Why the flathead?

[Merc Cruzer]

In 1965 I was in college and needed a car. A guy I knew had a 50' Ford for sale for $15 (the junk yard had offered him $12) so I bought it. My roommate had a new Corvair and all winter he had a hard time starting it, but the 50' Ford started right up. Eventually it was traded in for a newer car, but I never forgot about it. Then in 2009, I decided I wanted a 53' Merc Convertible with a Flathead. This time I had to add three 0's to the price but it was well worth it. I have learned so much about the car (and myself) and even rebuilt the engine myself. If there are ever any issues in my life a short drive makes them all go away. I don't think any other engine or car could ever do that for me. To say I am lucky is an understatement. I can't imagine not being able to go down into the garage and just sit in her. Spring is coming this weekend (mid 70's) so it is time to take her out and let her breath and listen to her tell me how much fun it is to be on the open road.

[prpmmp]

I was born in 1954 and around 1970 got into a argument with a friend that there was no such thing as a Flathead V8!! He said that a guy at the gas station he worked had a 1940 with a flathead V8!! I told him he was full of s*$t!! Now 45 years later I have a 8BA! So if I ever see him I can tell him I was WRONG and stupid!! Pete

[mhsprecher]

I have been trying to figure out how I became interested in old cars and old Fords in particular? Hard to pin down exactly, but a variety of influences. There were a few old cars in my hometown and I always liked them. My barber restored Model As, so he was a big influence, my best friend's father bought an old Reo to restore and then there were the AMT model kits. They were all old Fords. Why was that? I have been a Ford guy for a long time, even if my first driver was a 56 Chevy.

I had most of the AMT kits, new and old cars, but 34 Ford pickup, 39/40 Ford sedan and coupe, 36 Ford, 32 Ford, Model A.

I had my first Model A in high school, but sold it. My second go round, I first bought a Model A. Then I thought I needed a newer V8 to go with it. Now I have two Model As and two flathead V8s. All purchased in the last four years. Go figure? Enjoying it, though.

[Seth Swoboda]

Because there is nothing else in my mind.

[sidevalve8ba]

The first flathead I owned was a '49 Ford. I added dual exhaust and steel-pack mufflers. The radio didn't work in the car but that didn't matter to me. The burble of those lightly muffled twin pipes was all the music I needed.

[carguybill]

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When I was 15 I was building a racing hydroplane boat powered by a V8-60 and when I turned 16 in 1953 driving became more important so the hydroplane project was sold and I bought a '31 coupe and a '46 coupe. I chopped and channeled the '31 and installed the frame X member, engine, and hydrolic brakes from the '46. The project was a labor of love guided by articles from Hot Rod & Hop Up and the love of that car along with the sound made me a flathead V-8 fan for life.

[Fordestes]

