1946 Ford Flathead V8. My newest toy.

[rayjd2]

Been wanting one of these for a while. Finally found one at a local tire shop, it was in a 1946 1-ton in the back of the junkyard. So I went and looked at it, it hadn't run in 15 years or more, but it was mostly all there, looked ok. We talked for a bit, haggled for a bit, I paid him $600 and left my phone number, he agreed to pull it and help me load it. I drove it home the next week. Wanted the truck, but it was too far gone.

And that's where the pictures begin. In the back of my truck, junkyard fresh in the driveway.









































Only took about 3 days, 6 hours a day to tear it apart. Valves are taking longer, obviously space in that area is an issue.

[steelbuttplate]

I think the fan belt is still good I will send you PB blaster for Christmas. Thats the 1st civilian production year post WW2 ? Seems like I read just commercial vehicles made until '48.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I can smell that engine from here, familiar smell, old non detergent oil sludge. That's actually the Mercury V8, Ford got it in 1946 with a boost to 100hp as well as various other improvement's over the older design. This would be the pattern for all the flathead Ford V8's until the end in 1953. That motor looks pretty good, I know what bad looks like, this isn't it. You got off easy with this one, it had head bolts rather than studs, anyone who has ever had to bust loose a head stuck on studs knows exactly what I mean, it has a real distributor, much easier than trying to deal with the old style that was located directly on the camshaft. The old style block had the bell housing half cast into the back of the block, late style flush mounts like a modern engine. Good price also, here in NY a rotating flatty of this type would bring at least a grand, especially with all the goodies still bolted on. Carb core, distributor, fuel pump stand, that's $120-$130 minimum on eBay, I know because I have sold all of them multiple times. Ford made a big displacement flatty V8 that was used in trucks, big limo's and the Lincoln after the V12 was retired , it's 337 CID, and I got one. I haven't pulled it yet, but when I do that engine starts at $1500 as is.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I see some OD fuel cans in the background, German cans, or Chinese? Last month I went all the way out to Colman's surplus in Pennsylvania to grab up ten of them, the real German ones, not the Chinese crap. I painted them rustoleum safety red to comply with the DOT requirement's and keep them off my ass when I have them filled. Good cans, got tired of the plastic shit always cracking, caps missing, I need them on hand for the winter generator fuel. The large mouth makes pouring into a big funnel easy and fast, an important consideration when fueling a generator at 1am when the snow is coming down and it's 15 out with a nice wind.

[rayjd2]

I see some OD fuel cans in the background, German cans, or Chinese? Last month I went all the way out to Colman's surplus in Pennsylvania to grab up ten of them, the real German ones, not the Chinese crap. I painted them rustoleum safety red to comply with the DOT requirement's and keep them off my ass when I have them filled. Good cans, got tired of the plastic shit always cracking, caps missing, I need them on hand for the winter generator fuel. The large mouth makes pouring into a big funnel easy and fast, an important consideration when fueling a generator at 1am when the snow is coming down and it's 15 out with a nice wind.

Probably Chinese, my dad got those from deustch optik (?)

EDIT: Motor is currently in a plastic drum under water with a few gallons of Oil Eater soap mixed in for good measure. Trying to soften the grease and gunk a bit.

[Lotema]

When you said Flathead in the other thread, I was totally thinking of a Harley Davidson Flathead!

[rayjd2]

When you said Flathead in the other thread, I was totally thinking of a Harley Davidson Flathead!

Not yet! Maybe someday... I'd rather have a knucklehead though.

[Junk Yard Dog]

hard to tell from the company's web page pics, the Wavian cans are made in Latvia for NATO, I have not seen any made in Poland but it's possible. German cans have the large mouth opening and are marked Bund. You could soak it in evaporust to strip off all the corrosion, but that would take at least a grand worth of the liquid.

[awalker1829]

Looks like the flatheads we have in our Ford Transit Buses. I think Ford used the small ones in the light duty buses.

[Rongo]

[Junk Yard Dog]

Looks like the flatheads we have in our Ford Transit Buses. I think Ford used the small ones in the light duty buses.

