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Flathead sixes

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by nocoastsaint, Oct 18, 2007.

  1. nocoastsaint
    Joined: Jan 5, 2006
    Posts: 413

    nocoastsaint
    Member

    I have a flathead six out of a 48' Ford pick-up.
    I am curious as to what this engine might be exactly,
    and if any companies every offered performance parts for them.

    I was staring at for a moment the other day and my wandered
    away with it. I want to see a blower hanging off the side of it with
    a mess of braided lines and throttle bodies a la mechanical fuel
    injection.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. Dale Fairfax
    Joined: Jan 10, 2006
    Posts: 2,585

    Dale Fairfax
    Member Emeritus

    In its day, both Edmunds and Knudsen offered speed equipment for your 226 Ford 6. Alas, any of that stuff is exceedingly hard to find and the Knusen stuff (head, intake, headers) is very pricey when found. However, building manifolds and headers for in-line sixes isn't all that difficult and you can always mill the head a bit. Those engines performed everybit as well as the V-8s did (stock).









     
  3. It's 226 cubic inch 95 horsepower. I am running one in my '51 2 door sedan. The only speed equipment out there is late '40's / early '50's vintage stuff. I found a Nicson 2x1 intake at Pate swap meet 15 years ago (there was one on ebay a few months back). I scored a Knudsen aluminum head a couple years ago at the KKOA show in Denison, TX. The cam was reground to a 3/4 race flathead grind by Nielsen Cams in Utah. I built my own solit manifold. I'm running a stock distributor with a Pertronix kit. It will outrun a stock V8 flattie pretty easily. It's definitely different and that is fun.
     
  4. Crankhole
    Joined: Apr 7, 2005
    Posts: 2,634

    Crankhole
    Member

    Ebay is your only friend when it comes to speed equipment for this engine. And it'll be a long hunt so be patient.
     

  5. SHRUM
    Joined: Feb 25, 2005
    Posts: 616

    SHRUM
    Member

    It's a shame too. I pulled mine out of my 51 sedan and it runs strong. Swore to my dad it would smoke is 8 in his fifty. Been looking for years for speed stuff I see it on Ebay every few months but to pricey for me to handle.
     
  6. Dale Fairfax
    Joined: Jan 10, 2006
    Posts: 2,585

    Dale Fairfax
    Member Emeritus

    When you talk about " a blower hanging off the side and a bunch of braided lines-------", it sounds like you've been visiting Uncommon Engineering's site [uncommonengineering.com]. Steve has done that with a Hudson Hornet (or two)-the engine architecture is the same so the task should be nearly the same.





    quote=nocoastsaint;2300064]I have a flathead six out of a 48' Ford pick-up.
    I am curious as to what this engine might be exactly,
    and if any companies every offered performance parts for them.

    I was staring at for a moment the other day and my wandered
    away with it. I want to see a blower hanging off the side of it with
    a mess of braided lines and throttle bodies a la mechanical fuel
    injection.

    Thoughts?[/quote]
     
  7. plym_46
    Joined: Sep 8, 2005
    Posts: 4,018

    plym_46
    Member
    from central NY

    As the owner of a mildly hopped up MOPAR flat 6, I can tell you the strenght of these long strokes engines is low end torque. They will pep up nicely with some attention to breathing, and compression ratio. I have a 230 engine out of a 56 Plymouth, and it runs strong and its wheel house is from 40 to 70 mph. You can get one of those 2 bbl adapters and put a carter webber/or holly webber progresive 2bbl on if you cant find a vintage split intake, you can have another outlet welded to your exhaust to give it duals. Conventional wisdom says you can mill the head and deck the block a total of .070 and get a nice bump in CR and still run regular. Pretty sure the Ford would respond the same as the MOPAR flatty. My engine was rated at 125 HP at the flywheel by the factory, with the changes I made Dual carbs, .030 over, .040 of the head, and .010 of the block, stock cam, and single low restriction exhaust, I got 130+ at the wheels on the dyno.

    So dare to be different. There is also a fellow who did a blow through turbo on his flathead studebaker (search TurboStude on the web)
     
  8. Zerk
    Joined: May 26, 2005
    Posts: 1,418

    Zerk
    Member

  9. nocoastsaint
    Joined: Jan 5, 2006
    Posts: 413

    nocoastsaint
    Member

    I know a few machinists of various walks and calibre,
    maybe I can con one of them into throwing an alloy slab
    up on the Bridgeport and slice out a cylinder head for me.

