I know very little about flatheads, but if I had one, it would sound like this! Killer lope... Can anyone comment on it - perhaps who the builder is, and the component list posted with the video? I think I have played it about 100 times - I guess it reminds me a lot of the john deere tractors we drove on the farm. First Start Up And Run of C69A, 276 cube, Egge 3-5/16 pistons, 53 Merc 4" crank, 8BA Isky Max 1 cam, 8BA Rods, Johnson Hollow Adjustables, LZ Valve springs, 1.5 Proflow stainless valves, Hardened valve seats, M19 Oil pump, 8BA Mallory Twin Point conversion to Pertronix, Bob Drake bearinged 8BA water pumps, Offenhauser400 heads and Offenhauser Dual Intake, Dual 97's, Lightened 46 flywheel, balanced with 10 inch clutch.
Well, a clue on the origin of the build: C69A is a Canadian designation, so likely the build took place in Canada, Australia, or somewhere else in the old Empire. Cam is probably main component for the sound.
A stock flathead with a 3 foot open exhaust will lope, cam or not. I have a 53 ford pick up motor that is entirely stock with the same sound. Its just their nature.
You are right, I have not heard one with no manifolds. But I did both of these jobs in the 60's when I was a teenager, 10 hours a day in the summer - JD G wide track and model 70. That sound and the warm exhaust would almost lull you to sleep after a while. I think I would rather build a flatty, even if it just sat on the stand for a while until I find the right home for it maybe a 27 roadster similar to the one in the Shaggy dog movie. Better finish the 57 chebby first
Yep. Those are loud sob's. Always said a flatty sounds like a cross between a JD and a Harley. Coolest sounds of all. Power or not.
No manifolds does not compare to ANY other configuration...I suspect it is rather like being attacked by an airplane with 8 fifty calibers, but fortunately I can't say for sure about that. I did it when I had an engine installation in my '48 nearly finished, and figured I could get in 30 seconds of hotroddish unmuffled sound and then shutdown before neighbors woke up enough to get a fix on me and call the gestapo. WRONG. It was NOTHING like a car with no muffler or a car with just manifolds... the staccato and the unmixed blasts made it MUCH louder and more violent than that. I nearly broke a leg leaping into there and shutting it down, then I slammed the alley door and fled into the night.
I had no idea they were that loud without exhaust. That's a great sound that every hotrodder wants. Great story. LMAO Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
No manifold sound is distinctive because of sheer violence, I think...exhaust pulses are not mixed with others (at idle, as I started the thing, I'm guessing that the center pulses were far enough apart to emerge individually, as the racket was very even), they just emerge with a sound like a gunshot distinct for each. Rather like a Browning 50, in fact. Dragsters have always seemed quieter to me...maybe the short pipes somehow make the liberation of the charge tune down a bit, and of course there is more RPM than an idling stocker so there is no audible space between explosions and the can so merge and kill the staccato. I have no idea why the emerging pulses were so violent on the stocker, as of course they would seem to be cooled and muffled a bit coming through the block. The reality was much like muzzle blast. I never had a chance to explore the phenomenon...I was in an alley between two rows of houses at midnight, one block from Police HQ, so the only sane response was to shut down, slam the door, and disappear into the night. I would have loved to rev the thing up, though! Anybody on here have a garage 17 miles outside of Resume Speed, North Dakota and a desire to experiment??
Here's my old flathead, I love the sound of it, its combo of many things, but mainly the cam and exhaust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp2tUICvYJI Later Eric
This seems like a good opportunity to insert a few videos of my 8BA Flathead running with only headers. Check out the flames shooting out of the headers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8e_d3LMy-c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugdIRX5LHuk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUkf1nJAWiY
Bruce, that is a funny story right there. Flatty that is the sound every hotrodder wants. Doc, that is a sanitary build you are doing. Looks killer and flames to boot! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Idle schmidle............You haven't lived until you've run the straight at Laguna Seca at 110mph/5,500rpm in a 950 pound Crosley with a flathead V8-60. That, my friends makes the adrenalin squirt from the ears!!!!!! Lightweight midget headers, '36 Ford inner driveshaft tubes, 3-81's staring you in the face, it just doesn't get better than that!!!!!
Running any engine with no headers/manifolds has a distinct sound. I recommend every one witnesses it once in their life. Start an engine on a cherry picker, and tap the throttle a few times, that will freak all your buddies out. It is not recommended to do it for more than a very short period. It will hurt the exhaust valves. Some sort of manifold/header is needed to absorb the exhaust pulse.
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