Starting in July 1938, the blocks went to 24 head-retention studs. (Yes, gasoline!) Some fuel-injection setups even run distributorless coil-ignition setups. And, of course, they also give you four rather than three exhaust ports for a more contemporary, balanced look.. Only 200 original sets are known to exist, but fortunately, Ardun heads and associated conversion parts are back, reproduced in improved form by Don Ferguson of Ardun Enterprises. Most stock flatheads never came with an effective harmonic damper. Of course, this modern stuff requires a 12-volt electrical system. The Thickstun two-carb high-rise intake (today marketed by Baron) is an excellent street setup and it even provides clearance for the stock generator. These new aluminum hemi heads will bolt directly to any small-block Ford from a 289/302 all the way up to 351W as well as Cleveland engines. K&F Show #259: The Dukes of Star Trek; Dukes Review S2E12 Arrest Jesse Duke. He traveled from home to New Mexico then to Los Angeles and onto Sacramento where he located the perfect foundation for his new build. Ratios are 1.375 on the intake side, 1.2 on the exhaust. Adjustable, Change a front-mount distributor cam to vertical drive with this Baron adapter. Somewhere in the middle is the largest group: Potential street rodders who just want reasonably fast hot rods without having a cookie-cutter, 1-800-car. He showed us dyno sheets of full-race engines making north of 800 hp on alcohol. Doesn't anyone remember the one built by Mark Kirby of Motor City Flatheads 10+ years ago?? He works with a couple different cam grinders and will help spec the stick to deliver the poweror the lopedesired. One flathead builder, Dave Tatom, offers a unique line of custom grinds with wide 114-degree LSA for naturally aspirated engines, and 116-118 LSAs for blown motors. The street version of the ARDUN-equipped Flathead produces about 1 hp per cubic inch unblown but with a S.Co.T. At around the same time, old-time hot rods gave way to modern musclecars and street machines. One solution is adopting a small-block Chevy damper. The fastest guys both naturally aspirated and blown run high-dome pistons. Fabled Stromberg 97 carbs are back, but you can also upgrade to modern Holley four-barrels or even electronic-fuel-injection systems. TMCP #537: Ask Rick Lessons Learned to Promote (or Dismiss) Employees; Plus an Easter Project Car Review Blowout! The solution is to raise the boiling point by upping coolant-system pressure to 17-21 pounds, using a modern crossflow radiator and higher-pressure cap. Sharp 32 Super Dual Early Intake Manifold can accept either Holley 94s or Stromberg 97s. Why not let us all see? Small logo on front, large logo on back. Speed-O-Motive still advertises Merc crank cores if you want to go this route, but its no longer necessary, what with all the aftermarket alternatives available. Apparently, the old boys network doesnt want any youngbloods crashing their exclusive country club. superchargers, which, like the heads, look period-correct but are filled with contemporary tech, in this case 4-71 helical-cut rotors. Fair, is fair. Some builders also recommend installing exhaust-port dividers to split the siamesed center exhaust ports. You need lots of timing to make a flathead run. TCMP #538: Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan: How To Create a Garage Studio and Upcoming Pro-Touring Events! Now it's 2005, and the flathead's resurgence shows no sign of diminishing. Cams like this with good aftermarket heads are capable of producing 200 hp and 240 lb-ft naturally aspirated, and over 300 hp and 350 lb-ft with a blower. Back in the day, four-barrel carbs had barely been invented. Fortunately, a wide variety of adapters are available to mate the venerable motor to todays automatic and manual transmissions. They are available in both two- and three-ca, Ardun Enterprises overhead-valve hemi heads are shown with old-school mechanical stacked, Flathead Engineering offers single, twin, and quadruple TBI systems. Imagine all the programming that went into this. Fel-Pro and Victor continue to make head gaskets too. Are you saying that theres a FLATHEAD in there ? Melling still makes a high-volume oil pump (PN M-15). The old cam grinders-including Isky, Schneider, Elgin, and others-have both old and new cam grinds. Different top-halves are available for mounting a variety of induction setups. Most in this group will accept a modified flathead as long as it is period-correct, with no obvious modern technology visible. It was at this point in the journey when Ben York, of Roseville Rod & Custom (RR&C) in Roseville, California, entered and he and Amie linked up. The Chrisman coupe ran three engines at Bonneville that year, but only one, Harry Duncan's 258-inch Ardun-Mercury, held together with any success. H&H started in 1972 with rebuilding all early Ford Flathead engines from Model A, B's, T's and V8 Ford Flatheads from 1932-36, LB's, 59A's, 8BA's,V8 60's, Lincoln 337, Lincoln V12's and Y Block Ford and Mercury. 