Technical V8-60 Rebuild

What is my best resource to begin the process of tearing down and rebuilding this V8-60? According to my dad it ran great in 1960 (!) when he took the Model A apart. Is there a good book or other literature out there? I have never attempted anything like this before—so I need help with even the basics. Thanks for the help.


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A lot of V8 60's were used in midgets and there are still people out there playing with them. My avatar was V8 60 powered but I built it in the early 90's and sold it years ago. You could look at the Early Ford V8 club site and contact H&H flatheads, I have a 8BA H&H flathead in my 30 coupe and I'm impressed with their engines.

 

As a starter you might get Vern Tardel and Mike Bishop's book "How to rebuild and modify Ford Flathead V-8 Engines". It's very comprehensive. Tardel has other titles too. Good luck. Ned

 

There are some V8-60 guys on early V8 forum Ford Barn.

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John

 

V8 60s were used in boats back in the day as well.

 

Would look great with some vintage speed equipment!

 

I have owned a number of V8-60 engines. Had a couple in model long ago. Do you know what year block you have ? I ask, cause some are better to have and to build than others. That’s important, IMO.
This engine can look good when ‘dressed up’ with speed parts. Down side is that such speed equipment is pricy ! If you’ve not run one, dont expect much, and you will not be disappointed. That is to say that they only have about 136 cu in.
Good thing is, that engine is a high revver. I liked that, and their sound at high rpm.
A guy I know, with deeep pockets, sank nearly 20K into making a pretty V8-60.... whew !!

 

Pull the oil pan, intake and heads. Get a good look at the internals.
Look for cracks in the block decks.
They're not hard to tear down if you want to go all of the way with it.
Get the block cleaned and magnafluxed.
Go from there.
If you want to build it yourself, get Vern Tardel's book.
Go to the Ford Barn and look for Vern and Ol' Ron there.

 

Maybe I'm just cheap, but why not see if you can get it started? Or at least do a compression check, see what you've got to work with. Personally, I'd take the spark plugs out and pour some Marvel Mystery Oil, WD40, or whatever in there, make sure it has clean oil in the pan, and see if you can get it to spin with the plugs still out. Some of the valves might be stuck, so don't be stingy with the oil, and maybe let it sit for a day or two before you crank it over. Then you can check compression in each cylinder. If the valves are still stuck, you'll have to take the heads off. You can kind of see them through the spark plug holes, but it's a bad idea to try to free them though those holes, too much of a risk of bending them. If they are free and the compression is good, take the carb apart. There are some good tutorials on that you can search up. Same with the distributor. Get a coil, condenser, and battery (probably still 6v?) and see if you can get it to start. It'll smoke like hell at first while it burns all of that oil out, but you won't want to run it long at all without a radiator, anyway. Especially if it's a tin-side, I hear they really don't like to overheat. I ran water through mine with a hose when I was doing all of this. Of course, I found out that I needed a rebuild, so take all this advice with a grain of salt. Hahaha. Good luck and keep us posted, whatever you decide to do. Here's the thread of me fooling around with mine, for what it's worth:
Technical - Flathead 60 Diagnosis | The H.A.M.B.