Probably didn't use the compact V8, that was only for light duty applications or the very first Ford V8 cars 1932-34. 60 hp version probably.

[rayjd2]

Looks like the flatheads we have in our Ford Transit Buses. I think Ford used the small ones in the light duty buses.

Probably didn't use the compact V8, that was only for light duty applications or the very first Ford V8 cars 1932-34. 60 hp version probably.

I thought the little 60hp V8 was only really used in Europe? Hmm

[Junk Yard Dog]

No, it was first developed to fit the 1932 Ford, the first V8 Ford car, the '32 was little more than a warmed up Model A, and the engine was made to fit the available space under the hood. Later on cars got larger and could fit a wider engine. These smaller V8's were the easiest option to fit a V8 into a Model A body, and a lot of early speed freaks would do this. They were not underpowered for the time when roads were improving but were still just a horse track outside of most city's and speed was 40 MPH. The A's engine in stock form develops 40 HP on paper, Henry played around with how they measured the engines power, he had to keep it low for the European countries that taxed according to HP. 60hp was a big increase and the 4 cyl was retained for a couple of years as the base engine to facilitate sales outside the USA. The Model B 4 cyl engine was an improved A engine, it's stronger crankshaft for instance is sought after by guys modifying A engines. The initial Ford V8's had some teething problems with overheating due to the crossflow exhaust design, this never fully went away but later engines such as yours were much improved over the early designs.

[rayjd2]

No, it was first developed to fit the 1932 Ford, the first V8 Ford car, the '32 was little more than a warmed up Model A, and the engine was made to fit the available space under the hood. Later on cars got larger and could fit a wider engine. These smaller V8's were the easiest option to fit a V8 into a Model A body, and a lot of early speed freaks would do this. They were not underpowered for the time when roads were improving but were still just a horse track outside of most city's and speed was 40 MPH. The A's engine in stock form develops 40 HP on paper, Henry played around with how they measured the engines power, he had to keep it low for the European countries that taxed according to HP. 60hp was a big increase and the 4 cyl was retained for a couple of years as the base engine to facilitate sales outside the USA. The Model B 4 cyl engine was an improved A engine, it's stronger crankshaft for instance is sought after by guys modifying A engines. The initial Ford V8's had some teething problems with overheating due to the crossflow exhaust design, this never fully went away but later engines such as yours were much improved over the early designs.

Right.. I'm talking about the 136 cubic inch (60 horse) version. http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flat ... 8-60hp.htm

Looks like the flatheads we have in our Ford Transit Buses. I think Ford used the small ones in the light duty buses.

He mentioned the "small ones"... I'm just trying to make sure we're all on the same page, that's all.