I bought my 46 half ton ford to convert to a 40 I was about 13years old I paid 25 hard earned dollars for it and tagged it for another 4.00 found out the 40 swap was beyond my capabilities (and still is) I soaked the old ford 6 for many weeks with a.t.f we pulled it towards town with a ford tractor and she broke loose I already had the ign. wire ready to clip on if it broke loose. we dragged it toward town to
the nearest gas station and put a dollars worth of regular in the leaking fuel tank and hooked up the batt. and dragged it back to the house behind an 8 N ford I choked the daylights out of her and she started up and sounded good . I was disappointed the old 6 was in my mind would have to be knocking like a jackass kickin a tin barn or burned up beyond repair before my dad would allow me to own anything with a v-8 power he was just that way, I went around about 5 counties and collected up and bought a pickup load of 8ba parts, I came in late from my parts finding and my dad looked through the pile of scraps and said to me What did you have to pay for all this? I said 25.00, he kind of smiled and shook his head , he came out later and started looking over the 2 engine blocks and said to me where is it cracked at? I said why do you think it is cracked , he said Son I always told you a flathead ford is always cracked! I salvaged one good block and a couple of well worn cranks .I worked for days drilling and hammering the old pistons and valves out of the block , spent another 20.00 to have the crank turned, the machine shop never said a word about the sludge traps in the crank pins needing to be cleaned. I gun brushed the crank and use some .25 a gallon gasoline to clean the parts and honed the cyls. and lapped the valves and put in the best used pistons I could find with knurled skirts , piston knurling was another .50 each but Pa said it had to be done, put it all together and pulled the old six out of the way and found out the trans would not fit the bell , so I went to a pickup salvage and bought a couple of used v8 transmissions for about 10.00 and took them apart and made 1 good out of the three, all the time I would look out of the barn and see pa smile and shake his head . that 25.00 pickup was about to make me give up, Pa said welcome to the real world of maintaining a vehicle , YOU TEAR IT UP YOU FIX IT !! All this took about another year to do by myself and a little savy from Pa and a lot of late nights I worked and didn't get to town much, Stayed out of trouble that way (Pa would say) The saturday finally came and the Mish mash of ford v8 parts came alive, Next chore was to put brakes on ( so Pa would let me drive it to town,wrong again ) I could drive a tractor to town though, after another two months of wrangling brake parts I finally got it so she would stop (well almost stop any way I had to spend another 3.00 for a master cyl. kit to repair the pitted out master cyl. got that done) THEN I WAS READY? NOT YET? Pa said now if you take it out of the pasture I will take to town and sell it for scrap.( Why?) he said you don't have a licencse .Ok/ I pittled with the old truck for another few weeks and on a cold February morn. my mom took me to get a license another 2.50 , Ok now can I? nope! what now? you got to have insurance so my folks added me to their insurance , Wow after darn near 3 years I finally got to take that bucket of rust to town and show off my dime store spray can paint job, I drove the old truck for about a week and for some reason I lost a lot of oil pressure, It didn't knock at least to me it didn't. So Pa said pull the pan an see what you left loose .I found the problem the crankshaft looked as if it were turned too far on one crank pin, I just knew it was ok when I checked the bearing clearance with a piece of brass shim stock, all upset and complaining about the crank Pa said it ain't no ones fault but yours I got a hard earned lesson in responsibility, Dang how growing up was getting expensive, So I pulled the engine and took the spare crank down and had it turned , and I was getting madder by the mile I was going to let that machinist have a piece of my mind, I took the damaged crank in and said what did you do this for, He said politely you either have have a leaking fuel pump or you didn't clean the crank, I told him how I cleaned the crank, He said you didn't do it right. So what else was I supposed to do? and he pointed to the plugs in the crank and explained to me what to do in order to properly clean a crankshaft, he said ford and mercs. have the clean outs
So I got her back together and have had the same engine since about 1972,I still have piles of ford and merc. engines parts that I most likely will never need cause you can't Kill a flathead Ford, Oh yea, before Pa died a couple of years ago he told me He was afraid I would get out hotrodding around and tangle that old truck up in the weeds out on a county red dirt road, cause you always want to go faster, until you either hurt somebody or yourself, So I sold some of my heard and still have that high priced hard earned (ugly truck) ford v8 after 44 years!
I was bored today and don't remember ever putting all the frustrations a vehicle can cause a no nothing kid to go through wanting to learn what kind of magic goes on inside an engine, I learned the hard way but I won't forget it , Thanks to someone taking time out and showing me the way it works.
Fordestes

[flatheadv8]

For me it is the great sound wrapped in a good looking body. I was raised around old cars and took the opportunity to help my Dad in the garage whenever I could. He has a 41 1/2ton pickup and a 49 Tudor (he had a 50 Tudor when I was young). He has/had other old cars as well, but there was just something about the sound of that flathead. I remember, every spring, waking them up from their long winters nap. The sound of the flathead cranking over and then barking to life. Man...it still gets my juices flowing just thinking about it! The crackle of the dual exhaust....awesome! I too thought the torque reaction was cool. I would show my friends, as I took them for rides, how when I blipped the throttle at a stop light you could fell the cab of the truck rock with the torque of the engine. Ohh..the power!! Or at least it sounded and felt like it LOL! So many great memories of the Flathead and special times with my Dad. Typing this brings tears to my eyes. I was so excited to get my own Flathead last June. I could hardly contain myself until I could show my Dad and go for a ride with him in my first old flathead. Smiling together as we listened to that sweet music!

[corvette8n]

For me it was 1964 and my Dad bought me a '50 shoebox Ford for $5.00 whole dollars, I drove it home, it smoked a little, found some parts of the rings when I changed the oil, ended up rebuilding motor. I was amazed at how simple the flathead was, I could almost take it apart with my jack knife. I think it is the coolest looking motor especially when dressed up.

[Shu47]

The sound, the look, the simplicity and also a flathead is the first engine Dad and I torn down and worked on.

[RalphM]

I bought a 1945 Ford pickup in 1977, total basket case, went overseas for a few years, but when I got back and settled in I started the restoration. One of the first things I did was rebuild the flatty. Had a lot of help from an older gentleman with a 42 Ford. That's when I fell in love with the flathead, and now I don't turn any of them down.

[38 Ford Guy]

Because they are cool. Plus I'd been told they are unreliable and cannot keep up with a small block on a long haul. How I love proving them wrong!

