recommendations for a little more hp & torque?

Assuming the engine is in good shape, correctly tuned, etc.. - there are a few things you can do, but you definitely won't pickup 30 HP doing them. :)

You can surely try the "milling the heads" deal - is fairly inexpensive as compared to all other options. I would review the exhaust system - putting a good set of headers on it will help and if you decide to go further (like a different engine), the system will be a bolt-on to the newer engine (so you won't waste the time/effort/$$$ in trying this approach).

Taking it further . . . For a heavy car - you need more torque . . . and the best way to get more of that is with more cubic inches. As some mentioned, putting a later 59AB style engine in it would be a definite improvement (even a stock one). All the parts you have will bolt-up to it and it is a "drop in" type of situation. With that said, having the correct manifold, carb, distributor, fuel pump, etc -- off of the 59AB is probably the best situation. I'm not sure of the generator/fan mount on a 37 - my guess is that you'll use what you have. The water pumps are the same - so everything should slip right in.

Now - if you want to take it further - having a 59AB with a later 4" Mercury crank (and correct pistons, etc) will give you 255 cubic inches and more torque to boot. If you are going this route, then you're pretty much finding/building a completely new engine - or buying one. This '255' would be a much better engine than what you have today (performance wise) . . . and again, since it is a 59AB style engine - everything bolts right up.

BUT - it is always a situation of money and time - and always 2 - 3 times what you think of both of them! LOL

Good luck and enjoy your Ford!

B&S
 
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The simplest and most economical way to go is change to a 411 rear end. That little 21 bolt engine will pull any passenger load you put in her. There are lots of 411 gear sets around at a very reasonable price. Of course the gas mileage will drop down to 12 to 14 mpg but you sure can buy a lot of gas for the thousands of dollars doing the suggested fixes.
 
One of the Tex Smith Flathead books (paperback) has an article about beefing up a 21 stud motor for a 1935 Ford coupe to run in the Great American Race. They didn't want a hot rod but there are only two ways to get a 21 stud motor to have 1950s type power, larger displacement and/or a two speed rear axle (Columbia Overdrive). The GAR generally wants a stock type motor so blowers and exhaust mods are not used. They chose a 37/38 type 21 stud because it is the best of the 21-stud for reliability but they wanted the water pump in head set up so they had to use the block off plates. They turned a 221 CID motor into a 255 motor by going through all the trouble to install a 4-inch stroke Mercury crankshaft and boring the thing out for 3 3/16" bore sleeves. They had to bore through the cylinder walls to get the big bore sleeves in there but they wanted uniform thickness cylinder walls for best cooling and reliability. They used epoxy to install the sleeves to keep the block structure a bit stiffer.

I think they also had a Columbia Overdrive but I'm not sure. This car finished the GAR with no problems and got up over mountains with a lot less difficulty than a 221 would have had. I don't propose that you do all this but you might consider a Columbia overdrive rear axle. The later wider ones for 42 through 48 are easier to find than the early ones and some have been modified to narrow down the one side to work with the 37 through 41 type axles.The Mitchel overdrive might also be something to consider.
 
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Going to a 4.11 rear will allow you to pull the car better - with the engine you have, but it isn't much fun if you want to go over about 55 MPH for any stretch of time. You end up with a lot of engine revs at the faster highway speeds . . . I know this well in that my 32 Ford has the original 4.11 and I have a very stout flathead. I've got plenty of power, but am putting a Columbia in it - for 70 MPH freeway speeds.

Also, you need enough torque to pull the Columbia if you're in a heavy car and are in hilly country. Your little 221 probably won't have enough grunt to pull it up any sort of hill (given your heavy car, number of passengers, etc).

Me - I'd try a few things with what you have (starting with checking it's condition) - then make a determination if you can "tweak" what you have . . . or go for a bigger/later engine . . .
 
I see several recommendations for headers, but actual tests have shown that headers are of little or no value, especially on a stock engine. Since Mumpsimus has said he doesn't want to pull the engine, a lot of suggestions miss the mark. After milling the heads to get the proper squish clearances, the simplest, most effective bolt-on would be a supercharger with mild boost. Probably cost effective, too. As I remember, the McCullough supercharger of the '30's was marketed (at least in part) to traveling salesmen who carried heavy samples and needed a little more oomph to get to the next prospect.
 
