So my newly acquired 50 shoebox hasn't run in 2 years. The flathead doesn't turn over. I pulled the carb and plugs. Put ATF/Tri-Flow mixture down the intake and in the cylinders. I put a braker bar to the crank bolt and all that did was tighten the bolt more. I put a battery to her and push the starter button a few time as well with no luck. I have read where I should at least pull the intake to look for stuck valves. I'll probably play it safe an pull the heads as well. If I sill cant free it up, I'm believe I'm looking at a rebuild. My question is..... as i have never rebuilt a flathead, what is the going rate/cost to rebuild one? If its too much, I have a 289/C4 combo I can throw into it. Thanks
well, you asked the 65 dollar question. it is hard to say what it would cost to rebuild. last one i rebuilt cost around $750.00 but me and a friend did all the work. it depends on what parts you need and how much you can do yourself. if you give it to a shop and say here, please rebuild my motor it could cost 2,000 to 5,000 depending on all kinds of things. try to get it unstuck first, there are several good threads here on the HAMB that go into that in detail and also on fordbarn. don't be bashful about asking questions or asking for help, most flathead guys (and gals) are more than willing to help out. good luck, try to get it running.
Old timers used to put the car on a trailer chain it down a little loose, put it in gear and let the thing break loose by rolling back and forth.
The night started off good. I got my hood hanging from the rafters all by myself. But after that, things took a turn. I was looking down the spark plug holes today with my flashlight and got a bright reflection. I figured that could not be good. So I pulled the intake and heads. Yea.... not looking good. Two cylinders had ice blocks almost the size of a pop can. Plus the lifters look funny to me. Do flatheads have hydrolic lifters? Quite a few are down and the valves are not touching. Even some of the stuck open valves are not touching lifters. Time to make a tough decision.
my 49 merc 8cm looked like that, at least the cylinders did, not the intake runners. but it turned out ok, and is ready to go in my 51 F1 as soon as the truck is ready! local friendly flathead rebuilder here in Salt Lake says "basic stock rebuild with no core is $2500" and he's been shipping all over the states. cheers Josh
My flattie cost me in the vicinity of $4K, but I did have a fair few goodies added. Cost all depends on what you want the engine to do afterwards.
So I broke the crank pulley trying to get it to turn over. Long story short, its coming out. I have a freshly machined 289 and rebuilt C4 I'm going to put in it. The flathead, tranny with OD are in the classifieds if anyone is interested.