A wide variety of headers are available for flathead engines, which certainly should not retain the restrictive stock exhaust manifolds. . These headers have a 3/8 header plate mounting flange with 1 5/8 primary tubes to a collector outlet of 1 7/8 inch. It has lots of structural advantages internally that make for a much stronger head where the original Thomas head didnt have thick enough material to help reduce the possibility of blown head gaskets. After the machining, grinding, and polishing were complete, the block is washed thoroughly in the hot tank and dried off. A high-pressure system will run fine with no boiling, even at 190-210-degree gauge temps. The new cam bearings were inserted very carefully. We also offer high-performance Ford Flathead parts to make street rods and race cars instant . The Alexander head was designed during World-War II and addressed the heat issue by moving the exhaust port up out of the block, but kept the stock intake port design. 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. Early and late distributor styles can be interchanged by using the corresponding front engine covers and cam drive. Included also is an extra flange plate and gasket/bolts to connect to an existing exhaust system. Intake valve is 2.050 diameter, Exhaust valve is 1.600 diameter made in stainless steel. At around the same time, old-time hot rods gave way to modern musclecars and street machines. In fact, Henry Ford has been quoted as saying, If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. While we have no evidence that he actually said those words, his summation of their desire could very well be true for the day. Possibly one of the rarest OHV conversions is the Stephens. ", Gemsa built engines and parts in a 20-foot refrigerator car behind his house in El Monte, California. Our mission is the same as it always has been since 1985; to provide top-quality speed and performance parts for 1928-1934 Model A & Model B four bangers. After the intake ports were opened up, its time to machine a hole in the manifold for the road breather tube. High-compression is the way to go. Longer gears enable the M-15 to pump 25 percent more oil than the stock pump. A perfect example of how incestuous the primordial automotive scene was during these early years is the fact one of the most revered hot rod parts for the flathead Ford was created by Zora Arkus-Duntov. Buckler Cars manufactured 1172 Formula racing cars using a space frame chassis and the 4 cylinder English Ford Sidevalve engine and other Buckler sporting cars using similar . Tom Roberts starts with the Speedway pump, modifies it for even more flow, and also redoes the snout to accept modern, bolt-on, serpentine-belt pulleys. There are only 3-4 sets known to exist, and looking at the second photo, it's easy to see where Mopar might have gotten the idea for the Hemi engine. Speed-O-Motive still advertises Merc crank cores if you want to go this route, but it's no longer necessary, what with all the aftermarket alternatives available. 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. The stock flathead oiling system is marginal for performance use. The gases also pass in the opposite direction and exit through the small round holes to heat the intake manifold, which, depending on the application and/or intake, can be plugged off. 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. The flathead Ford engine has an entire room devoted to it. We will safeguard your e-mail and only send content you request. 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! Keep it under 8.0:1. The new old cars got a lot of attention. Unfortunately, old-school resistance to this "new and improved" part is so extensive that the SCTA has banned the blocks from competing in classic land speed racing classes. The completed engine for Ray Evernhams Woody Lee T started on H&Hs test stand with the first turn of the key. This block is completely beefed up, with four-bolt caps, reinforced bottom-end and webbing, furnace-brazed sleeves (max bore is 3.5 inches), and new-design head studs that tie into the bottom of. Joe passed away in 1995 and four-bangers have become something of a niche in the hobby, but they still have a high cool factor and a high potential for making power. After 1953, flathead production continued in other countries, most notably in Europe, where the engine continued to be used in French military vehicles through the '90s. 