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Sad news indeed.. Never got to meet him personally, but from reading his posts it was obvious that he was a master of all things flathead and his advice carried considerable weight. RIP Walt!

Thanks! Will do..

Looking for a flathead friendly machine shop in the Kansas City area. Block is finally ready for boring and valve seats.. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance...

This is the best thing on the internet right now...

This probably isn't the best way but it worked for me. Pry up the spring from the bottom and see if you can't get the 2 little keepers on the valve stem bottom off. If you can, then the valve should just pull out from the top. A little of the aforementioned acetone/trans fluid on the valve...

I remember making a 'slide hammer' out of a short piece of all thread (or a long bolt) and some nuts and washers. It just needed to be the same size thread as the idler gear center. It came out pretty easily once I got that rigged up.

There's several ways to get the old valves out and there's lots of threads to search on this forum regarding valve removal. Spray the stuck valves with e 50/50 mix of acetone & transmissions fluid and they might free up. I think most of the time folks end up replacing the valve assemblies...

If you were able to get that oil pump out without much effort, consider yourself lucky! The real fun comes when you start taking the valves out, but yours may be easy. I had to rent a special tool to remove the cam bearings but that wasn't difficult. Highly recommend thermal cleaning the...

scrubbing with a brillo pad works as well...

Ford38v8 - That was the best explanation of vapor lock I've ever read. Thanks!

I always liked both.. but prefer the 51-52 'manure spreader'...

I'd highly recommend getting your block thermal or 'baked' cleaned. Your block will be heated to temps at or above 600 degrees and they come out looking like they just left the foundry. No way could I have gotten it that clean myself. Cost may be about $100. I'd Google search or call any engine...

Thanks guys!

Is there a listing of these annual meets anywhere? Would love to go to those that are relatively close to the Kansas City area, but don't know the when's & where's.

If you can get it to turn at all, keep dousing it with fluid (a 50/50 mix of acetone and transmission fluid) and just work it back and forth gently a little bit at a time. I got impatient and eventually mine came out in pieces. Ended up prying it with a tire tool from the inside after I removed...

Cast pistons will do just fine for a street motor that's being built for reliability instead of high performance. Egge sells a set for a little less than $250. Also, IIRC, forged pistons are more expensive and are more for those who want to race or 'chase horsepower'.

x2 on the baked cleaning suggestion from Ol' Ron. Mine came back looking like it was fresh out of the foundry. Saves a lot of time and effort trying to get all that scale and crap out of the water jackets and wasn't that expensive. I'm building an 8BA with much the same goals in mind as you are...

One of the best radiator shops here in KC would do the clean and coat as Bruce mentioned for appx $300. A new tank from LMC Truck runs $199, although you'd probably want to replace other parts (mounting hdwr, etc) which then may get you to $300 or more. I guess it depends on how bad you want to...

2x on the oil pump... it's very easy to break the casting.. twist gently.. generous amounts of a 50/50 mix of acetone and ****** fluid will help. If you do break it, it's a bear to get out but doable. I had to pry down on the gear end after I removed the idler gear. It finally came out (in...

My '51 has square ends, built in Chicago..