Another true story.. in 1968 I had to drive from Washington DC. to Oxnard Ca. for Uncle Sam. I hop skotched with a flat tow rig consisting of a 65 Mustang and a 49 or 50 Ford Woody wagon on Rte 66. I'd see him in a gas station and watch him pass by when I got gas. What made it so unusual is that the 19 year old flathead was flat towing the 3 year old Mustang. I spun off the road in a snow storm and damned if he didn't pick me up and give me a ride into the next town. It was stock as a rock and had no problem pulling the Mustang. It was an odd sight even 40 years ago.
yeah flatheads aint reliable...thats why the french used em regularly until the erly 90s uh huh honestly,man i say theyre absulutely the most reliable engine ever ... right up there with your chevy small block as far as parts availability,stuff that matters Troy
keep those stories coming there are alot of people out there in need of some flathead education,from 1932 to 53 we were graced with this engine,right up until the 80s or early 90s with the french military blocks,we are literally swamped with custom parts and replaceable parts for this engine.Go to any hotrod or custom site and there they are ,flathead parts. i like tommys story,about pre 1955,thats so true. The small block has become the kragen engine...you can get the parts from any kragen store. that will never happen with the flattie,it will keep its rightful place as the original hot rod engine
Ive read that flatheads heat up because core sand from the casting process gets trapped in the water jackets. Before I had any maching done on my block I took 2 layers of 3/4 plywood and dropped the block from several inches (frontways ,sideways upsidedown,rightsideup) I was amazed how much sand and rust came out.Ive never had a heating problem. FLATHEADS FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a 1950 Ford 2 door coupe on E Bay for sale right now,this sweet little Ford was especially prepared for the Peking(China) to Paris,as in France,around the world race,it completed the race with a basically stock Flathead v8,there are some great pictures of this Ford going through the Gobi desert, crossing rivers, motoring through Russia,etc.go to E Bay Motors,look under Ford other cars ,the Ford Flathead v8 is an Icon,yes you could probably build 3 smallblock Chevy,s for what it costs to build a good Flathead,buy books ,learn about these engines,dont listen to the nay sayers,they dont know shit anyway,welcome to the club.
I treated my blocks like timmy T said and they run exceptionaly cool. I ran a 276 with 4bbl in my 40 and just recently changed out to another 276 but blown this time. I love those flattys. I just picked up a 24 T cpe and plan on a flathead for it also. Go for the flathead and share the fun. Fourdy
I run a blown flathead with a four barrel carb and have had zero problems the last 9000 miles. About 90 percent of the time when someone tells me they have overheating problems I look at their car and they're not running a radiator shroud. Or they haven't updated the waterpumps or set the timing right.If you set the engine up right you will have great luck.
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