A very HARD decision

thirt4

thirt4

Senior Member
Well, I made a very hard decision today and as a result, the restore / rebuild of my 1934 Ford 3 window can now proceed again.
Yesterday, we ran a compression check on the flat motor before mocking it up for a fit. The number 1 cylinder gave up only 60psi. The others ranged from 115 to 140psi.

Then, yesterday, after installing a brand new MSD electronic distributor and matching MSD coil, it was time for the big moment to fire up my "crate" engine. The engine, a 1953 Merc, bored .030, balanced, 3/4 Isky cam, Jahn's pistons, Offy heads and intake and Holley 390cfm 4bbl carb was treated to a little gas and the starter was hit.
After about 45 seconds of running, it began puking steam out of the right head heater hose tube. At the same time, it also began puking steam out of the left head gasket nearly all the way around.
The engine was shut down and my pondering began.
This engine was sold to me as a fresh rebuild and a great engine.

Today, I pulled the right head to look at number 1 cylinder to see why so little compression.
The head gasket was perfect. There were no indications of any visible cracks. As a matter of fact, this engine was sold as being magnafluxed before the rebuild and was crack free.

As a note, the cylinder walls had absolutely NO lip at their tops AND they still prominately displayed the cross-hatching marks from the bore / hone at rebuild.

Due to the fact that this was probably going to cost me a whole lot of money to chase it all down, I have shelved the Merc project and have started looking at Ford 302 overhead engines.

I will now be selling off ALL my flat motor stuff from the nice KRW engine stand, down to the spare parts and engines and tools.
Even my very nice flattie test stand is going to go.

I still have my 3 window and it will be a show stopper when done but it will also be able to run down the Interstates at 75-80 all day long with no more frets or worries.

I will be lising this Merc on Ford Barn, Craigslist (Phoenix) and eBay soon as well as my late 1936 that was in the coupe to begin with.

Thought I would share my last two days. Now, we have a very large, fast moving forest fire headed towards the home place so all work on it will cease until the fire danger is gone. If it does not hit here first.
thirt4
 
I wonder what your thoughts would be if you installed the OHV engine and found low compression on one cylinder.
 
frustration and disappointment can get to the best of us.. are you sure its going to cost you more to track that problem down as to fit a whole new motor setup??
Take a deep breath and come back to it later..
 
I agree with the posts above,don't give up so quickly, see what the problem is and then make a decision. And a Flathead can get you down the interstate just fine if geared correctly.
 
Forget about the car, deal with more urgent uissues, and when things have settled down you might not feel like you need to make such a hasty decision.

Heck, it'll run fine on 7-1/2 cylinders, the other one might pick up a bit with use.

Mart.
 
Frankly I am not interested in anti-Flathead decisions or discussions on a Flathead Forum. If there are items for sale list them in the appropriate place.
 
JWL I tend to agree with you, but thirt4 may just need a little encouragement or assistance and change his mind and keep his 34 with a flathead. Thirt4, good luck fighting the fires, we know all about bushfires down here in Australia and how devastating they can be.
 
I understand your temptation to jump decades in technology to eliminate frustration; however, I wonder if the 53 engine problem is more a problem of packaging than reliability. Maybe you can sort through the new engine parts and correct thier issues. It might only take a gasket set. Good luck to you.
 
Hang in there. Keep you and your family safe from the awful fire danger. Look at the problem with fresh eyes after the danger has passed.

If someone rebuilt the engine and put the head gaskets on the wrong side it might show similar symptoms. A stuck valve or rings would show low compression. FWIW
 
A 34 without a flattie?? Think about it..Sounds like you are giving up far to soon..The challenge of restoring these old girls to there former glory is keeping them original..Good Luck
 
There are a lot of things that have to be done during a flathead rebuild that aren't found in the shop manuals. A pressure test is just as important as a magnaflux and I think they should go hand in hand. I don't do the machining for my motors but I do the final reassembly and all the checks you have to do to insure a good overhaul result. These aren't monkey motion engines. They are antiques. Good luck fitting the long small block Ford in a 34 without chopping up the firewall.
 
I can see where your coming from, its very fustrating sometimes, spending so much to go so slow. Spending good money on crappy parts and not having it 'right'. I've debated my '41 pu restoration many times. We'll see (if I ever finish it) if it was the right decision.....
 
dont give up!! i fought with the 8ba in my 39 for a long time! at times i was ready to give it away, or push it out in the alley and set it on fire! but, thanks to the barn, and jwl, i learned alot about flatheads. use us, thats why were here.
 
The SBC is a much better choice. It does not have the pan, oil filter,length problems of the 302 Ford. A sbf wil be a one way trip for the car. A sbc is easily converted back to flathead.
You probably just have a poorly seated valve in the one cylinder. Easy enough fix in the car.
Please reconsider and give the flat motor one more chance.
This is from the guy with one 32 with a hemi, one with a FI Vette motor and one with a 274 flat motor
 
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