The Ford Barn - View Single Post

Sawbones · 02-25-2022, 03:15 PM

Long read, settle in. Nothing really important...

About 10 years ago, my late Father bought a Flathead. It might have been a Merc but I'm not sure. We opened it up and there were cracks all over on the pan rails. He sold off the block and internals, probably at a loss, and that was the end of it. He never stopped talking about how they sounded though and I guess it stuck with me.

About a year ago for some reason I decided I wanted to build a Flathead. I guess my motivation was remembrance of my Father and I wanted to own that sound. I'd never heard one in person and videos just weren't cutting it. I found a dismantled 8BA within striking distance and bought it off the pictures alone. A Friend of mine lives not far from where it was so he hauled it to my place for me. When it arrived, things were missing and things were swapped out but the block seemed good visually. I sent the block to Jensens Engine Technologies in Nescopeck PA for hot tanking, shot peen and mag flux. A few weeks later he called and said it was good to go.

The next shop was Exton Automotive Machining in Canadensis PA. Mr Exton would often have engines dynoed at Jensens so when I told him that Jensen did the mag flux, he took it as good to go. A lot of work and $1800 later, Mr. Exton calls me and he sounds pretty hot. He found a crack in the lifter valley when going over his own work and was all but calling BS on me having it mag fluxed at Jensen. I showed him receipts and told him to call Jensen. Eventually he was convinced that this engine was given the thumbs up by Jensen but he was pretty stunned about it, as was I. Jensen is a big shop around here. The crack was right on a coolant passage. Neither of us wanted to scrap it at this point. He did a thing with some Dev Con epoxy and instructed me to get Pioneer ceramic block sealant and "You'd better never overheat this F-kin thing!". As for Jensen, when I called him it was like pulling teeth for him to admit he might have missed something even after Mr. Exton had talked to him about it. Heck with it. I won't be back there.

Just about Valentines day last year, I found another 8BA and it was reasonably complete. It was locked solid and when I pulled the heads there were huge pits in #5 and #6. The heads went to Mr. Exton and he made them nice for me.

The last shop involved was Snyders Auto Machine Shop out in Northumberland. The engine that Exton did all the work on came to me bored .060" over. Mr. Exton bored it to .080" over and I heard from a bunch of people to get the crank balanced so I did it. $250 ish was pretty cheap piece of mind.

I think it was about 5 months after I sent all the internals of the engine, the front pulley and the flywheel to Snyder when he finally called and said everything was ready for pickup. Sending a stromboli to your shop really seems to help with getting your stuff back a little quicker! Anyway I started assembling. Then tearing down and assembling again. Then once more tearing down and back together but finally I had gotten everything right with the help of that red factory service manual, research, and advice from people who knew about these things. This engine was a completely different ballgame from anything I had done before. Once I got on top of how it was built though, it was the nicest thing to work on and I really enjoyed myself. I'd go to the shed where I was building a few hours here and there and it was like my personal little Palace of Zen.

Now to just two weeks ago. I had it complete and it was looking great. I made up a little wiring harness to make the bench run fairly trouble free. I primed the oil pump and I'd get 60PSI off the starter for oil pressure. A very good Friend of mine wanted to be there for the first fire up so I had to wait until yesterday. We lifted the rear end of the engine and jammed a tire underneath it. We put some cargo straps to the desk that I built the engine on to keep it from barrel rolling. We were ready!

About half an hour went until I finally had good spark. Turns out I wasn't as thorough on the points as I thought. It barked and would run for a few seconds and die but it sounded awesome! Then another hour or so until I realized my fuel supply wasn't set up right. It would start up when I primed the carb but starve for fuel pretty quick. I also advanced the distributor a little bit.

We put the fuel tank up on a step ladder and eliminated the electric pump. Gravity feed direct to the mechanical pump.

Choke, full throttle, it lit up without much effort and I was finally able to keep it running. It warmed up to 180-190 on both sides and held right there. 45 PSI when idling on the oil pressure. After I finally had it idling nice, I thought about Dad, kinda choked up a little bit. It sounds just as sweet as he talked about. Now I know. I don't have much idea what I'm going to do with this engine as I have nothing to put it in and I dumped WAY too much money into it but it's worth every penny to finally know the real magic behind the sound.

The Dev Con seems to have held as well. No water in the oil.

I still have the other block. I was thinking about building a pressure test kit. If .060" would clean up the bores, I have a good set of pistons for it and enough other parts to build a shortblock.

After that, dual straight pipes, or dual glasspacks? I don't know. Maybe even actual mufflers but of course dual pipes. Only way to go. Wouldn't mind a Fordor sedan.

