Forgotten Flathead

39portlander

39portlander

Well-known member
Picked up the Nov. Hot Rod deluxe which features flatheads and it has an interesting article on the "jiggler". Wondering if there are any books on this motor.
 
Is the Jiggler the heads with the exhaust ports in the head and the intake remains in the block ? I had seen an article written several years ago on these. They had rocker arms up top for the exhaust valves with covers over them and a grease on each one fitting for lubrication. If I remember correctly someone was reproducing these but thats been 15 yrs ago or more.
 
Saw one of those many years ago at Tom Hutchinson's in Baldwin Park Ca. He had a lot of Flathead stuff.
 
I have been told that those were originally designed in San Antonio, and that some of the patterns still exist.
 
I had a chance to buy the set from Tom Hutchinson at the Pate swap meet in the eighties. I passed because there were too many missing parts. Don't remember the price but it was pretty high even back then. He had a lot of flathead multi carb intakes and finned heads for sale in the grass at the old Pate ranch. Bought a tall thickston from him.
 
asked around here in luling,TX where it said that luling oil and gas had built them according to the mag article but no one here has ever seen or heard of one
 
There was one of those flathead V8 at the billet proof shows last year. They are repoping those heads in small amounts. My granfather told me they were not real big back in the day because of the oiling issue to the upper exhoust rocker and bushing. maybe they fixed that. You can find more info on the H.A.M.B. on those heads.
 
I could never figger out why they chose to move the exhaust out of the block instead of the intake, It might ahve been cooling, because the exhaust doesn't restrict power as much as the intake does.
 
The exhaust is still in the block. Check the headers that are shown on the MG installation. Would sure like to see how the intake holes were stopped up........
 
They tried all sorts of things to make those little V8 60 HP engines run faster. I think there is a fellow named Bill Jones here in San Antonio that likes to futz around with the midget racers. From what I've read, Tiny Smith had his own shop here in SA. Luling Machine was also mentioned as a shop that was involved but I don't know if the two are the same. That stuff was before my time but the midget racing was pretty popular back then. I've run into several folks that collect that stuff. Tiny's wife was in the obits just a week or so ago but I think he died quite a while back.

Bill Jones probably knows more about that stuff than anyone still alive. I don't know him personally but he might have some ties to the early V8 crowd here in town.

Kerby

PS: The exhaust did exit the heads. They even were a four pipe set up instead of siamese center port. The intake has the water manifold built in since it didn't have water in the heads.
 
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