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. Filed Under: Flathead Engines, Ford Tech Tips, 2023 DiY Ford. Mooneyes also offers throttle-bodies that resemble Strombergs. FORD 1933/35 FLATHEAD 21 STUD ALUMINUM HEAD 40-6050 RIGHT - MINT!! Improved internal components and casting technology make them more reliable and leak-free. Finally, there are brand-new aluminum blocks and Ardun OHV conversion heads and valvetrains. He keeps his feet firmly grounded by working on his two street rods and his supercharged C4 Corvette. All rights reserved. It will use a new oil pan and special bolt-on universal bellhousing that accepts most modern transmissions. . Of course, these are even rarer than its big brothers Ardun heads, but they are still well-represented at the Speedway Motors Museum of American Racing! Relieved blocks must have the reliefs filled to use Ardun heads. With the gasket removed, you can see the lines clearly scribed into the intake. Seal the heads to the block using slick new graphite-impregnated head gaskets available from Best Gasket, Red's Headers, and Tatom. NASCAR and TV personality Ray Evernham now owns it. Most hot rod engines use oversize valves. Melling still makes a high-volume oil pump (PN M-15). I'm wondering the hp, and if I could find a . Earlier 3 1/16-inch-bore blocks will only go 0.090-over. The Ford Sidevalve is a side valve (flathead engine) . A dial gauge was used to check the exact size and roundness of the bore, from top to bottom. With such a small difference; it's relatively easy to take a little off the Ford snout then slightly hone the inside of a Chevy balancer so it slips over the Ford crank. Because of the way the flathead was designed, the two inside exhaust ports thread through the middle of the block and heat it up before they are siamesed into one rather than two exit ports. Box 53296 Albuquerque, NM 87153 Ford introduced the Flathead V8 in their affordable 1932 Model 18, becoming a performance leader for decades. This lateral flow severely restricts flathead breathing capability, although it does promote what today's high-tech engineers term swirl and tumble, which enhances fuel mixing and combustion. Ships In a Few Days. Ross, Wiseco, Egge, Arias, and others make pistons in any configuration you desire. Getting far into the corner, where there is a lot of rough casting, makes sense. They fit original '39-'53 blocks, French blocks, and (perhaps the ultimate evolution) Ferguson's new aluminum block. Normally, 8BA inlet and exhaust valves are both 1.5 inches in diameter. Flathead 4 Cylinder Engine. At that moment he also began saving money to buy parts for his first hot rod. Fortunately, a wide variety of adapters are available to mate the venerable motor to today's automatic and manual transmissions. A performance-limited bottom end and larger, more easily modified overhead-valve variants soon took the lead on performance. Compression ratio is 9:1. The old cam grinders-including Isky, Schneider, Elgin, and others-have both old and new cam grinds. $ 75.00 Add to cart Cylinder Heads Wilson & Woods cylinder heads (0 reviews) $ 1,500.00 Add to cart Austin Speed Equipment Austin Blower Intake Manifold (0 reviews) $ 800.00 Add to cart Sharp Speed Equipment Sharp V8 60 Flathead Cylinder Heads Center water neck (0 reviews) $ 1,500.00 Read more Sharp Speed Equipment The Melling M-15 high-volume pump is identifiable by the tall cap on the upper end of the shaft. The worlds quickest flathead dragster, Ron Schnells Slider, has run the quarter in 7.695 seconds; its blown flattie dynod at 939 hp on a 60-percent nitro load. SHARE THIS ARTICLE:Please feel free to share this article on Facebook, in Forums, or with any Clubs you participate in. Interestingly, part of that room is devoted to engines that went beyond the simple flat-head design and utilized many of the various over-head conversion units that were available. Consequently, a number of shims are required. The flathead four-cylinder engine in our "Swap to Street" 1930 Ford Model A was leaking oil like crazy and wasn't running particularly well, either. The flathead engine. Click below to learn how to take your Model 'A' to the top level of performance! Honing the block of this high-performance flathead follows essentially the same procedure described previously, but in this case, the tolerances are much tighter. The baffl e has been cut out, and the pan is thoroughly cleaned of sludge. Like all fads, once started, the process fed itself. Flatheads began to come back, and prices of swap-meet stuff