1949-53. . Automotive American Classic Vintage & Modern, Flathead Myths courtesy of Tony Baron Normally we'd title this section "Cylinder Heads," but on a flathead, the heads-having neither ports nor valves-only form the combustion-chamber roof. Speedway Motors offers pumps with sealed bearings that do an even better job in both early and late configurations. He also makes a pan for his block that is supposed to work on a stock block? There are several techniques; the accompanying photos show the method preferred by Baron Racing. Besides the Ford flathead, H&H also specializes in Ardun conversions as well as rebuilding other vintage engines including Y-Block Ford, Nailhead Buicks and Chrysler Hemis. Ground with a 114-degree LSA and 112-degree intake centerline, it has 0.395-inch lift and 234 degrees duration at 0.050. "You can grind the cam to get the lift and duration you want," Don says. He also makes a compatible cast-aluminum block. The new block is capable of much more horsepower because of additional webbing and four-bolt mains. Magnuson offers an Eaton blower kit, while Joe Abbin of Roadrunner Engineering has Weiand 142 and 174 supercharger setups. Edelbrock, Wilcap (Sharp), and Offenhauser continue to market a wide variety of intakes. There is also an Australian outfit, Flatattack Engineering, offering plenum-style, TPI-like systems controlled by either GM Delco or MoTeC computers. Whether they were or were not intended for use on Ford trucks, and whether they were or were not copied from the French Talbot design, and why they are so similar to the early Chrysler Hemi are all points that have been argued before. When I was in the ninth grade (56-57), our physics teacher "proved" it would be impossible to accelerate to over some figure like that (138 sticks in my mind) in the quarter. These second-design 38 1/2-48 blocks (often referred to as 59A castings) retained an integral cast-in bellhousing, used a distributor that mounts flush to the front cover with a horizontal shaft on the front of the engine and had insert-style main bearings but still used full-floating rod bearings (one bearing shell for each rod pair). The coupe is no stranger to awards, having won the Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year in 2019 and three Goodguys Pros Picks as well as a Best Rod at the Grand National Roadster Show. The new block is capable of much more horsepower because of additional webbing and four-bolt mains. Large-diameter, unshrouded valves combined with a proper combustion chamber configuration and piston design are needed to promote the proper transfer area from the flatheads valves to the far end of the chamber over the piston tops. 225: Hooligans In Hot Rods Getting Hamburgers, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The Sharp 32 triple carburetor intake is one of the few that accepts Holley 94s and Stromberg 97s. Its a Holley touch screen that allows one to manage the computer settings. What would you save, 100-150 lbs? Mark designed an all-new flathead block that resembles Henry's old boiler, but improves it in every way. Magnuson offers an Eaton blower kit, while Joe Abbin of Roadrunner Engineering has Weiand 142 and 174 supercharger setups. Back in the old days, all cars used low-pressure cooling systems, so coolant often boiled. If you look beneath the dash you will spot the makings of a South Wind gasoline heater. Coolant needs to remain in liquid form when it circulates through the motor. The block also has a number of upgrade internally, in terms of its intake and exhaust ports, as well as its valve guides. Speedway Motors offers pumps with sealed bearings that do an even better job in both early and late configurations. Flatheads may not have the cubes or brute airflow potential of many of todays modern mills, but there is a solution: Bolt on a supercharger. Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues! The flatheads compression ratio is well suited to supercharging, and besides, what could be more hot rod than a blower poking through the hood? Heck, not even a front door, really. For even more protection, install a crossflow radiator and increase coolant system pressure to 17-21 pounds. Custom billets stretch all the way to 4.5-inch stroke. It was great to meet Mark and Phil, and we hope they have a safe trip back to the cold and snowy territory called Michigan. The conversion kits are not inexpensive; pricing starts at just below $14,000. The heads and valve covers are made from 356 T6 aluminum, far superior to the alloy used back in the day. It was a statement, in effect saying, I am not a cookie-cutter rod.. The arms have an internal oiling system that Don has set up with stainless lines, a compact banjo fitting on the edge of the head, and a drainback plug plumbed to a finned oil pan of Don's design. Baron Racing offers this hub that adapts the 6 1/4-inch-od, Dont want to do any machining and need to retain the stock pulleys and beltdrives? But, he says, most of his Ardun-related business is for hot rodders, not racers. Just a tall gray wall with a rolling bay door that blends so