02-25-2022, 03:15 PM	#1
Sawbones Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2022 Posts: 28	Why I built a Flathead Long read, settle in. Nothing really important... About 10 years ago, my late Father bought a Flathead. It might have been a Merc but I'm not sure. We opened it up and there were cracks all over on the pan rails. He sold off the block and internals, probably at a loss, and that was the end of it. He never stopped talking about how they sounded though and I guess it stuck with me. About a year ago for some reason I decided I wanted to build a Flathead. I guess my motivation was remembrance of my Father and I wanted to own that sound. I'd never heard one in person and videos just weren't cutting it. I found a dismantled 8BA within striking distance and bought it off the pictures alone. A Friend of mine lives not far from where it was so he hauled it to my place for me. When it arrived, things were missing and things were swapped out but the block seemed good visually. I sent the block to Jensens Engine Technologies in Nescopeck PA for hot tanking, shot peen and mag flux. A few weeks later he called and said it was good to go. The next shop was Exton Automotive Machining in Canadensis PA. Mr Exton would often have engines dynoed at Jensens so when I told him that Jensen did the mag flux, he took it as good to go. A lot of work and $1800 later, Mr. Exton calls me and he sounds pretty hot. He found a crack in the lifter valley when going over his own work and was all but calling BS on me having it mag fluxed at Jensen. I showed him receipts and told him to call Jensen. Eventually he was convinced that this engine was given the thumbs up by Jensen but he was pretty stunned about it, as was I. Jensen is a big shop around here. The crack was right on a coolant passage. Neither of us wanted to scrap it at this point. He did a thing with some Dev Con epoxy and instructed me to get Pioneer ceramic block sealant and "You'd better never overheat this F-kin thing!". As for Jensen, when I called him it was like pulling teeth for him to admit he might have missed something even after Mr. Exton had talked to him about it. Heck with it. I won't be back there. Just about Valentines day last year, I found another 8BA and it was reasonably complete. It was locked solid and when I pulled the heads there were huge pits in #5 and #6. The heads went to Mr. Exton and he made them nice for me. The last shop involved was Snyders Auto Machine Shop out in Northumberland. The engine that Exton did all the work on came to me bored .060" over. Mr. Exton bored it to .080" over and I heard from a bunch of people to get the crank balanced so I did it. $250 ish was pretty cheap piece of mind. I think it was about 5 months after I sent all the internals of the engine, the front pulley and the flywheel to Snyder when he finally called and said everything was ready for pickup. Sending a stromboli to your shop really seems to help with getting your stuff back a little quicker! Anyway I started assembling. Then tearing down and assembling again. Then once more tearing down and back together but finally I had gotten everything right with the help of that red factory service manual, research, and advice from people who knew about these things. This engine was a completely different ballgame from anything I had done before. Once I got on top of how it was built though, it was the nicest thing to work on and I really enjoyed myself. I'd go to the shed where I was building a few hours here and there and it was like my personal little Palace of Zen. Now to just two weeks ago. I had it complete and it was looking great. I made up a little wiring harness to make the bench run fairly trouble free. I primed the oil pump and I'd get 60PSI off the starter for oil pressure. A very good Friend of mine wanted to be there for the first fire up so I had to wait until yesterday. We lifted the rear end of the engine and jammed a tire underneath it. We put some cargo straps to the desk that I built the engine on to keep it from barrel rolling. We were ready! About half an hour went until I finally had good spark. Turns out I wasn't as thorough on the points as I thought. It barked and would run for a few seconds and die but it sounded awesome! Then another hour or so until I realized my fuel supply wasn't set up right. It would start up when I primed the carb but starve for fuel pretty quick. I also advanced the distributor a little bit. We put the fuel tank up on a step ladder and eliminated the electric pump. Gravity feed direct to the mechanical pump. Choke, full throttle, it lit up without much effort and I was finally able to keep it running. It warmed up to 180-190 on both sides and held right there. 45 PSI when idling on the oil pressure. After I finally had it idling nice, I thought about Dad, kinda choked up a little bit. It sounds just as sweet as he talked about. Now I know. I don't have much idea what I'm going to do with this engine as I have nothing to put it in and I dumped WAY too much money into it but it's worth every penny to finally know the real magic behind the sound. The Dev Con seems to have held as well. No water in the oil. I still have the other block. I was thinking about building a pressure test kit. If .060" would clean up the bores, I have a good set of pistons for it and enough other parts to build a shortblock. After that, dual straight pipes, or dual glasspacks? I don't know. Maybe even actual mufflers but of course dual pipes. Only way to go. Wouldn't mind a Fordor sedan.