skyrocketed. Tube headers for the Miller/Cragar overhead valve cylinder head for Model A 1928-1931 and 1932-1934 chassis. Not all intakes have this feature. With most engines, increasing compression results in more power, but with a Flathead there is a point not only of diminishing returns, but a point where power is lost--and it's lower than you . There are builders on the left and right coasts and all points in-between who assemble reliable, powerful, 150-200hp engines, or you can buy new parts and build one yourself. This measurement is critical for a high performance engine. Tony Baron says that a good-running flathead should have no less than 0.400 lift and about 250 degrees duration at 0.050-inch tappet lift. The company they formed to produce these heads was named "Ardun," an acronym derived from their last name. Then, torque the nuts in sequence to the specified 95 pounds. Starting with a 1949-1953 (or 1954 in Canada) 8BA foundation, the plan involves building an authentic high-performance engine of the era, with a big, 304ci displacement (3.1875-inch bore x 4.250 . A guy was willing to sell me a ford flathead 4 cylinder engine. The second ring and top ring are installed next, in the same coiling manner. The Thickstun two-carb high-rise intake (today marketed by Baron) is an excellent street setup and it even provides clearance for the stock generator. French blocks have some unique features and are covered separately. It was only at the very end of the flathead's reign that the first small four-barrel carbs appeared; back then everyone used multiple-carb setups. MAC's Auto Parts sells the largest selection of flathead V8 parts to rebuild, repair or replace the power plant. The grinding process begins with one of the cutting tools. Before the heads are finally installed, a dial gauge is used to ascertain TDC, using cylinder number-1 (passenger-side, front). Not all flathead water pumps are created equal, though. Heads arrive complete and ready to install. Download Instructions here. Only 200 original sets are known to exist, but fortunately, Ardun heads and associated conversion parts are back, reproduced in improved form by Don Ferguson of Ardun Enterprises. This same gasket can be used on engines with flathead-type cylinder heads by cutting the top part away. He had a drill press, his work table, a tiny mill, and a welder. As for cylinder heads, Baron, Edelbrock, Navarro, Offenhauser, and Sharp (now sold by Wilcap) all have their adherents. After all the machining, the intake was bolted down. At this lift,the headhas flowed 285 cfm of air at 28hg water. You could, of course, buy a brand-new, fully balanced rotating assembly from Scat. The numbers stamped into the combustion chamber identify each valve; they are lapped in and become port specific. He hired H&H Flatheads to build the engine so that it can be raced again. "Joe taught me how to build these four-bangers to make them go fast," he says. Not Yet Reviewed. A micrometer depth gauge is used to measure the depth of the combustion chamber. Besides, multicarb setups look cool. At first everyone was dumping modern engines into old metal, but eventually the supply of stock bodies dried up and reproduction glass bodies took over. Add to Cart. It's been over 50 years since the last Ford flathead V-8 was commercially produced in the U.S. You should have already decided if you plan to run one or not. Clem TeBow and Don Clark at C-T Automotive had their hand in making the Ardun heads more favorable to hot rodders, but they also joined with Rudy Moller and Kenny Adams who built these more complex OHV conversion heads for the flatty. A set of H&H billet steel mains caps were used instead of the stock caps. Note that although used, the torque plate has already been removed. It offers adapter kits to mate GM automatic transmissions and Ford C4 automatics to '49-'53 8BA blocks, as well as a variety of adapters to mate both early and late flatheads to most GM and Ford manual transmissions. The current incarnation is 3 inches taller than the originals and has smaller 1 1/2-inch ports (vintage versions had 1 3/4 ports, but the new casting is thick enough to hog 'em out). Not all of the intake bolt holes have corresponding holes in the block. It was not your Dad's engine-it was your grandfather's. The inline six engines were made in a couple different displacements. The home of the Ford Flathead rebuilding specialist from mild to wild. If youve never tried porting, you should probably buy a junk