I thought it'd be more likely they used the 221 (65-85 horse http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flat ... 5early.htm) or 239 (100 horse http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flat ... 100mid.htm ) cubic inch versions in a bus. They'd be smaller than the 337 and bigger than the 136, which seems TOO small for that kind of work.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Outside of the premium car market like Cadillac, Packard, Duesenberg, cars of that nature, people weren't thinking huge displacement and Hp in a car or truck engine. It was all about the gearing, not the engine, speed was not an option for most due to lack of good roads so it wouldn't have been productive to try and sell 1930's farmers on a fast ride that drank gas by the barrel and would suck you back into the seat on take off. That and the whole lack of money thing during the depression years. Trucks and buss's back then had to be fuel economical and if they were slow that was OK, the road's were mostly just a suggestion outside of town limits, you weren't going anywhere at 70 MPH, but you would have to pull out of mud. Power came from the transmission and the multi speed rear, maybe even an overdrive added in. The V8 was not that popular in it's day, it had early teething problems with overheating, and most commercial users wanted the familiar inline four or six engine, or even a straight 8. Henry hated the inline six and held out for years before Ford finally caved and came up with one that turned out to be a very popular option. Ford was always tweaking the designs of all it's engines, the V8 most of all, it was undergoing near constant design changes to adapt it to different uses. They had multiple versions of both small and larger V8's, all the same basic design, that leaves a lot of choices for the hot rod guys. At one time we had them all, the most popular by far is the last flatty V8 from 1953-54, this one had every improvement, but unfortunately we ran out maybe ten years back, and restocking is unlikely. The Y block that replaced the flatty in 1955 was somewhat easier to deal with, it was a conventional overhead valve design that would last until 1963 in various displacement's. The Y is a good engine today, it was crap in the 50's thanks to the low quality oil sludge packing up the block up and cutting off it's oil pressure. Todays oils solved that issue, like modern antifreeze greatly helps keep the flatty's cool. My favorite Ford engines are the fours used in the Model T and A cars, dirt simple, easy to work with, long lasting, and enough power for the cars they were intended to move. I had the Y block, it worked but nothing impressive, I had the 289, and the 302, they would give performance but at higher cost than the Chevy small block, and they also had sludge issues before the mid 1980's. I had the 429 and the 460, the 429 in a 71 Mercury was an animal, but the tuned down 460 in my '78 Continental was a piece of slow ass no power smogged out shit. I had the 351M/400, I never had any luck with these half assed smog era 70's engines, junk. Currently I have the Triton V10 in a motorhome, smooth, quiet, and moves 20,000+ pounds very well. I had a lot of Fords six's also, 200 and 250's in Granada's, Comets, Maverick's, Fairmont's, Mustangs, vans ( 240, and 300 truck six) 223 big six in a '62 Monterey , and even one in a wood chipper. Nothing innovative in them but they did the job with a minimum of fuss. Didn't think much of that tiny British sourced V4, and don't even get me started on the 80's and 90's V6 engines.

[awalker1829]

I’ll take a look when I’m at the shop. I doubt the Ford Transit buses had a top speed higher than 45 mph. That’s about what our Model 1204 Yellow Coach tops out at.

[rayjd2]

I’ll take a look when I’m at the shop. I doubt the Ford Transit buses had a top speed higher than 45 mph. That’s about what our Model 1204 Yellow Coach tops out at.

Take pictures, count head studs/bolts, take notes!

[Junk Yard Dog]

Shoot an HD quality video and put it up on youtube, that way he can freeze frame it and count the studs. That's what I do now when customers ask for more pictures, I just video everything so I don't have to deal with being sent back fifteen times for more picture angles of whatever . The 60's advertising made people equate power with engine size and it persists today. More than once I have had people be surprised that my big FWD dump truck has a inline six instead of some huge V8 or diesel engine. The pistons are the size of your head, but with trucks like that it's all in the transmission and rear. The FWD will top out at 48 mph, back in the day the Model T two seat runabout and the big TT truck both used the same 20 hp engine. One hauled Ma, and Pa Kettle to the market, the other hauled a tons worth of beer barrels to the speak, the secret was the big rear the TT had, and the overdrive transmission that was added.

[AMCHornet]

It's nice to have the later engine with a conventional distributor and insert bearings. Paying some like me to pour and line bore new Babbitt bearings is expensive.

I have a 1934 Ford Victoria with a 1939 24-stud 221 CID V8 that my grandfather bought around 1968 and had restored in the early 1990s. The engine is stock for 1939, but the rest of the car is stock for 1934. It's hard to find an early V8 that is not hot-rodded. It has surprisingly decent power, even at 5000 feet above sea level where it's down to about 77 horsepower from it's rating of 90 HP. It'll keep up with modern traffic so long as the speed limit is less than 65 MPH. 45-55 MPH is its happy range. Top speed is about 80 MPH.

This is my grandfather with the car around 1980.

vicky.jpg

This was at his graveside funeral in 2014. I drove there in it with his ashes in a box on the passenger's seat. Most of his other grandkids (my cousins) rode in the car there too.

11026381_1139317039434375_1558763662_n.jpg

Just me filling it with gas one night.

11047017_1139307932768619_1503539757_n.jpg

[AMCHornet]

Your engine is not a 1946 engine. That is a 1949-1953 "8RT" truck engine. 239 CID displacement, 100-110 HP depending on year and compression ratio.

Red paint means it is a 1949-1951 engine with 100 HP
Green paint means it is a 1952-1953 engine with 110 HP.