Building my first 8BA Flathead. Started with just a bare block, timing cover, and oil pan. 3.3125 pistons and 41/8" stroke crank. Offy heads and dual intake. Anyway, I knew this would not be a cheap build by any means but money is flying out of my wallet at ludacris speed. Just wandering what an average investment is for a nice turn key piece. Ultimately I need to make sure I can make out ok on this thing ok if for some reason I should have to part with it. Thanks!
I don't know what dollar amount you are talking about, but there are several rebuilt flatheads on eBay right now in the $4k-$6k range.
Don,t even add up the receipts!!When you hear it fire up for the first time it will be worth every penny!!(lots and lots of pennies times dollars!!) Pete
Maybe it's a better idea to begin with a complete engine instead of a bare block, but I've rebuilt flatheads in the $2500 range. Bore job, cut crank, pistons & rings, valves, springs, guides, bearings, gaskets, and a couple of crack repairs. Crank, rods, cam, and lifters reused as they were in good shape.
There's one in every crowd. Please, pray tell, inform us about how cheap and powerful your SBC is. And then we'll tell you how boring it is.
An "excellent" Flathead stroker build will be in the 6000.00/12,000.00 range, depending on all the final "chosen" pieces! The only issue I see (so far) with your choice is the stroke, am curious why not the 4.250". It will make more power! The dyno numbers we see with the 3.312" x 4.250" combo ends up at 150/160 HP and 250/265# Torque! These are average numbers but easily doable! This is NOT chasing any HP. No porting, stock valve sizes, etc. We use the Eagle cranks, Scat rods, and Ross pistons with the metric ring pack. Have the components for 1/2 dozen kits on the way in this week. We use bronze-lined guides, stainless valves, cam's either Isky or Comp Cams, Johnson tappets, Edelbrock/Offenhauser heads, etc. We are one of the only shops (to the best of my knowledge) "pinning" the heads to the block (SBC dowel pins) using a standardized setup, started this fairly recently. This extends head gasket life big-time! (Add) If you click on the link below here there's an interesting build involved on a very good friend's Merc! Has about 14,000? trouble-free miles on it now. It is NOT a trailer-queen! Thanks, Gary in N.Y. P.S. Couple "tips" for machining the block, make sure the shop has a "block-plate" (pictured) for finish-honing" and make sure somebody drills the lifter bores. One other item to consider is to have the 95% filtering system machined in during the block work.
I just had one done, I tried to supply the parts list I kept from Word, but I kept getting a weird HTML message. Basically, my 8BA is .125 over Egge pistons with a new French 3 3/4" crank and rods, Schneider cam, Zephyr valve springs, adjustable lifters, Chevy valves. Balanced and assembled with valve train installed out the door was just under $4K. Relatively mild build. I could have easily spent thousands more, but it's for an old farm truck, so what the heck.
I'm glad to see your estimates GOSFAST. It seems I am falling there in the middle with it said and done (carbs,starter,gen) the motor has the best of everything. I have worked closely with a trusted friend/machinist and this motor is machined and built to a very high standard. I plan to run the motor myself in a chopped channeled A pickup project (early stages of build). As usual I just had a figure in mind of what I thought it would cost and I exceeded it. About normal for me when it comes to project cars. LOL
Replaced a 302 ford(300hp?)with a 8BA 4 inch crank,2 strombergs,60 over,mated to a T5 in my 32 glass 3 window(2600LBS).It surprised me being less than half the horse power the way it runs!! Torque is unbelievable,at 2500 RPM it literally sings thur the porter mufflers and 1 3/4 pipes. Normal driving you would not know the difference between the two,not as fast in the top end but I drive on the street and it will keep up with traffic effortlessly and with a awesome exhaust note!! Pete
I like the idea of pinning the heads. We pinned my main caps for clearance consistancy. The 4.250 stroke would definitely make more power but I was trying to make sure I didn't have to relieve the block for rod clearance. That May or may not be an issue with that crank. I originally planned to stay with the four inch for nostalgia but figured why not take some free stroke!
