However, the French weighs in at about 30 pounds heavier than an old block, and extensive port work is necessary. Now, the intake gasket is positioned on block and the shape of the intake ports in the gasket is transferred to the block with a scriber. The stock 1.5-inch valve is to the left. You can just see the valves in the plug holes so you know that the clearances are tight. The Chevy's crank diameter is only 0.060-inch smaller than the flathead's. If you dont have Dykem, permanent marker works well. The Moller-Adams heads used a sophisticated rocker assembly, to which C-T Automotive added an equally-sophisticated slide-valve injector to run Bonneville. In addition, it has no fuel pump; an electric pump will be used instead. On the following pages, we'll take a look at some of the stuff available for the flathead and also cover the lineage, interchangeability, and secrets of this proud forebear of modern hot rodding. A professional engine builder such as H&H has well used air-powered tools, but electric drills (corded or cordless) and Dremel tools work fi ne. Tony Baron runs 10 degrees of base timing and 23 degrees max at full advance. Simple by today's high-tech standards, during its performance reign from the late '30s through the mid '50s, the flathead was unsurpassed for building go-fast power on the cheap. Written by Greg Kolasa and Posted with Permission of CarTechBooks. $600.00* ad $30 for new B head gasket, Cylinder Head Gaskets for Four Port Riley & Cragar cylinder heads. Required caps for installing Model A crankshaft in T block. 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. Flatheads need high compression because they don't breathe. With no rocker arms, a flathead's total lift must be generated entirely by the cam lobe. Try to achieve a smooth trumpet mouth shape that blends into the passageway. Joe Gemsa was one of them. According to Baron Racing, the limiting factor is not piston-to-head interference, nor even valvespring coil-bind-it is running out of cam bearing clearance for the lobes. Normally we'd title this section "Cylinder Heads," but on a flathead, the heads-having neither ports nor valves-only form the combustion-chamber roof. Not Yet Reviewed. With its four, gear-driven camshafts located above the over-head valves, the Davies OHV flathead conversion could easily win the Buck Rodgers Award for most futuristic appearing. Head accepts long reach RC-12-YC or. Also, dont be too aggressive and cut through the port divider. It is always great to see historic engines or cars doing what they were supposed to do, but you cant count out the value of having a bevy of those super-rare and insanely-beautiful artifacts of a time-gone-by in one place and available for viewing. Tom Roberts' new two-piece crossflow utilizes the latest in airflow technology. Looking down through the intakes, you can see the beautiful job of porting. The completed engine for Ray Evernhams Woody Lee T started on H&Hs test stand with the first turn of the key. This causes lots of turbulence in the chamber and better fuel burn. 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 . Honing the block of this high-performance flathead follows essentially the same procedure described previously, but in this case, the tolerances are much tighter. Riley Two-Port Company Cylinder heads for four-cylinder 1928-1934 Fords Charlie Yapp 570-A Rock Road East Dundee, IL 60118 (847) 428-6626 Roadrunner Engineering Supercharger kits, and Joe Abbin's book "Blown Flathead", which is loaded with information on both normally-aspirated and blown flatheads. This stress relieving is important when building a high-performance engine. Also check out Speedway Engineering's offerings. Over head valve and flat head type tube headers. Consequently, Mike went through his stash until he found a near-perfect block. While OHV V-8 builders are used to porting the detachable cylinder heads, with a flathead, you actually port the block. The three-piece oil ring is installed by gently winding on the three components. That changed eventually, but a few rodders never lost their devotion to 'bangers. It is also produced with a 9/16 inch thick deck. Looking at the exhaust ports, youll notice the Alexander design still makes the exhaust ports do double-duty between two cylinders. Ground with a 114-degree LSA and 112-degree intake centerline, it has 0.395-inch lift and 234 degrees duration at 0.050. With modern flatheads routinely putting out 250-300 lb-ft of torque, the original trannies obviously aren't up to the job. With some exotic tuning, it has been known to produce 700 hp, and not just for short bursts. At around the same time, old-time hot rods gave way to modern musclecars and street machines. Mooneyes also offers throttle-bodies that resemble Strombergs. ", Among this herd of sheep, a few original hot rods were brought out of retirement, complete with gennie flatheads as the powerplant. All rights reserved. Dressed with up to four carbs and that unique flathead sound accentuated by glasspacks, the old codgers were suddenly the rage again. Those valve covers would look right at home on the Indianapolis 500 speedway and doesn't look dated next to that Aurora IRL engine in the photo on the right! Download Instructions here. This meant that the two inner cylinders would need to share a port while the outer bores would enjoy their own. French blocks are hybrids, essentially a '49-'53 8BA in terms of deck height and front-end, but with the integral cast bellhousing and corresponding oil pan as found on the '38 1/2-'48 59A. Log style intake manifold for Two Stromberg 97's. The clearance between the head and the block is only the thickness of the head gasket, therefore, pistons must not come up out of the cylinder bores more than .030,,,,,,,more than this and there could be piston to head contactThis must be fixed during engine assembly by checking and machining the piston tops down to the correct clearance. Reserve these early blocks for collector cars due to their inferior head-retention and bearing design; speed equipment availability for them is also severely limited. The passages are oddly shaped, with some right-angled turns, with all sorts of nasty casting flaws. A dial gauge was used to check the exact size and roundness of the bore, from top to bottom. This encouraged the old-time flathead parts guys (or their sons) to start repopping the old parts. The stock flathead oiling system is marginal for performance use. The benefits alone are enough for some, but the French comes at a price, both monetary and aesthetic. Current custodian Evernham plans to race it again. This measurement is critical for a high performance engine. Dont forget to match this measurement to the inlet on the exhaust manifold. 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. 1932 The 4 Cylinder Ford. And in a sense, the flathead also begot HOT ROD Magazine, for this publication probably wouldn't exist if not for the flathead speed industry and the advertising dollars it spawned. Flathead Six In response to the post looking for Speed Parts for a Flathead Six. The assembly process is much the same as previously described. The chart also notes that the gap is tied to application: naturally aspirated, supercharged, and so on. (Photo by Tim Sutton). Edelbrock, Wilcap (Sharp), and Offenhauser continue to market a wide variety of intakes. One flathead builder, Dave Tatom, offers a unique line of custom grinds with wide 114-degree LSA for naturally aspirated engines, and 116-118 LSAs for blown motors. By the 1960s, Joe worked part-time for Carroll Shelby, both during the day and at night after regular working hours, building performance heads and engines for the Shelby Cobras that placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at . A four-cylinder with an overhead conversion could be built to make cubic inches and horsepower that the V-8s had a hard time matching. While the first modifications to the flathead were not in the interest of performance, those very same components then helped to power flatheads well past what their creators had ever envisioned. Between the two cylinder bores, you can just make out the exhaust passage through the three holes. $ 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 aim of the honing process is a nice crosshatch finish that performs superbly. It is easy to see that one of the ports (top) has very little extra metal to grind, so you must compromise. Several ways of improving the performance through modifications to the gearbox and transmission train were . The '39-'48 flatheads used a direct camshaft-driven front-mount distributor; '49-'53 engines use a gear-driven, vertical-mount distributor on the right-front of the engine. As mentioned, there were two things to remember about this era EVERYONE was trying something new, and heat was the flatheads main enemy! 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. Heads arrive complete and ready to install. 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. Its up to you whether to drill and tap these holes. Magnuson offers an Eaton blower kit, while Joe Abbin of Roadrunner Engineering has Weiand 142 and 174 supercharger setups. Copper sandwich type head gasket, 14 Grade 8, 7/16 head studs, nuts and hard steel washers,Distributor drive shaft. 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