A 300 horsepower flathead in a 1,400 pound car would move like hell. Plus they sound amazing. People are way too obsessed nowadays with breaking 1,000 horsepower because hurr durr that’s what the Veyron makes.
Wow, after hearing how much just the basics cost to build a flathead, I don't feel so bad with the cost of building a 400 HP 350 Olds. With stock 1968 iron heads, the overall cost didn't seem that brutal compared to a small block Chevy however with what I spent, I could have had a 383 chevy with aluminum heads and probably 475-500 HP. Building obscure stuff is cooler than the every day stuff. Flat heads are extremely cool.
The blower helps in more than one way. These engines don't scavenge well (if at all) on overlap. Getting decent compression can hose up the breathing. Supercharging helps get around the breathing/compression issues. Stroking is the way for more squeeze as well as cubes. There are blower grind cams with short overlaps, and high relative lifts and durations. Dump the exhaust in a low pressure area (create one if you have to). Porting is critical, but there is lots of info on the best curves, and proper radius of the block valve area. Cheap? NOPE!
Welcome to the world of money pits. check your exhaust ports for cracks. Do not forget to have the crank, rods and pistons ...the reciprocating assemblies BALANCED. an UNBALANCED FLATTIE WILL NOT LAST LONG!
I have 4 of these flatheads one is in a 29 roadster. With a t5 transmission . One of them is running a welding machine. The other came out of a T bucket. It was a chezzy fiberglass body . This engine is going in a 25 T truck. The other two dont know what I will do with them. I also have Cranks rods and starters , water pumps and some Mercury cranks. The mercury cranks are 4 inch stroke. Merc crank and Ford heads make good compression.
jmurphy1973 yep definitely sounds great. Learned to fix and rebuild first time when I was 15. My mate and I helped his dad restore 2 sedans and a 47 jailbird
My dad had one 1949 f 100 .it was a spray truck it sat for years in luck Wisconsin on family farm when my brother turned 16 took on getting it back on the road he did the motor and lost interest that 239 was cool it could idle so slow you could count the fan blades as it turns that was in 1988 its out there somewhere he sold it for 400 bucks dang
Just found this series. Staying subscribed and following it along. I tried to track down the reference books you mention. You could sell your copy of the Joe Abbin book to finance the rest of your build!$$! Keep up the great work!
Wow! Memories! I rebuilt a 1951 ford flathead in 1964. I remember replacing a valve seat. . . On dry ice to shrink it, and a “precision hammer” and a sacrificed valve to seat it. Lapping the valves for lash was a rwal pain, so I bought adjustable lifters. 1964, when it was not hard to get parts. A new Crankshaft set me back $40. 1964.
I use to race flatheads back in the 60's Why would you be working with a sleeved block? They are cheap I have 6 or 8 here and nobody wants them. I sold my last set of .1875" + .030" stroker and blower pistons I had left over. I still have some .125" over which I use to drive on street all the time. We use to bore them into the bolt holes put sleeves in and retap the holes and bore to size. We cut cranks in center and changed the firing order to run better on circle track. Nothing new on flatheads.
@@xmo552 My old boss Roger Ingram felt he got more pull coming out of the turns by cutting the crank in the center would index to a new firing order and weld back together. His brother was Jack Ingram who is in the NASCAR hall of fame. I cannot tell you what the firing order was changed to those brain cells died years ago. We used GM dual point centrifugal advance distributor in my flathead was only $28.00 back then if I remember right. The engine is still in the car in the barn been there since the 70's. My crank was not altered. I drag raced. They wanted me to drive in NASCAR but they were so crooked back then and probably still today. I was not very political. Last NASCAR race I went to was in 1969. They had shops in Asheville, N.C. Roger did not drive he built engines, made headers, had the first S&W balance machine in the area. He had another brother Larry that did the porting and Tom the last brother raced Fords. Jack was a Chevy guy. I think Jack is still living but I think all the others have passed. You might see if you can locate Jack Ingram in Asheville, North Carolina and get more info on the crank changes. They were the first I think to incorporate a blower into the flywheel bell housing to gain 2 lbs. of boost. Roger always said who ever cheats the most wins the most, lol. I had gone to Banjo Matthews to see if he would help me build a flathead in the 60's. He laughed at the kid and sent me to Roger and I ended up working in his shop. I was a tool & die maker then also. I never had time to work on cars life took over I got on plane on Monday and off on Friday and weekend was always catch up. I think alcohol and nitro is best way to get power easy out of a flathead and not destroy it.
