DISCLAIMER; this post is for the neophyte flathead building wannabes like me. Be forewarned I am not, nor do I claim to be, by any stretch of the imagination, a flathead guru. There are plenty of those on this site, more than willing to help with any tech info, and thank GOD for them. Now most you guys know im trying my hand at my first V8 flathead. I started with a complete 1937 21 stud motor. Here is what i've learned so far; As simple as they seem, a SBC is simpler. When someone tells you they are expense....you best BELIEVE them. As simple as they seem, a SBC is cheaper, WAY cheaper. There is damn near nothing available at your local parts house, 'cept gask-a-cinch. When someone tells you you'll have fun removing the valve guides, "having fun" is probably not an appropriate choice of words. Make damn sure your engine stand has locking wheels or you'll be chasing it all around the shop, prying on this and pulling on that. Ebay is yer friend, much as I hate it. If your cam has a fiber gear, no matter how good it looks, replace it BEFORE you install your cam and get all your valve train installed. When installing your valve train, help from someone with small hands to install the guide retainers will help, especially if you got hamhocks for hands, like me. Now, I kinda like doing everything myself, so here are some tips and homemade tools. I made this cam bearing driver on my trusty Jet lathe. Will probably only use once but I love making this kinda stuff. My new tappets were too snug in the lifter bores....hello brake cylinder hone. I didnt want to spend money on a valve guide tool, so I made one from a $6 harbor freight screwdriver and a scrap piece if bar stock. (hint; you only need this for exhaust valves. I realized you can run a large screwdriver down your intake ports and push down directly on the valve guide). 8 intake valves installed, 10 mins.....8 exhaust valves installed 2 hrs. Drilled holes to hold tappets when adjusting, tried nail, too soft....tried drill bit, too brittle....hmmmmm, now what.......old Snap On radiator hose removal tool, perfect. Run your adjuster on the tappet down to about two threads showing before installing in block....you'll thank me later. Tho the adjuster takes a 7/16 wrench, you'll find an 11 mm wrench actually fits slightly tighter, with less slop. The adjusters are tight, real tight...I realized the palm of my hand would take a beating during valve adjustment time so I used a small section of pipe as a cheater over the end of the wrench....yup, my palms just fine. As simple as they seem, a SBC valve adjustment is easier. SBC valve adjustment, minutes....flathead valve adjustment, minutes too, just a whole lot more of them. Next stop...crank and piston installation....Lord knows what this has in store for me......I'll keep ya posted.
Ha, just going through this myself. One tip I saw on a Tardel video was to measure a stock lifter with calipers, lock them and adjust all the lifters to that before installing. On mine (v8-60, talk about needing small hands..) I drilled the holes in the block with the lifters on the cam lobe for wrench room, which means turning the engine over to adjust and then back to measure again. And again. And again. I think I have my rings broken in already.
Lucky for me I have a old timer that has like 20 flatheads and knows them in and out to help me and has all the tools.. <----------50 in my profile pic I bought from him compleatly went through.
Yup, that list about sums it up! Welcome to the "What the hell did I get myself into" club. Lots of special tools, lots of patients, lots of skinned knuckles and lots of money. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
We're all sarcastically sympathetic because we've all been there. Put those receipts in a mayonnaise jar and bury them deep in the yard. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
"Don't make me slap a wolf cookie outta ya"....Pauletta Brown (wife)..." I know what a 'Wolfe Burger" is. Anyone who was in the 1st Gulf War will probably know about "Wolfe Burger Stands". But never seen a "wolf cookie". HAHAHAHAA
There, you had to go and ruin it, how the hell am I supposed to sell the flathead powered car I have! LOL
If you want to make a small fortune, start rebuilding flatheads. Of course you have to start with a large fortune. Harley
I thought I wanted one. Not after this. Expensive and you gotta use Egay? No effin way . Thanks for clearing that up.
Between this and the street freaks thread, the HAMB has gone all weird. It is supposed to be flatheads = good, 70's = bad. Must be global warming.
Hell if it was easy then everyone would do it themselves................mummm what a great idea that would be...........working on your own engine...........
