Flathead info?

[94STXRanger]

So we were cleaning up my dads property and found an old Ford Flahead v8! I plan on going out this weekend and looking in detail at it. Any one know how to determine the year range on these? We have an old fiberglass t-bucket shell and frame rails that we might fix up and put it in. That would make a sweet little hot rod.

 

[Southern3.0]

I dont know to much about Flatheads, nothing a quick google search cant fix.

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_specifications.htm

 

[Turbo-T]

All I know is the last ones made had a side mounted distributor and 24 studs per cylinder head. I'm not even sure if that info is right.
Google Ford flatheads. There are a lot of websites with information about them.

 

[blackbronc]

Poured main bearings. expensive to rebuild with limited results. Perfomance parts are hard to find. I think a 2.9 would look bad in a bucket T with that almost tunnel ram looking manifold and probably go well too as it would weight nearly nothing.

 

[dumprat]

You are incorrect on all fronts blackbronc.


The ford flathead was produced from 1932 to 1953. There are two types. 21 stud and 24 stud. Parts are quite easy to get and not bad for price. Hotrod parts are everywhere on ebay and the net for them. They are not cheap to rebuild but they sound like nothing else. Expect to spend a couple of grand to get one rebuilt. Including parts. Search google for THE HAMB for more info and parts as well as other hot rod stuff.

 

[cocoasranger]

I had one in my 37 Ford pickup. Had it rebuilt; bored, block boiled, bearings, etc. After running it a while I was short on cash and sold it to a guy. Found out later that the first thing he did was rip out the flathead and put a small block in it. Go figure.

 

[shadetree]

Early blocks thru 1948 had the distributor mounted to the front of the camshaft. These distributors had dual points, and were favored over the later side mount distributor used from 1949 up which only had single points.

The early blocks thru 48 had the top radiator hoses coming into the the top center of the cylinder heads The later blocks, 49 up, had the hoses attaching to the upper front of the cylinder heads. The later heads were the 24 bolt heads, and used bolts. The earlier blocks used studs for the heads. They were sometimes a real bitch to get off.

The early blocks were desired for racing as the valve angles in the block were different due to the bores, and gave a little bit of advantage for fuel/air flow after relieving the block.

All flathead blocks were prone to cracking from overheating with the later blocks being the easier to crack. The cracks occur in the block between the valves, or out from the exhaust valve seat. Sometimes the valve seat only would crack and the block still be good. If the block itself cracked, it was toast. Nowdays they can repair these cracks. Don't know how costly this is tho as I never had it done.

All engines were also prone to vapor lock. The problem lies with the gas line running from the fuel pump to the carb. The fuel pump is located in the rear of the intake manifold of top of the engine. The engine heat would keep this line very hot. To cure the problem we used to use a coil of copper tubing in place of the steel line to dissipate the heat. The coil looked like it had been robbed from a still.

These engines tended to run a little hot. It was deemed that with the two water pumps, one in front of the block on each side,(the early/early blocks had the pumps in the heads themselves)the water circulated too fast not giving it time to cool. I would say this was probably true as on racing engines we placed a washer inside each water hose where it clamped to the head. The washer reduced the opening to 1/2 inch. Some went another route and ground off every other impeller blade on the pump, and drilled a small hole in the remaining impellers. Both methods cured the overheating.

If you really want to give it power, get a crank from a later Mercury block. They had 1/4 more stroke and will drop right into the Ford block. They are the same actually except for the stroke. You now have a torque monster.
shady

 

[red85]

The earlier blocks used studs for the heads. They were sometimes a real bitch to get off.

My dad's family used to own a salvage yard and he once told me that in order to get the heads off of early flatties they would literally knock the nuts off with a sledge! If you're building a nostalgia type hotrod, a flattie really makes it "the genuine article" instead of another Ford with a SBC between the rails.

Phil