I've found you can buy a whole vehicle with a good engine in it a lot of times for the same amount a lone engine will go for if not cheaper. So don't limit yourself to just look for he engine also look for the vehicles they came in.
I'd look in Northern areas of the US or in Canada. The Achilles heal of a Flathead is the engine block. Most died when the developed a crack that runs from one of the valve seats to the cylinder. Back in the day, there were folks that could pin these cracks and sleeve the cylinder to repair them. The problem today is that the guys that knew how to do this are all dead or retired.
Initially, the engines ran fine. As they developed some age the cooling passages developed heavy scale. The scale served to insulate the block in places and the water in the block became less effective at carrying away the heat causing the block to crack. This is a somewhat simplified explanation. In any case, I have noticed over time that the good blocks all appear to be in the colder climates. My theory (and that all it is - my theory) is that over heating was a bigger problem in warmer cliamtes like where I am in Houston. Sadly, while the good blocks are all up north, the bodies up there disintigrated because of road salt. So what you have today is a guy in Arizona with a nice body and no engine and a guy in Illinois with a good engine and nothing to drop it into. A good place to look for a complete truck might be the high desert regions of the Northwest. Not as hot and little winter snow. If you just want an engine, any cold weather climate will do. Look at the responses you've gotten so far from folks that have good blocks - Canada - New York - Minnesota .....
Anything from a warmer climate that was wrecked with a good engine was gobbled up long ago. Think about the older vehicles you find in bone yards now. None of them appear to have ended up there becasue they were crashed. They ended up in the bone yard because they weren't running and were old and rusty. Someone wanted them off of the farm or out of the yard/garage. About half of them stopped running because the block cracked. Again, just my theory but I haven't seen much to dispell it.
Here is a good picture of the crack I tried to describe:
By the way, the article is a great go when you get around to tearing one down. Easy to read and very easy to follow. This guy ran into just about all of the common problems you can expect to encounter during the tear down.
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2003 F-250SD, 6.0 PSD
2008 Lincoln MKX
1996 Explorer Sport
1950 F1 (4 ea.)
1949 F2
1948 F6
1950 F6
That is a great flathead site. Thanks for the link.
I'm not looking to hijack the thread but I have been looking for a flathead as well and have found one I will be checking out this weekend. I was hoping you guys could give me some tips on how to evaluate it. It is currently in a 50 F1 and runs. I'm buying just the motor but have the chance to hear it run before we pull it. The guy wants to rod the truck so he doesn't need the motor or 4 speed transmission. I get them both as a unit. It runs but I do not know its history. I don't think it has been rebuilt but if so it was a long time ago. My plan is to rebuild it and put it in my 54. How would you advise I check this out?
Look for water in the oil or oil in the coolant. Would be good if he let you pull the heads before you commit. If it runs for a while and does not overheat, you should be good. Even better if you can drive it.
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2003 F-250SD, 6.0 PSD
2008 Lincoln MKX
1996 Explorer Sport
1950 F1 (4 ea.)
1949 F2
1948 F6
1950 F6
He has only had it a few months and I think he drove it just long enough to get it up on the trailer. No smoke or knocks but indicated the carb needed to be rebuilt. Said it was complete top to bottom and end to end. He'll fire it up and I can hear it run. If I like it we'll pull it and put it in the bed of my truck and I'll haul it back home (he's about 4 hours away).
Is there an advantage to having the whole thing as opposed to just a core?
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