Hot Rods Flathead build advice needed

Then I pulled the pass side head.
The bores are sweet,,,I can’t believe how good they look.
They all have a ridge at the top,,,but no rust,,,,very nice.

 

Then the left bank,,,,they looked great as well.
The same ridge,,,but no rust at all.
I took pics of all the bores and the chambers of the heads as well.

 

Then the timing cover,,,again,,,no issues that I can see yet.

 

I am still keeping my fingers crossed,,,it is not all the way apart yet.
And I still have to have the block magged and checked out.
I will do more tomorrow if possible.

Tommy

 

Actually, the horseshoe clip is probably good news; it provides a valid reason why and otherwise good engine was pulled from the car. Things are looking up for it being a good engine. One interesting oddball fact : All of the Ford engines (trucks and cars) I have taken apart had a pressed steel plate cover over the cam drive gears in the bell housing area. The '51 Merc I put in my '51 Ford had a cast iron plate marked 1CM. I would expect it would be a plant to plant variation. Everything looks good so far; let us see what you have once the heads are off and you measure the stroke.

Good luck, my friend.

 

Since your last post, I have another question; was the timing cover cast iron or aluminum?

 

That’s what I was thinking Denny.
They thought they had a really messed up engine and just parked it.
The bores look out of sight,,,I am completely happy with that.
The back does have a stamped plate over the gear back there.
I will have to check on the timing cover,,,I was shaking so bad,,I never paid attention if it was iron or aluminum,,,Lol

Tommy

 

Denny,
You got my curiosity up,,,I had to go back downstairs and check.
The timing cover is cast iron.
The bores are 3.188,,,the stroke is 4 inches

Tommy

 

During your rebuild DO NOT run a tap through the block for the head bolts to clean the threads, use a wire brush. Ford interestingly enough believed highly in interference fit threads. Because the heads bolts go all the way through to water ports, the interference fit threads actually seal the head bolts from leaking. Most guys who run a tap through the threads usually end up with head bolts that will be weeping.

Also, if you have any boring, honing, valve train or deck work , ask a lot of question of the machinist to make sure they have worked on flat heads before. The valve are at different angle, They are NOT symmetrical to the crank centerline. Cam centerline IS NOT the same as Crank centerline.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-key-dimensions-angles-and-validation.958100/

 

That's looking real good! Take a cupped wire brush that goes in a drill and slowly wire brush the deck surface. that will get all the carbon surface rust and crap off with no metal loss from cleaning. DO NOT use Roloc disks in a wiz wheel (air powered angle grinder) you don't want to take any metal away from the deck. For the head bolt holes I use a brush that came in my MOROSO engine brush cleaning kit. I cut the loop end off and put it in my drill, squirt some penetrant in the bolt hole and run the brush in and out with the drill spinning, really does a good job of cleaning the holes. if you don't have a Brush Kit, the MOROSO kit is well worth the 35 to 40 bucks, it has brushes for all the galleys and bores in the entire block.

 

looks like that fiber timing gear will have to go. replace with aluminum...

 

Thanks Jason,,,,I appreciate the comments.
I have that planned really soon to use the wire brush.

Jr,
That is some useful info,,thanks.
I really like the schematics,,,those are very useful ,and will come in handy.

Danc,
I was wondering about that,,,,aluminum gear is much better ?

Thanks everybody,,,I am listening to it all.

Tommy

 

It's not so much that the aluminum gear is that much better (it is), it's just that the gears available today are complete junk and can disintegrate after just a few thousand miles of use. The original Ford gears are much superior, but it's a good idea replace any fiber timing gear during a rebuild. I have heard they are noiser, but I have them in two engines and can't hear a difference. I actually wish I could!

 

Okay,
I got home today and went back to work on the Flathead.
Removed the oil pan,,,,that is one more robust pan,,,,it must hold a lot of oil?
It has a nice baffle in it,,,I assume it handles the oil sloshing okay.

When I got it off,,,I noticed something unusual in the bottom.
The screen for the oil pick up was loose and had moved around away from the pickup.
Then I got worried about the condition of the bearings,,,and if the crank was hurt.
Here are some pics of the pan.
You will notice the screen in the bottom.

Tommy

 

I felt like I was opening a time capsule ,,,the bottom end looks like it has never been open.
The rod bolts still have the little metal locks over the rod nuts.
Here are some pics and also the pickup is clearly visible where the screen came off.
It looks like the spring clip broke,,,,part of the clip is still attached.

 

Next,,piston removal.
Number 1 came out,,,and really didn’t look bad at all.
Then number 5,,,,it looked really good,,however the top ring was broken on it.
It was obvious it had been broken for some time,,,,the ring land had a lot of wear in it.
The rest of the pistons were typical of these,,,so no more pics of pistons.
Also,,,number 4 had the top ring broke as well.
With the exhaust valve in number 1 out,,,,and the broken ring on 5,,,and the broken ring on 4,,,I bet this little engine was way down on power and using a fair amount of oil.

 

Here are pics of the rod journals.
I am tickled with the way this looks so far.
The crank looks great,,,,and the journals are nearly perfect.
I don’t know what the diameter is supposed to be yet,,,I will check that soon.
I was really worried about the crank,,,where the screen had come off,,,I wasn’t sure if it had starved for oil before .
I plan on removing the mains tomorrow and then mic the crankshaft.
Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Tommy

 

Some of the rings might have broke going out over the ridge, if you hadn't used a ridge reamer first. That's looking like it just might be a good motor for you. Buy a couple loto tickets if it turns out to not have cracks!

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That old girl looks pretty clean inside. I’m paying close attention, I’ve never seen a Ford Flathead V8 open before. Thanks for the great pictures. Please keep us informed as you overhaul it.


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You may have noticed that the connecting rod bolts are not serviceable, they are actually forged into and part of the connecting rod. Try not to damage them as if damage occurs you will need new conrods.

 

when you roll the engine over did you notice any stuck valves, that is very common.

 

Any dates on the back of the bearing shells?

 

Hi Guys,,,more coming tonight.

Johnboy,
I had thought about the rings as well.
But,,,the breaks were old,,,had some old oil residue in the break gaps.
Also,,,the top ring land on number 8 was very worn as well,,,it was probably not sealing as well as it should have. The pics show the lands on #8 piston,,,worn badly.

Tommy

 

These pics are the oil pump,,,,it seems to be in fine condition
It has a fair amount of varnish on it,,,but it is all intact,,,and turns very easily by hand.
Also,,,some pics of the crank.

Tommy

 

I removed the crankshaft and these are the bearing shells.
They really look much better than the pics represent.

 

This is one sweetheart crankshaft.
It seems to be in fantastic condition,,,worn somewhat,,,but in all,,,in fine shape.
All of the rod journals mic’d at 2.1355,,,,all of them,,,the center between where the bearings ride mic’d at 2.138,,,dead on,,,so it has approximately 2.5 thousandths wear on the rods,,,,or there about.
The mains are supposed to be 2.499,,,the journals all mic’d at 2.497,,,,except the rear main,,,it mic’d at 2.498. In the middle of the journal where the bearing groove does not touch,,,it mic’d dead on 2.499. About 2 wear on the mains,,I guess not too bad.

Tommy

 

Earlier Warbird asked about markings on the bearings.
I have some pics of them.
They all had Fomoco in old style cursive ,,,,and also marked DAB on the mains.
I got some close ups of the markings the best I could,,,some were stamped deeper than others.The rod bearings were marked OBA.
I have never seen the old cursive script like that.

Tommy

 

Just making sure. You know that you got the stroker merc crank right?


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