I have this flathead for my 34 pickup project. I bought it a good while back from a fellow hamber (B.A. King). He told me that the motor had been setting for a real long timein his shop. The time was about 10-12 years and Ive had it for 2 yrs. It had set even before he acquired it. My dad and I put some wiring on it and we put gas in the carb and it fired up. It seemed to run pretty decent. My question is should I go completely through this motor since it has set so long? If I dont will I regret it later? Should I take the oil pan off to check the pump screen for gunk? Maybe just new gaskets, ring, bearings without any machine work? I dont want a major headache later. I do have new water pumps for it no matter what. What do you experienced flathead guys recommend?
All depends on your feeling of confidence in the engine. Would you be confident in it 1500 miles from home, if the answer to that is no then pull it apart and see what you have inside it to make your level of confidence higher. At minium pull the intake and pan check the amount of sludge and check bearings all that costs is a gasket set.
I would AT LEAST pull the pan to check the screen om the oil pump. if there is a lot of stuff stuck to it, you might want to go farther, because then you will ask yourself "how long has that been there?" and "how much did they run it being that plugged up?" That's just my opinion though.
what Carl said. if compression is even between cylinders and 100lbs approx. ,proceed to pull pan clean sump and pan, check bearing clearances, replace bearings if needed. pull intake manifold and check valve adjustment. hope for adjustable liters. good luck...jack
I buy old grain trucks just for there engines, drag em home and start the engine (when possible) then yank them out. ....If the engine doesn't knock, doesn't smoke too bad and has at least 5 or 10 lbs oil pressure, It's a runner and I won't bother pulling anything apart other than possibly a new oil pan gasket and clean out as well as Pull the intake off to see how much gunk is in the lifter valley. Honestly, if the engine runs ok it is probably to your advantage to just clean it up (as above) and run it. Many times you may pull the heads off and find tiny cracks that just may be fine and are sealed ok as long as you don't pull the head/gaskets. It's when you pull the heads that things get costly in that the minor problems that the old girl ran with for years are now in your face and you feel impelled to fix them. When you take the heads off you are probably going to end up doing a full rebuild. Now that's not a bad thing but if she runs ok and there is at least 5 or 7 lbs oil pressure (no kidding) then I would just freshen the easy gaskets as you clean the intake and oil pan. On the other hand, if money is not an object and you have a pristine car/body then you might be more inclined to worry about the odd puff of blue (worn rings) Ultimately it's up to you but there is nothing saying that you can't run it as found cuz I have had many Flatheads that I ran for miles that came straight outta the bush or out of an old farm truck. jmho and good luck with your project. A few of a dozen out in the barn... moe
The oil on the dip stick is was black but didnt seem sludgy. The flathead didnt smoke except for the first start up. We cranked it several times and smoke never appeared. The motor did seem to have new points in it and the distributor is very clean. I will take the pan off and intake and check for sludge. I do have a set of offenhauser heads I was wanting to put on it. If I just tear it all down, clean it with the new rings and bearings, Will I have to have the crank polished or rods resized? Money is not unlimited but my main concern is dependability. This truck will be driven alot. Its a case of darned if you do darned if you dont. Im hoping for some of the moefuzz luck. If I remember correctly it had pretty good oil pressure. Been a while since cranked it but I believe it was about 20 lbs.
We all know the correct answer is take it all apart and rebuild what is worn beyond specs. A compression check that shows all cylinders close to the same and around 100 lbs or more usually indicates an all right motor. If you have no buenos and detest getting stuck away from home tear the sucker apart and see what ya got. if you plan on replacing the heads and pulling the pan you really don't have far to go. When you are 16 hitch hiking is exciting. At 65 it's unthinkable
Holy shit Moefuzz! Freakin' museum! Awesome! Its been 80 and sunny here in Minnesota so I haven't been working in the garage! Tough to complain.
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