Thread: Starting it early, 41 ford PU

Tweet

Roger, you're running the bases just fine.

I operate in similar fashion to the Herrmans. If I go to buy a flathead I insist on being able to inspect the top deck, in other words, the heads have to come off. Poorly informed sellers, you know, those guys who've heard that flatheads are "rare", desirable, kool, blah blah, will usually protest that it will make the engine harder to sell for good money if it's disassembled. I make an attempt to educate them to reality which ends up about 50% effective. Some don't want to be confused by fact. At that point, if it's a mostly complete engine, I offer $100 and give my card. Sometimes I hear back, sometimes not. Probably the next guy who made the same pitch got it for the same price because he was there when the seller figured out reality. My rationale is I can get my $100 back between core value on certain components and scrap.........but it's still pretty much a trading dollar deal. You usually won't feed the chickens on the difference, with an occasional exception.

If upon inspection of the usual deadly crack areas (more than just the deck) it looks reasonably good and the crank turns freely, I'll go up to $250 on an 8BA, and higher for a top line 59ab, somewhere in between on the others. It's still a gamble as internal cracks, or ones so fine that these feebler eyes don't see them, may be there. Any meaningful flathead rebuild starts with magnaflux AND pressure test, plus sonic check if going big bore. Lots of potential pit falls.

All that doom and gloom aside, there is a market out there for these, and it's still reasonably healthy, in my area at least. That being said, you still may have to be persistent in advertising. You never know when your serious buyer is looking. It may be a day, it may be a month or more from the first day you post. I've been cleaning shop the past few months and have had one engine advertised for close to 3 months now with little interest. A couple months back I had one sell the first day, to a guy who drove 150 miles one way that same day...........because he wanted it NOW! You never know.