Flat Head poered boats
- Thread starter felix37
- Start date
Bassman/NZ
Well-known member
Not a boat, but I have a mate who has just started on a flathead powered bike! He's building it the way he thinks Henry would have built it if he'd had such a crazy notion! 
flathead4rd
Well-known member
I saw a small speedboat several years ago with a V-8 60 flathead in it. The boat was a "Clyde" or "Clide" don't have any other information about it though.
charles in east texas
Senior Member
I have a V/8 60 motor that came out of a boat in about 1962. It has all kinds of piping connected to it.
Charles
Charles
Dang it. Gettin' my hopes up again. 
I want one. Been lookin'. Very tough to find, but they are out there. 
blucar
Well-known member
From 1967 to 1977 I had a '53 Builtright, a classic style inboard that had a '53 Merc 8CM flathead. The engine was highly modified with an Edmons 4 barrel, Mallory marine ignition, and a Howard cam. The trans was a Capitol "Velvet Drive.
The hull was 18', fiber-glass over plywood, covered mid engine with a bench seat in front of the engine, an observers seat on the rear of the engine cover and a front facing seat at the rear of the boat.
The boat was a great family ski boat, very powerful having no difficulty pulling adults on single ski's out of the hole.
The engine ran flawlessly until about 1969 when a valve seat came out while pulling my teenage son. The loose seat bent the valve then beat the piston up pretty bad.
I was going to replace the engine with with a SBC, however, the cost of new marine equipment and adapters changed my mind.... I had the flathead rebuilt. We used "Charmalyn" until 1977 when we bought a larger boat.
The sound of the twice pipes coming out under the water really sounded neat, many people were really surprised when I told them what kind of an engine the boat had.
The boat also sounded good once it got up on plane and the pipes were out of the water.
The hull was 18', fiber-glass over plywood, covered mid engine with a bench seat in front of the engine, an observers seat on the rear of the engine cover and a front facing seat at the rear of the boat.
The boat was a great family ski boat, very powerful having no difficulty pulling adults on single ski's out of the hole.
The engine ran flawlessly until about 1969 when a valve seat came out while pulling my teenage son. The loose seat bent the valve then beat the piston up pretty bad.
I was going to replace the engine with with a SBC, however, the cost of new marine equipment and adapters changed my mind.... I had the flathead rebuilt. We used "Charmalyn" until 1977 when we bought a larger boat.
The sound of the twice pipes coming out under the water really sounded neat, many people were really surprised when I told them what kind of an engine the boat had.
The boat also sounded good once it got up on plane and the pipes were out of the water.
rotorwrench
Well-known member
Although there were several drive set ups, like the Lyman, for the Ford V8s, they were rarely factory installed in boats. A lot of home built hydroplanes and race boats used V8-60s due to the small size, weight , & power output potential. Many old boats were converted to get the latest speed equipped flatty V8. Most of the factory built flathead powered boats had Hercules, Chrysler, Ford, and other brand 6-cylinder engines. Some were set up for right or left hand rotation for twin engine mounting. The torque from the engine can really roll a boat in the water so for the high power set ups they had contra rotating engines.
This is a site I found on wood boat restoration that has a bit at the end about a 1935 Chris Craft Custom boat made with a Ford V8 engine set up.
www.antiqueboat.com/content/vintagewoodenboatrestoration.aspx
Kerby
This is a site I found on wood boat restoration that has a bit at the end about a 1935 Chris Craft Custom boat made with a Ford V8 engine set up.
www.antiqueboat.com/content/vintagewoodenboatrestoration.aspx
Kerby
Lawrie
Well-known member
I was sent to a bad boys camp at 14yrs,
It was run by the police in Queencharlot sounds in the south island in NZ, we did all sorts of activities,including waterskiing, this was learnt in a small boat powered by a ford ten engine,when we learned to ski we moved up to a really powerful boat that was powered by a flatheadV8,I still remember the sound from the exh and how FAST it was after the ford 10 boat.
Lawrie
It was run by the police in Queencharlot sounds in the south island in NZ, we did all sorts of activities,including waterskiing, this was learnt in a small boat powered by a ford ten engine,when we learned to ski we moved up to a really powerful boat that was powered by a flatheadV8,I still remember the sound from the exh and how FAST it was after the ford 10 boat.
Lawrie
joe plumber
Well-known member
I got a v-8 60 that was in a boat that was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo .
alanwoodieman
Well-known member
I tried for over 10 years to buy a pair of 15 ft Chris Craft boats that had 60 hp flat head engines in them. First time I saw them they were on Saluda Lake in Greenville, SC, years later I saw them at a service station south of town. They slowly sunk into disrepair and eventually disappeared. I would have loved to have saved them-wooden boats and flatheads-what a combo!!
Ol' Ron
Well-known member
The boat was a 1936 hydro powered buy a Lycoming engine and set a record in it's class at 66MPH. The boat pictured here has the 258 engine that ran 61 in a compilation run. It's the last picture. The other picture is a 284ci replacement to reduce the rpm. The boat was restored by Dave Witcher of Bow Lake NH
