When I was about 12 to 14 years old, back in the 60's, an old (85) man rented a garage space for his pride and joy-a 1950 Meteor (Canadian Ford). He was a retired mechanic and had the flat head V8 souped up a bit. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I know he had twin Stromberg carbs, dual exhausts (Smithies ring a bell?), 3/4 race cam, etc. He had the 3 on the tree and the car used to make a beautiful V8 burble, as it slowly proceeded down our back lane.

The car was in beautiful condition and I always wondered how much hp it would put out with these mods? Anybody out there have an idea?

He was an interesting man and I used to have fascinating conversations with him. He was an American (remember this was Canada) from Michigan, originally.

He told me how he had been part of Louis Chevrolet's pit crew at an early Indy 500. I was cynical, as most young teenagers are. One day he showed me his scrap book and there pasted on one of the sheets, was a newspaper picture of Louis and his pit crew at the Indy 500.

I read his name on the picture caption. Unbelievable. A little while later, he sold his beloved old Meteor, so his son could buy a new Mustang. I believe he died, shortly after.

 

Interesting story, thanks

 

hp i can't help you as dynos back in those days .well they where not.
i'm one of those old timers who did the same work to the flaties. alloy heads would up the compression to 8.5 to 1, 2 2 barrel strombergs were the common as 3 x2's over fueled and never really ran as good as 2 x2's, 3/4 cams were another item.we just had to be carefull that the valves did not hit the head, headers they looked like 3 pipes welded into one .
last year i did my last 239. over , added a 53 merc crank and a .060 over bore to come out with about 264 cubic inches and because the merc crank has a 1/4 inch stroke increase "they were 255 cubic inches" you also get a compression of about 10 to1 and a super great sounding exhaust that only a flathead makes.
smithies were a name for glass packed mufflers back then.
yes those were the days and not many of us left who know how to build them or love the sounds they make

 

Street Rodder Magazine did a buildup of a flathead recently from mid-2004 to January 2005. They dyno tested this street engine in the January 2005 issue and they achieved:

HP: 182.2 hp at 4400 rpm
Torque: 249.9 ft/lbf at 3100 rpm

They had 276 cu. in., 2 2-barrel Strombergs on an Offy manifold, Sharp heads, Isky Max I cam, 1.6 in. dia. intake and exhaust valves, ported and relieved. If you go to their website you should be able to find the issues and order them if you want more detail on the buildup.

 

Thanks, all for the details on the Ford Flathead V8. I always felt the Ford Flathead V8, sounded quite unlike any OHV V8. I always could tell when a flathead V8 went by. It seemed to have a rich, lazy V8 woofle, if you know what I mean.

I don't know if this was just my imagination. Those that know the flathead, would know best.

I was 10 by 1959, so it was only a short period in my life when flathead V8s were common. My Father had a 1941 Merc Convert, than a '46 Ford V8 (right after the war). I wasn't around yet, when he had the 41 and 46.

He was driving his '41 Merc convert and another guy approached him at a stop sign. He had a '46 Ford sedan and asked dad if he was interested in a straight trade. The 46 for the 41. This was 1946 and new cars were hard to get.

The 41 was getting kind of tired and he went for it. A few years later, he traded the 46 in on a '50 Ford V8. Then went to a couple of English Austins, than a '56 Fairlane with a 312, Thunderbird, OHV V8.

As a Canadian, old guy, I enjoy the stories from you American, old guys. As Red Green says in his tv show, at our age, we've got to stick together.

 

stick together is correct. i played mostly with 49 to 53's added a merc crank when i could.also stuck a big lincoln /ford truck into my 50 sedan. we ground groves into the hed so the tree shifter would work what a sleeper that was.