I bought a 28 model A with an 8BA with 3 Strombergs it runs fine but I want to freshen it up a bit. I have never worked on one before so I am watching to learn. Thanks!
I'm building a flathead (C69), but it will remain stk. Hoping to keep costs down. I'll likely reuse much of the orig parts except pistons, valves, lifters, etc. Still. not sure if I'll stick with stk intake and heads though. Will follow your build. Thanks for posting.
I'm building a 276 with a Joe Abbin blower set-up also. Yes, it's a crazy dollar amount to build one. I'm at over 8k and still saving up for heads and carb etc. Cool factor is very high though. Thanks for sharing your build!
The only way you would get 800 to 1000 hp for 5 grand would be a Chevy motor. Now why the hell would I put a Chevy in a Henry Ford car? What gives you the right to judge or call me crazy for the way I want to spend my money? Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@toddclyne3493 I don't think he was calling you crazy just not looking at it in purely economic fashion. Oh and there is no way in hell you can get a 800-1000 hp Chev or any other motor for that matter for 5 grand. Feel good that this thing only will cost about 8 grand. My Cousin just bought a 650 hp naturally aspirated 355 for his dirt car and it was 18 grand. People don't seem to know what it currently costs to build a high performance engine. Spending 8 on that flattie is not really that outrageous at all!
Superchargers are better for gasoline engines. No turbo lag, less heat, less back pressure, less engine compartment crowding. Turbos are just the thing for diesels and aircraft engines though.
It will make a little over 300 horsepower with a supercharger, cost close to $10,000 to build cheaply, and literally came from the factory with a bunch of cracks in the block?
Have some patience my friend. This was the first video of many on this build. I was only trying to introduce my new project and what my plans of it are.
I would think a turbo would work but for my build I was really going for the look of a supercharger. A turbo is not a bad idea just doesn't have the eye candy effect. Thanks for commenting and I hope you follow the build.
@@kenjsr1 Yes, the exhaust gasses can hardly get out of the block and then guiding them thru a turbo? Maybe someone made it work. Maybe a blower on top and something to suck the exhaust out would be best.
GameMaker 3_5 I guess I figured being it will be super charged and pushing almost 300hp. It would be the Ultimate Ford Flathead. Just my opinion. Thanks for watching
I ran some calculations about your idea of the V8 will make 300 HP I performed 300/8 to get 37.5 HP per cylinder I have a lawn mower I plan to use for a go kart I thought how much would I get for turbo/super charging this engine and I think I now have a base estimate.
OK, I know it's hysterical, I mean "historical" butt the flat head V8 is nothing but an exercise in inefficiency and wasting money. I'm shocked that anybody bothers. In my opinion there should be one good running example in a car in a museum. All the rest should be made into cut-away models for tech and engineering schools to teach how NOT to design an engine. Beyond that they should be melted down into something useful. Always remember, nostalgia is costly It costs time, money, energy, space, and generally requires additional cost for upkeep and logistics. And then there's the insult of knowing you could have had something better for less.
@@toddclyne3493 well, on one hand you are preserving some history and AND exercising some ingenuity and making something unique and it's yours. I'm watching because there is something to learn and it's fun. I try not to let nostalgia drive my decisions (I can not afford it) It would be a cold cold mindset to scrap the inefficient things of the past and sometimes that's what you gotta do. I do appreciate when someone comes along and does what you do. The flat head has many flaws and is weak in many ways. 300+ HP is so easy with a modern V8. It's an eye opener to realize that you will have maxed out ALL potential with the flat head. More boost, nitro, water injection, and other techniques can push this design to the breaking point. be careful have fun thanks for sharing
A 300 horsepower flathead in a 1,400 pound car would move like hell. Plus they sound amazing. People are way too obsessed nowadays with breaking 1,000 horsepower because hurr durr that’s what the Veyron makes.
