Friend bought his first flathead what do you think

[4tford]

Now don't cheat and scroll down the pics, follow the story.

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Bob Cox in Calgary Alberta Canada and I quote from his email
""Hi Bill,
I have a running '54 meteor 255 125hp flathead engine, stock aluminum heads and a 3 speed w o/d transmission for sale.
Calgary
Interested?""

I replied back no but a friend was looking for his first flathead. He also sent this pic.



After a few more emails with Mr. Bob Cox saying the intake had been taken off and motor was very clean inside and came with a New clutch. That the motor removed from the car, the intake was removed, it was clean so the engine was painted, started and was to be reinstalled in the car. The car was sold, the engine was surplus, i sold my truck and it was surplus again. yada yada yada

A deal was struck and my friend and I made a 16 hour trip to bring it home. Now what do you all think. Pretty nice motor in his pic? We took his word as a gentleman rodder that it was a good motor and pretty much ready to drop in. and it did look good so we did not inspect it before the long return drive home. Next day we put it on a stand to check out before install.

Now scroll down to see what we got. Sure looks like it was cleaned and painted on the outside to hide the rest. Would any of you call this a running motor?? The clutch was used not new as claimed (disc is new)
Pan rail is cracked. MR. Cox denies knowing anything about the condition of the motor. He has pics of the motor I sent him and refuses any refund whatsoever. I will not say he is a dishonest seller as that would be libelous so will let you make your own conclusion to that.

[FLA48]

I would guess he knew what he had and dressed it up so he could get top doller for a low dollar engine. Some people are just plain crooks and will do anything for a fast buck.

[ford38v8]

Bill, I think Mr Cox was careful in describing his engine. From your pictures, it does indeed look like the intake valley is very clean, you say it does have a new clutch disc, he likely had no knowledge of the cracked pan rail, and as it could certainly have run on 3 cylinders to qualify the claim that it had been started, I'd say Mr Cox is probably at least as honest as any car salesman you've ever run across.
Im sure you've heard advice to the effect that if an engine is claimed to run but is not mounted on a test stand to prove that claim, then buy it for the core value. "You pays your money and you takes your chances" ...Caveat Emptor, sorry.

[dinokruzordinance]

I know ur post is about people not being honest. When it comes to cars and motors you have to check it out rather then accept some stranger at their word. Abraham Lincoln sais Trust.but verify. Sorry about ur friends overpriced purchase. Maybe he ll rebuild it and itll be much nicer. i guess theseller pulled one over on the associated car sale as well. Karma does cone back around. He ll get his in the end. And id publish my displeasure with "our" business deal in every forum he visits. The ghost of past deeds haunting him would be the.least u could do for that guy.

[4tford]

pic of the valley, We found pieces of bras wire brush as well as nylon from a paint brush. Most of the "gunk" was washed down to the pan with solvent. What oil there is appears to be baked on from excessive heat.

[J Franklin]

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It's a core till it is on the bench and partially disassembled for a cursory look see, then it is a parts donor. Then after a careful inspection it is a candidate for cleaning & reassembly, or rebuilding. Even then a surprise can manifest itself. How many centuries elapsed since it's first utterance have gone by with mankind hearing and echoing the phrase CAVEAT EMPTOR? Was the seller a mechanic? If so I would still press for at least a token refund amount.
Sorry about it tho.

Found in a Temple in Hurculon III CAVEAT EMPTOR III

[52merc]

bill im surprise that you never checked it out however does it still have the 4" crank??? trev

[J Franklin]

I was reminded from my last post a good case in point. I bought a '34 big truck with a nice painted engine and a history of not much else. the price was right so I bought it figuring it came to rest for a reason. I found a basically overhauled engine probably valve job & rings, new water pumps, new clutch disk, good TO bearing, new radiator that was shelf worn and will see a shop before installed. Was I lucky!? well not so fast, the story I deduced was that it was a good ole farm truck being returned to it's duties hauling prune boxes full of fruit. Just get her fired up and run it in a bit. Diner bell is Ringing maybe get a sandwich and cup o' coffee real quick you know. Well I saw all the good stuff but also the scored and deformed cylinder walls ( forgot the water?) the reason is lost. The manufacturers logos were unmarked on the new clutch disk so it never saw friction. Well since it had to go to the shop might as well do it all right, new babbit. & etc. better do the oil pump also. You see you just never know why it stopped, without inspection, or what it will entail in the future.

[Charlie ny]

4t,
Cox is a cock....anybody who thinks guy did not know what he was selling
is not thinking with his brain. That motor was prettied up by the seller to scam the
buyer....then when he's found out he turns into a real chunk of racoon s--t !!
Charlie ny

[4tford]

Hey Trev, I had two minor deals with this guy before and he seemed like an honorable fellow so we made the horrible mistake of taking his word.. . I now very much wish I had taped the phone conversations. I am 67 years old and just under 1000 miles of travel in one day just about did me in.

[mrtexas]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Bill, I think Mr Cox was careful in describing his engine. From your pictures, it does indeed look like the intake valley is very clean, you say it does have a new clutch disc, he likely had no knowledge of the cracked pan rail, and as it could certainly have run on 3 cylinders to qualify the claim that it had been started, I'd say Mr Cox is probably at least as honest as any car salesman you've ever run across.
Im sure you've heard advice to the effect that if an engine is claimed to run but is not mounted on a test stand to prove that claim, then buy it for the core value. "You pays your money and you takes your chances" ...Caveat Emptor, sorry.

With this lie " Mr. Bob Cox saying the intake had been taken off and motor was very clean inside" how can you give the guy the benefit of the doubt?

[39portlander]

I had a motor earlier this year that had those pan rail crack's. All the parts internaly good and it's now my Demo/training aid for the neighborhood kids

Turn a negative into a positive. Scott

[Lawson Cox]

That guy gives the Cox name a slap in the face. No relation of mine.

[Fe26]

I'm sorry to hear your friend was 'stung' on his first Flathead purchase, hope it doesn't put him off.

T. Franklin, I like your description of the process a motor goes through in evaluation.

[39portlander]

It takes a lot of work and patience. The reality is after checking a dozen or so Flathead block's you may get a keeper. There out there

[FHFD]

Meant to deceive..plain and simple.
Hopefully it will check out good for a rebuildable core.
Oh, and forget about any cash coming back your way, it was a deception to receive optimum dollars, he was fine with those actions, he'll be fine with keeping all of the cash.
Move on, and good luck.

[296 V8]

Some of the worst old ford stuff iv got had nice shinny paint …. Very sorry to see this

[4tford]

No chance of a rebuild, the block is scrap.

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by mrtexas

With this lie " Mr. Bob Cox saying the intake had been taken off and motor was very clean inside" how can you give the guy the benefit of the doubt?

MrTexas, you totally missed the point of my post. The only credit I gave Mr Cox was that he was careful to say the right things about the motor.
You're too young to remember the Presidential race bumper sticker asking "would you buy a used car from this man?" Ryan wouldn't like it if I spelled out this tricky man's name.

[klicker]

Sure is a pretty motor, nice detail! Thanks for the warning! Sorry for the bad deal, that sucks!

I think a couple years ago (before I joined FB) I might have bought something that looked that good.