Is a 21A flathead desirable?

H

Hitchhiker

Senior Member
Is a 21A flathead desirable? It's out of a 1941 ford passenger car I believe. good or bad? what are the draw backs of it? thanks
 
Can easily be bored to 3 3/16 (239 standard) with the sleeves removed. With the smaller heads this gives a good compression ratio. That's what I've got.
 
I've built alot of those engines. Remove the sleeves and bore the block another .045 and use 8BA std. pistons. Use 59AB heads gaskets and the 41 heads. Makes a nice little engine. If you want to put a cam and dual carbs and a better set of heads it make a good little streete engine. Walt
 
I've got a couple of those engines and was wondering about the sleeves. Were the sleeves put in at rebuild because of wear, or did Ford put these in from the factory? The way your talking it sounds like they were all sleeved at one time or another.
 
Hmmmm, Walt. 59 gaskets on 21 stud engine? Little too much Egg Nog and Rum last nite? heh heh
Regards
Jim
 
yes a 21 a is desirable ....I believe in making the most hp out of a stock looking engine....look what simca and the french came up with ....the v8 60 powerhouse!!
 
Yes the engine came with thin sleeves from the factory. The simple solution here is as WALT says, 86 the sleeves bore .045", late pistons, use 59 head gaskets and 81a heads. Very inexpensive way to gain a fair amount of torque.
Interchangeability, lov that Flathead.
 
Thanks everyone. Sounds like it will be a good start to a nice street motor for my AV8. I didn't know you could remove the sleeves. concerning the 8ba parts. would it be a good Idea to use the entire 8ba rotating assembly? Mainly for the insert bearing rods? or is that a waste of time. thanks. Matt
 
Matt, the 8BA crank will fit right in the 39 up block. You'll have to get the aluminum seal retainers for the rear seal. Alot cheaper rod bearings. Use the main bearings that goes with the block. Walt
 
If you can find a crank go for it, my old 41 runs very well with a Merc. crank, Ike cam and adjustable lifters along with Merc pistons. Outside looks very stock. Lots of power for my old panel.

Have fun!

Hitchhiker said:
maybe I should go ahead and source a merc crank. or a scat rotating assembly.
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