Wow, after hearing how much just the basics cost to build a flathead, I don't feel so bad with the cost of building a 400 HP 350 Olds. With stock 1968 iron heads, the overall cost didn't seem that brutal compared to a small block Chevy however with what I spent, I could have had a 383 chevy with aluminum heads and probably 475-500 HP. Building obscure stuff is cooler than the every day stuff. Flat heads are extremely cool.
The blower helps in more than one way. These engines don't scavenge well (if at all) on overlap. Getting decent compression can
hose up the breathing. Supercharging helps get around the breathing/compression issues. Stroking is the way for more squeeze as well as cubes. There are blower grind cams with short overlaps, and high relative lifts and durations. Dump the exhaust in a low pressure area (create one if you have to). Porting is critical, but there is lots of info on the best curves, and proper radius of the block valve area. Cheap?
NOPE!
Good info. Thanks for sharing
Love how these engines sound.
So do I and can't wait to get this one back up and running
Welcome to the world of money pits. check your exhaust ports for cracks. Do not forget to have the crank, rods and pistons ...the reciprocating assemblies BALANCED. an UNBALANCED FLATTIE WILL NOT LAST LONG!
You can put that in my miata plz 😁
Are 46 ford blocks worth using
tim there all worth saving but from what I understand the 49 and up are the most desirable. Thanks for commenting
To much talk on why... just get into it. Less talk more action
Lol I had many of teachers tell me that in school.
I have 4 of these flatheads one is in a 29 roadster. With a t5 transmission . One of them is running a welding machine. The other came out of a T bucket. It was a chezzy fiberglass body . This engine is going in a 25 T truck. The other two dont know what I will do with them. I also have Cranks rods and starters , water pumps and some Mercury cranks. The mercury cranks are 4 inch stroke. Merc crank and Ford heads make good compression.
Never the most powerful but still among the best sounding engines ever made
You got that right
jmurphy1973 yep definitely sounds great. Learned to fix and rebuild first time when I was 15. My mate and I helped his dad restore 2 sedans and a 47 jailbird
The performance handbook that you are promoting is available on Amazon for the low price of $150.00.
My dad had one 1949 f 100 .it was a spray truck it sat for years in luck Wisconsin on family farm when my brother turned 16 took on getting it back on the road he did the motor and lost interest that 239 was cool it could idle so slow you could count the fan blades as it turns that was in 1988 its out there somewhere he sold it for 400 bucks dang
Great story sounds like he did a great job on it
I love the distinctive burble of a flathead Ford
It burbles because of the cross-plane crankshaft.
A flat-plane crank produces a "roar"
The burble is a sweet sound!
You can build them up. They will be powerful.
Just found this series. Staying subscribed and following it along. I tried to track down the reference books you mention. You could sell your copy of the Joe Abbin book to finance the rest of your build!$$! Keep up the great work!
When I was 13 ford flathead was the fist engine I started on I loved that engine
Loved the way that flatty would pull on an incline in third gear in a 51 Ford Custom.
Try Honest Charley’s in Chattanooga, TN they are the best when it comes to building Ford Hotrods
Wow! Memories! I rebuilt a 1951 ford flathead in 1964. I remember replacing a valve seat. . . On dry ice to shrink it, and a “precision hammer” and a sacrificed valve to seat it.
Lapping the valves for lash was a rwal pain, so I bought adjustable lifters. 1964, when it was not hard to get parts. A new Crankshaft set me back $40. 1964.
I wish I could be building this with 1964 pricing on the parts. Thanks for enjoying my video. Please sub and stay tuned.
What was the flathead sitting in?
