longivity of a flathead block

N

nbrskn

Senior Member
My neighbor keeps telling me flathead wont hold up when raceing them .
how many runs will they last. I under stand there are variables .
 
Racing can bring a lot of adrenaline so operators may not always set the limitations that they should. I'd say the flatheads held up pretty well considering their design. They didn't self destruct as easy as some due to limits of design. You can only push them so far and they run out of steam before they pop.

There were plenty of OHV engines that would self destruct easily with too much operation above their max limits.
 
They were raced for years and held up. Just like any engine it depends on how it is set up and how hard it is pushed. Most top fuel dragsters can last more than one run without a rebuild, that's not because of low quality parts! Most of the flathead races I know get years out of there engines.
 
if ford would of disigned a sytem like a arden ohv it would last for ever & not over heat what an engine that would have been. but he was very stubern
 
Henry wanted to sell a car that folks on a budget could afford. Henry had been gone for a while before the flathead was obsoleted for OHV production. GM and Chrysler were both building OHV V8s before Ford finally could build a car with an OHV V8 engine and still stay competitive in the market. The Chevrolet cars finally got a V8 in 1955 due to the Ford change over in 1954.
 
I think the condition of the crankshaft and block's mainbearing bore centers are as important as anything else.
There are videos of slow motion crankshaft flexing. You can image what sort of forces are incurred on the crank with only 3 main bearings holding things together.
Yes, the flatty has a propensity to run hot and many seemed to want to crack around the exhaust ports as I recall.
 
No engine will last long if run flat out too long. If properly set up a flathead will last with the best of them.
Aren't neighbors and relatives just chock full of great advice?????;)
 
Of all the engines built by the various manufactures during the years up through the mid fifties, the flat-head Ford engine was probably the best overall engine.
The original engine in my '36 had 103k on it when I pulled it to install a hopped up 59 AB. To my knowledge the engine had a valve job at about 75k, a clutch/pressure plate at 51k and water pump rebuild kits. Of course normal tune ups were done during this time.
The 59 AB I had built for the car went like a rocket, however it burned oil, mechanics excuse was "you wanted a hot rod". The engine blew up in 11K, broke a piston, upon opening the engine up we found that it was a wonder the engine stayed together that long.. Hardly anything in the engine was as it should have been.
I had the engine rebuilt in 1959, keeping only the block, crank, cam, ignition, intake assembly and water pumps. Everything else was new.
I drove the car to work every day for two years, only problem I had was the valve springs were not heavy enough for the Weber F1 cam. the engine now has almost 40K on it, runs strong, however, I am planning on having H&H in CA go through it..
On the flip side, I have seen Ford flat heads hit the junk pile in just a few years after they were "rebuilt"..
 
Does your neighbor have a shed full of flathead racecars (or any kind of neat old cars)? If not, I'd quit listening to him.
 
Back in the early 60's we had a local strip, I didn't have a flathead then, but a man from Sulphur La. ran a flathead in I believe a 34 coupe. the block was filled with cement of some kind. No radiator and he never lost a race, went like a rocket. Ran like that for years at all tracks in La. & Tx. He never told anyone how he built it. I'd say from the one's I did own when young they are pretty darn tough. 48-Conv. 46-Conv (parts) 50-Coupe, 50 Merc. 2-dr. 51 Ford 2dr. 40-Coupe with 110 hp. v8 with Lincoln Zephry o/d trans, 53-ford 4dr.sedan, wish I had them back now.
 
How can we substantiate a ridiculous statement made by your neighbour?

If you understand there are variables, how can you ask how many runs they will last?

Come on, ask something reasonable.

For what it's worth I've just thrashed the living daylights out of my old 21 stud pump in block motor and it lapped it up and came back begging for more.

Mart.
 
nbrskn said:
My neighbor keeps telling me flathead wont hold up when raceing them .
how many runs will they last. I under stand there are variables .
Click to expand...

What kind of racing? Drags? Circle track? Paved or dirt? Bonneville or dry lakes? Yeah, there are variables!
How old is your neighbor? Was he around back in the '40's or '50's? Was he involved in racing flatheads, or is he just a bench racer?
Take a '50 Ford, for example. and a '50 Chevy and run them side by side in low or second at, say 4500 RPM, and see which blows up first. We didn't call those Chevy sixes Babbitt Beaters for nothing!
 
Felloy I know drag raced the old 440 chrysler motor for years.
they freshioned it up once a year.
Neighbor raced or so he says in the 80s and 90s.
ford motors. Motors lasted forever.
 
From my experience your neighbor is extremely wrong. When the flathead is built using quality parts and machined and assembled correctly a good Ford flathead block will last a very long time making 3 times the stock horsepower. My Ford flathead racing experience has proven that same Ford block will handle 4-1/2 times stock horsepower and live a long time doing it then if you use Ardun heads your able to go well over 5 times the stock horsepower without any worry about the Ford flathead block. That's using good old gasoline no exotic fuels.
Flathead combination over 192 MPH, Ardun head combination over 225 MPH thats from a standing start acceleration to three miles. World record on the saltflats.
Ronnieroadster
 
We think our flathead makes about 350 HP going by the times at the strip and weight ,
Benn going strong now for quite a few seasons.
Lawrie
 
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