Thread: Modern Flatheads

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I think that is Motor City Flatheads, although they are still not in production yet, I saw a new French Block go for $1500 on Ebay recently. I'm not too fond of the french, but I have seen some quality manufactured goods come out of there. I fly in a french made helicopter at work.

Ralph, I'm pretty sure those were blocks made by Henry and shipped to France for the war effort. They were discovered in a french warehouse several years ago as leftover war surplus. Seems to me there were maybe 200 of them. Here's a blurb from the HAMB......
"The actual owner of the French Flatheads is Brent Mullins (http://www.mullinsjeepparts.com/). He restores military vehicles and goes all over the world buying military surplus. He bought the French Flatheads and imported them to the U.S. He sold them to Halibrand and got them back after they went bankrupt."

The French flatheads were not exactly war surplus but they are military surplus. The flathead engine design was modified by the French military with the addition of governors, metric details (although not all holes are metric), the addition of casting features, etc. These engines were used in frog military vehicles up to about 1990 and were phased out. The surplus spares were purchased and returned to the USA. The engines are a combination of features from several Ford designs. One web location showing pics is
http://www.reds-headers.com/html/ffh.html

The are reportedly cast using a better metal than did Henry use.