Fired my flathead today for the first time!!!

Chris

Chris

Well-known member
I have been building this lil engine for a while to go into my 34 Ford. My Dad is a heck of a flathead guy and helped me do it right. Today was the day for the first run. It lit right off and sounded great!! Had great oil pressure and ran cool (has Skip's pumps on it!). Heck it even charges! Broke it in and that was that. Gotta sink the carbs but otherwise I think she is well on her way! Thanks a ton to my Dad Dave, he is a true craftsman!!!

It's a 59AB with a Merc crank, Windfield SU-1A cam, Edmunds heads and a Thickstun PM-7 and dual 97's.

Sorry for the grainy video, but the sound is there ;)








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Chris, Looks good but I don't see any fan or do you have an electric one in front of the radiator?? I also see the high risers on the intake which should keep the carbs cooler and the fuel lines up high away from head and block heat. G.M.
 
Old Henry said:
You can skip the criticism of me "trickling" gas in the carburetor to get it going. I've heard enough of that.
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I think that I read that that other Henry guy had his WIFE trickle the gas down the carburetor during the initial run. Seems like a good way to avoid getting burned yourself, and, it would be a time honored tradition seeing as it's the way the very very first Ford was fired up.
 
Old Henry, looks like it was a family affair, very cool. Is that the same 47, in the photo's
in the fancy garage, where the family parties take place, when needed? The same one that got hit buy the duellie.
 
peewee2you said:
Old Henry, looks like it was a family affair, very cool. Is that the same 47, in the photo's
in the fancy garage, where the family parties take place, when needed? The same one that got hit buy the duellie.
Click to expand...

Yep. Same one. Here's the video of it's first movement under it's own power not long after we got the engine going: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBe8KWTM3qQ&feature=g-all&context=G247f499FAAAAAAAAAAA

Since then it's gone 30,000 miles on the road including Route 66, Pike's Peak, Death Valley, and probably about 15 miles a day just joy riding. What a joy. But, really, part of the greatest joy was the year I spent working on "Old Henry" with my 15 year old son shown in the video behind the wheel. When we were done I said more than once that if we just ran the car into the lake it would have been all worth it just to have that experience with my son. He was the last of my 10 children and I tried to have that same kind of meaningful experience with each of the 10.
 
Chris: The motor sounds great!

I saw the buildup pics, your Dad did a fantastic job.

Henry (sorry for the post hi-Jack, Chris) I saw that video a couple times, I feel like I "know" you now. LOL.

Mart.
 
Well, theres more to the story. Day after I fired it for the first time I lit it off again. It spit a shot of water out the passanger side header. Pulled the plugs on that side, shot water out the number 2 cylinder. Hmmmm....pulled the head and found a crack in the Edmunds head:

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I had the heads milled and the cracks were not there. I torqued them to 30, then 50 in the right sequence so I do not know what caused the crack. My Dad had a magentis dial indicator and we ran the numbers on all 8 clinders to measure how far up they came above the deck...making sure the rod did not bend. It was fine :D

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My Dad also had a set of new Edelbrock heads in the box. I like old origianl speed equipment...but this is the 2nd set of old heads that have gone sour so I "borrowed" them from him. Back to running like a champ, only not as a water pump :D



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Glad you found the problem so quickly and not one the side of the road 1000 miles away. Do you think the head can be repaired?

Mart.
 
Mart said:
Glad you found the problem so quickly and not one the side of the road 1000 miles away. Do you think the head can be repaired?

Mart.
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Probably but my question is why did it crack? I know it was not over tightened...bad casting? Will it crack again?
 
Bro. that's a beautiful thing you are doing. Flatty sounds sweet. sorry about the head.
I checked out a Thee Inland Emperors video on you tube. Young dudes with a passion for flatty's. I thought there is hope for this world yet. Then I watched the rest of the video.... Just kidding. I loved your ride.

My pal Nordy is near Spokane. Drives a 32 Henry PU with tons of patina.

Bill,
Rowlett Tx
 
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