block to practice on. Baron, Edelbrock, Sharp (Wilcap), Navarro, and Offenhauser make both old-style heads as well as improved new configurations. It was meant to be a carthorse, not a racehorse. Somewhere in the middle is the largest group: Potential street rodders who just want reasonably fast hot rods without having a cookie-cutter, 1-800-car. Finding value in style points, he can appreciate cars of all power and performance levels. The best balance has been the subject of debate for over 60 years. Complete Flywheel and V8 Ford clutch plate, Cragar Four Port Cylinder Head for Ford B Engines. Although new aftermarket iron blocks are reputedly under development, right now a real-world solution to finding a good core for your flathead is to start with a brand-new French block. Careful positioning is necessary because the oil pickup sits in the circular groove toward the rear. Lee Chapel founded Lees Speed Shop in Oakland, CA in the early 30s and was one of the first speed shops in the country. Stay tuned for further updates on this project. It is running test-stand headers, not the final headers. Offenhauser New Ford Flathead Cylinder Heads (2) 49X53 1069 400 Compression. H&H started in 1972 with rebuilding all early Ford Flathead engines from Model A, B's, T's and V8 Ford Flatheads from 1932-36, LB's, 59A's, 8BA's,V8 60's, Lincoln 337, Lincoln V12's and Y Block Ford and Mercury. ". Because of the tight tolerances, the spark plugs should not protrude into the combustion chamber. In fact, the growing flathead movement has basically sorted itself out into three distinct groups. As mentioned, the Ardun heads are likely the most popular, and for good reason. Cragar water pumps available seperately in one of either two styles. Note that each piston is numbered and that the arrow indicates the direction it was mocked up, so that each piston goes in the correct hole. The block is already coated with Dykem. All flatheads overheat, then the blocks crack. No one runs the old weak stock ignitions anymore. The heads were marketed as putting 175 hp to a stock flathead with 250 horsepower on a bored and stroked racing engine. Incidentally, the compressed thickness of the head gasket is approximately .055 (.060 uncompressed), and the stock Ford valve lift is .292 inch. The exhaust gas up-and-over maneuver, coupled with a hot reach-around the cylinder gave heat plenty of time to work its way into the engine. That was his entire shop. High Performance, 0.440 in. Sweat them on, no welding needed. Head accepts long reach RC-12-YC or. Flathead Myths courtesy of Tony Baron Edelbrock, Wilcap (Sharp), and Offenhauser continue to market a wide variety of intakes. Be very conscious of this before you start grinding. Spiral locks are little fl at springs that you pull apart and ease into the groove in the piston. While we are glad to have places like the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed, where we can view a broad offering of these iconic engines, were also very thankful to the devoted group of individuals who keep these engines alive so we can not only view them but also experience them as they were intended. When you are finished, wash the part thoroughly to clean away all the chips. Cannot use original mechanical fuel pump. At present, the only aftermarket custom oil pan available is from Ardun Engineering. Back in the day, four-barrel carbs had barely been invented. A diamond file is used to remove any burrs generated by the gaping process. While exact ignition timing will vary per combination, in general flatheads running gasoline like about 23 degrees total advance normally aspirated and just 19 degrees with a blower. 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Grounded by working on his two street rods and race cars instant Evernham now owns it never tried porting you... Stamped into the combustion chamber each valve ; they are lapped in and become port specific outlet of 1 inch! Built engines and 6.5-7.0:1 with a blower Schneider, Elgin, and for good.! Is running test-stand headers, and ( perhaps the ultimate evolution ) Ferguson 's new aluminum block to to. Pistons in any configuration you desire by: N. Cooper was this article a help these. Combustion chamber DiY Ford between 7.5-8:1 on naturally aspirated engines and parts in a 20-foot refrigerator car behind his in! Holes have corresponding holes in the circular groove toward the rear no less than lift. Ross, Wiseco, Egge, Arias, and polishing were complete, the block baffl...