Rebuilt Flathead Problems - Resolved!!

G

GordonC

Senior Member
Guys,

For those of you that hung around to answer questions, offer suggestions, and generally encourage me to keep going on correcting all the problems in my flathead engine, this is the last post I guess as well as a very large thank you to all that helped! As I now have the engine up and running, and seeing as the original post got so long I figured I would do a separate one for this. My brother dropped in for a few days of R+R and between the 2 of us we finished the assembly and dropped the motor back in the chassis. Did up some temporary wiring, connected up the fuel and oil lines, refilled it with oil and cranked it without the coil wire in to build pressure. It fired on the very first crank! Ran pretty good too. We did 3 heat cycles and retorqued it each time. I only ran it until it was hot to the touch of your hand. Had 46 PSI of oil pressure. Anyway enough of my rambling here is a link to the Youtube video of the fire up. Took me some time to figure out how to put the video there!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nLjMcHhcaU
 
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That's super good news. Gordon! The engine sounds great. I'll bet you're glad you persevered with this, and when you heard it start and run it made it all worth while. I have some idea what you're going through, as I just got a call from the machine shop saying the heads for my Corvette are ready. I had the engine rebuilt by a "pro" about 9 years ago, and it has burned a quart of oil every fill up since then. I finally got sick and tired of waiting for it to "seat in" and pulled them and took them in. My current machinist (who I trust) told me the seals were installed incorrectly and has installed new viton valve seals which should solve the problem.

It looks like you've got a nice project going there and I have to say, that after watching you through all this, I'm extremely happy for you.
 
Be sure to check your air fuel ratio , I learned the hard way how to not overcarburate a flathead, I leraned on the second engine.lol. sounds and looks like a winner for sure !
 
Thanks Tubman! It felt great when it fired off!

Fordestes - I am not actually going to run this carb. It was the newest/best one I had on hand. I have a 3 deuce setup for it but the carbs are rebuilt and not set up yet, so I didn't want to try to tune them at the same time as getting the motor to fire.
 
Hi Gordon, thanks for coming back with the update! Many people including myself was wondering how it all went down! (I really never doubted you would get it done)

Lots of Flathead owners (who don't do engines for a living) don't fully understand what building one is all about! They figure "just buy the parts and bolt it together". This is OK when all your "stars line up", but becomes a real headache when they don't.

I kind of knew for sure what your outcome would be and am glad for you.

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. Now sit back and "reap" the rewards and "Good Luck" with everything! You've put enough effort in it, now it's time to enjoy it!
 
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tubman said:
That's super good news. Gordon! The engine sounds great. I'll bet you're glad you persevered with this, and when you heard it start and run it made it all worth while. I have some idea what you're going through, as I just got a call from the machine shop saying the heads for my Corvette are ready. I had the engine rebuilt by a "pro" about 9 years ago, and it has burned a quart of oil every fill up since then. I finally got sick and tired of waiting for it to "seat in" and pulled them and took them in. My current machinist (who I trust) told me the seals were installed incorrectly and has installed new viton valve seals which should solve the problem.

It looks like you've got a nice project going there and I have to say, that after watching you through all this, I'm extremely happy for you.
Click to expand...

Oil consumption:

A gasoline engine typically burns 1/1100 of a drop on every power stroke! (SAE spec size drop) xx x xx .... Thats approx 1 qt every 1000 miles BUT if a engine leaks one drop every 50 feet it will leak 1 qt in 300 miles ....
So a leak is worse than a burn.....
AND a us qt is 36,500 drops ........
I just knew you couldnt live with out this knowledge ........
 
Really glad you solved the issues and now have the motor running sweet.

Mart.
 
"Bubba" - I wish it had been a leak; I've already had the pan off to change out the Hi-Volume/Hi-Capacity "racing" pump the "pro" put in, and in the process, replaced the pan gasket, so I have NO leaks. I used one of those new one-piece Fel-Pro gaskets and it was real slick. It won't pass NCRS judging, but that don't bother me. In the process, I got four of them plastic studs with the springy dealies that make replacing the pan a snap. AND, the are 5/16", so they fit a flathead too!

Gordon, sorry for hijacking your thread, but I do have a question. Did you end up using Ford or Chevrolet valves. I know there was a length problem.
 
I used the chevy valves with springs,shims, and guides from Gary. Put the lock on the top groove and used 5 shims per valve. It all came together and is working fine. Now working on figuring out my exhaust and cooling...
 
Gordon c. Makes sense, that would be what I would do to get things sorted out , I just hated to see someone make a costly mistake, I was a young lad and always thought bigger was better , my pa tried to tell me different but at the time I figured shucks what does he know? Well he was right , it cost me a new crank and re-bore, so I just try to pass that along so someone don't forget and say well it runs ok like it is .lol
I wish I had my "A" Body like you have . I think you done well from the sound of that flattie and what you had to do to get everything right.
Lots of luck.
fordestes
 
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