Technical Flathead ford newbie...valve guide question.

So I've lurked around here for years but rarely post, as most (well...all...) my projects are not HAMB friendly - GTO's, T/A's, Chevelle's and so on. Built lots of later engines but never a flathead Ford. Yesterday this found it's way into to my garage. Full disclosure, it's not mine - it belongs to Bob, who is a close friends' dad. It's a 1951 F1 with what is supposed to be it's original flathead.

A bunch of the valves are stuck in the guides, which I understand is not uncommon for a flathead that has sat unused for a long time. I started pulling out the valvetrain & found mis-matched valve guides. Of the 6 I've pulled so far 2 have guides with a large groove around the outside - the others are smooth. I know the motor has been gone thru before, there was fresh paint & MLS type head gaskets. Plus the engine is really clean inside, and the valve/guide assemblies are easy to remove (I understand I'm lucky there).

I assume some of the guides were replaced when the engine was apart - My question is do I need to be concerned about mixing & matching the different types of guides? My plan is to pull them all, disassemble/clean/re-lube, then reassemble & see if we can get this bomb lit.

 

The ones with the large groove are intake guides, they should have a rubber seal that sits in the groove.

 

What he said.

 

All of the new replacement valve guides have the groove, and can be used interchangeably for the intake or exhaust side. Use the o ring seal on the guides that go on the intake side. The o ring seal is not necessary for the exhaust side locations.

 

Awesome, thanks.

The valves are lying there in order - Cylinders 1, 3, & 5. There is no groove on the #1 intake valve. I assume when I finish taking out the valvetrain I might find the correct guide in a different location. If not, how critical is is to have the O ring seal? I assume it's there to keep oil from being sucked in around the guide on the intake stroke? The guides fit the valves very well so we planned on re-using after a good cleaning.

 

An old master (Bruce Lancaster) once said to not even worry about the seal on the intakes. After a year of driving the space around the guide is so gunked up that they seal themselves. Anyone who's tried removing guides from a flathead will agree.

 

I have found that some of the reproduction guides have inconsistent depths on those grooves, so the "O" rings would not go in far enough to allow the guides to be pulled in with out shearing off the "O" ring.
When you buy a full set of new guides, they all have the groove in them. You only need the seals on the intakes, so I was able to sort through them and only use the ones that were deep enough.

 

Flatheads are passenger side 1 2 3 4 , drivers side 5 6 7 8, just so you know.

 

Thanks for the all the replies, it's a big help. Good thing Slopok set me straight on the cylinder numbering, I'd have been cursing when I couldn't figure out the timing or firing order....

I picked up new head gaskets, intake gasket and a few valve springs. Some of the existing springs look like the wire was nicked & new springs were cheap. Also bought the seals for the intake valve guides. They were only about 4$ for the set, so why not....If I don't use them I won't feel guilty. Actually I'm surprised at how inexpensive all the parts were. I wish my Pontiac stuff was this cheap!