Thread: Building a Flathead for the very first time

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Hiya,

I sure hope there,s someone who knows what i'm doing cause I know I'm not.
My neighbor has a 50 Ford custom that I convinced that I can take care of the build on. Mainly it's just gonna be a regular fluff up but with machining done in all the right places. I am convincing him to add a few speed parts too but nothing too radical. Well, so far.
I'm kinda stuck on how to pull the front crank pulley without damaging it. It's not a balancer but it is keyed onto the crank. No holes for a puller and using a regular gear puller may damage the pulley itself. I feels like it friction fitted on good like a balancer would be. Any ideas?
Also there's an oil pump idler gear in the back. My best guess is it pulls off with a slide hammer at the stationary hub the gear rolls on. Am I right? Also, is it necessary to even pull that gear off? It's recessed into the block anyway.
Another thing is my neighbor mentioned that he'd like to convert the car from a 6 volt system to a 12 volt. How involved would that be? Has anyone done it?
Another concern is the car will have a 3/4 race cam installed. The problem may be the owner wants the aluminum heads that have the same chambers as the Mercury heads they had in the day. It don't look like there's much wiggle room in the combustion chambers as it is. Will I be looking at valve clearance problems?
Any other pitfalls I'm not seeing I'd appreciate being made aware of. Thanks

Been to long since I worked on a flatty. But the 12V system is nothing change the bulbs , change to a 1 wire alt. the starter will be just fine. The wiring is for 6V which is twice the gauge needed for 12V. Eliminate the V reg. all that stuff. If you really want to get into it there are kits for this but I seldom use them as its not necessary.
.

Thanks,
I was wondering about the gauges, radio, heater fan fuel sender etc?
The owner seems real hot on a conversion now, It looks like I'm in for it!

Try this for the gauges

12 6 PM Vol TA Drop 12 Volt to 6 Volt Reducer for Radios Accessories | eBay

Yay! problems solved,
I'm gonna hafta do the conversion, no way out of it.

That voltage dropper looked like it sat in water. I offered 10 but it was declined. I'm thinking Speedway or Summit might have something similar though

That's an old one, I had one just like it on a 36 5 window many moons ago

Would it be worth the 50? looks like I got 28 days to decide I guess.

Originally Posted by Good Wrench

Would it be worth the 50? looks like I got 28 days to decide I guess.

I think so, but it's your money. If you get it or any other dropping resistor mount it on the firewall or somewhere it can get air, they tend to run quite hot.

Yeah I can put it in place of the voltage regulator. Owner wants me to pretty up the engine bay as well as he's seen my Full Monte already.
Gonna start the engine teardown this week. Still haven't figured out how to take off that front crank pulley yet. I may just take the crank out with it on and use a brass drift on the backside of the hub. The cam gear bolts are in a funny position as well. The distributor gear is in the way of a straight shot to the bolts Now I know why they used to make those funny bent wrenches now. Wish I had some.
Now I know folks usta make wooden cradles for the crankshaft to rest on but I was wondering if I just set it on end would that suffice? I can't believe a crank would be so easy to bend. But I been wrong before....

You can power the guages by putting a self tapping screw into the center link of the battery which will get you 6 volts------------

And/or-----for 6 volt starter--you can use two 6 volt batteries in series for the 12 v system and a lead off of the center to the solenoid for the starter(use a 12 volt solenoid but for just 6 volts to the starter(and/or gusge)

You might want to find a rebuild manual on the flattie, there are many aspects of the engine that are unlike an overhead valve engine.---aka, more ways to do it wrong then do it right!!!!!

I think the owner wants everything as 12 volt as I can get but it looks like it may be some bucks to do and this guys got kids so I dunno Might just be an upgrade I can do after the build. 2 six volt batteries? I think the owner just wants the car to be able to be jump started really.

Speedway parts had a couple manuals or I should say books as they read like one. The one I got has an old school guy rebuilder narrating but in an old school way which is sometimes hard to follow. He does not mention the R&R procedure of the front crank pulley or the existence of the oil pump idler pulley. It reminds me of a college teacher I had. He would just assume that every breathing creature would just know that the slip angle of a bias ply tire was 37 to 42 degrees. I might try for another "Manual" on speedway if I get too scared.

PS, He did mention building a wooden cradle to lay the crank on. I just wondered if I could just lay the crank vertical for storage instead.

Originally Posted by Good Wrench

He did mention building a wooden cradle to lay the crank on. I just wondered if I could just lay the crank vertical for storage instead.

At the Chevy dealership parts department cranks were stored standing up on the rear flange to eliminate any potential bowing of the crank.

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

You might want to find a rebuild manual on the flattie, there are many aspects of the engine that are unlike an overhead valve engine.---aka, more ways to do it wrong then do it right!!!!!

I never start a project without having all the factory service and parts manuals. Clymer and Motors and Haynes are a waste of money. Get the real deal factory books from Faxon.
Faxon | Shop Manuals for Car & Truck Owners | DIY Service, Repair or Maintenance

Here are some other titles you will want to have on the shelf....Frank Oddo in particular....
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...=flathead+ford

Ok so I can prop the crank in the corner, good
I hafta mic the journals anyway to see if it's still serviceable Lotsa measuring to do!
So far we got two manuals from Speedway. All i'm doing this week is just the teardown and finding a machine shops that know about them blocks. Tearing into it so far it seems like somebody attempted a few repairs with too many beers in em. I found a few nuts and pieces of metal siliconed near some valve guides. And so far I found one valve froze onto a broken guide and NO I didn't break it I removed it that way.
The cam wasn't moving the fuel pump enough to work either Changing cam and bushing and pushrod and fuel pump itself.
OK say I can't find a machine shop. If that's the case I may just clean the walls and add new rings. But I hope i can do better of course.
Anyway i'm tearing into it tomorrow, interesting to see what else is broken.