[41panelmark]

Originally Posted by Fordestes

I bought my 46 half ton ford to convert to a 40 I was about 13years old I paid 25 hard earned dollars for it and tagged it for another 4.00 found out the 40 swap was beyond my capabilities (and still is) I soaked the old ford 6 for many weeks with a.t.f we pulled it towards town with a ford tractor and she broke loose I already had the ign. wire ready to clip on if it broke loose. we dragged it toward town to
the nearest gas station and put a dollars worth of regular in the leaking fuel tank and hooked up the batt. and dragged it back to the house behind an 8 N ford I choked the daylights out of her and she started up and sounded good . I was disappointed the old 6 was in my mind would have to be knocking like a jackass kickin a tin barn or burned up beyond repair before my dad would allow me to own anything with a v-8 power he was just that way, I went around about 5 counties and collected up and bought a pickup load of 8ba parts, I came in late from my parts finding and my dad looked through the pile of scraps and said to me What did you have to pay for all this? I said 25.00, he kind of smiled and shook his head , he came out later and started looking over the 2 engine blocks and said to me where is it cracked at? I said why do you think it is cracked , he said Son I always told you a flathead ford is always cracked! I salvaged one good block and a couple of well worn cranks .I worked for days drilling and hammering the old pistons and valves out of the block , spent another 20.00 to have the crank turned, the machine shop never said a word about the sludge traps in the crank pins needing to be cleaned. I gun brushed the crank and use some .25 a gallon gasoline to clean the parts and honed the cyls. and lapped the valves and put in the best used pistons I could find with knurled skirts , piston knurling was another .50 each but Pa said it had to be done, put it all together and pulled the old six out of the way and found out the trans would not fit the bell , so I went to a pickup salvage and bought a couple of used v8 transmissions for about 10.00 and took them apart and made 1 good out of the three, all the time I would look out of the barn and see pa smile and shake his head . that 25.00 pickup was about to make me give up, Pa said welcome to the real world of maintaining a vehicle , YOU TEAR IT UP YOU FIX IT !! All this took about another year to do by myself and a little savy from Pa and a lot of late nights I worked and didn't get to town much, Stayed out of trouble that way (Pa would say) The saturday finally came and the Mish mash of ford v8 parts came alive, Next chore was to put brakes on ( so Pa would let me drive it to town,wrong again ) I could drive a tractor to town though, after another two months of wrangling brake parts I finally got it so she would stop (well almost stop any way I had to spend another 3.00 for a master cyl. kit to repair the pitted out master cyl. got that done) THEN I WAS READY? NOT YET? Pa said now if you take it out of the pasture I will take to town and sell it for scrap.( Why?) he said you don't have a licencse .Ok/ I pittled with the old truck for another few weeks and on a cold February morn. my mom took me to get a license another 2.50 , Ok now can I? nope! what now? you got to have insurance so my folks added me to their insurance , Wow after darn near 3 years I finally got to take that bucket of rust to town and show off my dime store spray can paint job, I drove the old truck for about a week and for some reason I lost a lot of oil pressure, It didn't knock at least to me it didn't. So Pa said pull the pan an see what you left loose .I found the problem the crankshaft looked as if it were turned too far on one crank pin, I just knew it was ok when I checked the bearing clearance with a piece of brass shim stock, all upset and complaining about the crank Pa said it ain't no ones fault but yours I got a hard earned lesson in responsibility, Dang how growing up was getting expensive, So I pulled the engine and took the spare crank down and had it turned , and I was getting madder by the mile I was going to let that machinist have a piece of my mind, I took the damaged crank in and said what did you do this for, He said politely you either have have a leaking fuel pump or you didn't clean the crank, I told him how I cleaned the crank, He said you didn't do it right. So what else was I supposed to do? and he pointed to the plugs in the crank and explained to me what to do in order to properly clean a crankshaft, he said ford and mercs. have the clean outs
So I got her back together and have had the same engine since about 1972,I still have piles of ford and merc. engines parts that I most likely will never need cause you can't Kill a flathead Ford, Oh yea, before Pa died a couple of years ago he told me He was afraid I would get out hotrodding around and tangle that old truck up in the weeds out on a county red dirt road, cause you always want to go faster, until you either hurt somebody or yourself, So I sold some of my heard and still have that high priced hard earned (ugly truck) ford v8 after 44 years!
I was bored today and don't remember ever putting all the frustrations a vehicle can cause a no nothing kid to go through wanting to learn what kind of magic goes on inside an engine, I learned the hard way but I won't forget it , Thanks to someone taking time out and showing me the way it works.
Fordestes

Do you still have that old truck? Photos?

[41panelmark]

Bought my first one (37 fordor) for $600 in the 80's, guy said if I can get it started and off the property it was mine. Un-restored and a bit battered I drove this to work for a summer and I had the bug. One of my older friends at the time told me that it had 2-60 air conditioning, bet all of you know that one. Just got worse from there. Nostalgia is the right word.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by Seth Swoboda

Because there is nothing else in my mind.

