Gettin' my flathead ducks in a row

[av8]

Today's big lunch-time discussion for the denizens of the Prune Orchard Garage centered around specs and hardware ID for the new motor I'll be building this Spring for my F-1.  Lunching outdoors at one of our favorite haunts, 82 F, light breeze, and in the company of three great pals, two of whom are my flathead-building mentors, one of them a legendary racemotor builder from back in The Day. Day-to-day life just doesn't get much better than this!

It's gonna be a sensible stroker motor, 3-5/16 x 4, with a torquey cam -- sort of early day RV -- because the truck will be a daily driver where fuel economy is important, as well as a racecar tender where it has to quickly shove a LSR roadster up to speed.

The sensible build calls for EGGE hyper-eutectic pistons, weight-matched 8BA rods, high-volume Melling oil pump, Red's adjustable lifters moving Chevy SS valves controlled with Lincoln Zephyr valve springs, iron Ford 8BA heads ( for a reasonable CR increase with the Merc crank) secured with ARP studs, Red's headers, Offenhauser 4-bbl manifold with a Holley 390-cfm 4-bbl carburetor, and adapted GM  HEI. Extra dollars will be lavished on an ultra-ultra balancing job.

I'm giving up my Ford H-D four-speed, not-a-syncrho-in-sight transmission in favor of a Mustang T5. The flywheel vote today was "leave it alone." Other than being part of the package to be balanced it needs no further machine work to make it lighter and consequently snatchier.

The truck's Dana-style rearend will be replaced with a Ford 9-inch pulled from an E-150. The new pumpkin is fitted with a Trac-Lok (hooray!) and a 3.0 gearset (boo!). I'm sure I can trade this out for a 3.50 pumpkin, and I dont think it will have to be a LSD.  I prefer an open differential in a tail-light vehicle such as a pickup, particularly when it has a strong, torquey motor in place.

So, the block, heads, and oil pan go to the machine shop next week for a bake-and-blast cleaning session, followed by sonic mapping so we can see what we're in for. Parts ordering will soon follow, just about the time where I begin work on the block.

After feeling like a surrogate parent again and again and again as I watched my block work put proud smiles on the faces of customers, I get to keep this one for myself! It's going to be mine, and I can hardly contain myself until I actually start carving that beautiful Canadian Mercury casting.

Hot-rod-building life is good!

[enjenjo]

Unless there is a problem with the Dana rear, you might consider keeping it. With the T5 OD trans, it should be in the ballpark for gearing. and it nearly as strong as the 9" rear.

I'd like to pick your brain while I have you here. I installed a Mallory Unilite on the 48 ford I am working on right now, it is centrifical advance only. I set it up for 17 degrees advance as recommended, but don't have any figures for initial advance. Any suggestions? I also have another problem, the 48 engine has no timing marks, so how do I time it? I could pull the number one plug, and set it at TDC with an indicator, and make my own marks, or set the timing with a vacuum guage. Any ideas on this?

This distributor is has a crab style cap, like a 41 cap, and will not clear the fan belt for the stock fan. After extensive searching, I could not come up with a stock fan/pulley combo that would work. My thought was to make a new fan hub, move the belt back to just in front of the water pump belt, and then everything would clear, but the customer balked at the estimated price, so we are using a 16" DeRale electric fan as a pusher in front of the radiator. He had me put the stock fan back on without a belt, but I am not sure that was a good idea.

[av8]

Frank -- If memory serves me right, Tardel likes 4-5 degrees of initial. Your're right about timing marks; there aren't any on the 59A and earlier motors. On occasion Vern will establish timing marks on a customer's motor. I'm going to be at the shop tomorrow and will get the details for you and shoot you the info either tomorrow evening or sometime over the weekend.

I agree that leaving the stock fan installed is probably not a good idea. Air flowing through the radiator will cause it to whack the distributor cap from time to time and that can't be a good thing for a piece of injection-molded plastic.

Mike

[enjenjo]

That would be fine mike. I knew the old flatheads didn't need as much spark lead as the OHV motors, that should get  me in the ballpark.

[av8]

Frank -- The Ford shop manual says 4 degrees lead for the 59A and earlier, and 1 degree for the 8BA/8CM motors. Sounds like they were putting way too much faith in their new vacuum-advance distributor.

As for making a pointer and timing mark, Vern usually does it on the passenger side of the motor, probably because when the generator is offset it's usually to the driver side, so there would be a better view of the pointer and the pulley on the passenger side. Also, the starter solenoid is located on the passenger side so it makes it much easier to bump the motor over during timing adjustment.

[enjenjo]

Thanks mike. i'll fab up some type of pointer tomorrow.