Did We Buy A Junk Ford Flathead Engine At Carlisle Swap Meet? 

When I changed the oil on my ‘50 Ford sedan for the first time, I had pieces of rings flow into the drain pan, I knew it was time for a rebuild.

Speaking of "farmer rebuild". I am 76 . When I was a young boy growing up on a Wis farm. I learned about engines from an old mechanic/machinist/welder who was always asked to do "cheap" rebuilds . Back then(50's-60"s) they used to knurl the piston skirts to tighten up the bore fit. You could buy rings that were .002 .005 .010 over bore. So they would hone the bores to fit what ring size was available. You would have his loved shop. It was a center line shaft which powered his machines with flat belts that he would slip on. When you walked in it was the click-click-click as the metal belt seams went over the steel pulleys. We were also very fortunate that central Wis have a Muskegon Piston Ring manufacturing Plant that could make custom ring sets. I love you're honest-straight foreword way on sharing your car passion with your viewers. PS: I still have 12 old cars.

Those smiles when it first fired are worth a million.😊

I’ve had pretty decent luck with dumping the goop out an engine like that putting in some fresh cheap oil with a full can of B12 detergent additive a quart of ATF and the rest engine oil. Let ‘em run for about 20-30 minutes and then drain them again. You’d be surprised at just how much junk breaks loose. Great find that it seems like a solid builder at this point

I really enjoy your videos and am impressed with your knowledge. I cracked up when you used the term “ Hillbilly Rebuild.” Great find Matt

Nothing better than an old thing, beats the new every time, (says the olde guy)....

We used to use Gulfpride 30 to clean out engines that was run with Havoline oil. Havoline was the cheapest oil you could buy. Had to change oil 3 or 4 times, but at 30 cents a can or 3 something a case you couldn’t go wrong.

Worthwhile purchase. Engine looks good overall! Way to go Matt!

Nice find 👌

That is cool 😎 thanks for letting me watch 👍

I assume you dropped the pan and cleaned it and the valley before changing oil. That and preferably lifting the heads for inspection ( unfortunately wasting head gaskets) is basic stuff before turning an unknown engine over, as I'm sure you know. Great site and very cool cars !

Do a compression check and write down the numbers for each cylinder before you pull it apart to re-ring it. That would be real interesting to see how much each cylinder improved!

Thank you Matt , Steve and Mike for update on how things are going there ! That's awesome that the check run of the Flathead ran good !

Thanks for the video...good information....wm

Great videos. Thank you. The 32 would look nice with four red lens.

Very KOOL Matt and Steve

Hey, the water pumps weren't siezed! I ain't never seen such a thing before...😊

Once again Steve is the man!

You should mount a 32 grill on the run stand

maybe you could check the plugs on the right side head to see wich cylinders are burning oil ?

Dump the skanky oil and replace it with ATF to internally clean it and maybe unstick some rings.

Always like the big smiles when a motor fires up and run...especially on a new one. 😊 but let me ask you something. Since your not an excavator or anything. Wouldn't it be better to have "forks" on the front of your tractor than a "bucket" 🤔 Seems it would be more handy, you know, for moving bodies and stuff. 😏

That one might be a good candidate for rings and valve job. Probably, the reason for the thick oil, & removed from service. Stock flatties run good,,,,Izzy,,,,

When checking the oil level and condition on an unknown engine I would definitely back off the oil pan drain plug and see if water comes out. If you are going to sell "good" engines I think I would rig up a coolant pressure test capability to say take the engine up to about 30psi and lock it off. This should show any cracks or gasket issues.

"V" style distributor cap . . . '46-'48 like mine!😃

As the old slogan goes: "Built Ford tough!" In what car do you plan on putting it into if you ever think about doing such a thing, the green '32 hot rod?

Have you tried doing a compression test on all cylinders? Simple and fast will tell you a lot. That is the first thing I would do with every motor.

Hi Matt, would "reading" the sparkplugs tell you what cylinder may be faulty?

The 0ne flattie I had came with a dual point Mallory. . As a 20 yo guy I was starting it up a lot and moving it in the drivway until it wouldn't start anymore. Took to garage I knew well and they couldn't get it to start either. They reccomended a stock ignition and got it going again for me. Always had to wait awhile to restart after a warm up. I think it was a vapor lock ? Have you come across any 53 Merc engines ?

Winner winner chicken dinner 👍👍👍🇦🇺😀😎

Congratulations on cornering the market on NOS and Old Ford Flathead speed equipment..

Maybe to help others out, what kind of pricing would you pay for a swap meet motor in this condition. We all know it's a gamble but there are a lot of folks who may be scared to take the gamble. 500 to 1k has been my normal finds recently down here in Texas.

What is your threshold for "looseness" to just re-ring?

It’s called Havoline!

Bish bash bosh

There's Matt and Steve making more flathead converts. 😏 I'm starting to feel itchy myself. edit: what brand is your Amazon heat reading gun? I need one but there are so many.

how about when you put water in it?

That oil looks like melasus😅😅

You offered me a XL Shirt for the Tachometer I see in your Dash now, please send one to Mark Ketcham, not fussy about Color

Surely a pan full of new oil would have given the old girl a more fighting chance - great vid though

It was probably pulled for a small block 350/Turbo 350, an Easter egg paint job and gray tweed interior.

The engine is rebuilt 😂😂 it ran when we parked it 🥹

..... I like the farm rebuild, but as really valuable as these old girls are, I'd least get her clothes off and make the block a priority..... y'all can do the heads....good find.,....

Pardon Me but it is called a recycling yard not junk yard.

Oh how I hate the "will it start and run" bullshit. Why not just take it apart, check it, and overhaul it?

Nice! Question, is there an easy way to determine if a flat head has been rebuilt? I purchased a 52 customline v8 several years ago. Sat in barn in Butler, PA for unknown time. Replaced many parts over the years. Has always started and ran very well. Has no engine leaks. Short of compression check, any clues about any rebuild?