I use to race flatheads back in the 60's Why would you be working with a sleeved block? They are cheap I have 6 or 8 here and nobody wants them. I sold my last set of .1875" + .030" stroker and blower pistons I had left over. I still have some .125" over which I use to drive on street all the time. We use to bore them into the bolt holes put sleeves in and retap the holes and bore to size. We cut cranks in center and changed the firing order to run better on circle track. Nothing new on flatheads.
Elaborate on those cranks please
@@xmo552 My old boss Roger Ingram felt he got more pull coming out of the turns by cutting the crank in the center would index to a new firing order and weld back together. His brother was Jack Ingram who is in the NASCAR hall of fame.
I cannot tell you what the firing order was changed to those brain cells died years ago.
We used GM dual point centrifugal advance distributor in my flathead was only $28.00 back then if I remember right. The engine is still in the car in the barn been there since the 70's. My crank was not altered. I drag raced. They wanted me to drive in NASCAR but they were so crooked back then and probably still today. I was not very political. Last NASCAR race I went to was in 1969.
They had shops in Asheville, N.C. Roger did not drive he built engines, made headers, had the first S&W balance machine in the area. He had another brother Larry that did the porting and Tom the last brother raced Fords. Jack was a Chevy guy.
I think Jack is still living but I think all the others have passed. You might see if you can locate Jack Ingram in Asheville, North Carolina and get more info on the crank changes.
They were the first I think to incorporate a blower into the flywheel bell housing to gain 2 lbs. of boost. Roger always said who ever cheats the most wins the most, lol.
I had gone to Banjo Matthews to see if he would help me build a flathead in the 60's. He laughed at the kid and sent me to Roger and I ended up working in his shop. I was a tool & die maker then also.
I never had time to work on cars life took over I got on plane on Monday and off on Friday and weekend was always catch up.
I think alcohol and nitro is best way to get power easy out of a flathead and not destroy it.
@@davidfowler916
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Thanks for sharing , I will follow the you're build ! Awesome 👍
Your welcome
I think there was a world record of a flathead v8 making 700 hp and reaching 300 mph
I've got a Flathead 6, 8mth ford truck engine, a racer brown cam, and some other goodies, i'd like to make a drag model A pickup out of it.
That should be a fun project. Good luck with it.
330 horse in a light car is killer
I won't have 330 but I think 275 is realistic. Thanks for watching
I bought a 28 model A with an 8BA with 3 Strombergs it runs fine but I want to freshen it up a bit. I have never worked on one before so I am watching to learn. Thanks!
What happend to the minor crack running upwards from the bolt hole. My block has one like that too! It kinda gives me the sweats.
Bought a 40 at age 13 put in a Merc crank offey heads two Stromberg 97 carbs beautiful
I wanna know what a really well built supercharged ardun would make
I'm building a flathead (C69), but it will remain stk. Hoping to keep costs down. I'll likely reuse much of the orig parts except pistons, valves, lifters, etc. Still. not sure if I'll stick with stk intake and heads though. Will follow your build. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for following and good luck on your build.
I have a 49 8cm (mercury). Bare block and crank..jesus i depress myself just thinking of building it.i must be crazy
Start building
@@toddclyne3493,im buying as many pieces as possible..
Just staring at a striped block and meeting new friends , kinda boring.
I guess I've bored 15000 people now. What's that tell ya?
Some fast orange will definitely get that smear of black you can’t get off your skin off
Brett Forbes defiantly and lots of it! I hope you follow my flathead build series.
I'm building a 276 with a Joe Abbin blower set-up also. Yes, it's a crazy dollar amount to build one. I'm at over 8k and still saving up for heads and carb etc. Cool factor is very high though. Thanks for sharing your build!
