so I just bought this short block from an old school car guy (75). it was built 25 years ago by a race shop in birmingham Al. it was never ran or completely assembled, heads are off and intake. it was stored wrapped in a climate controlled invironment. all new valves, springs, adj. lifters, pistons etc. orig crank dressed. decks machined.new rods weiand heads and fenton intake included but not installed. he says it has a 3/4 cam what is that? I've never heard that term. was this a good deal for $2600? if it is what he says of course.I pick it up saturday. no rust anywhere on it or even condensation rust on the machined area. is there anything I should do special with it prior to assembly beeing it was built 25 years ago? this will be my first flathaed. I am a SBC guy.I have an offy intake and heads and new carbs that I think I will use. any help or opinions are appreciated!!
A "3/4 race" cam was a generic term for what today would probably be referred to as a "torque" or "RV" cam. Better than stock, but still very streetable. If there are no identifyable markings on the cam, all you can do is put a degree wheel on the front to find out the duration. The lift can be measured with a caliper.
If you got Weiand heads and a Fenton intake, and you are gonna swap it for Offy stuff, let me be the first guy in line to buy the old heads and intake. You can re-coop some of your money that way.......
it turns over freely. no noticable marks on the cam but I will look closer once I get it home. vonxulu pm me an offer as i dont think i will use them...
I don't know about elsewhere, but around these parts that would be considered a steal. I just finished a very similarly equipped Flatty abut a year ago, and even with my own assembly labor I have double that invested. The only thing that would concern me would be the amount of decking done, flatty's have thin decks to start with, so there's not a lot of meat to spare, if it was just lightly cleaned up it won't be a problem.
supposedly this was a fresh pulled engine with 60,000 on it when it was sent to be built. was running the guy was just wanting to hop it up a bit. I found another in my searching a 49 v8 all rebuilt. I posted a thread titled " a good deal for someone" probably can get it for 2000..seem like nice folks and really need the cash... man I wish I was loaded down with cash... here is a link http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197316
ditching the wieands and fenton for offy parts...you've GOT to be kidding. As far as the cost/value goes - I'm waay above $5K on a similar motor. Hell, the machine work alone was about $1200...
so bad choice on the offy instead of the weiand and fenton? first flatty remember...why go with the weiand and fenton?
I'm glad you asked... Offy and eldelbrock parts are still in production; flattie freaks really flip for the out-of-production speedparts. A good set of used out-of production heads sell for more than new production units - and a Fenton intake is the shit. I spent $400 on a set of salvageable Weiand 'cheaters' (heads made by Weiand that 'look' like alloy Ford heads) simply beacuse I wanted to minimize the number of 'new' speedparts on my motor. I had to helicoil a couple of the sparkplug holes ($150 for the tool) so's I have $550 inna set of heads when I can buy new ones for $400. As for your manifold...you prolly have a couple of PM's by now from guys beggin' to buy it. It's worth more than a new Offy. The story that goes with the parts is cool - engine's worth more if its not a collection of repop speed equipment, IMHO.
thanks for the info!! I was under the impression offy was the old school way to go... I think I might reconsider. any other opinions on this? will there be a way to tell what exact heads these are?
damn!!! do you mind as I get to the assembly and ignition stage if I pm you a few questions? Im not a dumbass but when it comes to flatties I am.I have built a few sbc etc but NEVER even messed with a flattie till now..
Chuck- Who done your machining? I have a 49AB that will need sorting out and I need to have someone reputable do it. These old blocks don't just grow on trees. I'm just up Woodward from you.
I have spent $300 on reworking a set of old EDELBROCK square letter heads, thats after buying them. I could have easliy bought new ones for that 300. But thats me I don't want the new stuff, anyone can buy the new stuff. Put two motors side by side. One with all new speed gear and the other with old gear. They will run the same but the one with the old gear will put more money in you pocket later. Always better off with the old gear.
In general, I agree about old speed parts. I don't care for the Fenton intakes & would prefer something different (Fenton intakes are really a dime a dozen), and I tend to gravitate towards Edmunds simply because they leave the generator in place, but I do have an old Thickstun that'll find its way on the '40 soon... Many of the new products have QC issues too. And Edelbrock recently redesigned their combustion chamber & it's crap compared to the old chamber - they had one of the best performing, off-the-shelf heads & ruined it flow wise...both flow bench & dyno prove it too. Granted, it's not much and on a street flatty, you'll likely never know the difference, but...why? Some of the older & rarer stuff is older and rarer for a reason - it simply didn't work well. Again, on a street flatty, that probably amounts to the square root of fuck-all, but you can be "different" But if you like the Edelbrock & Offy stuff, use it!! The performance difference between most of these is minimal at best.
' I'll try as best I can to answer your questions - but there are many here waay smarter than I on this subject; Flat Ernie's one of them.
I used Victor over at Knights Auto in Union Lake. He's well known for his harley work and race motor work - and he's pretty reasonable. He's not a flattie guru (had to argue with him to bore the motor an eighth over, 'cuz he's not used to thick bores) but he's careful and thorough.
No way! There're loads of folks here a lot smarter than me & who've been doing it for a lot longer too... If you have questions, ask away though - you'll get some good answers here. Also check over on Fordbarn & MSN Flathead sites...
Never did understand the whole 3/4 thing, I kind of assumed it referred to 3/4 race ? Than again it could have been for the ultra rare V6 flathead ! Just one of those mysteries from days gone by, like if chicken fried steak is steak fried like fried chicken ! What the hell is chicken fried chicken ? Redundant!!!!! Nice find, good luck.