I know very little about flatheads, I've always avoided them in favor of their successors, but I'm wanting to throw one into a simple "spare parts" Model A I'm putting together. I can't seem to find a complete running engine for what I'd consider a decent deal. Rebuilt engines for sale seem overpriced, and it'd almost be more cost effective to buy a complete car with a decent flathead, yank the motor and sell the roller to offset the cost. I've found several engines that definitely need to be taken apart and rebuilt, but at what cost? On the low end, a basic stock rebuild for a flathead v8 (assuming no major machine work required other than typical reconditioning), plus necessary parts (rings, bearings, gaskets, guides, hardware, etc.) should ballpark around what amount?
Machine work should be pretty much the same cost as a SBC, but parts are about five or ten times as much.
Had a short block rebuilt a few yrs ago. Was about CAN$2,800, but I also paid for all the parts separately (new pistons, rings, cam regrind, bearings, timing gear (alum), and lifters), except they sent the crank out for a regrind which was incl in the $2.7K. Overall, I think it cost me about CAN$4K - $5K, but I rebuilt the fuel pump, carb, dist, oil pump myself. Had the orig generator and starter rebuilt locally. When you start adding up all the bits and pcs, it is surprising what it totals. Things like gaskets, head bolts/studs, new bolts, sparkplugs, dist wires, engine paint, v-belt. Mine was a stk rebuild with orig heads, carb, and early Ford alum intake. No fancy speed equipment. Wouldn’t sell it for less than CAN$10K.
Seems that all of the 50's v-8 are crazy expensive to rebuild. OK, maybe not the sbc but all of the old designs just don't have huge parts supplies anymore.; small parts runs are expensive. And qualified machine shops for a particular brand/model? My long time machinist and 40year friend died a couple years ago and the new owner is a shiverlay nut....don't get started on the number of shops that have closed in the last 10 years.
Thats a tough call, putting a price on a 75 year old engine rebuild. Your only solution is to just buy mine Except for the fact I cant even figure out a price for it. I had a flathead V8 in high school, so I always wanted another. This engine came up local and I bought it just to keep it out of the scrap pile. I have no use for it. I tore it apart just to see how bad it was, what it would take to fix it up again. This is what I found .... She is a dirty girl, no doubt it was running and hitting on all 8 cylinders when parked. Has stock pistons and zero ridge on the cylinders. Light surface rust that cleaned up perfectly and then oiled down again. Here is a rod bearing from it. The crank looks just as good along with the timing chain/gears, clutch & pressure plate. 8BA came from a 1951 Ford 1/2 ton with a 4 speed trans, 11" clutch. The bad is mice got into the valley and pissed on the lifters. .... Has I think 3 lifters that are going to take heat to get unfroze. I put oil on top of them, the oil drained on all but 3. Sure would be a shame if I had to install a JR400 cam and adjustable lifters Did I mention the new flowtech headers? I'm just convinced that this will make a nice engine for someone and I'm not that someone. I have a Dodge flathead 6, far superior to the Ford V8 It will take hours in the garage to remove the lifters, no idea how long it will take to properly clean it up. For assembly I would re-use the bearings, timing chain & gears, uncertain about the rings. Have to get the lifters out and decide what to do there ..... Is the cam damaged also? It would be from mouse pee if it was. I'm gambling the bearings will be fine. ..... If I wanted to rebuild a Flatty this is the one I would want to start with. Grandpa was a Farmer in West Texas, this was his personal truck that was parked in a West Texas barn for 50-60 years. ..... fuel pump was removed and missing. I thought it was rebuilt and then parked. On the crank counter weight it is stamped 10/10 so it has been turned. Then I learned that machine shops stamp the bearing caps not the crank. During manufacturing process, if the new crank needs to be cleaned up, then they stamp the crank .... for assembly purposes. So I now have no idea if the engine was once rebuilt or just a original low mile engine. To bad it is on the other side of Texas .... almost equivalent to the other side of the world .... DM me if you interested in it.