What Seth said.... Nothing more, nothing less. I have 3 good runners and 3 in the works. I should think about the world's problems or Donald Trump or Hilary or that Korean Kid who has his finger on the red button, but I think about 59ab's and 8 ba's. I sleep much better with thoughts of that velvet smooth idle.....

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Originally Posted by Brian

When I was a kid, I wasn't into cars. My best mate however, was, big time, into early American cars. When we were 12, he bought a 36 Ford. Raved about it! Me, I couldn't see what what the big deal was. What a funny looking old car I thought.
He subsequently got it going, and we went for an illegal [no licences at 12 years of age] little blat around the block. That engine sounded so cool! doog doog doog was this sound coming outta the exhaust, give it a rev and the whole car rocked [torque reaction]. I'd never experienced anything like it. T'was very exciting!! I knew then I had to have one.
Bought a 35 when I was 16 [of age to get a licence]. Had to keep it hidden from my old man, who hates Fords- bodgies cars. To this day he has never ridden in it, or any Ford I've ever owned. I've still got that old 35, done a million miles in it, never ever get sick of driving it, it is the best, most fun, reliable, coolest car I've ever owned.
Maybe not the coolest, but the car I love the most!! Long live the mighty flathead.

LOL Bryan when I turned 17 I announced to my old man that I was going to buy a MK 1 Zephyr. his reply was "you're not going to buy one of those, it's a bodgies car and you'll kill yourself in it...so I settled for a 3B Hillman minx which at least looked like an american car albeit a "stumpy" little Pommy car.

I first noticed v8s when I was about 5 or 6 six and saw a 46/48 sedan and remembered being impressed with the sloping back, I asked my grandfather what sort of car it was and he just said "it's a V8". I liked the look of coupes best and bought a 47 businessman when I was about 20 ( nearly bought one with a 283 Chev in it but put buying a coupe on hold because my every day car lunched its auto so I had to get that fixed). I bought it for the looks, not the engine. I was lucky enough to befriend a hot rodder who happened to be a mechanic (when a water pump started spitting at me) He taught a novice like me who knew nothing about mechanics how to work on cars and that's when I fell in love with flatheads. The noststalgia, the look of all those "prickles" on the heads and the sound does it for me. Now Muscle car guys that would never own a flathead because as far as they are concerned it wouldn't "pull a sick sailor off your sister", always ask me if its still got the flathead in it...they still respect them, suppose because it is the original hot rod engine.

GB

[41LjH]

I started working at 15 as a curb hop for $4.00 a shift, a free meal, and tips. If I couldn’t catch a ride I walked about a mile home in the dark because the shift ended about midnight. Then got up and went to school the next day. I saved my money and bought a 1950 Ford with a blown engine. Dad pulled me home on the end of a chain.
Saved my money again and swapped the blown 8BA for a 53 Merc and a gear head was born.
Later a that year buddy and I were “riding around” and I spied a 40 Ford pickup in a pig pen with a bed full of trash piled over the top. I tried to buy it but was not able to. In 2010 I believe a friend found that ruck and bough it, but that's another story. I kept looking for a 40 pickup.
Then life got in the way. I severed about 5 years, graduated form college on the GI bill, got married, had two great kids and a career.
2009. Finally found a decent? Ford pickup. It was advertised as a 40, but when I got there to pick it up (500 miles from home) it was a 41.
Three years later I finished it and drive it often.
Unless we continue the tradition the flame will die .
As A friend's father said "If Ford flat heads had 5 main bearings we would be driving them today".

[Robert/Texas]

I bought my first car, a '37 Fordor humpback in 1950. I raced everybody in my high school with it and always won. My first new car was a red '53 Ford convertible which I didn't keep long as it was too slow to suit me. My favorite though was a '34 roadster full fendered hot rod which I owned until shortly after I got out of the army. I sure wish I had kept it. I never bought another new Ford but currently own a '34 roadster and '37 Fordor humpback. Guess I'll never grow up.

[Ol' Ron]

The engine in my truck right now, is a very unusual build for me and probably many others. At one time it was a 276ci Max #1, HC heads etc. Something I took in back in the day. I had it in storage with No Spark pluds in it and the cylinders got pretty rusty up here in Vermont. I needed an emgine for the truck so I bought a set of Egge 3 5/16 + .020" pistons. They come with Metric narrow rings and are very light. I installed a stock EAB cam , Milled EAB heads a Delco dist and 2GC carb and the results ware beyoond my wildest dreams. Looking forward to checking the fuel mileage, That's why I love Flatheads, you never know what you have, and the exhaust note is still great.

[Bassman/NZ]

Just never occurred to me to use anything other than a flattie.