Watched some dyno pulls yesterday and today for a pair of Bonneville-bound flatheads - yesterday's engine pulled 330HP and todays did 350HP! Should run well - was an older gentleman named Bert Griffin - super neat guy to talk to. Engines were being tuned on Joe Abbin's dyno by Gary McGlasson (super stock guy). Really sounded good! As an aside, Joe finally released his new book & I got a copy yesterday - read it cover-to-cover last night - really good stuff in there, lots of real-world build-up documentation (Bill Boomer, Honest Charley, etc). I don't know if Joe took any video of the runs, but if he did, I'll see if he'll let me post 'em. The sound was incredible!
Vern Tardel's blown flat head Bonniville motor ran over 430 hps last year on the Flow Master chassis dyno. 6-71 blower, injected on alky. Rex
Not real sure on spec of engine, had Baron heads, 174" Holley blower, Holley carb (I think 570 avenger??), can't remember cams on each, but run on 110 race gas.
thats gonna be some fun on the salt!Iback in 92 i hung out with the busbys in laguna canyon rd i belive old jim has a pretty hot ardun headed roadster i think last year it went 159mph 8 over the old record.One flatty that made me smile was built by bob mcray using the exhaust as intakes and exaust out through the middle sorta like the indy ford v8 it looked real cool
Joe has a log-in, but rarely comes on here. He sent me a dyno video this morning (taken with his cell phone). I asked him if I could post it (and details on the engine), but no reply yet.
You can order it on his website: http://blownflathead.itgo.com/Flathead V-8 Performance Handbook.html
I'm gonna call BS on a 350HP reliable down to earth FlatHead Ford. Show us a video.... I'm just kidding, I just want to see it. Kevin Ooltewah Speed Shop
I didn't say anything about "reliable" or "down to earth" - I'll bet this guy has stupid money in his engines...but at his age, you can't take it with you & more power to him (literally!). I think he was going to the Pate swap meet this weekend & will swing back through Mon to pick his engines up... Really neat old guy - I really enjoyed chatting with him about all sorts of things - not just cars. A genuinely nice fellow. I think this is Bert's car: Picture shamelessly borrowed from Kiwi Kev on his thread here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289351
Yes it is! It has license plates , too...... I think 350HP in a Flathead that can be street driven is ALOT Bert has some good stories to tell.Not just car related I met him a few times Michael
I'm still calling BS on a street driven Flat Head. Maybe some Blown or turbocharged Some kinda Hybrid Flathead. Mine is a Big Merc ported and releived, with .040 pistons 4" stroke and it will be lucky to make 200hp. Kevin Ooltewah Speed Shop
It is blown - 8lbs of boost for the 350HP run. I don't think Bert plans on doing much street driving with these engines to be honest, but Abbins made 335HP and he DOES drive his on the street. You'll be lucky to make 175HP with that engine - depending. I'm planning a 284" (4-1/8" stroke & .125" overbore) with a blower on a French block - I'm looking to make 300HP, or very close to it. Granted, that will be at the top of the RPM range, where I won't spend most of my time, but it should do 300lb/ft of torque from quite low all the way through...it CAN be done.
I don't think will ever drive it on the street,but the car is able to do so. Ernie, what do you plan on strengthen the bottom end? Michael
Blower motors are very streetable as is turbo's. About the only limiting factor would be if its an alcohol/nitro fuel motor and cam/valve springs. A good cooling system should eliminate any over heating so why all the skeptics? We have 1000 hp street driven cars now in case you don't know it and a flatty is no different with today's equiptment and knowledge.
There are a lot of limiting factors on a flathead - once you decide to hit 300HP and above. It only has 3 mains, the main web of the block is very weak - which is why you'll see big/huge billet steel main caps, girdles that go out to the pan rails to pickup more "meat", etc.. Then there is the deck, which is thin as well. Then there is the stock port layout -- not much to work with (especially on the exhaust side - so 'quick ways' come into play). There are many limiting factors in their design -- which is why you have to throw tons of money, time and custom fabricated parts into them to go over 300 HP . . . without picking up the results in a wheel barrow. That is also why you have to give guys like Tony Baron or Joe Abbin credit when they're pumping 3X to 5X the original horsepower out of Henry's good ole' flatty.
Uh, Ray, better do some homework before putting that statement out for all the world to see. thnx, jack vines
I know this quote has already been referred to, but... LOL!!!! Maybe he is confusing a centrifugal supercharger (boost increases with RPM) and WOT. Naw... I tried to find a reason for this statement, but I can't make it stretch that far. LOL Have you heard of a "twin-screw" supercharger Ray? Just wondering.
I saw the blower on the car. I have a good friend with a blown Motor City flathead, it dynoed at around 240HP and they were very happy with it. It is 304 cid. with everything in the world done to it. The big main girdle is a must, if you plan on putting the boost to it. Why couldn't you turbo one of these thing with good results? Nothing wild, just a mild turbo setup. Just enough boost to help out the lack of breathing. What do you guys think? Kevin Ooltewah Speed Shop