    Fairfax, thanks for sharing uncommonengineering.com with me.
    That place is damned awesome.

    Thanks for the input everyone.
    Here is a toast to a long and bizzare endeavour.

    I wonder what class that would be at Bonneville...
     
  10. RichFox
    Joined: Dec 3, 2006
    Posts: 10,020

    RichFox
    Member Emeritus

    If it was still in the pickup and was unblown it would be XO/PP With a blower It woild be XOB/VGC I think
     
  11. HotRodRick49
    Joined: Nov 1, 2006
    Posts: 346

    HotRodRick49
    Member

    The flathead six speed parts, for a Ford, are rediculously hard to come by. I bid on one on E-Gay a couple of months ago, and the guy never wrote me back, and never took payment. I ended up scoring a free flathead eight, so that was right in my price range.

    Good luck with hopping it up, I still have mine in the corner of my garage waiting to someday be built, and put it in something.

    -Rick
     
  12. floorjacks50
    Joined: Nov 30, 2005
    Posts: 130

    floorjacks50
    Member
    from napa

    here is my little stash
    knudsen head
    knudsen triple intake
    nicson dual intake
    edmunds dual intake
    building a sweet 226 right now for my 50
    hoping it'll smoke a flat 8, or two...pretty sure it will

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Hudsonator
    Joined: Jun 19, 2005
    Posts: 335

    Hudsonator
    Member
    from Tennessee

    I've never built one, but had my eye on them. They have an advantage over the Mopar by having 12 port blocks. That is a huge advantage in the inline world, particularly flatheads. More than likely, it will have much better breathing characteristics than its V8 cousin. Well worth the time/effort to exploit in the pursuit of flathead power.

    Too bad the aftermarket speed offerings were slim and hard to come by.

    I've heard it many times that Ford de-rated the sixes because they actually made more hp and torque than the V8 flathead. I suppose the people who actually used the engine's potential for heavy hauling knew the difference, as the six outlasted the V8 in production.

    That's a pretty hefty stash of speed parts there Floorjack50! I suspect you'll put a frown on some Ford V8 guy's faces when you're finished with that.
     
  14. RichFox
    Joined: Dec 3, 2006
    Posts: 10,020

    RichFox
    Member Emeritus

    I thought the OHV six came out in '52 while the Flathead V8 was still going strong.
     
  15. HEATHEN
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 8,558

    HEATHEN
    Member
    from SIDNEY, NY

    The OHV 215 six did come out in '52, but Ford's original intention was for their all new OHV V8 to debut the same year; the Korean conflict delayed that for two years. The same thing happened to Chevrolet and Pontiac--the original intention was for both makes to be V8 powered in '53. I've got a 1950 Mechanics Illustrated article comparing the 6 cylinder Ford to the V8, and the six outaccelerated the V8 up to 75mph. Finally, the V8 went by it at 80.
     
  16. RichFox
    Joined: Dec 3, 2006
    Posts: 10,020

    RichFox
    Member Emeritus

    The all new OHV Lincoln V8 came out in '52.
     
  17. nocoastsaint
    Joined: Jan 5, 2006
    Posts: 413

    nocoastsaint
    Member

    The three valve flathead V8 has, inspired me.
    Anyone been looking for something ridiculous to sponsor?
     
  18. looking for some 226 parts anyone out there have any leads?
     
  19. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    For most flatheads other than Ford V8 speed parts are hard to get and expensive. It is easier and cheaper to add a supercharger like the McCulloch or Paxton, which was actually designed in the early 50s for this type of motor. For certain technical reasons flatheads respond well to a supercharger.
     
  20. 226 flattie
    Joined: Jan 6, 2009
    Posts: 307

    226 flattie
    Member
    from orange,ca

    Check out our hamb group ford flathead 6
     
  21. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    You could carve a head out of aluminum but what about the water passages? You would have to carve 2 slabs and sandwich them together.
     
  22. If I only had the capabilities for that!

    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  23. Does anyone know anything about the Ford 223? I found an intake and was wondering how close it was to the 226? I am no mechanic by any means!! its all 1's and 0's to me
     

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