On the following pages, we'll take a look at some of the stuff available for the flathead and also cover the lineage, interchangeability, and secrets of this proud forebear of modern hot rodding. The chart included with the rings indicates that the top and second rings should have a .015-inch end gap. FORD Ford 4-cylinder Crate Engines - Free Shipping on Orders Over $109 at Summit Racing Home Crate Engines FORD Product Results Filter by Vehicle Search New Vehicle Search Within Results Filters In Stock, Including at a Supplier. This can be a tricky, two-man operation. ". After the intake ports were opened up, its time to machine a hole in the manifold for the road breather tube. Machining required to fit Model A or B cranks. Mooneyes also offers throttle-bodies that resemble Strombergs. Dyno Charts Products Learn More CUSTOMER PHOTOS With the Harry Miller heritage of performance excellence under the hood, your Model A/B is in a class of its own. The carbs are the new Stromberg BIG97s, and each flows 250 cfm. There's a fine juggling act between compression and promoting proper transfer from the offset valves across the piston top. We thought it would make a great highlight for our RodAuthority.com readers. In the mid 80's (yep, 35 years go) my brother owned a '47 Ford pickup that he planned on restoring. Compression ratio is 9:1. Displacing a whopping 336.7 cubic inches, the new engine featured a 3.5-inch bore and 4.38-inch stroke. This causes lots of turbulence in the chamber and better fuel burn. The fi nal bore is 3.3125 inches with the torque plate. This engine produced 145 horsepower and 225 pound-feet of torque. And in a sense, the flathead also begot HOT ROD Magazine, for this publication probably wouldn't exist if not for the flathead speed industry and the advertising dollars it spawned. Fabled Stromberg 97 carbs are back, but you can also upgrade to modern Holley four-barrels or even electronic-fuel-injection systems. French blocks have some unique features and are covered separately. On a load of nitro, this engine made 320 horsepower and ran 229.77 mph in the Hill-Davis City of Burbank streamliner in 1952, breaking a record held since the 30s by Germanys Auto Union. Some say that the NOS French block is the way to go, and in some ways it is. If you've seen the video or pushed the "little red button" at one of our recent shows, you know how much fun it is to watch this four-in-line whine! It was not your Dad's engine-it was your grandfather's. The Moller-Adams heads used a sophisticated rocker assembly, to which C-T Automotive added an equally-sophisticated slide-valve injector to run Bonneville. The '39-'48 flatheads used a direct camshaft-driven front-mount distributor; '49-'53 engines use a gear-driven, vertical-mount distributor on the right-front of the engine. And, if were lucky, we may just get a glimpse of an over-head conversion in the process! Dont forget to match this measurement to the inlet on the exhaust manifold. There was even a set of Ardun heads designed for the smaller V8-60 flathead Ford engine as well. Back in the old days, all cars used low-pressure cooling systems, so coolant often boiled. You want to talk about traditional hot rods? Ironically, it was the design of the engine given to it by those who hadnt dreamed far enough that eventually relegated the flathead to the history books. Original Merc cranks weigh in at 65 pounds, so it might take two people to lift it. Width, 41.50 in. Tractor. One solution is adopting a small-block Chevy damper. Following here is the build of a hot rod Ford for Ray Evernham, one-time NASCAR team owner and most recently a TV personality. Some builders also recommend installing exhaust-port dividers to split the siamesed center exhaust ports. hurry up or it will have no stock. Cast from high quality 355-T6 aluminum alloy. And there are always billet caps and girdles available. Mike made sure that the oil feed holes and the hole for the fuel pump pushrod aligned. Ford introduced the Flathead V8 in their affordable 1932 Model 18, becoming a performance leader for decades. Bid for the chance to own a Supercharged Flathead-Powered 1929 Ford Model A Roadster at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Seal the heads to the block using slick new graphite-impregnated head gaskets available from Best Gasket, Red's Headers, and Tatom. Pump uses larger-than-stock gears, has an adjustable relief valve and fits the stock pan.Stock splash tray must be trimmed for clearance and have a drilled crank for full pressure. Whether planes, trains, motorcycles, or automobiles, Andy has immersed himself in a world driven by internal combustion. Cams like this with good aftermarket heads are capable of producing 200 hp and 240 lb-ft naturally aspirated, and over 300 hp and 350 lb-ft with a blower. Youll pay a price for that too, though. Be very conscious of this before you start grinding. The king of adapters is undoubtedly Wilcap. However, Rays engine has 1.6-inch exhaust valves and whopping 1.75-inch inlets. Flathead History Lesson courtesy of Charlie Clark. But that just leaves these pristine virgin blocks for us normal street guys. Zora would soon find employment at Chevrolet, after penning his famous memo about the youth market and their passion for hot-rodding the Ford engine. If you don't see what you are looking for, please call us at (760) 343-2590 Mon - Fri, 7A - 3:30P Pacific Time, or email us at info@reds-headers.com. (Left) This engine is a prototype of the flathead Ford engine that would be introduced in 1932. There are kits to install