alloy flathead heads

ok maybe a dumb question ,, but 24 stud alloy ford flathead V8 heads -- made in Canada.. look identical to the factory iron ones ,, are they a rare part ?or more common they my imagination allows before 2 coffees and car repairs ?

 

Not uncommon at all. I wouldn't say they're common, by any stretch, but plenty of them around. They even show up NOS frequently enough.

 

hey thanks .. !! ive seen a few aftermarket but not stock alloy before ...

 

G,day 23crate ,this takes me back 45 years ago trying to get stock alloy heads off over the studs ,drove that dam car around the block with no nuts on the studs .

 

The Alloy heads are higher compression and were installed on trucks and Police cars ( In New Zealand) and I've come across them on staionary engines driving fire pumps and generators. . I can concur with the hassle of removing them with stuck studs. I drove a ford for two years with no nuts at all one one head. .I sold the engine in the finish because it needed a valve job . Nowdays i would use a hole saw to 'machine ' the hole around the studs bigger to get the bastards off.

 

Hold on a second,

We have all heard about the fabled Canadian Flathead Ford Heads
and that the "Good ones" are rare,

To answer your question, yes, the sought after ones are Extremely Rare.

However, The ones pictured in this thread (24 stud to 1948 Canadian
Production) are not all to rare especially if you live in Canada.

But, on the other hand,

1949 to '54 style (yes '54 in Canada) 24 stud Canadian Aluminum Heads
are extremely rare and quite hard to come by (even up here)....

And that may be where in the confusion lies...

There has been a fable or legend going around for years that certain Canadian
or Aluminum heads are rare or hard to find, and that is true.
But what most don't realize is that it's the 49 up 24 stud heads that are the 'rare and
elusive aluminum jobs' and not so much the 48 and earlier Canadian aluminum heads........


in other words,
-48 and earlier = still some around,They are Most Often
Sold in Sets of two, one good , one cracked

and-

~49 up = hard to find and most often they have been ravaged by time.


Also,
It is pretty easy to visually inspect any and all factory aluminum heads
for the most common type of cracks and that is determined from the top side
of the head.

If you look at the topside of the head and you see what appears to be
some sort of "?casting lines?" between the number 2 plug hole and the center stud
and/or between the number 3 plug hole and the center stud, .
you are looking at a cracked and useless head.

-Factory aluminum heads were durable heads but not indestructible and they were most often frozen (on the block) when the temperatures dipped far below freezing and the owner had failed to drain the water in the engine/rad.
The result was what looks like a tiny casting mark between plugs 2,3 and the very center head bolt.
-This is never a casting or parting line and is always most assuredly death of the flat head.


just my humble opinion.



moe





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very cool info thanks Moe,, its nice to have it clear .. these are are for sale on a local auction site,, and im trying to gauge whether of not they are worth buying as a part to trade for stuff i want/need ... incidently there is a part number -NSN C7RA-6050-B...

oh and very coooollll motor!! Al

 

In this country, the C-7RA's were sold through speed shops like the old Honest Charley mail order house...in both original Canadian form and in the Weiand stock car racer "cheater" wersion with fairly high compression.
Ford Canada made iron C59A heads, iron C7RA's, and Aluminum C7RA's, the diffrent C7's distinguished by different PN suffix.
The 59A had same compression as USA 59A, the iron C7 had same compression as US 59AB head, and the aluminum version had somewhat higher compression, not by a lot, probably about enough to compensate for the extra heat loss of aluminum and get power back up.
The Canadian heads are much nicer looking castings than the Weiand version.

 

They came stock on Canadian made flathead V8s. Used to be pretty common. Yes Honest Charley sold them in the 60s. Often used as "cheater" heads in stock car racing.

 

I have a pair of the late style Canadian C8BA aluminum heads. Virtually no corrosion visible and do not see any evidence of resurfacing. Threads S/B, and holder for distributor hold down look good but one of the upper temp sender bosses has been trimmed.
What are they worth?

 

Do you still have these heads? I'd be interested in buying them if the price was right....