Got a 1950 Lincoln with the big boy 337 flattie. Been driving it for about 4 years now, drove from pittsburgh to Indianapolis and back and all over everywhere else. Drives wonderful. however, there is a damned annoying tick-tick-tick-tick when it's running, like a lifter tick. i've tried the thicker oil trick to pump it up, tried the diesel/ kerosene/ marvel mystery thing to free it but still nothing. Anyone got an idea?
When the car is at idle, take a long screw driver and touch the blade on the engine, then put your ear at the other end. you will hear better what is happening in the engine. if it is an exhaust leak the sound should be the same, but if it is a lifter then the sound will be much clearer to you. move the blade of the screw driver around the engine until you can pinpoint the noise. i hope you understand what i mean in my description good luck Monaroau
haha, yeah sure. it had like 58,000 miles on it(probably 158, but who's counting), was fully painted (kind of a crappy green, but not bad none the less). had wide whites, original 50s seat covers. Nice car! It had a small hole in the gas tank so the filter kept getting clogged with rust leading the owner to believe it didn't run) So, i paid him kindly for it, cleaned out the tank and started it up as soon as i got home! haha
Ace- I ran the 337 flattie in my 49 Cosmo for years. I finally pulled it not because the motor died, but because the overdrive stopped working on the trans! I too had the ticking from time to time- I bet it's a bad lifter. They are hydraulic on that motor, btw. good luck, jay
Monaroau- yeah i know what you mean exactly. My old man taught me that when i was a kid! i loved to do that when i was little to hear everything working. Good trick to know! I did try that on this and to be honest, me or my dad can't figure out for the life of us where the hell it's coming from, let alone which side it's coming from. figure i'll drive it til it dies and finally have to rebuild it...but i don't see that happening for a while, this thing's a tank
Jay, that's a killer Cosmo! the tranny slips in mine too, between 1st and 2nd...but i've figured a way around it so i'm just biding my time until it goes bye-bye unfortunately...an old neighbor of mine who is going to be 90 in august has a cosmo sitting up to the frame in the ground. has the 337, and a 3spd....damn do i want the 3 spd!!!!! but he's the kind of guy who holds on to everything. he's got 2 stude. trucks, internationls, a beautiful 53/4 olds with a tree fallen over it...heartbreaking!
Yeah, mine is an early 49, so it had the 3 speed w/ OD. Thats what went out- the solenoid for the OD. When it worked, it was like I had a 5 speed manual trans (OD worked in 2nd and 3rd). The Flattie would cruise at 75 all day long.
For all the 337 fans out there, this came across the YBlocksforever site the other day...it might be good and it might not: The 337 CID Ford flathead engine was used in 1949-51 Lincolns and 1948-51 F-7 and F-8 heavy trucks. 4-14-05, I created a new forum devoted exclusively to the 337. This is the only forum I know of just for the 337. To access it go to http://network54.com/Index/38535 This thread was posted with the permission of the administrator.
Deyomatic--thanks for the site man! Also, if anyone has a 3spd. for the lincoln and they are willing to part with it, i just might be interested!
I too have a flathead 337 in a 1950 Lincoln sport sedan. I just got it running and it was ticking i reved the engine hard and the ticking stopped I believe it's the lifters or valves but im not real sure, I'm also missing on two cylinders, It's my first flathead and its giving me hell..
sounds like a lifter. long shot, but try running marvel mystery oil in your gas tank and pouring a little down the throat of your carb (while running with good idle to not die). the smoke that comes outta the tail pipes will kill all the mosquitos for miles.......and you might just get lucky!
If the little ball check valve stops holding the oil in the lifter body, it will tick. As mentioned earlier, using some additive like marvel mystery oil it might soften some old crud in the ball check and get it to seal up again. You just never know till you try it. If the lifter body bore clearance is too great from wear & tear, your just out of luck.
Those motors were used in the big trucks and might have solid lifters if you cant find new hydraulic lifters.
Good to see a five year old thread still alive. We are talking about a 60 year old engine, so 5 years isn't too long to get info. Right? I wonder how many speed parts are left for these engines? I used to see them floating around, but none in years. Most of the big speed companies built parts for them in the '50's, but that died out pretty quick when people realized they weighed about 850lbs. Anybody have pictures of them with speed parts? Kevin
The first mechanic I worked for in 1962 helped me do a valve job on my '47 Merc pick-up. It also had a ticking (very light knocking sound) coming from the front of the engine. He assured me that it was nothing to be concerned about, that high mileage flatheads wear out the front camshaft bearing causing the noise I was hearing. As the RPM was increased, the noise became less noticeable. That flattie ran fine and would run 55mph all day long. I hear the same noise on Model A engines that have excessive clearance on the front camshaft journal. (Ask your expert Model A engine rebuilder) Just sayin'
you guys really need to stop giving up on the 337 there is parts for it they even have adapter plates to put a chevy trans on the 337. like i said there IS alot of parts for the 337 flathead. it makes me sad to see them get thrown away for some OHV engine. i made a thread about me putting a blower on the 337, 30 over pistons, msd ignition, camshaft, maybe efi, goal is 300hp
if you have problems finding waterpumps for the 337, there is someone in az that can rebuild them. his phone is 623-205-4482 hope this helps
kanter says they have rebuild kits for the water pumps. if not i know i can use a ford water pump rebuil kit and trim down the bearing shafts. can i use a harmonic ballancer from a different engine? that way i can have different pulleys and put a blower pulley on it.
that is the original it talks about the lincoln v12. anyhow that doesnt answer my question from above..
Don't know about these motors never worked on any, but the regular Ford Flatheads would do a ticking sound if you had done a valve job and ground one of the tips of the valves too short. It would run good just very anoying. Michael
I didn't "throw it away". I sold it to someone that needed it for a resto. I would have liked to have done what you plan to. i personally don't care for MSD or EFI. Stock 429 cadillac is rated at 340 horse with 480ft./lbs torque. I bored mine .030 over, and am running a hotter cam, and larger carb. I'm above the 340 horse mark with minor modifications. Stock lincoln is 152 horse, and 256 ft/lb torque. I wish you luck with your 337 build. I do look forward to seeing it done. I know it can be. personally, I just got tired of dealing with my slipping tranny and underpowered/overweight mill. if i was going to have to spend money rebuilding the 337, i saw it better for me to spend money rebuilding something with more horse/torque/cubes (not to mention less weight) right from the start. We've built many flatheads, we love them. Just not particularly this one... by the way, you could also start a new thread about your 337 balancer question. It would stop bringing up my 5 year old post that has no relevence anymore . Have you done a search for all the 337 threads? some might help you out.
I sold my 337 to a guy for a model A build. My caddy 500 was a far better and more practical engine for my purposes.
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