Hilarious post and cost wise I recognize what you're saying. Haven't come far enough to start working on mine yet, so far I have three cracked blocks and one complete engine (that I don't want to blow apart to find it's cracked, just don't think I can take it) but now I fear for my sanity Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I've always wondered if there is a significant casting difference between 8BA and earlier blocks? I ask this because I've had 6 8BA blocks in my life (I have 4 now) and have never had a cracked one. Or maybe I am just insanely lucky. The one thing I will say about this is that by being patient, I have always been able to find either running engines or ones that have been stored in heated storage.. I have never been in the situation that I had to buy one that was "stuck".
You'll learn to pay more but buy stripped blocks that you can look at in detail. Pressure tested is better. I bought a bare block that looked crack free only to have water gush out of the right rear exhaust port when assembled.
I haven’t heard wolf cookie in a long time, but in the fifties it was something you would step on in the woods, akin to a cow patty.
Not all, just bought my first flathead block, 53 8ba. The guy I bought it from has a friend, Al Roth, that is supposed to be the area flathead guru. (you ought to see this guys garage, a minor machine shop and flatheads and flathead parts everywhere) the block I purchased is supposed to be crack free Al said he was pretty sure he had pressure tested it (still going to have it magnafluxed and have Al pressure test it again)
I haven't messed with the internals of a flathead in about 50+years, but back when I did so, it seemed to me that the 8BA and 8CM blocks were more prone to be cracked than pre '49 blocks when the heads were pulled.
In my 60+ years of flatmania, (60+) I can agree with Dirty Old Man. About 10 +/- '49-'53s were cracked, opposed to probably 40 pre '49 that weren't. (But I've seen lots of earlyones that were cracked...just luck, I guess) Was the fact they were mostly California engines a factor? Maybe. Another was they weren't as OLD as they are now... I've had some extremely low mile ones, too. As for the '49-'53 Mercs, who cared? I was just after the valve trains and 4" cranks...Man, I've had a lot of 'em! Funny thing to me...back then, it was not every day that we saw 8BA and ECM types used in pre-'48 vehicles. Unusual when you did...around San Jose area anyway. It was done, but not often. One of those 'wrong things' in the old Bill Burnham unwritten annals of Hot Rod Rules
Not by me Larry. I grew up with 289's and 327's. Have had 5 flatheads within the last 18 yrs. In my mind, anything I build pre-1941 would have a flathead in it. Now if I was going to tear up the strip or travel the country it would have more horsepower and be a SB. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Nobody said it was easy . . . if you want easy, then you get a big fat wallet out and have somebody build yah one. BUT, I'd never do that - might as well buy a crate SBC or LS motor (for 1/3 the price). What you will learn in the process will become invaluable to you. You'll be intimate with every aspect of this old chunk of cast iron, you'll appreciate your own accomplishments and you'll be proud to go down the road in it. There is nothing that sounds like an old hopped-up flathead . . . which is why I love building these old motors. It is not to say that I don't build modern engines and appreciate them for what they are - every era has wonderful engines and folks that took advantage of them. Who doesn't like a blown 392 Hemi? Anybody not want one? Hell - I always wanted one, just could never afford a HEMI ANYTHING when I was young . . . but every time I see a restored FED with a beautiful chute-pack body and a fuel burning 92 in it . . . I love it. Now I have one - and it is something very special to me - it doesn't replace my flatheads, it augments them. There are many great engines to choose from - some easy to build, some expensive, some you have to be intimate with, some with cheap parts, some with unobtainium parts - you choose, build what you like and be proud of it. I'm just happy as Hell that you are others are willing to take the plunge, work through the ups/downs, good days, bad days and build a Flathead Ford. Bloody knuckles and all - you will have accomplished what very few guys do with ANY of their engines these days - you built it from the ground up, yourself. (Like prior generations built their hotrods - themselves). Just see it through to the end . . . you'll not regret it. If you need any help along they way, feel free to ping me. Lots of guys helped me along the way - and without their help and my relentlessness, nothing would have ever been completed. B&S
This thread has convinced me that my decision to explore the Ford world after a lifetime playing with Chevy's may have been a bit hasty. Lol. So anyone got any experience with rebuilding the Ford Flathead 6? I've got a 226 in my '51 sedan and have been looking around for a spare to build up and have ready to install when this one gets tired.
The Jalopy Journal
