That mil-surp engine sounds great! Did you do a precautionary cam break-in just in case it wasn’t done when rebuilt back in the day? Or do flatheads not require a cam break-in like ohv engines?
40 some odd years ago some of our local farmers used low milage flatheads on top of tall structures to keep frost off their crops. Some were available. I shoulda bought one as years later my 36 LB finally developed a huge crack during a long winter freeze.
I haveto comment. Steve is wearing a "perfectly Shitty shirt". I was begging for this in comments a couple years ago. So not I have to find your merch store and buy one!!!!
At least make the kid wear ear protection. He has a long time ahead of him to be hard of hearing. p.s. really great episode. My first flathead. Tighten up the gantry sequence. There is only so much chain pulling a man can stand. 🤠
Was a few videos ago now, but the first time I saw Steve with his new haircut, trimmed beard, and no ball cap, I thought you had a new employee: "Who the heck is THAT?" Lookin' good there, Steve: I think you lost about 20 years. 🤣
I did too , I missed a few videos traveling and saw this new guy in the shop . Fooled me until he said something then I knew who it was . Makes him look younger too ., Of course I'm 83 so everybody looks younger to me .
I can relate to worn engine oil consumption in an old Ford. Back in the mid '70s, I had a Ford Galaxie 500, tudor, hardtop, 390, 4 speed that used oil to the point it was a "fill up the oil and check the gas" ride. The body was great with no rust, but the engine and drive train had had the living crap run out of it. (About 155k mikes, IIRC.)
Love this car! Everything about her is spot on! Good thing you have a stockpile of engines on hand! Gotta love a flathead and all their headaches! Go Iron Trap, keep moving forward!
Hi I have early original Ardun engine in 32 ford roadster. I inherited from my dad. 32 has been driven with Ardun to all 48 states, and only ford to be in corvette museum. Would be great to have Ron as a contact on my Ardun confact list. My email is dbkbab@gmail.com (Doug)
Great video. Thanks for posting. Question: Is the rebuilt military flathead V-8 one of the built under license French V-8s used by their military through the 1980s? I've seen articles and ads for them periodically.
The biggest selling point when I drug my 57 Catalina out of it's barn space was the fresh 347 that had been installed shortly before it was parked and forgotten. Borescope confirmed. The flathead straight 8 in my 53 Packard is another story.
“Burned as almost much oil as gas…”. Ha! When I was in high school one of my best buddies had a ‘48 Studebaker that burned more than 40 qts of oil per 1,000 miles. We bought “Reclaimed” oil in big metal cans from Pep Boys. Another good buddy had a 1949 Stude that burned about the same amount of oil but also leaked a similar amount. Our high school was only a mile from our homes, and on a good day Barry could make it TO and Home FROM school without hearing the dreaded double rap of the conn rods knocking.
Back in the '60s my cousin had a Volvo PV544 that burned a lot of oil. One summer we decided to take off to Washington D.C. from Macon, GA in it to visit our aunt and uncle. Back then you could buy bulk oil in glass jars with lids that had built in funnels. Every time we stopped for gas we also had to fill up the oil with those bulk oil jars.
I worked at a service station in the 80s , a DX , we still used the glass bottles to measure out quarts of our bulk oil for customers who didn’t want to pay for cans of the name brand stuff. Best thing was there was a drip rack for the bottles that caught the dribbles in another bottle which I was allowed to use for my own car.
Drag racing with a stock Columbia?? I’d like to know more on how to make one stay together. I’ve got a John Connelly bulletproofed unit, I’d still like to know if there’s other mods to help.
Some other brands of engines were detuned for running at a constant speed sometime cams were retarded and compression was lowered with thicker head gaskets i am sure they will check
You are getting very good at R&R jobs. Every time you work on the Delorean roadster, I have a picture of where you got it in my head, and I say I drove by there daily for over 30 years and and always said that would make a good lil hot rod shop. I couldn't look inside because of the fence
I would bore it and get the appropriate sized pistons and rings. The other thing would be valve guides and seals. A new oil pump and bearings and gaskets and you have a good tight engine.
