An alternative is to buy a running motor out of a restored car that is being hot rodded. Or an engine out of a well maintained stocker. They are out there but you will have to pay the piper. $750 to $1,000 is typical.

They key to using one of these motors is not desturbing the head to block interface. Simply replace the head nuts with acorns one at a time and replace the intake with a two pot, add headers, and paint it up nice. A T-Bucket will run just fine with 85 horse power.

An engine can run just fine for a long time with some minor cracks as long as the water jacket remains sealed. Once the heads are seperated from the block all the relationships that maintained integrity (sediment, gaskets and even rust) are compromised. The only way to recover is to rebuild.

Even so, any flathead is a crap shoot. Be prepared for some disapointment and frustration.

I always thought a T Bucket with a Chevy II four banger or even an in line six would be neat.