Weiand and Magnuson superchargers, or even one or two GMC 71-series blowers. I tried looking up ford 4 cylinder flat heads but don't find much. The grinding process begins with one of the cutting tools. Before he was 17, Joe had already ported and relieved more than 50 Ford flathead blocks for the finest engine builders of the day. When Ray acquired the car, it was still fitted with its 8BA flathead, but a few parts were missing. The numbers stamped into the combustion chamber identify each valve; they are lapped in and become port specific. However, it is 114 inches taller than the stock pump, so more pan clearance is necessary. However, if your goal is a period-correct hot rod, you probably want a Detroit Ford and not a French Ford. As for cylinder heads, Baron, Edelbrock, Navarro, Offenhauser, and Sharp (now sold by Wilcap) all have their adherents. French blocks are hybrids, essentially a '49-'53 8BA in terms of deck height and front-end, but with the integral cast bellhousing and corresponding oil pan as found on the '38 1/2-'48 59A. These studs have a tensile strength between 180,000 and 210,000 psi. Bob Drake has created a special category for parts that bring life to the words Flatheads Forever. In particular the area between cylinders 1 & 2 and cylinders 3 & 4 have been beef up with an internal rib about 1 inch tall to stiffen up the head. Scat offers affordable cast Pro Stock cranks through 4.375-inch stroke, with either 2.00- or 2.138-inch rod journals. We have thousands of Flathead Ford, Y-Block and Model A exhaust parts, engine parts, and speed parts. There are several techniques; the accompanying photos show the method preferred by Baron Racing. He had a drill press, his work table, a tiny mill, and a welder. You must be careful not to damage the bearing surfaces when the crank is lifted into the block. SHARE THIS ARTICLE:Please feel free to share this article on Facebook, in Forums, or with any Clubs you participate in. The engine may "feel better" with 27-30 degrees total timing (as read on the crank), but Baron says "it slows up the flame travel. Headers are also available with the flange plate to connect to the new Cragar cross flow head with blocked off intake ports and the extra bolt holes at each end of the plate. Schneider's 278F solid (0.420 lift, 250 degrees at 0.050 duration, 110-degree lobe separation angle) is one grind that falls within these specs. Trying to gain back compression ratio by using popup pistons may improve airflow provided proper attention is paid to the transfer area and overall piston-to-combustion chamber interface. Traditionalists can go with Vertex or Mallory mags, while modern guys may want to move up to MSD or Mallory electronic distributors. Filed Under: Flathead Engines, Ford Tech Tips, 2023 DiY Ford. The whole thing starts with a Donovan aluminum block with five main bearings. Ford flathead six cylinder engines are kind of the lost sister to the far more sought after V8s and even traditional four bangers that some of the old timey hot rod guys like to play with. Looking down through the intakes, you can see the beautiful job of porting. He removed this engine from the truck, an. After all the machining, the intake was bolted down. Honing the block of this high-performance flathead follows essentially the same procedure described previously, but in this case, the tolerances are much tighter. This stress relieving is important when building a high-performance engine. Mostly true, but the French military used flatheads as late as the early '90s and "ancient" flathead technology has evolved to run over 300 mph at Bonneville. It was there one of the flatty's Achille's Heels was realized. Flathead Six In response to the post looking for Speed Parts for a Flathead Six. Careful positioning is necessary because the oil pickup sits in the circular groove toward the rear. Those valve covers would look right at home on the Indianapolis 500 speedway and doesn't look dated next to that Aurora IRL engine in the photo on the right! $1,399.98. And guess who taught Max Sr. how to build engines? All rights reserved. I mean, how hard can it be? . You can just see the valves in the plug holes so you know that the clearances are tight. To increase the gap, the ring is put into this Goodson ring grinder where it is ground and then rechecked. Its not a good idea to experiment on the good block you intend to use because you could make a mistake and end up worse than before you started. Cragar water pumps available seperately in one of either two styles. Note that although used, the torque plate has already been removed. The world's quickest flathead dragster, Ron Schnell's Slider, has run the quarter in 7.695 seconds; it's blown flattie dyno'd at 939 hp on a 60-percent nitro load. The porting process followed here took an experienced machinist about 10 hours to complete. While the Museum of American Speed is currently closed since the world came down with the flu, the folk at the museum have still been hard at it, making sure our history is warm and dry. But with modern solid cams and big stroker cranks, overall engine rpm and piston speed is considerably higher than the old stockers. All of the threads were cleaned using a cordless drill and the correct size taps. Consequently, a number of shims are required. The measurement helps determine how much material must be removed to get the chambers back to size and to make sure that the valves dont hit the heads. "Joe taught me how to build these four-bangers to make them go fast," he says. Click below to learn how to take