New England Engine Rebuilders

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Dlistro1950

Junior Member
I'm looking for a flathead engine repair shop. The bottom end has a serious problem. Preferably looking for someone in the Hartford CT - Springfield area.

Dick
Southwick, Mass
 
RonnieRoadster. None finer in your area. Not sure how far he's backed up, but he'd be my first contact. He's a member here.
 
Dlistro1950 said:
I'm looking for a flathead engine repair shop. The bottom end has a serious problem. Preferably looking for someone in the Hartford CT - Springfield area.

Dick
Southwick, Mass
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Maybe not geographically helpful. And I'm definitely not an engine builder. But Mark was the guy my dear old dad trusted to deliver a fresh bullet.

He showed me around his shop once and my drift was that he was pretty well spun up to do babbiting, but we provided him an insert bearing '37 block that's now in my '35 Touring.

This is the advert from the EFV-8 Club Magazine.

He's a good-un!

454543
 

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5000 since rebuilt 15 years ago by a very good builder that built 100's if not 1000's of flatheads.

A knock developed in 2019 in first and I babied it the 5 miles home. It's sat since then.

Last month after I had calmed down, I drained the oil and a crank bolt from the middle saddle was lying in the pan near the drain hole.

Can't tell if it broke or just backed out. Hopefully the crank is OK.


Dick
 
Ideally you should pull the motor and inspect the damage. Outside of a lot of work you may be able to just install a set of mains or may just need the cap reinstalled after a thorough inspection. Good luck and let me know if you need a hand pulling the motor.
 
I agree with the above. When I was in high school, I was "rapping down" in second gear approaching a stop light. All of a sudden, I heard a load noise, and the engine started to knock. I shut it down, called my dad and towed the car (1951 Ford) home. I pulled the oil pan and found half of the center main in the bottom of the pan. Everything else looked good so the next day I went to the junkyard, picked up 3 or 4 center main caps, and then went to the auto parts store for some "Plasti-Gage". The first cap I tried yielded the proper clearances (with the original bearing shell which looked fine). After brazing up the hole in the pan, I put it back together and tentatively tried to start it. It started right up and ran fine. It was still running good (in another car) when I sold it five years later.

I wouldn't suggest doing what I did back then (when these were just throwaway cars), but you may no be in such dire straits as you may think.
 
tubman said:
I agree with the above. When I was in high school, I was "rapping down" in second gear approaching a stop light. All of a sudden, I heard a load noise, and the engine started to knock. I shut it down, called my dad and towed the car (1951 Ford) home. I pulled the oil pan and found half of the center main in the bottom of the pan. Everything else looked good so the next day I went to the junkyard, picked up 3 or 4 center main caps, and then went to the auto parts store for some "Plasti-Gage". The first cap I tried yielded the proper clearances (with the original bearing shell which looked fine). After brazing up the hole in the pan, I put it back together and tentatively tried to start it. It started right up and ran fine. It was still running good (in another car) when I sold it five years later.

I wouldn't suggest doing what I did back then (when these were just throwaway cars), but you may no be in such dire straits as you may think.
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With all those cracked blocks there should be plenty of main caps around.
 
Frank Miller said:
With all those cracked blocks there should be plenty of main caps around.
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Yep. Even back then, "everybody" told me that each cap was individually fit to the block and I would need to line bore it. As above, the first one I tried fit perfectly. It seems they vastly underrated the precision of Ford's manufacturing process.
 
I always find it amazing that these motors will still run without a center cap. One of the draw backs of the flathead is the three mains, yet blow out the center and the darn thing still runs albeit knocking like a son of gun. Amazing.
 
Ok go to Utube type in "Leo Spinelli " then scroll to J&M Machine I think you should
watch all phases of machining process's they are not that far from you.....sam


I do not know how to put a link in here:
 
Ronnie Roadster he's the man. Ask him how many miles he has driven his Fatheads. Cross country, raced them in Bonneville, 40 years of accumulated miles. Then ask everybody else. Anybody can machine a block but Ronnie puts a personal touch on a complete job. His free advise is a testament to the guy you are dealing with.
 
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