Pros and cons of Lincoln flatheads

[SofaKing]

What are the pros and cons of Lincoln flatheads, parts interchangeability, design issues etc? I don't know anything at all about them. I am just wondering if they offer any advantage?

[Bored&Stroked]

No real ones that I can think of. Big, heavy and few speed parts available . . . so in the end, unless you REALLY want one, probably not worth it (unless you have an original Lincoln car).

[Henry Floored]

Hi, are you referring to the 337" Lincoln V8's or the flathead V12's?

If you are asking about the 337 V8 let me get in here quick before the naysayers shoot it down. The 337 is a large and advanced Ford Flathead engine.

There are features on the 337 that are very good. A few key ones are obviously the ample cubic inches. To go with the added cubes there are improvements to the breathing of the engine to feed those cubes.

The negatives are that they are bigger and heavier than the regular Ford Flathead. They are about the same size as the Caddy flathead V8's but better. Nobody bats an eye about their heft and the Cads were used in some hot rods back in the day.

The Lincoln 337 engine conquered "La Carerra Pan Americana" a couple times powering the cars through a tremendous torture test.

[rotorwrench]

Very little interchangeability between the 337 and other Ford flatheads. Carburetor parts and a few ignition parts and that's about it. They also used a solid tappet version in trucks but only in the very large F7/F8 classes. Damn good truck motor but a bit too heavy for a car unless it was built for it like the big 49-51 Lincoln Cosmos and baby Lincolns. They had a few more inches in the engine compartment than the Mercs to house the big thing. They also used different transmissions, clutches, and rear axles.

[G.M.]

Originally Posted by SofaKing

What are the pros and cons of Lincoln flatheads, parts interchangeability, design issues etc? I don't know anything at all about them. I am just wondering if they offer any advantage?

I'm pretty sure the pistons are the same as the V/8 60, maybe the
rods. There was speed equipment made for them but may be a little
hard to find now. It's one of the smoothest running engines. G.M.

[51 MERC-CT]

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Originally Posted by Henry Floored

The Lincoln 337 engine conquered "La Carerra Pan Americana" a couple times powering the cars through a tremendous torture test.

The cars were not powered by a 337 Flathead but by an OHV engine first used in 1952.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by SofaKing

What are the pros and cons of Lincoln flatheads, parts interchangeability, design issues etc? I don't know anything at all about them. I am just wondering if they offer any advantage?

Did a Google search for "Lincoln 337" and found some information. Here are a couple links I copied:

http://www.route66hotrodhigh.com/BBF-Flathead.html

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/f...s-337bigV8.htm


Here are a couple pictures I took of a little track roadster at TROG West, Pismo Beach, Ca, in October. The 337 engine did not look that big or out of place to me in this roadster.
Also, we saw Austin finned aluminum heads, and multi carb intakes for the 337 on the shelves for sale at H&H Flatheads.

[Dodge]

Another plus is you get to sing "Hot Rod Lincoln" while your driving down the road.
There is no substitute for cubic inches........

[flatheadmurre]

They are about 25% bigger so not huge in that way.
The big issue is that they are built for torq and there´s a lot of rotating mass in them.
If you want to convert one for speed in a light car i figure you have to start cutting down the weight to get a real fun engine out of it.

[mhsprecher]

Interesting thread. It makes you wonder why Ford invested in an engine that was only used for four years?

[V8 Bob]

Originally Posted by mhsprecher

Interesting thread. It makes you wonder why Ford invested in an engine that was only used for four years?

Heavy trucks.

[skidmarks]

We

Originally Posted by 51 MERC-CT

The cars were not powered by a 337 Flathead but by an OHV engine first used in 1952.

They are talking about the 49 to 51 lincoln flathead that was used also in ford trucks f7 and F8.
The 52 ohv was either a 279 or a 317 and looks like a big Y block. Same deal lincoln cars and ford F7 f8 trucks starting in 1952.I had two big trucks with them . A 55 ford tandem t750 and a 61 ford F800.

Or did you mean the winning road race car was a 52 lincoln and they never raced the flathead lincoln?

[Mike51Merc]

I wouldn't run one of them unless it was already under the hood in running condition. Heavy weight (850lbs), scarce parts, no bang-for-buck, etc.

[mhsprecher]

Originally Posted by V8 Bob

Heavy trucks.

Yes, but still, not much use out of that investment. Maybe a short term fix as they were expanding into the larger truck market.

Given all the changes that Ford was going through at that time, it probably made sense, given the in house talent. It's pretty remarkable. Ford, and the other manufacturers, totally revamped their product lines post war. Ford had many more problems, though, and got new management top to bottom during that period.

[SofaKing]

JM35Sedan- Thanks for the links, very informative. I was surprised that they weigh 850Lbs but I did like the torque numbers of 265-275 Ft Lbs. I prefer my power at the low end of the RPM range since that's where I generally operate. Given my very limited flathead/transmission experience, it seems like having power at the top end would be lost during the painfully slow shifting of the original transmissions.

Thanks to everyone for your insight.

[lefty rodan]

About fifteen years ago I met a guy at a car show who was from the Walden, New York area I believe. He was building a monster 337 and had it bored out to 400 c.i. He was going to use chevy pistons and rotating assembly and had a machinist grinding away at the block to get the weight down. I never heard more about it. Lefty Rodan

[51 MERC-CT]

Originally Posted by skidmarks

Or did you mean the winning road race car was a 52 lincoln and they never raced the flathead lincoln?

Exactly.

[38bill]

Just received the new H&H Flatheads catalog and they show heads and intakes for the 337 and V12 engines if anyone is interested.

http://www.flatheads-forever.com/catalog.html

[Henry Floored]

Originally Posted by 51 MERC-CT

The cars were not powered by a 337 Flathead but by an OHV engine first used in 1952.

The 337 Lincolns were raced in '50 and '51. While they didn't win overall they ran very competitively with the new OHV Gm V8's most notably the Olds 88.

There are pictures of these 337 Lincolns getting airborne during the race. They couldn't have been all that bad.

[Fordors]

Airborne? I don't think of that as much of a performance benchmark. We used to do that in a friend's '59 Galaxie with a 292, and five guys in the car.