The Ford Barn - View Single Post - For those with machining experience. Sleeve fitting??

Bored&Stroked · 11-23-2019, 11:30 AM

RE: 'Oh flatheads are expensive to build'

It all depends on what level of performance upgrades, quality/source for parts and are you doing basically stock rebuilds, or trying to get 175 HP with all the "go fast goodies" on the engine. For a 100% stock rebuild - the costs are similar for the machine work (other than the top-end), the parts are another story (especially performance parts).

Many flathead parts cost 2 - 3 times as much as the same/similar part of more modern engines. Here is a simple example:

SCAT Flathead 304 Cubic Inch Rotating Assembly: $1971 (cast crank, h-beam rods, ross pistons, rings, bearings, etc).

SCAT SBC 383 Rotating Assembly: 9000 Series cast crank, forged rods, forged pistons, bearings, etc.. $925

These are very comparable kits - thousand dollars more for a flathead . . .

Cam Kit:

Isky Flathead Cam Kit - includes cam, lifters and springs: $651

Isky SBC Cam Kit: Cam and lifters = $244, springs = $100 - total $344

If you go to a big name builder and get a flathead built, assembled - turnkey, you'll spend three times the money you would for a similar level of build in a SBC.

Now - for those of us on the Barn that know how to build stuff, have squirreled away parts for 40 years, etc -- we can do it for a lot cheaper than the $10-12,000 places like H&H like to charge (and that is a typical 276 CI build - nothing extravagant) . . . but a lot of guys building hotrods don't know how to build an engine and I question how good a lot of the 'popular' guys are anyway . . .

Again - same basic stuff, twice as much.

11-23-2019, 11:30 AM	#16
Bored&Stroked Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Central Ohio Posts: 5,064	Re: For those with machining experience. Sleeve fitting?? RE: 'Oh flatheads are expensive to build' It all depends on what level of performance upgrades, quality/source for parts and are you doing basically stock rebuilds, or trying to get 175 HP with all the "go fast goodies" on the engine. For a 100% stock rebuild - the costs are similar for the machine work (other than the top-end), the parts are another story (especially performance parts). Many flathead parts cost 2 - 3 times as much as the same/similar part of more modern engines. Here is a simple example: SCAT Flathead 304 Cubic Inch Rotating Assembly: $1971 (cast crank, h-beam rods, ross pistons, rings, bearings, etc). SCAT SBC 383 Rotating Assembly: 9000 Series cast crank, forged rods, forged pistons, bearings, etc.. $925 These are very comparable kits - thousand dollars more for a flathead . . . Cam Kit: Isky Flathead Cam Kit - includes cam, lifters and springs: $651 Isky SBC Cam Kit: Cam and lifters = $244, springs = $100 - total $344 If you go to a big name builder and get a flathead built, assembled - turnkey, you'll spend three times the money you would for a similar level of build in a SBC. Now - for those of us on the Barn that know how to build stuff, have squirreled away parts for 40 years, etc -- we can do it for a lot cheaper than the $10-12,000 places like H&H like to charge (and that is a typical 276 CI build - nothing extravagant) . . . but a lot of guys building hotrods don't know how to build an engine and I question how good a lot of the 'popular' guys are anyway . . . Again - same basic stuff, twice as much.