB doesn't look to have any cracks, at least around the valves. The 8BA turns freely with a little Crescent wrench, if it's not cracked, I'd say I'm golden. I'm not going to do anythig with it before I take it apart and clean it up, and check for cracks.
hey man ... I am in Louisiana what are you building and what city are you in ? Would you like to sell a set of those heads ?
I bought them from a H.A.M.B.er in Louisana; my buddy just brought them over here to Texas for me today. I might sell a set of the 8BA heads, but the shipping is probably more than they are worth.
Well, I thought I had a can of "Break-it-loose-juice", but it was LPS degreaser. Needs degreasing anyway, I'll get some of the other tomorrow and spray her down. Looks like she's already been converted to 12V. What type carb is this?
that motor looks pretty crusty, id try to clean it up even if its not stuck.you never know what its been through or what went down the carb or down draft tube. the carb is an EAB? style ford 94? basically a 94 with a different top on it for that style of air cleaner mount.
I plan to dissasemble it and check it out before I do anything with it. Carb has- MODEL EB cast into it, in a circle, and it looks like a "V" stamped after "EB" I was looking at the 94s on my 6x2 setup in the garage, and yes, it is similar except for the top. Funny, only two of the six are identical; different model numbers, on the same spot as the "EB" on the flathead.
looks kinda like a holley 94 http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/!_FORD_FLATHEAD_CARBURETOR_IDENTIFICATION!
Cracks in blocks are not easy to spot. My block was cleaned twice, then I stood over the guy doing the magnaflux just to watch. No cracks showed up in the valve area. The block was bored, and decked. They started grinding the seats, on the very last one, a hairline crack showed up right through the front exhaust seat. It was repaired and it has not leaked in six years.
Cool! I hope you can get one of em' up and running! I am in the same boat as you. I have a flatty that has not run in 10 years so I will be watching this one.
You might find some of the vales are stuck open. Not uncommon on flatties that haven't run in some time.
the internals are a little different sometimes, they have diff size holes in the bottom(most are AA1 i think, which are like a 11/16???), and some have different aspirating nozzles.
I am interested too. Just got a '52 Ford motor, turns over fine, unknown mileage but was in car with hood on it, and radiator gone so it was "dry".
O.K., got all 24 head bolts off on both sides real easily, is there a trick to pulling the head? Tried a small prybar, and a rubber mallet, and a sledge with a block of wood for a softener, no luck.
theres not really an easy way to do it, just pop it up enough to get your fingers under it and pull. so how does it look inside? i find that those 2 inch brass wire wheels work nice to clean up rusty cylinders.(before you try to turn it over) then blow it all out and wipe the cylinder walls with oil. take the intake off and check that too. try turning the engine over while watching the valves one by one and see if they are all moving. if they are stuck spray it heavily with penetrating oil as well as the lifter. put the crank to a position that opens the other valve(because the other one wont be open then) lightly tap the center of the valve until it "pops" back down. once all the valves are moving. drool oil all over them and the lifters. now pull the oil pan, clean that out good. take the oil pump off and clean that up really good. turn the oil pump by hand with some oil it in and make sure its pumping. take your hand and pull up and down on the rod ends they shouldnt "click" but if you hear an oil "scoosh" noise thats ok. but if they are bone dry they might just need some oil.maybe pull the caps and inspect for spun bearings while youre at it and give them a nice coating of oil or assembly grease. check pump drive gears on back of block and oil.
Made a tool and pulled one of the heads this afternoon: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5630670#post5630670 Good news, no holes in the pistons, bores look nice, just a slight ridge on top(have't measured yet). No stuck valves. I'll pull the other side this weekend, then pull the intake, pan and check the mains.
uh...not sure where your at...the old guys always say...do a compression check if it turns over...that will tell you something you need to know....just saiyin....
Maybe I should have done a compression check before pulling the head, to see if it had good compression, leaking valves, etc. I didn't, because I plan to tear this engine all the way down anyway.
I will be doing all this. The left side head is off, bores are real clean, only a slight ridge. No stuck valves. I'm not following this,"take your hand and pull up and down on the rod ends they shouldnt "click" but if you hear an oil "scoosh" noise thats ok." You mean the piston rods, while still on the crank? Are they not a tight fit on the bearings, have a thick oil film between them that you can feel moving? Please elaborate.