First, het a copy of JWL's book. He has all the dyno results of the stock engine amd all the mods. I realize you have a 21 stud engine and he's using a 239. the results wii amaze you. The next thing is to get a good tune on the engine. Ignition advance and AF readings at cruise and WOT. The simplest modification you can make is to mill the heads for .045/.050" piston to head clearance. This will increase the quench area of the combustion chamber, thus burning more of the fuel. Increases econmy as well as preformance. Not much else you can do to a 21 stud engine, except make it bigger. Good luck.
 
I agree that headers on a flathead are mainly for looks and not performance. Same goes for dual exhaust. I'm a fan of both, but they are not going to help you much performance wise. Like Ol Ron posted, the biggest improvement is going to be getting the .045/.050 piston to head clearance. Fairly cheap but a little labor intensive to get it correct, it should be well worth the effort.
 
Thanks guys! Lots of good stuff came through in the thread over the weekend! I'll start with the heads, and maybe a slightly larger carb. The McCullough blower sounds great, but expensive and maybe hard to find? I'll look around. A later/larger motor is the obvious thing to do, but I like keeping the original motor in the car. The whole car is pretty original, and I like it that way. I'll call Mitchell and find out more about their overdrive, and maybe go with 4.11 gears in the rear at the same time.

I drive the car like an old man, and don't need to go fast or spin tires or anything like that. So just a bit more torque is what I'm after. It does OK on the hills of San Francisco, but I do choose which hills to climb and which ones to go around!

thanks again.
Pete

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Gorgeous example of automotive history. What a treat to see. Me and many others, i suspect, would love to have this ride inside our garage, regardless of HP level or torque available.
 
Thanks Ron. I'm very happy with the car. The only downside is that there are so many more parts to service/repair on a car versus an old motorbike! :)

Ron Pilger said:
Gorgeous example of automotive history. What a treat to see. Me and many others, i suspect, would love to have this ride inside our garage, regardless of HP level or torque available.
Click to expand...
 
I used a model 48 stromberg carb which has 1 1/32 inch vs 31/32 for the 97. I run a larger tail pipe such as 2", but you will have to go a glass pack muffler. Pick a 1/4 mile out in the country and see what the car will do in stock form and then add the larger tailpipe and try the same 1/4 mile again and then add the larger model 48 and see what that does. The two improvements should show something. Let's the engine breath better.. If you mill the heads. use an air grinder to smooth out the combustion chamber and make the transfer area deeper. That helps breathing. While you have the heads off, find TDC by putting socket over a stud held by nut, put a permanent pointer at the crank pulley, brng the piston up on # 1 until it hits the socket, mark the crank pulley at the pointer, the crank the opposite direction until the piston again hits the socket, mark the crank pulley opposite the pointer, then divided distance between the two marks and permanently make the crank pulley with a file and that is TDC. About 1/4 " in advance of the TDC is where you want #1 to fire. Check it with a timing light. You can also run a wire from the coil condenser connection about 8" up the spark plug wire loom, strip the wire back about 1/2., wade it up and put rosin core solder on it. You can connect a dwell tach to that wade of solder. You can also solder a flex wire to the top of the condenser and ground the other end to a coil mounting screw - if the ground bracket comes loose from the condenser you are not stuck along the road. Enjoy.
 
Another thought: Back out the vacuum brake adjustment screw easily until it stops. Let's the advance do better.
 
I haven't been to Frisco for a while but I do remember those hills. Some are pretty steep too. A person might have to have that vacuum brake set a bit stiffer for those hills or it'll ping. It can be backed out then test driven on some moderate hills to see if it pings. If it does, just keep tightening the brake piston spring till the ping goes away or is at least minimized as much as possible. This is the OEM procedure for adjusting the vacuum brake to retard the advance a bit when pulling good. The earlier distributors didn't have as much advance as the ones made in 1941 & later. A lot of the old ones were retrofitted with that mechanism during service. Those need the brake a bit more than the early ones do. If a person ever takes the distributor apart, the advance mechanism will be clearly marked 11A if it has been retrofitted with that advance unit.
 
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Make the passengers go on a diet. Seriously the best thing you can do is make sure everything is in top condition. Dual exhaust is the cheapest thing to do. Dont waste money headers unless you do more modifications. The last statement was from a 1956 Hot Rod Article about Hopping a Flathead.
 
If you can get your 221 to ping in SF hills I will be suprised with 87 octane gas.

Very nice station wagon - do not see many of those - happy for you.
 
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