Any experts on flathead ford out there,got flat head v8,been told blows out head gasket in one place,old owner 52 years seem quiet knowlagble says got 2 thou clearence in one spot in one head,tells me a piece of abstos glued to block with loctite etc works,i thinking get block decked,both heads been recon,and as new,not been running for 20 years,but well looked after,.any ideas!
skin1235,
Dec 2, 2:12am
2 thou is not the cause of gasket blow on a flathead, get the correct gaskets and the 2 thou is well within warpage specs and decking the heads will give you issues - its a flathead - where are the valves and where do they 'lift' to - straight up into the now lowered head I'd be checking for block warp or block loss, especially in the area of this 2 thou, and shaving the block theres still a few 19 stud blocks around, and even more of the 21 stud blocks - rework another block for her
petermcg,
Dec 2, 2:25am
Put a straight edge on the head and the block and see if there is any large discrepencies, a slight warp in the head is OK but if theres a track burnt through there could be. It sound unusual to me that the head gasget blows in the same spot every time. Have a sound around to see if there is any very thin metal there as the head may already have been planed,,a thin bit of casting could cause the problem when hot, It may be that it just happens with the old copper gasket so if you can get a thicker one would probably help.
neville48,
Dec 2, 3:15am
Any cracks between valves or from water jacket to valve seat, this is common and it will be a 24 stud motor,[ if its a 21 or 19 it was put in there after production. If its a 19 stud its worth more out than in so sell it and get a 24 stud.]
pfemstn,
Dec 2, 12:46pm
check head studs quite common for them to stretch or pull out of the block, sometimes they have been broken off and threadnot repaired properly
mckade2,
Dec 2, 1:43pm
Heads been recon,old fella reckens its the block,original number moter for truck so wont be changing moter,good to get sum ideas tho.Trying to get sorted for rangoria car show,truck not seen daylight for 20 yrs,was his daily work truck! moter the only issue.
mckade2,
Dec 2, 1:45pm
Thinking block shave would be the ticket!
chebry,
Dec 2, 8:48pm
Overheating is a standard flathead Ford feature but get the blocki decked if warped and new headgaskets it should clatter along for another 20 years
bellky,
Dec 2, 9:00pm
You probly know this but 2 thousanths is .0508mm or half of one tenth of one millimetre.
The feeler guage is so thin you need to be careful not to tear it in half :)
pfemstn,
Dec 2, 10:28pm
got lots of heads if you need one!
jmma,
Dec 2, 10:34pm
Get that out with the bastard file aye (o:
the-lada-dude,
Dec 2, 10:39pm
a lot of those flat heads have too much gasket area, we used to cut hunks out with a punch and die, or a chassis punch, that fixed the bastards ! cause if you have less gasket area then the torque loading goes up on whats left
skin1235,
Dec 2, 11:49pm
I have to ask, is this a water pump engine, or is it thermo syphon
chebry,
Dec 2, 11:52pm
Flat head henrys had 2 waterpumps one for each bank.
mckade2,
Dec 3, 12:30am
how do download photos on this thread
mckade2,
Dec 3, 12:35am
[how much for headquote=pfemstn]got lots of heads if you need one![/quote]
pfemstn,
Dec 3, 9:11pm
$40.00 plus freght
skin1235,
Dec 3, 10:59pm
they did make v8's prior to '35 though, begs the question - how many 19 stud engines have you seen, ( cos the 19 stud engines did not have water pumps at all),most guys have never seen one, 21 studs a few, and maybe a few more 24 stud
neville48,
Dec 4, 11:49pm
yes to the prior question, ford had V8's from 1932, chevrolet had a OHV one in 1917, please give me a link to the 19 stud V8, presuming we are talking Ford here. I have seen 17, 21 and 24 stud but not 19 so I look forward to the info, cheers.
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