32 Flathead V8 too tight for starter to turn

nellis003

nellis003

Senior Member
Hi all,

My uncle passed away and left behind a 32 Ford Cabriolet, that he had with a gentleman doing some work on it. The gentleman had some medical problems, so I picked the car up from him to see if I could finish it myself. Disclaimer, I know very little about what’s been done to the car.

From what I can tell, there was a fresh rebuild on the engine and it hasn’t been fired yet. However, it’s probably been sitting for at least 10 years since the rebuild. I turned the crank with a torque wrench to make sure it’s free, and while it does turn, it takes over 100 pounds to rotate.

I’ve worked on later generation flatheads, but this is the first 32, so I’m hoping someone can give me some guidance on what to do next.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Nick
 
Put some oil in cyls , let it sit for a day or so to get to the rings, then turn over, it should start to get better.
 
When I was an apprentice, one of the older guys told me how they would start a flathead after a rebuild.
They would tow it to the top of a nearby hill and use a combination of bump starting in 3rd gear and cranking with the starter.
Obviously check that it is going to rotate before hand.
 
There’s possible damage to be done here, that can be avoided with some additional labor now. Pull the pan and check that the main caps are not switched around. How much is your hobby time really worth?
 
ford38v8 said:
There’s possible damage to be done here, that can be avoided with some additional labor now. Pull the pan and check that the main caps are not switched around. How much is your hobby time really worth?
Click to expand...

And perhaps a couple of other things. It's nice to know that not all of us are from the "bigger hammer" school of mechanics.
 
The Early Ford V8 club has a great restoration book (two volumes) that can help answer many questions.
 
100+ ft lbs to rotate is far too tight to take a chance. If the cylinders are rusty the new rings are not going to be happy even if you soak them. If the bearings are that tight it will destroy itself on startup if you try to force things. It needs to have the pan removed to check bearings and if all good the head has to come off to inspect cylinder condition.
 
The engine rebuilder I used set up bearings tight Like the T fords were done at the factory. My A engine I pulled around with the plugs out for about a mile and still had to bump start in 3rd while hitting the starter. When it started I shut it down after about 1/2 minute. Started it back up after a bit of cooldown with just the starter and repeated the sequence a few more times. My T engine was stubborn and I ended up adding shims on the mains. I sold a V-8 to a friend that was fine on the rods but may need a shim on the mains also. It was never started I will re-adjust the shims after full break-in on the T. The A engine has gone many miles with no problems and I haven't had to remove any shims as of yet.
 
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As written above over 100 ft lbs to rotate there's something wrong. 35 ft lbs to rotate an engine is a good number to shoot for. That's a typical number for a flathead what I call torque to yield of the rotating assembly.
Ronnieroadster
 
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