your Model 'A' to the top level of performance! Also, dont be too aggressive and cut through the port divider. Flatheads need high compression because they don't breathe. Looking at the exhaust ports, youll notice the Alexander design still makes the exhaust ports do double-duty between two cylinders. That made it a perfect subject for our. Joe Gemsa was one of them. Solve cooling problems by using a modern water pump available through Speedway Motors and other sources. Stromberg in England is producing new Strombergs again. Flathead gurus like Don Ferguson and Tony Baron strongly urge that hot rod engines run a harmonic damper. Model B overhead valve side cover cast of premium aluminum alloy, also available for engine blocks equipped with flat head type cylinder heads. The best balance has been the subject of debate for over 60 years. However, they are a little more difficult to install and remove. The flathead's compression ratio is well suited to supercharging, and besides, what could be more hot rod than a blower poking through the hood? The company they formed to produce these heads was named "Ardun," an acronym derived from their last name. Copper sandwich-type head gaskets with 4.060 inch bores. Vintage and classic Ford Parts in reproduction for old Fords. Strombergs were the favorites, but Chandler-Grove/Holley, Zenith, and Rochester two-barrels were also in use. This engine from the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed also ran a 180-degree crankshaft at the August 1950 Bonneville Speed Meet in a streamliner sponsored by Lees Speed shop. This produced a 418-inch stroke that, when coupled with a 3516-inch bore, results in a 284-ci engine. The fastest guys both naturally aspirated and blown run high-dome pistons. I have a 1942 Ford 6-cylinder flathead engine that my brother would like to sell. Recommended bottom-line street-gas-friendly compression ratios are between 7.5-8:1 on naturally aspirated engines and 6.5-7.0:1 with a blower. Length, Each. Original 50-plus-year-old blocks without cracks are getting scarce. We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request. The third-design "8BA" '49-'53 engines have a bolt-on bellhousing, the distributor was moved to the top-right of the engine, and modern insert-style bearings are used on both the mains and rods. any problems please contact service@stirlingkit.com Miniature Engineering Models that Run on Fuel You may lose as much as 30 hp above 4,500 rpm. Again, the intake is marked and then the material is cut away very carefully. When the flathead Ford came on the scene in 1932, it's eight cylinders offered more power than the previous four- and six-cylinder engines, and originally, the engine focused on the truck and heavy-duty markets. You can now build a brand-new flathead. Most builders convert the stock oil system to a full-flow design with a modern, remote-mounted oil filter. Reputedly, they are cast with 10 percent higher nickel content, and the quality of the modern castings is a lot smoother with much less core shift. With modern aftermarket cranks and rods using modern insert bearings, 5,500 rpm normally aspirated is not a problem, even with only three main bearings. Wear protective goggles and even a facemask to keep detritus out of your eyes, nose, and mouth. Keep it under 8.0:1. However, most of the casting flaws can be smoothed out. At the other extreme are dry-lakes, Bonneville, and nostalgia drag racers who have applied modern technology to the point where in some instances it is questionable whether the engine still remains a true flathead: Once-85hp engines now produce over 400 hp on gas and have exceeded 700 hp on fuel-all this on an engine with only three main bearings. At that moment he also began saving money to buy parts for his first hot rod. Reserve these early blocks for collector cars due to their inferior head-retention and bearing design; speed equipment availability for them is also severely limited. It will use a new oil pan and special bolt-on universal bellhousing that accepts most modern transmissions. Copper sandwich type head gasket, 14 Grade 8, 7/16 head studs, nuts and hard steel washers,Distributor drive shaft. Its easy to see what a gnarly casting the flathead typically is just by looking inside the exhaust port. Small-block Chevy valves remain popular, but with reduced-base-circle cams they may be too short to permit proper lash adjustment. However, there are some significant differences in French blocks compared to the originals. Even stock flatheads can run 6-7 psi boost with no problem. Traditional flathead airflow management practices call for relieving the block-removing metal between the valve-seat sides closest to the cylinder bore. That changed eventually, but a few rodders never lost their. The 270-F, Tatom's best all-around cam, is said to work well on normally aspirated or blown, stick, or automatic cars, with good idle quality and 18-19 inches of vacuum. Several schools of thought exist regarding how to build a hot flathead, and the contention begins with the block. Each of the 16 valves was hand-lapped using a small amount of fine-grade VersaChem metal grinding compound. If youre building performance, youre going to have to search out the best block you can find. Tube headers for the Miller/Cragar overhead valve cylinder head for Model A 1928-1931 and 1932-1934 chassis. Intake valve is 2.050 diameter, Exhaust valve is 1.600 diameter made in stainless steel. The distributor here is the original Mallory dual-point. 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