perfectly you may not even know it is a door until Don sticks his head out. It should be remembered that, although the Ardun has gained cult status over the years, the Arkus-Duntovs didn't have the money for fancy engineering and were working to a tight schedule as well as the restraints of the Ford engine block. Guys who once dreamed of owning a flattie back in the '50s but who had neither the time nor the money were now in their 50s, with lots of disposable income. Starting in July 1938, the blocks went to 24 head-retention studs. Baron also offers a modern version of the famous Tattersfield/Baron four-carb race intake in more civilized street form. With modern aftermarket cranks and rods using modern insert bearings, 5,500 rpm normally aspirated is not a problem, even with only three main bearings. https://www.howacarworks.com/engine-block, https://www.cokertire.com/blog/top-sminum-flathead. For even more protection, install a crossflow radiator and increase coolant system pressure to 17-21 pounds. Back in the old days, all cars used low-pressure cooling systems, so coolant often boiled. A new player is Gemini Electronic Fuel Injection, a complete bolt-on flathead conversion kit based on the self-programming Prodigious fuel injection system. French blocks are hybrids, essentially a '49-'53 8BA in terms of deck height and front-end, but with the integral cast bellhousing and corresponding oil pan as found on the '38 1/2-'48 59A. After getting a good dose of sunshine and warm temperatures, they decided to pay us a visit on the way back home. (Tucked away in another barn are future projects, such as a 1940 Suburban and a 1938 Chevy cabriolet.) Small-block Chevy valves remain popular, but with reduced-base-circle cams they may be too short to permit proper lash adjustment. Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jimmy2car, Apr 26, 2010. You may lose as much as 30 hp above 4,500 rpm.. They specialize in building flathead Ford V8s and Lincoln V12s and the production of Navarro Racing Equipment, Sharp Speed & Power Equipment, Austin Speed Equipment and, most recently, Wilson & Woods 8BA heads and Dixon sohv heads. Also check out Speedway Engineerings offerings. Aside from his flathead speed equipment, he built parts for almost every engine that ran down the strip. For reasons known only to the crazy French, flatheads were used in French Army trucks through the early '90s. The exhaust is by way of RR&C headers featuring 1-1/8-inch tubes that link with a custom RR&C stainless steel exhaust system. Just sold him a fresh batch so I assume he's still building engines? It will use a new oil pan and special bolt-on universal bellhousing that accepts most modern transmissions. He improved everything he touched. Hilborn and Ardun Enterprises offer EFI conversions that look like old-time stacks but with EFI nozzles. With his knowledge of welding, painting and engine work it kept him busy until he attended Oregon State College in 1949. "This year's Nationals saw the mass use of overhead valves," said the magazine. blower it can achieve another 50 hp with 5 pounds of boost. Not many of the heads were madebest guesstimates put the number at 200 to 250 sets, with another dozen or so made for the smaller V-8/60 enginesand a few more were built in England during a short association Duntov had with Sydney Allard and his J2 sports car. At one end there are restorers who insist on putting everything back to exact original condition. Cast in Los Angeles from the highest quality tempered A356 aluminum and CNC machined, the DIXON heads are designed to fit the desirable 1938-1953 59A and 8BA 24-stud flatheads. On the following pages, we'll take a look at some of the stuff available for the flathead and also cover the lineage, interchangeability, and secrets of this proud forebear of modern hot rodding. One flathead builder, Dave Tatom, offers a unique line of custom grinds with wide 114-degree LSA for naturally aspirated engines, and 116-118 LSAs for blown motors. Eventually you could build a whole street rod out of aftermarket commodity parts. You have to beat him/her at the same game. Al moved to So Cal with his family from Oklahoma in the 30s and started working in shops and garages. Stewart-Warner 2-3/8-inch-diameter gauges mounted into the stock dashboard with a clock mounted in the glovebox door. i plan on building a T bucket in the next year and want to run a flatty. For improved cooling efficiency, original 49-53 pumps have more impeller vanes than earlier models. Stay tuned for further updates on this project. French blocks are about 30 pounds heavier than a standard flathead, which is a good indication of better metal and thicker walls. High-compression is the way to go. And Don has rimmed the valve cover with an O-ring for leak-free sealing. TBI injection through billet Stromberg 97 carb-like throttle-bodies is available from Flathead Engineering. Baron, Edelbrock, Sharp (Wilcap), Navarro, and Offenhauser make both old-style heads as well as improved new configurations. This is an amazing process. The