French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

Hello. Continuing the appraisal of my flathead stash, I have a look at a French Flatty. I bought this one from Deeside as a complete unit. There is evidence of water ingress. How bad is the damage?
I show some of the details unique to the French motors and carry out one of the jobs commonly done to free up the breathing on these ex military motors.
Thanks for dropping by Mart's garage. There's always some Early Ford jobs to get my hands dirty on.
Mart.

https://youtu.be/JeJhdqR23iA

Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

Hey Mart, watched your video and you usage of the hand tools to cut out a lot of the port restrictions in the French Flatheads. Now that you've removed most of the restriction, why not use a good carbide "flame" styled bit and an air grinder and finish the work by blending in the cut areas to the rest of the port? Then you can use some sand-paper rolls to complete the effort? I bet you could spend a couple more hours on the ports and really open them up the rest of the way and improve the flow.

Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

BE CAREFUL, though! I've been given to believe that it's pretty easy to "FIND" water in that area on the French flattys. DD
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Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

Why would they have gone to all the trouble to change the casting in the valve ports? Surely if they wanted to restrict flow it would have been a lot easier to just put a smaller carb on it or modify the intake manifold. As military engines they were probably after better torque at low to medium rpm, and better fuel economy. Would those restrictions have resulted in higher velocity and turbulence for more efficient combustion and fuel economy?

Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

Given all the other changes made to add hour meters and other exterior parts I think shrinking the intake ports would be a simple change.
I suspect it was done as much to govern the engine as it was to promote maximum torque off idle.

Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

Maybe. It would be interesting to see the horsepower and torque curves of a French flathead versus a stock 4" Mercury.

Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

Well, now I feel like I got jipped, you held back the secret of getting the rings loose! I want my money back!!! Kidding of coarse Mart, always a good show at Marts garage

Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

Yes. This is very possible. If I were doing this job again I would be more conservative with the amount cut away.

I'm not saying everything I know. Let me just say there are more interesting videos to come.

Mart.

Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

Too bad you already have a "crusty flatty". The French motor is kinda like French bread, crusty. You could call it the "rusty flatty". Always a GR8 watch. Almost as good as the B B C videos. THANKS Mart & cheers !!

Re: French Flatty overview and assessment. Will this one rebuild? Deeside Flatty.
 

I sure look forward to your weekly videos keep them coming!
Regards, Dale