I'm looking to build a 59ab at some point soon and I'm wondering what are the most common problems or overlooked items during and after the build?
Yup, the most money per hp you will spend! LOL. They are fun little motors and have a great sound tho...
1, Money ,think two and a half ohv rebuilds as a general rule. 2.Finding an uncracked block is at best a 50/50 proposition . 3.Finding a machine shop with the right gear and the know how to do the machine work in a timely manner without stuffing it up or charging moonbeams. stuff like that . But... I still love em and rebuild em in NSW , Australia
Beware your final compression ratio. Choose the right bore and cc of your heads. I just finished my Flathead and had to buy new heads at the end due to spark know issues. I purchased Edelbrock high lift 74 cc heads to solve the problem They are most happy at 8:1 from my expensive experience Lol Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Finding a re-buildable core can be a challenge. I bought six junkyard "cores" once upon a time before I found a good one. Save yourself lots of time and money and buy a good running engine that somebody is pulling to swap in an OHV.
I'm doing a mild one now. It was a former rebuild, but all that did was help. No cracks, not excessive dirty...but one piston was damaged by the former owner(!!?!) and I've done up the valve train with some neat old 'goodies'... I've had a lot of flatheads, and know 'better'...but there's bound to be more fun, right???
If a flathead is what you are after, don't be discouraged. There are still good re buildable blocks out there. Do your research. There is lots of info about. Pick a good builder. Done right, they will give you lots of smiles per mile!
Going to do it yourself? Fun to do if you have the proper tool for the valve guides and such. Spend the money if you need to. If you're going to have a shop do it, count on at least $4K minimum. Common problems are the cracks in the block that can't be pinned.
Make sure all the oil galleries are cleaned out good in the block. Also pull the welch plugs in the crank and make sure those are cleaned as well. drill a hole in each lifter base to make adjusting valve lash easier.
You will need, well I'm sure you can do without but you will want a tool for setting valve lash. I made my own from an old distributor and rotor along with a tuna can, works mint. Cliff Ramsdell
I have a 36 pickup with a 41 flathead cornhusker adapter and a 5 speed in it. the engine doesn't run but is suppose to be good....instead of screwing with the flathead i'm seriously thinking about pulling the set up out and going with a 302
I would recommend buying John Lawsons book "Flathead facts" The section on carburetor jetting is especially helpful. He ran dyno tests on many parts combinations, and shows what works and what doesn't. http://www.vanpeltsalesstore.com/L-1006-Flathead-Facts-by-John-W-Lawson_p_511.html John
Be careful reading John Lawson's book, "Flathead Facts" if You can't handle the truth! So many of the mythical ideas that define rodding as practiced through the decades are put to the test, and you may not like the answers. Treating my so called builds as an art form rather than a science allows me to sometimes spend money where I know that I'm just pissing it away for the sake of tradition rather than performance. Good Luck: Fred A
Get these books: JWL's Book (Already mentioned) Ron Holleran - Nostalgia Tardel's book on Rebuilding the Ford Flathead Mike Herman's Book on Rebuilding the Ford Flathead. All well worth the money. --louis
Here are a couple of pics, I’ll add more later, gotta dog it out. It’s a 6 cylinder distributor, rotor ground down flat. Hot glue the tuna can to the rotor. A piece of masking tape marked out evenly around it and marked with the appropriate valve numbers and bolted on. Rotated it around and set the lash, bam it’s done. Added some pics. V8 or 6 cylinder, no difference I just happened to have a spare 6 cylinder one that I would never miss. Some lifter wrench’s and the holders and your good to go. Cliff Ramsdell
Well need and want could be two different things. Do you “need” this to set valve lash, no but it makes the job easy. You can set valve lash many different ways. Using this tool, two full revolutions of the crank and all 16 valves are adjusted. Just speeds up the process and you know that your adjusting the correct valve at the correct time. Cliff Ramsdell
spend time cleaning out block!!! I spend about 20-30 hrs with 1/4 SS Rod sharpened and run it in every water hole in block get all the shit out of there it will run cooler...........
Swiped this from Bob Drakes website. This ones lets you turn the cam with the tool. Mine just shows you which one to adjust, turn the motor over with the crank bolt. Cliff Ramsdell After-market Valve Adjustment Tool Features raised markings; LEE CAM LOBE INDICATOR - Lee Tool Mfg Co - L.A. Cal - PAT APP FOR. Cast aluminum housing with steel hex shaft. Mounts in place of distributor allowing correct positioning of valves for lifter adjustment. Cap on unit is rotated using a wrench while the marked cam positions are read from the side of cap. Works on solid or adjustable lifters. Circa 1950s.
My '27 Ford T sedan pictured currently has a 383 SBC in it. I have decided to pull out this motor and replace it with a flat head. This sedan sees very limited street use, as I have two other long distance drivers. But this will be my 1st Ford in a Ford! A flathead is what should have originally gone in, but for a lot reasons at the time, I went with a Chevy small block. Here is the bored & stroked 276 cu. in. flathead I will be using.. It was built by a local flathead expert. I will post more pics showing the transformation.
Good ideas, but then get this one and a home equity loan and apply it. You will end up with something like this. Slow is a decision we actually have control over.
"just get the valve opened to maximum lift, and then rotate the crankshaft exactly one turn. The lifter for that valve is now on the heel of the cam." JWL
I have done a few of Henry's finest, so here are a few things I have learned.... 1: $4K is a good starting point..... just saying, don't be surprised if that number doubles. 2: Use good quality head studs - not bolts - (ARP, etc) and healthy amounts of thread sealant on the block side. Coolant will seep around the threads and wick up and stain your pretty aluminum heads otherwise. 3: Use adjustable lifters. Don't cheap out on used or non-adjustable lifters. 4: Pay attention to the oiling system, especially if you are building an earlier motor. Add a filter. Good Luck and Have Fun!
Beware of people who tell you rebuilding a flathead requires a sorcerer, a blacksmith, and a wizard. Boring a block to fit your pistons and establishing valveseats is the same damn thing on a flathead as on a Camaro except for 2 things which are easily comprehended (by you, if you can read) and then passed on to a machinist who is competent but has never seen a flathead before. YOUR job is to figure out the valves and guides, which should take you 5 minutes, and figuring the bearing fitting if you use the good '32-48 system and don't just chicken out and use '49 parts. Ron Holleran's book covers that. It'll cost you, here...you'll need to purchase a chunk of 2x4 and a mallet. or perhaps a rock. Once you figure that out and show these things to a disbelieving 30 your old machinist, he should be able to do the job. Yes, it would be nice to find one who has done 100 flatheads and is too old to see the numbers on his micrometer, but it is not necessary and the guy who rebuilds tractors in Resume Speed Montana can do the job, or by now the farmers would have killed him. As with anything, careful attention to cleaning and clearances are what you want in a machinist. Remember good old Tom Joad...he got your flathead through the depression and World War Two with an adjusrable wrench and $12.00.
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