Searching for History on Race Flathead from So Cal

[NealinCA]

My dad and I recently aquired a pile of old Ford parts.





In the load was this engine that had been sitting like this for 30-40 years...



I noticed the large intake ports and valves right away. We figured out that it was .030 over 3-5/16" bore by 4-1/8" stroke (289 cu in).

Once we got the load home, I started gathering the loose parts together...





The ports on the intake manifold matched the block, so figured those went together...





Kinda the same deal with the heads. They were flycut for valve clearance...



to match the 1-3/4" intake valves...



I got things cleaned up and found some more interesting bits...





Probabbly the most distinguishable part is the welded bellhousing...



it's a pretty clean job as seen from the inside. Looks like the block and replacement bell were milled or ground for a tight fit-up.




The intake ports measure a pretty consistent 1-1/2" all the way down...



I made a quick pattern to compare to a block with stock ports, which measure 1-1/4" accross...



The tops of the guides were machined down to match the bowls a little better...



They did break through on one port, evidenced by the brass...



Exhaust ports are all opened up to 1-9/16 from the 1-3/8" stock...







The cam is stamped Potvin and I measured .402 actual lift on both intake and exhaust valves, with .013-.014 valve clearance. This doesn't seem to jive with the specs I have seen for a Potvin 400 or 425...seems to be right in between? Any ideas on the cam grind?

As near as we can determine, the previous owner aquired this engine as is. I'd like to find out any history I can. Does anyone recognize the port work? Or the bellhousing repair? A friend said there was an article in a magazine about welding the bellhousing back on a flathead with extensive port work. Ring any bells?

Any info wpould be appreciated.

Thanks,

Neal

[flatjack9]

What a neat find. Someone did an awful lot of work. My notes on Potvin cams say that .015 was used as a checking clearance. That would put the lift pretty darn close to .400 with the clearamces you measured. Wonder if the vehicle was involved in a crash that broke the bellhousing and with all the work done it was definetly worth putting it back together.

[NealinCA]

Originally Posted by flatjack9

Wonder if the vehicle was involved in a crash that broke the bellhousing and with all the work done it was definetly worth putting it back together.

I was thinkin a clutch explosion...

[Ol' Ron]

There was a fellow by the name of "Bing" that owned the dragstrips back in the 50's and early 60's. From So, Cal.

[Brendan]

nice score!

[40 Deluxe]

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The bellhousing repair vaguely rings a bell. One of the first "Hot Rod" magazines I bought had an article on saving a flathead block that had a broken bellhousing due to a clutch explosion. This was in 1959, as I recall. All I remember is that they were grinding and welding on the block. The article had pictures but I can''t remember the specifics. Maybe someone with a Hot Rod collection can research this.

[fourtydlx]

Clutch explosion,or dropped.?

[Bruce Compton, Canada]

Neal : A friend of mine living in Mount Dora Florida may have info for you. He was really well conncted in the hot rod scene in California in the late 40s and arly 50s. Sorry , I don't have his phone number but his name is Bob Stephens and he lives on Dora Drive. Good luck : Bruce

[NealinCA]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

The bellhousing repair vaguely rings a bell. One of the first "Hot Rod" magazines I bought had an article on saving a flathead block that had a broken bellhousing due to a clutch explosion. This was in 1959, as I recall. All I remember is that they were grinding and welding on the block. The article had pictures but I can''t remember the specifics. Maybe someone with a Hot Rod collection can research this.

I have some 1959 and 1960 issues of Hot Rod but not a complete set.

I checked Feb, Mar, June, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov 1959 and Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, June, July, Aug, Oct 1960 issues and no luck.

If someone has the other issues and could check, that would be great. I'd love to find out more about this engine.

Thanks,

Neal

[flatjack9]

Found an article in April 58 issue about mounting a scattershield on a flathead. Not what you were looking for. Didn't see anything in 59 or 60 on a quick page through.

[OldDad]

Fascinating stuff there. Particularly fascinating to me, as I have a very similar block, ported and relieved with big valves, that someone cut the bell housing off of! It's been a real heart breaker to me since my father and I acquired it in about 1970. Haven't been able to just toss it, but never thought it feasible to weld another on. The story we had was that the bell housing had been cut off to make it into a boat engine for a cracker box (racing boat of the day). The old man always told me to forget about trying to fix it. I'd post some pictures of it, but it's stored elsewhere, and I'm in the middle of moving. My father said whoever did the port and relieve job on the block knew what he was doing -- that it was virtually identical to the jobs he did at Blair's, and that he may have done it himself. There's a picture of one of his in Tex Smith's/Tom Medley's "Hot Rod History, Vol I" with the caption "this one was done by Old Dad Taylor in 1948" for what it's worth. But he always told me they'd toss any block they went through on in porting.

Anyway, that's a spectacular trove of parts you've got there, and we're all green with envy!

[Mart]

I remember the article, vaguely, (it was me that mentioned it to Neal) and can picture in my mind'e eye an image of a complete flathead block on a massive lathe. I did have some Hot Rod Magazines from 59 and the 60's so it may have been in one of those. I only had a couple from 59, Oct and Dec, Neal has checked Oct, If someone can confirm that Dec 59 has been checked, we can at least rule 59 out.

Mart.

[flatjack9]

Nothing in Dec of 59. Sure is fun to page through those old magazines though.

[flatjack9]

Found it. July 1961 page34.

[Fordors]

Where's my Time Machine? The article says $30 in labor for the repair, bring your own junk block to use for the salvage pieces. Cook Machine was one of the premier shops for trick machine work, along with speed equipment they manufactured. Their quick change rear was marketed with the name Cyclone.

[NealinCA]

Originally Posted by flatjack9

Found it. July 1961 page34.

Thanks so much for the lead. I just got a copy of that issue...





It does not appear to be my engine in the article, but I would say that Cook's Machine did the repair work on my block. The repair looks identical.

Pretty amazing what they did in that big old lathe...

Neal

[JWL]

Very interesting photos and discussion and old articles. We did a "bell housing job" in the back alley after a flywheel explosion in 1957. No lathe, no milling machine, no special tools. Only hard work and skill.(not my skill) Blew the flywheel on Sunday and had the engine back in the dragster for the next weekend. Those were the days!! Young, foolish, incredible work ethic and passion for drag racing. No wonder I am burned out.

[OldDad]

Hell, I'd pay $35 to fix my block!

[Bruce Lancaster]

Stuff that needed to happen somehow happened, no matter what resources were or weren't available. Anybody able to post the little cartoon in Hop Up of Barney Navarro at Bonneville in 1953 or so??
He holed a piston and needed to have the engine back in action the next day for another crack at the record. Cartoon shows the scene, piston atop a little camping stove, Barney hunched over it with torch...
On a far lesser level, my friends and I all made do with sets of tools that wouldn't have filled a shoebox, somehow improvising from whatever bits were around the garage, including Dad's ancient coffee can full of rusty screws and random bolts. Somehow, incompatible linkages always got linked and random mismatched Ford bits were persuaded to go together with practically no tech, no money, and only dim beginner's understanding of how cars worked.

[flatheadernie]

Bruce, memories, my first build I ported , relieved , redomed the heads (.080), fly cut for the valves----- with a montgomery ward 1/4" drill LOL . 1954 was a very good year!!!! ernie n tx