Hot Rods JUST HOW RELIABLE IS A FLATHEAD TODAY

I'd also add this anecdote that is somewhat relevant to this discussion.

Years ago, there was a local guy that had a fiberglass deuce with a flathead and T5. The car had a very, ummm, "unique" paint job, shall I say. A base white with teal fade on the bottom and yellow on the top with a desert theme. Coyotes, cacti...stuff like that. You couldn't miss the car if you saw it, and there was no confusing it with any others. He had a load of more modern stuff on the car, modern carbs, MSD ignition, electric fan, and even a very unique but new set of dual plug heads.

Everywhere I would go in the state of NJ, I'd see this guy. If I was up in Sussex County, NJ (the VERY top of the state), I'd see this dude driving around. On my way to work some days? There it was. Down the shore with friends? There is was.... It used to mess with my head how much I saw this car, and in all random spots allllllllll over the entire state. I think his flathead was pretty damn reliable.

 

I say who cares how fast ya go. I have a lot of fun in my flathead powered cars. Both are low geared or bias ply tired so 60 mph is top speed. I sill have a blast and people that see the motors really dig them.

 

Brenda & I have decided to sell our old Shasta camper and that will open up more possibilities as to what the next project will be, HRP

 

Love my flat motor powered 31 coupe. I did put an S-10 5 speed in it to make it a little easier on the rpm's. Tried it with a top loader 3 speed but the 3:78 gears had me gearbound so bad that I was real limited as to where I could go and not be in everyone's way. Engine has Offy heads, 400jr cam, two deuces, and Bubba's Chevy ignition. Runs great, doesn't overheat and has pretty good power. I wouldn"t hesitate to build another one. Nothing looks or sounds better than a flathead in my opinion.

 

Built right with quality parts and maintained right a flathead should be pretty reliable.
When us older guys had flathead engine problems when we were kids it normally was because we bought the car for less than Billy pays for a bottle of single Malt and we beat the crap out of a worn out and often neglected before we bought it car. That car that old man Jones drove for 25 years that your dad thought was so fantastic because it had never been driven out of town and was only driven to the store, church and the barber shop. The thing also had two inches of sludge in the pan and the oil hadn't been change in two years because he hadn't put a thousand miles on it in that time. First run out on the highway after a fresh oil change and lube job and you blew the rods out because the oil pump sucked up a bunch of sludge after the engine actually warmed up
Normal flathead issues on the Hamb that have caused stalled cars. Ignition failure. Carbs not working right. generator burns up on the first road trip. Not one is actually a flathead issuem it's a someone didn't do something from the get go issue.

 

HRP - I can’t believe that you are questioning Henry’s finest…………

( just go for it and buy it )

 

my 52 truck would get ya there, not fast or particularly reliable, and you always felt like even though you were keeping up with traffic that there wasn't much left. This was in the 70's, without as many boneheads running up yer ass with their heads up theirs.

 

Running one in my roadster ten years! No issues and it's a 1933 21 stud!

 

Cool!
You need my 40 coupe project! All set up for flathead.

 

Bill, I'm willing to bet you know where there is a nice 40 Ford project and it's for sale. HRP

 

HRP, 8BA, 4 inch crank & 8cm cam [if you can find 1] with Borg Warner o/d will run all day at 65 mph. with 4:11 gears. A good block is the big concern, cracks..... A Charile NY original type carb & you can use the stock dizzy. .02 cents or nonsense.......

 

To ease your concern, this is from Wikipedia and tells of the time when there were no speed limits on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Your flathead should fit right in here.

" The turnpike had no enforced speed limit when it opened except for the tunnels, which had a 35-mile-per-hour (55 km/h) speed limit. Some drivers traveled as fast as 90 mph (145 km/h) on the road.[156] In 1941, speed limits of 70 mph (115 km/h) for cars and 50–65 mph (80–105 km/h) for trucks were enacted.[187] During World War II, the turnpike adopted the national speed limit of 35 mph (55 km/h);[2] after the war, the limit returned to 70 mph (115 km/h).[223]

In 1953, the speed limit on the portion of the highway between the Ohio border and Breezewood was lowered to 60 mph (95 km/h) to reduce the number of accidents, but returned to 70 mph (115 km/h) when the measure proved ineffective.[224][225] The limit on the turnpike was reduced to 65 mph (105 km/h) in 1956 for cars, buses and motorcycles, with other vehicles limited to 50 mph (80 km/h).[172] A minimum speed of 35 mph (55 km/h) was established in 1959;[226] it was raised to 40 mph (65 km/h) in 1965.[227] "

 

Depends on chasing lots of lines!-----Especially at higher freeway cruising. Not to mention trying to get parts if you break down in the "Boonies". You can read my experiences cruising cross country with Bud Bryan & his flat motor in 1972.

 

Lots of fun tho!

 

I like a 3.25:1 gear (Ford makes a 3.26 in stock gears). It would be a good tradeoff in your '40. That extra quarter turn makes all the difference in the world.

 

Flatheads will barely last a season in a vintage circle track car turning 6500 without rebuilding. How can you expect them to last a 1000 miles on the road?

 

how can you expect them to turn 6500. LOL I would be getting my tach calibrated.

Got to love a 21 stud. I had one in an old beat up sedan once and dearly loved that motor. it was like a timex man.

 

Tsk, tsk.

 

Pete knows Flatheads, if he says "A rooster dips snuff", look under his wing, you will find his box !

 

I bet he even knows why the rooster really crossed the road!

 

Go for it.

 

It’ll be just as reliable when new if not more so.

If you build it with quality parts , do a quality rebuild and don’t go nuts trying to squeeze every last HP out of it it should be just fine .sticking a 5 speed or over drive behind it with some decent gears in your rear will make it much happier on highway cruses


I have never had a Ford flat head but I’ve run a bunch of older engines and flat head 6’s and if they are maintained and serviced ive never been scared to drive my old junk over all of hells half acre !

 

If you don't have to pull to many mountain passes you will be fine. After finally getting my valves ground correctly mine has been very reliable. With the 5 speed and 3.50 rear end mine will cruise at 70 at 2000 RPM. Still heat sensitive though. I didn't go crazy trying to create horsepower. I wanted the engine to live and run cool. I have two other 39's that do or will run SBC's and have had the joy of driving a 40 sedan with SBF this summer( love that horse power). I like the small block power but I also get a kick out of cruising with all the newer cars with my 80 plus year old piece of flathead iron.

So to answer your is a flathead reliable? I think so ,if you build it right. Is it practical? maybe not... Is it fun? yes.

 

My 40 has a flathead Offy heads and 2 97,s Reed reground cam and put a Mitchell OD in it and it runs fine

 

Still driving the 59AB that my Dad rebuilt back in the 60's. Fires up every time, uses no oil, doesn't get hot and plenty of power for what I use it for. Last road trip was a good 300 mines in 90 degree weather. Ran like a top.

 

You’re right, I’ve been looking for one. Probably better off to just buy a new r&p and start from scratch.

 

No stock rebuilt flathead, no matter how skillfully rebuilt, will turn anything even close to 6500 RPM. Therefore, he has to be talking about an engine built for a specific purpose where longevity is sacrificed for performance. It's an "apples to oranges" comparison. It's like saying that one shouldn't buy a new RAM 1500 pickup with a hemi, because those engines need to be completely rebuilt after one trip down the dragstrip in a top fueler.

 

Is she looking at a flathead and yawning or saying "Oh My God".

 

I think she was excited