Matthew Krueger Thanks for watching!! Joe is a very good source for flathead parts and info. Very nice guy to chat with!
you are crazy you can buy a rebuilt engine for 4 or 5 thousand dollars that has 800 to 1000 hp i just don't know why some would do that
The only way you would get 800 to 1000 hp for 5 grand would be a Chevy motor. Now why the hell would I put a Chevy in a Henry Ford car? What gives you the right to judge or call me crazy for the way I want to spend my money? Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@toddclyne3493 I don't think he was calling you crazy just not looking at it in purely economic fashion. Oh and there is no way in hell you can get a 800-1000 hp Chev or any other motor for that matter for 5 grand. Feel good that this thing only will cost about 8 grand. My Cousin just bought a 650 hp naturally aspirated 355 for his dirt car and it was 18 grand. People don't seem to know what it currently costs to build a high performance engine. Spending 8 on that flattie is not really that outrageous at all!
I guess some people just dont understand the joy of restoring something old. They only care about instant gratification
@@toddclyne3493MO o
what about turbos ?
Superchargers are better for gasoline engines. No turbo lag, less heat, less back pressure, less engine compartment crowding. Turbos are just the thing for diesels and aircraft engines though.
It will make a little over 300 horsepower with a supercharger, cost close to $10,000 to build cheaply, and literally came from the factory with a bunch of cracks in the block?
I K Sounds like you've been paying attention. Lol thanks for watching.
talking is not building
Have some patience my friend. This was the first video of many on this build. I was only trying to introduce my new project and what my plans of it are.
Please give us an update
Joe Nelley I can do that. I have a couple videos ready to up load.
Have you seen what these guys are doing with turbos ?
I would think a turbo would work but for my build I was really going for the look of a supercharger. A turbo is not a bad idea just doesn't have the eye candy effect. Thanks for commenting and I hope you follow the build.
old stuff I get it .
A turbo on an old flattie would just make an expensive grenade.
@@kenjsr1 Yes, the exhaust gasses can hardly get out of the block and then guiding them thru a turbo? Maybe someone made it work. Maybe a blower on top and something to suck the exhaust out would be best.
The turbo itself isn't a bad idea. The problem is the flathead can't push the exhaust to run it.
What does he mean in the title by "the ultimate flathead ford"?
GameMaker 3_5 I guess I figured being it will be super charged and pushing almost 300hp. It would be the Ultimate Ford Flathead. Just my opinion. Thanks for watching
I ran some calculations about your idea of the V8 will make 300 HP I performed 300/8 to get 37.5 HP per cylinder I have a lawn mower I plan to use for a go kart I thought how much would I get for turbo/super charging this engine and I think I now have a base estimate.
Sería posible traducir o subtitular al castellano éste video?
OK, I know it's hysterical, I mean "historical"
butt
the flat head V8 is nothing but an exercise in inefficiency and wasting money.
I'm shocked that anybody bothers.
In my opinion there should be one good running example in a car in a museum.
All the rest should be made into cut-away models for tech and engineering schools to teach how NOT to design an engine. Beyond that they should be melted down into something useful.
Always remember, nostalgia is costly
It costs time, money, energy, space, and generally requires additional cost for upkeep and logistics. And then there's the insult of knowing you could have had something better for less.
I know I could have much better for way less. A 29' ford roadster deserve a flathead. I just can't see melting down American automobile history.
@@toddclyne3493 well, on one hand you are preserving some history and
AND exercising some ingenuity and making something unique and it's yours. I'm watching because there is something to learn and it's fun.
I try not to let nostalgia drive my decisions (I can not afford it)
It would be a cold cold mindset to scrap the inefficient things of the past and sometimes that's what you gotta do.
I do appreciate when someone comes along and does what you do.
The flat head has many flaws and is weak in many ways. 300+ HP is so easy with a modern V8. It's an eye opener to realize that you will have maxed out ALL potential with the flat head.
More boost, nitro, water injection, and other techniques can push this design to the breaking point.
be careful
have fun
thanks for sharing
Not everybody is hung up on efficiency. Efficiency isn't fun, and it is "uncool', sort of like Crest Toothpaste and Cod Liver Oil.
It’s a 8 cylinder lawnmower engine.
Pretty much
But a sexy v8 lawnmower 😍
How to polish a turd!