What's so special about machining a flathead over any other conventional engine? I'll speak with the machinist I've used in the past, he's been at it for a long time but mostly does max effort race engines.
Haha! I just dropped off another flathead last week at a local machine shop. Luckily for me, the machinist that worked on my first flathead now works there. During the unloading off my pickup, the owner and son had no clue on how to store it on the floor. Probably have never worked on one. It still had the main cap studs sticking out - I had made a skid to keep the pan surface up about 3” so the studs wouldn’t catch on anything. Machinist told him to lay it on the floor with front of the block down. Lol! Starts with $hit as simple as that.
Getting good flathead blocks is getting to be a real problem. They are notorious for cracking, mostly around the valve seats and one particular bolt hole. The first thing you should do before you invest a lot of money in this engine is clean around the valve heads until it's shiny clean, then look for cracks around the valve heads. Usually fixable but permanence is often questionable. You need to see which engine you really have. There are two versions of these used from '39 to '42 and as replacement engines. The 221 cubic inch engine has a 3 1/16" bore, plus any amount of overbore and has replaceable sleeves. 2" dia. rod throws. Some parts for these are really hard to find. The 239 cubic inch engine has a 3 3/16 bore and larger rod journals. Mains are the same for either. The 239 is what I think you have. In any event, a good flathead engine in a Model A makes a snappy performer. Look in the classified section here to see what rebuilt short blocks are going for. If you decide to fix it yourself, make sure your work space and the engine is clean. Very important. A manual covering this operation is readily available from parts vendors and is a very good investment. Good luck and keep smiling.
2 pals of mine had flatheads rebuilt locally fairly recently, one was $8500.00 and one was $10,000. All new parts and crank machining on both.
If your looking to have a flathead built take a look at what Frames has for sale in the parts section. He has more than a couple and they seem about what it should cost to get the block done. Add your heads and intake as desired. In my opinion it is easier to just buy one already done, no waiting. But then I had a builder do mine who sort of stroked me along on delivery.
Mine wasn't a rebuild but a new build. The reputable builder furnished everything. Good 8BA block, Scat rotating assembly with Ross pistons, Isky cam, Stainless valves, Hollow adjustable s, New guides and other valve components, New Melling pump, Cam and crank gears, etc. I've probably forgotten something but when it was done with all the machine work, balancing, assembly the total was about $5500. I added new Offy heads and a new intake setup from Baxter Ford. So far it's got a little over an hour on the test stand and runs great
Might be a good time to mention that @IronTrap ’s website sells test run complete engines. The fire them up on the stand, make sure they don’t billow smoke, over heat after a certain amount or time or do anything else concerning before they list them. Might be better off finding a good runner for this sort of project. https://irontrapgarage.com/
@TexasHardcore I cant speak on price as Ive never messed with a flathead. However I can recommend Mike over at Republic Custom Engine here in N.TX. He is a hot rodder & has done great work for us. He's not afraid to mess with the "old engines" alot of guys dont want to touch. If you call early he'll usually answer the phone his self. Im sure he'd take a few minutes to give you a ballpark estimate. Im not on FB but they have a page. You might consider looking them up. Like all good machine shops he stays busy.
When I worked at machine shops, the block work was all priced pretty typically. The valve job was a big difference. It's easier to do a valve job on a pair of heads than a V8 block. It was usually the valve job, finding & fixing cracks and the expensive parts prices, that run up a flathead's rebuild cost. Mike
I'm running an 8BA flathead in my V8 A from H&H flatheads and it's been great. The workmanship on it is excellent and they specialize in flatheads. I bought it about 4 years ago and it was $4000 then, I would recommend them with the note they are sometimes hard to get a hold of.
You could check with a local chapter of the AACA or CCCA old car clubs, perhaps a member has something suitable for sale, or a shop recommendation, the days of finding a affordable good used flathead easily, for a swap disappeared 40 years ago .
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