Well that's a very nice looking coupe. From the paint scheme it may have been "improved" during the years with a later engine and/or better brakes (the mechanical brakes were/are terrible unless in excellent condition!). Count the studs on each head. I believe the original '36 had only 21 studs and maxed out at about 85 H.P. stock, but if it has 24 studs that is a later engine and may be a 59-AB rated at 100 H.P. stock. Both these engines had the water inlet in the top center of the heads. The later '49-'53 8-BA engines had the water inlets at the front corner of the heads and the distributor came out of the top front at an angle while the earlier blocks had the distriibutor down low under the water pumps. This is all standard knowledge to geezers over 50, but seems to have been lost in time. Sorry to disappoint you but unless you stroke the engine with a 4" Mercury crank from '49-'53 along with proper rods and pistons you cannot expect much more than about 120 H.P. with bolt on accessories. The Isky cams will give more H.P. but you will have to pull the stock lifters (not easy) and replace them with adjustable lifters if you change the cam. The parts are not too expensive but pulling out old lifters may be easy or tricky depending on wear. At the other end of the spectrum it is possible to bore and stroke a 59-AB (24 stud) using a Merc crank and also to "relieve" the block around the valves to a depth of about 1/8" to achieve about 270 H.P. but now you are into much more cost than just to rebuild a small block Chevy 327/350 to mild improvement for at least 250 H.P. The problem is that flathead parts are now more expensive than rebuilding a more modern OHV engine. As an old Ford fan I know you might want to use a small block Ford 289/302 but that interesting idea runs into a problem with a long water pump nose. That problem can be solved with an expensive short water pump and the Ford block is lighter, but the Chevy has more torque. Therefore if you can live with nostalgia get the Edelbrock heads and maybe a two-pot intake along with a Mallory ignition and hope you get 120 H.P. Actually with a 3.78 rear gear you should still have good acceleration, but the top speed may top out at a little over 80 mph. Have fun!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder