Thread: Ford Flat Head

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Welcome willy.

There's lots of good info in the prior threads, hope you take the time to read them. Unfortunately you'll have to put up with reading some ignorant crap from wannabes who think old, obsolete stuff is the only "real" thing.

You can do a flathead Ford V8 and have a reliable, reasonably powered car, that you can "cruise down the highway". But there are caveats. While they were a marvel in their day, the technology does date back to the early '30's. The blocks are prone to core shift (where the sand core pieces in the molds moved as the iron was poured) which can lead to thin cylinder walls. Yes, later model engines could experience that too, but technology did progress over time and it's almost a none issue on more recent engines. Also, the flathead Ford V8 had the exhaust passages route past the cylinder walls going from the valves to the exhaust manifold. And then the foundry didn't always get all the core sand out of the cavities. Motor City Flatheads, a noted builder of high quality Ford flatheads, (listed alone with many other sources at this link: http://www.roadsters.com/flathead/#Sites ) goes through a major rodding (meaning steel probes) procedure, along with shocking (dropping repeatedly on a sheet of plywood) to dislodge trapped core sand. The owner of the company claims he's never found a flathead Ford block that didn't have some sand left in it, some more than others. All of these things lead to the tendency for some flathead Ford V8's to run overly hot. But there's more, especially if you plan on highway driving above 50 mph. The rear gears on most stock Fords were in the low 4's. Great for around town driving, neat for stop light games, but not good for freeways. The engine ends up working too hard, and only the best will not overheat on the highway. Higher gears, or overdrive, is advised. Also, the blocks are prone to cracking, particularly in the valve pocket area, especially coming off the exhaust seat.

Before you build a flathead Ford V8 have the machine shop do a magnaflux (check for cracks), and a sonic test (check cylinder wall thickness), and then all the other checks for wear/straightness/flatness that is normal, before spending any money on machine work. It's not uncommon for someone who want to build one of these to go through several block before finding one that will be useable for a quality engine. The best engines to use are the 59AB or 8BA, designations are cast on the blocks/heads.

All of this adds up to a lot of dough, especially if you pay to test 4 or 5 blocks before even getting started. Then the parts are pretty pricey, especially now that these engines are trendy. Some are new after market parts that are still produced, but a lot of the stuff (blocks, cranks, rods, etc.) are either reconditioned or old stock (cha ching!!). However, if that's what you really want then you just have to step up. You will save a little if you keep the original drive train, so it could come close to a wash if you don't get too exotic with the engine.

Those of us who lived in real time back when remember why the small block Chev (and a few others) became the engine of choice, and why hardly anyone even used a flathead Ford V8 much after 1960 except for the hardcore Ford V8'er or the down and outer. If you wanted affordable performance, the flathead couldn't compete. It's only the past 10-12 years that the nostalgia upswing has brought it back into fashion and wider use.

Like Abe said, it depends on the theme you want to build to.