third-design "8BA" '49-'53 engines have a bolt-on bellhousing, the distributor was moved to the top-right of the engine, and modern insert-style bearings are used on both the mains and rods. The only aluminum flathead block commercially available that I know of at this time is the block made by Don Ferguson for his Ardun heads. Reserve these early blocks for collector cars due to their inferior head-retention and bearing design; speed equipment availability for them is also severely limited. This encouraged the old-time flathead parts guys (or their sons) to start repopping the old parts. Mullins, a leading purveyor of surplus Jeep and other vintage military parts in Texas, accidentally discovered a warehouse full of brand-new French blocks about to be junked during a European trip searching for Jeep stuff. Short of machining the block oversize for custom roller-cam bearings, even with a reduced base circle this limits max cam lift to about 0.460 inch. His greatest impact was at the salt lakes where he is a legend. Our experience and rigorous assembly procedure is what makes our engines trusted throughout the industry. But that just leaves these pristine virgin blocks for us normal street guys. Records are made to be broken. How bout Uncommons twin 4-71 top-mount system, shown here in m, Reds Headers offers more than 60 different flathead header sets including this stream-lin, Tatom offers equal-length headers for all fat fenders and roadsters. Automotive American Classic Vintage & Modern, Googling around as you do I initially found the story of Mark Kirbys newly engineered Flathead V8 block on the Coker Tyres website, This is a quite old story from back in 2010, This page led to me to the Motor City Speed Equipment (no longer available) Website. Im not sure what has happened to the project since but some chatter on the H.A.M.B suggests that Jon Hall on Shadow Rods may be involved? Most hot rod engines use oversize valves. Pull off said cover and the biggest difference you see is the change in the rocker arms. K&F Show #258: The Masters and Adam Sandlers 74 Duster; Movie Review Revisit Happy Gilmore! Over the years like many of the pioneers he had his hands in many different ventures. He was basing his calculations on the assumption that a coefficient of friction of over 1.0 could not be achieved. Correct-length flathead 1.800 intake/1.600 exhaust valves are available from flathead specialists like Baron Racing. It was only at the very end of the flatheads reign that the first small four-barrel carbs appeared; back then everyone used multiple-carb setups. Dressed with up to four carbs and that unique flathead sound accentuated by glasspacks, the old codgers were suddenly the rage again. Yeah, maybe in the thirties when Ford was considering powering airplanes with their V8's, but not these days. Keep it under 8.0:1. Copyright 1995-2008 Atomic Industry: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Mullins, a leading purveyor of surplus Jeep and other vintage military parts in Texas, accidentally discovered a warehouse full of brand-new French blocks about to be junked during a European trip searching for Jeep stuff. Not long ago, 150 inthe quarter mile, was mathematically impossible??????. A high-pressure system will run fine with no boiling, even at 190-210-degree gauge temps. Because the French version was used in trucks, the intake- and exhaust-port throats are choked down under the valve pockets, so extensive port-work is required for racing. Most hot rod engines use oversize valves. Even stock flatheads can run 6-7 psi boost with no problem. According to Baron Racing, the limiting factor is not piston-to-head interference, nor even valvespring coil-bind-it is running out of cam bearing clearance for the lobes. Tatom believes spreading the centers helps combat overlap-induced reversion with the flathead's siamesed center exhaust ports. Reserve these early blocks for collector cars due to their inferior head-retention and bearing design; speed equipment availability for them is also severely limited. With just three mains (modern V-8s have five), a flatties bottom-end is marginal for high, Tom Roberts uses a 6-inch-od early 327 Chevy small-journal damper, honed and rebroached wi, Dont want to do any machining? Austin Lincoln 337 Heads Earlier 3 1/16-inch-bore blocks will only go 0.090-over. We are now the exclusive distributors of Navarro Racing Equipment, Sharp Speed Equipment, Wilson and Woods Cylinder Heads, Dixon Overhead Valve Conversion, and a complete line of Austin Speed Equipment for the Arudn, Lincoln 337, Lincoln V12 and V8 60. Anyone know of any updates? But I still have one dumb question.how does this block in video cool? Copper head gaskets are sold by SCE. About H&H Flatheads: Founded in 2003 by Mike Herman, H&H Flatheads is celebrating its 15th anniversary. In fact, the growing flathead movement has basically sorted itself out into three distinct groups. ", Among this herd of sheep, a few original hot rods were brought out of retirement, complete with gennie flatheads as the powerplant.