Baby Ruth abd the big engine.

[Ol' Ron]

And the story begins......You saw the little 258 engine in a previous postm The owner said the engine reved to hi and he was afraid he might loose the family jewels. as well as the boat, He sat right behinf the trans.
I suggester a bigger displacement and a different prop. So I put together a 284 with all the trimmings, It dynied out at 174 HP. But it couldn't beat the little engine for speed which was in the low 60s . So much for horsepower.

[Mart]

Ron, I put these in the thread using the instructions in my recent post. Mart.

[Ol' Ron]

Boy that sure is big, looks great, Thanks
Gramps

[cas3]

pretty darn cool ron !

[Charlie ny]

Merry Christmas Mr. Haloran.......where might I get a pair of those heads ?
Charlie ny

[KiWinUS]

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They look like Mike Davidson’s “Flatattack” heads from Australia

[Ol' Ron]

Their from Mike Davidson and you can get them from Reds. If they still have them. Even have the spark plugs in the right place,

[Brian]

Thank you Ron, and Merry Christmas!! I agree, those flatattack heads have the plugs in the ideal location. Also, very interested to hear the 'little' motor went faster than the 258. I've been spouting off on here and elsewhere, for so long, about how good the little 221's are; about their propensity to rev.

[40 Deluxe]

I suspect that the intake ports are the final "throttle" in the intake tract, being the limiting factor in airflow. Since the ports will only allow "X" CFM's to pass, it stands to reason that a 'big' engine can't make as much power at high RPM as a 'small' engine.

[Ol' Ron]

I think this debate will go on forever, but the intake and exhaust ports are what the engine breaths theu and the newer modern cylinder heads address this. I guess that's why the LS engines are more powerful than the original SBC engines. However, I think we'll be still learning about thes old flatties long after we're gone. I still have a few new ideas, might work, might not. It's the journey, not the destination.

[Dave/Green Bay]

Ol'Ron: Does the owner have any videos of the boat up on plane running. Very cool. A friend in town have a 6 cylinder Ford flathead boat motor with 3 carbs. They say it came out of a 21 ft hydro. Thanks for posting the pictures. Dave/Green Bay

[Ol' Ron]

No, I wish I did. There must be allot of pics some where as he raced it quite a bit around 20 years ago BVC (Before video cameras)

[Pete]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

I suspect that the intake ports are the final "throttle" in the intake tract, being the limiting factor in airflow.

They can be made to flow as much as a stock SBC port and what with modern ultrasonic gauging systems, there is not much chance of going through into water or air.

[/QUOTE]Since the ports will only allow "X" CFM's to pass, it stands to reason that a 'big' engine can't make as much power at high RPM as a 'small' engine.[/QUOTE]

Oh??

[VeryTangled]

Hi Everyone! This might be a lead... found here... http://woodboats.org/Auction/2012/20012.html

[V8COOPMAN]

A little more flathead race porn. DD

[corvette8n]

Couldn't find the baby Ruth boat but did find a video on a supercharged flathead boat. https://youtu.be/Xpx7ntWPLXs

[Ol' Ron]

Thanks for the pics. Didn't have a camera at the time so there wern't allot of pics taken, Never thought I;d need them. Now My memory isn't so good. Dave was a master craftsman. The quality of his work was better that great. I was impressed by his restored Cord s as well. Wish I knew where those engines went.

[Desoto291Hemi]

Mart,,,thanks for enlarging the pics,,,very helpful !
That allows a lot more detail to be seen.

Tommy

[Mart]

No problem Tommy, Anyone can do it. I showed how in my recent picture posting thread.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=274396

Mart.

[Ol' Ron]

Pete, before I got so involved with Flatheads, I spent a great deal of time porting SBC , Olds and Y block heads. Now your telling me that you can make a flathead port flow as much. At present I plan on filling the water jacket above the port with Devcon liquid steel, si I can open up the entrance to the bowl. I then plan on welding a small plate to the guide to direct the flow awayfrom the rear of the bown. I also plan on using a 1.72 valve. The engine in the Hydro was similar except it didn't have the diflector plate. Which I think was your idea. also JWL made a set of guides which did a similar function. Now after all this the flow has to go out of the valve and make a 145 degre turn into the cylinder. I kinda think, this iz a bigger problem. I also spend allot of time modifying the cylinder heads to provide a better flow. The engines run pretty good, but not a hell of alot better than stock.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Ol' Ron

