French flathead

[john greco]

Hi everyone , can any one tell me when machining a French block how much of the governor boss area you take off ?????? What holes do you leave ? Plug ?? Thanks again

[JSeery]

Have you seen photos of them after they are machined? There are photos posted online.

[rotorwrench]

The San Francisco Flathead site has photos of before and after. The only thing I don't know is how they plugged the holes that were left over. When they blasted the machined area to stipple & match the casting then coat it with Glyptal paint, it makes it hard to see what went on there. They also removed some other pads back there trying to mach the OEM Ford shape better. I think they left one pad for their serial number application.

[Krylon32]

When I did mine I first machined off the excess material then I tapped the extra holes for socket head pipe plugs. Then I filled and glazed the area with JB weld, sanded it down and painted it. Looked just like SFFH blocks.

[37fatfender]

Don't over think it to much. I simply used a 4 inch grinder and took the mount off. I made sure the hole bores were smooth and installed small freeze plugs in the hole in the oil pump journal. In the lifter galley I built a small dam with heavy gage SS screen and filled the void with JB Weld. It been there 10 years and 12000 miles.
No leaks ever.

[willowbilly3]

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Kinda off topic but did more of those blocks ever get imported? I vaguely remember the deal with that first batch being warehoused in College Station or some Texas town and a bunch of legal crap holding them up or some bad partnership thing.

[Ronnieroadster]

Originally Posted by willowbilly3

Kinda off topic but did more of those blocks ever get imported? I vaguely remember the deal with that first batch being warehoused in College Station or some Texas town and a bunch of legal crap holding them up or some bad partnership thing.

Quick answer to your question NO but theres still some avalible in the US and used engines can be found in France.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by willowbilly3

Kinda off topic but did more of those blocks ever get imported? I vaguely remember the deal with that first batch being warehoused in College Station or some Texas town and a bunch of legal crap holding them up or some bad partnership thing.

The guy in College Station, Tx that was handling the French flattys is John Skrabanek. I talked with him about two years or so ago and he was still messin' with this old "flat" junk in many forms. I have two numbers for him if you want to contact him. DD

HOME: 979-696-0115

CELL: 979-595-7324

[rotorwrench]

Halibrand seemed to have has some sort of deal with him for a time but I've never heard all of that story. I thought the guys name was Brent Mullins. I think he was a military vehicle or parts guy. I guess what ever deal went south at some point before the majority of stuff went out to California.

Just to add. Joe Fazio purchased all that stuff and moved it to Sacramento after he was looking for military vehicle parts, since he collects that stuff too, and found out that the SUMB engines were for sale. He traded a couple of Sherman tanks and some cash to buy the stuff. Joe is an old Frisco area rodder from way back so he wanted those flathead motors for his SoCal Speed Shop franchise.

[V8COOPMAN]

At the time that all of this "French Flathead" discovery was initially taking place around 2000 or so, Richard LeJuerrne, owner of Halibrand Performance Products had supposedly stumbled across this stuff somewhere abroad. Mark Kirby was briefly brought into the picture by LeJuerrne , at least for consultation and some flow testing on the intake ports. A third un-named party was also involved in this early part of the story. This John Skrabanek guy that I named above seemingly alludes to having quite a bit to do with helping LeJuerrne (in some capacity) to acquire the lot and get it moved States-side. I believe that this John S's place is just across the road from Brent Mullins place in College Station. I know that my wife dealt with Richard Lejuerrne personally by phone at Halibrand in Kansas that first Christmas to obtain one of those beautiful blocks for me as a surprise Santa Clause stocking stuffer. The going price back then was $1500, in cosmoline, in the crate. DD

[Jason in TX]

BEFORE:




AFTER

[Mart]

I cut and ground the one on the French motor in my roadster. I ended up having to use a small amount of epoxy to fill a hole. It's held up for a good few years now. the one above is a very nice tidy job. Personally I'd have took off that big rectangular pad too, but that's just me.

Mart.

[TomT/Williamsburg]

I got one of of the Halibrand block and main caps for $1500. Best decision I calculated make at the time. They even messed up on the shipping and it only cost me an additional hundred to have it shipped. I built it in the American hot rod way and installed it in my old 40 coupe. Drove it for 15+ years until I sold the car a few years ago. But, I have another French block and main caps I intend to build - they are around for a lot less than the present pricing.