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05-03-2020, 07:10 AM | #1 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 8
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Flatheads,nature,time and effort
I will begin by saying I am in no way a flathead expert.Not even half smart on them.
I ran across a guy who has 30 or more Ford/Mercury flatheads laying around his farmstead.Most are complete with transmissions.Some are from large trucks.There is also a large quantity of heads and iron intakes laying about. These all have been laying on the ground and exposed to the Minnesota weather for years. I believe I can get them for scrap weight. My question is this. Is it worth the time(2 hours one way to the property) and effort to gather all the parts up? I would prefer not to haul back everything just to scrap it. Open to opinions. |
05-03-2020, 07:15 AM | #2 |
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Adding some kind of lousy pics
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05-03-2020, 07:21 AM | #3 |
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Location: Charlotte NC KiWi-L100 available here
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Absolutely worth the effort to at least get the engines for scrap value if you have the place to store them & time to “process “ them.
Have fun |
05-03-2020, 08:21 AM | #4 |
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,329
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
If you're young and ambitious? Yep, go get 'em. As for me, I'll open a cold one and watch.
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05-03-2020, 08:34 AM | #5 |
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Location: Pittsford NY. USA
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
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05-03-2020, 08:39 AM | #6 | |
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
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Quote:
Not buying them and cracking a cold one is starting to sound like a pretty good option. |
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05-03-2020, 08:44 AM | #7 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Lyman,ME.
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
“ I believe I can get them for scrap weight.“.....if it was me, and I’m cleaning up the property for the owner, I would want them very inexpensive so if there was nothing usable, I wouldn’t be doing for free or cost me money to clean his property.....hope this makes sense.......makes me wonder why someone would pull and save 30 engine/trannys....Mark
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I'm thinkin' about crankin' My ragged ol' truck up and haulin' myself into town. Billy Joe Shaver |
05-03-2020, 09:10 AM | #8 | |
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Join Date: May 2010
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Quote:
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05-03-2020, 10:13 AM | #9 |
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Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Sweden
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
No Junkman would dig metal out of the ground for free...if it was a nice pile you can load with a crane scrapvalue after cost for trucking is what owner would get....
So i would think with the amount of work involved in this project atleast for free comes to mind... |
05-03-2020, 05:07 PM | #10 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Lyman,ME.
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
No...if your statement “getting it for scrape weight”....means your paying scrap price.....then selling for scrap price....you get nothing for your labor, time and fuel....if the owner is getting his property cleaned up then you ought to have the chance to get something for your labor, time fuel....and yes, I’d take them home just to see what kind of mess I could get myself into....LOL....keep us posted on what you find.....Mark
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I'm thinkin' about crankin' My ragged ol' truck up and haulin' myself into town. Billy Joe Shaver |
05-03-2020, 05:34 PM | #11 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 8
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
I figure the HAS to be enough good stuff to cover my expenses.
My wife says I wear rose colored glasses. Been wrong before,it's a adventure. |
05-03-2020, 05:39 PM | #12 |
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Location: Forney, Tex.
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Remember, there might be good crankshafts in some of them, maybe even Mercs... Just sayin'.
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05-03-2020, 05:48 PM | #13 |
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys
Posts: 10,329
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Chances of this are slim to none, and in my experience, 3 3/4 cranks are hard to even give away. I have heard the same from many others. Just a couple of good blocks would make the whole thing worthwhile (for you young whippersnappers). Us old guys already have a spare or two.
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05-03-2020, 11:41 PM | #14 |
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Join Date: May 2010
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Hi; You've see my recent posts on 'Barn cleanouts' It has to be FREE, even to hope to make fuel costs. the sorting and cleanup can take days. I just hauled the last load from barn#2 and scheduled barn #3 a week from now. meanwhile my own jobs are sitting. The fun is a 'find'. It cost $200 usd to ship a pair of iron heads to Finland, and $22 to ship the same package in the USA USPS. Newc
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05-04-2020, 04:59 PM | #15 | |
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Location: Wisconsin, USA
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Quote:
There's no way I do that much digging for around .02˘ a pound.
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05-04-2020, 05:03 PM | #16 |
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Location: Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Being next door in Wisconsin what i see is a lot of work with no payout. If they had been indoors, a maybe of some usable parts. Scrap weight only I.M.O. where they lay.
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05-04-2020, 07:05 PM | #17 |
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Location: so cal, placerville, vegas
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
What do you have to work with? Big truck, enough for all in one trip? And, some sort of 'pick-um-up & load 'em'? If I was working alone, with a pickup, and not much else, I'd say forget it. I'm 20+ years older than you, and I'll sit with the other guys and watch.
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05-04-2020, 07:10 PM | #18 |
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Location: u-rah-rah-Wisconsin
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
I've seen this movie. The least demaged surfaces are exposed everything else is embedded in dirt and grass. Nothing good happens to metal. Let it finish its return to the earth.
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05-04-2020, 10:43 PM | #19 |
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Like so many others, I have torched off my last connecting rod and beaten out my last piston from a rust encrusted, dirt entombed outdoor flathead V8. It is miserable work. Last year I bought an excellent 8ba block and a std merc crank. Had the crank machined and was still under the price of a wooden bench I made for some summerfolk out of reclaimed wood. It's taken a lot of years to find that just buying something known good is often better than 30 in the bush. I still love the adventure of a find, but it needs to be better these days.
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Owner/Operator of 'Jailbar Ranch' on the side of Mt. Pickett. Current stable consists of 1946 1/2 ton pickup turned woodie wagon with FH V8, 1947 Tonner Pickup (red) mostly stock with exception of a cummins 6at turbo diesel, 1946 Tonner Pickup (green) with 226 cu in 6 cyl flathead, 1979 Toyota landcruiser wagon, completely encased in 1947 Ford Jailbar sheet metal. Ok, cornbinder rear fenders..... 'Rusty ol' floorboards, hot on their feet' (Alan Jackson) |
05-05-2020, 09:34 AM | #20 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Coral Springs FL
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Re: Flatheads,nature,time and effort
Hate to say it but, even if those were FREE it's not worth the effort or time.
Sometimes you gotta just let things rust in place. "Rust to dust". |
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