Well the "Rebuilt Flathead " is junk good oil pressure 10# idle 40# at1800 rpm Comp 110# on all but #1-2 pulled the head and found the ring had busted and the block will need to be sleeved on 2 holes shame to others had no rigid and miked for st bore (3.189- 3.190) so my choices are (what I have rebuilt and setting in the shop): #1- 500 Cadillac with turbo 400 #2- 390 Ford FE with C6 #3- 350 Chevy with 700r4 The Cadillac looks to be the easiest it has a center sump about the same as the Flathead. The 390 has a frount sump The 350 has a rear sump could modify the oil pan to fit who has swapped any of these in and how much trouble did you have? or any other motor suggestions that are easery
Well went with the Cadillac easy install made frount mounts out of 2.5x2.5x3" tubing and a set of biscuit mounts still have the rear mount to do but it looks simple to fit was real easy like it was made for the old ford
Looks like that Caddy was made for that Ford. Should be plenty power too. What happens to the flathead now?
2 cly had piston ring failure and ruined the walls shame the block would have went back standard bore. I plan to rebuild it in the future for what I don't know yet but other then the 2 cly every thing else looked good did not see any cracks and the 3sp overdrive trans is good just need to either bore it out or sleeve it back standard and replace all pistons
I'm about to start a build on a 53 victoria, thanks for your thread. The Cadillac looks like the way to go..
I was just gonna say, put in the cadillac!! Are you a member of the 52-56 ford car group?? your should if you arent.
53 vicky yes I am a member of the 52-62 ford group Dale Fairfax I would due to there age of the pistons and not knowing which failed first the ring land or the rings The jamco A-arm went on nice.( have to give it to the very easy install just louse customer service). I went with 70 Thunderbird spindles instead of the Granada or mustang that is suggested just to get a little more rotor (12") only problem is you need the ball joint adapter from stevesmustang.com to make it work. and used a set of Arowstare springs to drop it and save some money. Sure wish Jamco would get me the boaster kit I have been waiting on for a moth so I can see if I will need to drop the motor down more for clearance car will have 4 wheel disc brakes to make sure it will stop all drilled and slotted with ceramic pads The rear end is Built used 57 ford 9" put 350 gears in it on a Curry limited slip spool and 2004 rear disc brakes from a Crown Vic Interceptor the kit I got of Ebay made it easy to Had the bearing spacer and rotor spacer and nuts for $58. Rear hangs from 70 Chrysler springs 250# rate with custom frount mount and dirt car slider at the rear instead of shackles
Howdy mastergun1980 thanks for storing the other car hopefully I will come and get it soon here is the rear set up with the stock rear end now 9"
lowering blocks are adjustable frount to rear them and bolts come from speedway motors i cant build cars with out speedway
Where are the "dirt car slider's" from and how do they work? they look like they would lower the car nicely!! I have some Jamco lowered and stuffened springs, would these work with them? Also can I see a pic of the custom front mounts? Thnak you for any help in advance. Blake
If you are talking brake booster (post #13) and Jamco hasn't hooked you up yet you may want to check this out http://www.fordfalcon2000.com/restoration/powerbrakes.htm this also works on older Fords that had a single master and want to upgrade,it sure is budget friendly.
the sliders are also from speedway they offer 2 types the ones i use are on roller bearing (910-43306 $39 each)the cheaper ones(910-43302) use a plastic slider basic the leaf spring is suspended by the roller bearing on the out side of the bracket and rolls back and forth a long the slot on a regular set up the rear hanger hangs down and pivots back and forth I used a set of chry springs also from speedway
I did not realize how great the Caddy was untill I had one.It had a lot of miles ,but it ran great in 2 different Ford trucks for almost 10 years.Got rid of it because I had never used a 440 tq flite in anything ,will have results of that move this summer. I cannot picture a 53 front end,might be a good idea to clip it.That is a lot of work but if done right it is well worth it. Just mho.
well with the astro spring and no blocks in the rear it set level 6.5 inches off ground so will pull out a shim that was under the springs in the frount and it should come down another inch
This a photo of my old 49 coupe...chassis is same as a 53 I believe. I used a sbc in it with a 350 turbo, flipped the uprights and used 4 inch blocks in the rear. My floor was bad so I built a new tranny/driveshaft hump to accomodate the raised engine...raised to clear the tierod. With the lowering job I still had to heat/bend the steering arms down a bit to clear everything by about 5/8ths inch. I finished-boxed the retangular tube motormount spacers after this photo was taken.
some progress is made RUST be GONE now you see it now you don't wound up leading the entire drip rail after sand blasting the in side and out when done with the lead work I sprayed rust converter paint in side the pore 15 on in side should stay away
<TABLE id=post8736281 class=tborder cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD id=td_post_8736281 class=alt1 style="BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid">Customer really slow down progress but have to make money to. Spent a few hr here and there this week and got the trans done. Built to handle 700 Hp Hope it will tame the Cadillac All that left is the 4th gear pressure switch and tcc solenoid Also got the pass door hung and aligned LETS SEE 500 Cadillac and power steering and you want exhaust too offley tight fight getting the pipes above the steering linkage and through the frame hole but 1 side down wound up with 4-2-1 header March 17 2013 Hear is the progress so fare EFI, MSD, and the eng wiring (Trying to keep the wiring clean in not easy with 3 different systems). Power steering box and AC Compressor bracket done. I did not want to hide the EZ-EFI, MDS since these are all thing I do at the shop and this and the 69 ford truck are used at shows to sell work so the more thy stick out the better Running the exhaust system in such a way that it is above the frame was a challenge also. But this fall I plan to bag it to lay frame so the extra work now will make that easer Heat shields and header rap should help keep the inside cooler <!-- / sig --> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 1px solid"></TD><TD class=alt1 style="BORDER-TOP: #e5e5e5 0px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e5e5e5 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #e5e5e5 0px solid" align=right><!-- controls --> <!-- / controls --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- post 8736281 popup menu -->
here some shots of the front sheet metal what a pain to line up the doors, fenders and hood where using part from several cars Well learn something new the 368-500 Cadillac flywheels are drilled for the large patter torq converter. I knew GM has 2 patterns but just never thought about it So the 2004r converter wont bolt up holes off about 3/8" and where you need to drill the fly wheel there a seam (lip) so that's out. Did find a SFI flywheel for $189 with the duel pattern so here goes more money and time. something I never noticed guise it my fault for wanting to get gas mileage So if you plan to run a 2004r, 200, 350, 700r4 its some thing to look for most are small pattern converters I did get to here it run sounded great May 12 2013 It run sounds great running a little hot 210 after 1 hour sitting in shop will have to try 16" puller fan the 10" helped so figure not getting enough air flow at idle with the fan clutch but for now its in the paint room for final sanding , sanding sealer then paint carpet came in and head liner is here
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