Sir, Personally I have had good luck with engines that have sat a while. Sometimes it works out sometimes not. The one I had with frozen rings would not turn without a great deal of effort. The rings were fused to the pistons. The good engines, some requiring cleaning out the cylinders all turned like a freshly assembled build....that is after cleaning out the cylinders. I do not have X ray vision or some special ability. That's why I do a compression test. Sometimes it works out sometimes not.
Same here, I've cleaned up and checked more flatheads since 1954 than I could count, mine and friends' and customers' alike. But there was always some slipshods that crawled under the partially open garage door to warn me about something I 'hadn't thought of'! But by some miracle (and encouragement from my 'Mentor', Red Mayfield) I foraged ahead, only one had a bad crack I didn't see. (Pan rail...caught it when I added coolant, LOL) Just treat it like you own it.
I'm super excited about this one and really can't wait to hear her Purrr. I did notice it has a dome piston. Is this normal or is the dome piston like a sbc high performance?
All of the later engines had domed pistons some of the earlier ones in the early thirties had flattops. I think it had to do with whether the engine came with aluminum of iron heads. I'm sure someone who knows more than I will chime in with the specific information.
I've rebuilt a few 59 style flathead water pumps with nothing more than a big vice and some sockets. Just think about it when you are going to press it apart or together. Don't go pulling on anything.
I have a lot of stuff to make it pretty if it runs good maybe some of y'all with all the cool car hoards would donate one for me to learn installing and driving these cool parts.
Make sure you clean out the main oil gallery .It runs down the lifter valley and can be accessed by removing a threaded plug on the end of block .
The plugs on outside follow the tube in the valley and you will be able to tell where it comes out.i know there's one in front can't remember about back.i would be concerned about making a chunk loose and have it feed to bearings. Sent from my Moto E (4) using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Send your water pumps to Skip Haney in Punta Gorda Florida. He rebuilds them with the latest upgrades (bearings, impeller, etc.) and you get back your originals with no worries about proper fit etc. Google his name for information.
Lots of times Ive fired up old setting engines of unknown cond. Soaking the cyls with a mix of diesel and ATF is one thing I do. Having lost a couple because of sludge in the oil pan and starving the bearings. I now pull the pans and clean them. The cleaner the better. But any soft sludge that the new detergent oil would dissolve will not damage the engine. and not enough at a time will come out to clog the oil pump screen. Certianly its a gamble. But so is a complete remachine and rebuild. We have all hears or seen the new assemblys fail . The OP,s mill will be just fine.
WTF, It all looks good but keep in mind this is still a gamble. Looking ahead I'll share my opinion on flathead performance. First is the car. If this going in a light pre V8 car. Ts and As Bone stock in such a car is a hell of a hot rod. This goes for pre War cars as well. Flatheads push post war cars and trucks well but not quite as snappy as say a Model A. Here's my list..... 1. Duals The first thing a stock flathead responded to was duals. Even with the old cast iron crossover system converting the engine to dual exhausts was step one. Your engine looks to have dual outlet 41 or so manifolds. These were desirable as they are true duals that flow better than converting the crossover manifolds. Better still was Fenton, better still was tubes. 2. Dual carburetors. These engines were somewhat under carburated. 3x2 is a little much. 2x2 is just right. Recent testing shows the venable Edelnrock sling shot to be one of the best. 3. Spark...The 41-42 crab was excellent. Vern Tardell has a little booklet on these early distibutors. In short they are much better than the modern looking but dismal LOM 8BA. 4. Valve timing....Camshafts. A performance camshaft will give the little flathead some legs on the top end. Most cars of the time were low geared so there was not much loss down low. It's best to use adjustable lifters if a performance cam is used. Otherwise the valves will have to be ground for adjustment. 5. A little boost in compression.....The stock iron heads benefit with milling. That's where the term "racing mill" comes from. A little shave boosts the compression ratio. Aftermarket heads can be ordered for your desired ratio. 6. Porting....Racing engines benefited from porting and relieving around the valves. This increased flow but it could also reduce the compression ratio so this was a balancing act. In my opinion porting the deck around the valves is a risk. I think it needs all the metal there as possible to prevent cracks. The only porting I might consider is port matching the exhaust but honestly, I would probably leave it be. Best bang for the buck...... Stock cam Stock Heads Headers.... even with a single 94 or 97 Crab..... Sling shot with 2 97s..... Fancy heads are just that pretty much just for looks on a stockish engine.. I would put that money into induction. A set of Chrome acorn nut covers are a heck of a lot cheaper than aluminum heads.
"F-ONE" - I think you missed the cheapest, most important modification you can make. That is milling and modifying the cylinder heads (stock or aftermarket) to increase compression and get the proper "squish" in the combustion chamber. I have done a number of flatheads, and on the last two have paid particular attention to obtaining about .050" squish over the top of the piston. This involves checking the heads to see what you presently have, having them milled to arrive at a nominal .050" squish, and then doing some manual grinding to make sure you have adequate clearance over the valves (not a problem with a stock cam) and the pistons. After doing this both engines have around 160 lbs compression (about 8:1) and seem to have a "crispness" that my earlier engines never had. I think just bolting on a set of "Hi-Compression" aftermarket heads or milling a set of stock heads x inches is an exercise in futility. If you spend some time and use your head, the results will be worth the effort. BTW, I think you will get a bit of an argument from some of the experienced flathead guys about the value of dual exhaust systems and even headers. John Lawson has done a bunch of real world tests on various modifications to a stock flathead and their results, some of which may surprise you. He has written a book containing detailed results. If you haven't read it, you probably should.
Can you change the front timing cover from 2 bolt distributor to a 3 bolt cover? The only reason I ask is I have lots more 3 bolt distributor parts than 2.
Yes, you can change the covers. Depending on what year cam is in it, you might either need a spacer for the cam snout or a spacer to hold the distributor out. Pre-war cams are different length than the 59 series cams. Not to be confused with the 49-53 cams which have a totally different snout with a distributor drive gear on it. BUT, let me tell you it is a LOT EASIER to work on the two-bolt distributors. Especially if you use a '42 cap. Much easier to attach the plug wires, adjust/clean points, fit other parts around, etc. Well worth the money to buy a '42 and up distributor and have it rebuilt by Bubba.
On the 8ba Flathead that I am working on, the crank/rod oil passages were so clogged up with sludge that I had to remove the hardened sludge with a drill bit. I think if I would have just cleaned it and fired it up the bearings would have been ruined immediately due to lack of oil flow, or all that sludge going right into the bearings. If you go into starting the motor without expectations of it lasting very long, it will probably run. If you want an engine that will run for awhile, I think you would have to make sure all the oil passages are open and clean.
Used to be that they used high paraffin non detergent oil and sludge was common in an old engine. Hell even when I was a kid your "better" oils like Pensoil or Quaker State were high paraffin oils. That was what they were pumping up in that part of the country.
Get a gun cleaning kit, or a .22 cleaning brush by itself. Run that down the return ports and that will do the trick.
When you take the timing cover off, remove the cam gear ,there is a plug that uses a flat tip screwdriver ,Get that out run the brush in and see how much resistance you have.
If the crank has threaded plugs at the end of the rod journal, you can unscrew the plug and check. If it has plugs at the end of the rod journal you would have to pull and replace the plug, which is harder.
The best flathead I ever bought looked like this. I don't think they're run much and get gummed up.........
That Black Hawk reamer is the best kind. You place the cutter down in the bore and it follows the cylinder wall and cuts like a lathe from the bottom up. It will remove every bit of ridge from a out of round cyl. I have a similar one made by snap on. and Its the best I ever used.
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