Pete, before I got so involved with Flatheads, I spent a great deal of time porting SBC , Olds and Y block heads. Now your telling me that you can make a flathead port flow as much. At present I plan on filling the water jacket above the port with Devcon liquid steel, si I can open up the entrance to the bowl. I then plan on welding a small plate to the guide to direct the flow awayfrom the rear of the bown. I also plan on using a 1.72 valve. The engine in the Hydro was similar except it didn't have the diflector plate. Which I think was your idea. also JWL made a set of guides which did a similar function. Now after all this the flow has to go out of the valve and make a 145 degre turn into the cylinder. I kinda think, this iz a bigger problem. I also spend allot of time modifying the cylinder heads to provide a better flow. The engines run pretty good, but not a hell of alot better than stock.

"Now your telling me that you can make a flathead port flow as much."

Yes, I said, "THE PORT", not the whole path to the cylinder. That is not going to happen. Also, I said a "STOCK" SBC port.

[JWL]

That just ain;t going to happen. Even the smallest stock 265 Chevy heads flow over 170 CFM @ 28 inches. A fully modified Flathead can sometimes make 150 CFM @ 28. Often the Flatheads are in water to get there and require hours of rework to get them liquid tight again. Oh, and another thing, lift is not an issue. A 1.760 valve can actually be COMPLETELY REMOVED with no increase in flow after around .475.

[Pete]

"That just ain't going to happen."

It has already happened.

"Oh, and another thing, lift is not an issue. A 1.760 valve can actually be COMPLETELY REMOVED with no increase in flow after around .475."

That was true at one time but that has gone out the window also. (Quite awhile ago in fact)

[Ol' Ron]

I'll have to waite awhile. I just finished the rear suspension linkage. Now i have to test it for proper alignment through it full range of travel. Have to install the driveshaft as the clearance in the tunnel is abit tight.. I also borrowed a 284 engine from George to run some run test this spring.
Mery Christmas and a happy New year
Remember: It's the journey, not the destination

[tubman]

Originally Posted by Pete

"That just ain't going to happen."

It has already happened.

"Oh, and another thing, lift is not an issue. A 1.760 valve can actually be COMPLETELY REMOVED with no increase in flow after around .475."

That was true at one time but that has gone out the window also. (Quite awhile ago in fact)

Just where can the rest of us find out about all of these fantastic advances in flathead technology?

I'm sure I, for one would find it fascinating!

[cmbrucew]

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I am going to sit back and listen, we have three of the best talking life times of knowledge here.
Bruce

[Pete]

Originally Posted by tubman

Just where can the rest of us find out about all of these fantastic advances in flathead technology?

I'm sure I, for one would find it fascinating!

Fascinating? Maybe. Useful? Maybe to a couple guys on here..
Much of what I am doing has already been posted including pictures but few seem to care about or remember that. People that spend 35K for an engine don't like to reveal why it goes fast so I don't tell much.

The HAMB is run by the same group that runs this forum so some of my stuff is posted there.

To answer your first question, forums discussing World of Outlaws engines and forums discussing NASCAR engines are VERY useful for ideas to apply to flathead Ford engines. They don't tell all but what has been published has been very helpful. You just have to learn to take a basic principle that they use and re-think it to a flathead.

[tubman]

"Obfuscation" : The obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by tubman

"Obfuscation" : The obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language.

What it boils down to is, you do not have "need to know" clearance.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by Pete

What it boils down to is, you do not have "need to know" clearance.

Sounds just like something Adam would say! DD

[Brian]

"People that spend 35K for an engine don't like to reveal why it goes fast so I don't tell much."

[cas3]

"obfuscation" thanks for the education! now i understand politicians

[old Tom]

I wonder if Tom Beatty,Jazzy Nelson,and or the Bean Bandits would had to had "need to know" clearance to understand how to make the FlatHead go fast

[estout81]

I like five dollar words out of a fifty cent dictionary.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by old Tom

I wonder if Tom Beatty,Jazzy Nelson,and or the Bean Bandits would had to had "need to know" clearance to understand how to make the FlatHead go fast

I knew Tom Beatty and Joaquin Arnett (head Bean Bandit) very well. I also talked to Jim Nelson several times. I picked up a lot of useful info from all 3. They all knew they were leaving a lot of ppower on the table but all had to weigh cost against going faster. If you are winning, it is hard to justify investing more money to win by a larger margin.