What you guys think . Told that this is a stroker motor built in 50’s by vick edelbrock sr in the 50,s . The gentlemen's grand father was a racer and t was built for a flat bottom boat. But was put in the truck . Just need some help with what i got . And if i should build it back to,run .
By all means, yes, you should rebuild it. Assuming it needs rebuilt. Regardless of its possible history. Has some nice stuff on it! Dave
Was told it was drove in to the barn in the late 50’s earl 60’s to do paint and body and never got finished . Been told be carefull who i give the motor to to do work on it . So i dont even know where to start
Don't think that you are all that far from Tardell ranch. Load that thing up & go talk to Vern. Nice buck B T W.
I would want to start it. Drop all fluids and replenish then go for it. Make sure you get those cylinders lubed.
Okay, before you try to start it, pull the pan, clean it, and also the oil pickup screen. You can also buy a new one. When you reassemble it with fresh oil, pull the plugs, turn it over with the starter until you have oil pressure. Then you can try to start it. Also run a compression test on it. Let us know how it goes. I have to say Vern Tardel is retired, so that's not an option.....
I see in your photo what looks like a new fuel hose from the tank to the fuel pump, and maybe new plugs, and that Harman-Collins distributor only has one coil hooked up. I have to caution again about starting the motor with junk in the pan. You can lose a motor in the first three minutes of running. then it can run into thousands of dollars to repair. When you do run it, if you don't have that generator hooked up, ground the field on it, as not to burn it up.
That is a Harmon Collins dual coil distributor which is a nice piece of speed equipment from back in the day. Make sure to take some video when you fire it!
IIRC there was an old flathead guy in Fresno that did nice work on flatheads but I haven't a clue who he was or if he is still in business. If he is he's a lot closer than H&H. JMO
For testing I would pull the HC and put on a stock '42 distributor. Save the puzzling out of the HC for later when engine seems ready to go.
Mr bob thank you and every one who has reached out to help . Was able to get a hold of mr tardel . He said he would like to help me out. So thats way cool . Im going to get up there in a couple weeks . Thank you for the heads up. Thanks for the complament on my buck. He was very tasty.
if it was me, there's no way I would try to fire up what is advertised as an old race engine without knowing what's inside it. I'd pull the motor and take a quick look before I did anything. heads, pan, intake and carbs. have someone check some bearings too. once you know whats inside you can decide if it's worth running as is or freshen it up. what's the plan with vern?? he going to open it up or??
Some really good stuff on that engine, I agree with others saying have a flathead expert open it up and clean everything at least before trying to fire it. Old crusted up oil could plug the pickup screen, super light rust in the cylinders could be cleaned out or honed before just trying to "burn it off", old gaskets could get replaced. It won't cost you that much if it really is in good shape, and if it's not, best to find out now. Looks like a really neat find. Would be hard to confirm the Vic Edelbrock story, sounds a bit tall-tale to me but it's possible, it certainly has the goods on it. That bodywork looks newer than late 50's early 60's to me, I can still see sandpaper scratches, but then again, in Wisconsin, bare metal rusts by the next day. I doubt that part of the story matters much anyway. Mostly just proceed with caution. Even those coils look like really early Mallory bakelite ones. Well-equipped.
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