I started with a running (albeit smoking and down on power) motor with some bolt-ons (Edmunds heads and 2x2), replaced EVERYTHING internally and came away with a strong flatty for about $6k including machine work, assembly and a new clutch. 286" Scat crank Scat H beam rods Ross pistons Isky 400jr cam Johnson adjustable lifters Oversized stainless steel valves Lincoln Zephyr valve springs Etc. First fire after rebuild by Titus: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4P-o3_4jzZ8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/c-fHl9_PXIg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Love my 8BA. It was what I wanted, so I just did it. And no, I didn't add up the receipts. Had to have a machine shop stitch a cracked block, sleeve it and bore it .30 over. Later bought and tore down a Merc engine that had a cracked block. So have a Merc crank, Isky cam, Offenhauser heads and Offy three deuce intake, ceramic coated headers. . .well, you get the idea. I wouldn't trade it for 500 horses, especially with what it would cost to feed them.
My last one (about 10 years ago, also my first motor I built) ran me about 6k, 276er with merc crank, cyclone heads and intake, 3 97s (soon to be two 94s). The one Im building now will be twice that, but itll make my other one look like a cookie cutter motor! Machine work and new internals will run about 4k, more if you get it ported and relieved. But like has been said so many times already, they are worth every penny. good luck!
Wow....Ih high school [1964] I used a 53 merc motor for my 50 ford because it was so cheap to rebuild. Had a buddy who's dad owned a parts store and got triple-cheap rebuild parts for it. Honed out the stock bores and ground the valves. Was able to buy rings, bearings and gaskets for the 255 for $36 total! The core engine only cost me $15 although I bought 2 cracked blocks [$10 apiece and I was able to get my money back] before I got a good one. Bought an Offy 4 barrel setup, with rochester carb for another 15 bucks and a buddy of my dad's donated a pair of tube headers for free. Ran like a top! I'd loved to had a 283 but couldn't afford one.
Add a Mitchell intake and a 471 blower to the mix and watch the cost go up....I've got over 10k in mine with no really exotic parts.
I respect yours and everyone else's opinions, I just wrote how crazy the pricing is for underpowered engines. I think the history and following of a flathead v8 ford is awesome , I just know that power shifting a dry sumped 302 chev at 7500 rpm is my kind of music to my ears, boring I think not !
I love the look and sound of a Flathead, but my outsider knowledge makes them a luxury item compared to a conventional V8. However, like a lot of desirable things, if you want something go for it balls out. You may be spending money in the wrong places. if it was me, I'd surround myself with guys who were into Flatheads. That's where the networking and knowledge pay dividends. You hang out here for hot rod talk. Start hanging around Flatheaders (did I just make a new word?), to make that build a little cheaper and easier. "Please, pray tell, inform us about how cheap and powerful your SBC is. And then we'll tell you how boring it is." Seriously?
I love Chevy 235/261s and GMC sixes; however, I'm too cheap to spend "the going rate" on hop up parts for them and end up with several grand in an engine that puts out <200 horsepower. By knowing what I'm looking at and keeping my eyes open, I can still buy hot rod goodies for these (and other) vintage engines for what I consider to be a reasonable amount. Don't just start ordering shit from catalogs with your VISA card without trying to find it the old fashioned way first. Also, be realistic....do you REALLY need to spend $$$$ on something like a 4 1/8 crankshaft and special pistons for ten more cubes? If you can't make decent street power with 286 cubic inches, I doubt that you'll do it with 296 either.
I don't want to be rude or seem overly sensitive to some of you guys (you know who you are), but a flathead is just as powerful as it is. There is no reason for anyone to say it's "underpowered" and no reason to rain on the flathead's parade with your Chevy talk. By that reasoning your 1HP/CI 327 is underpowered compared to my bone-stock modern German engineered off-topic 1.25HP/Liter engine. Go figure. This is a thread about flatheads, not simply dollars/horsepower. You can tell us about your SBC in a different thread and I'll be happy to read about it.
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