got a rather nutty question for all of ya guy's with flatheads . i am gonna pull mine out to replace the valve springs etc. change a couple of leaking gaskets , and some other work i the bay and i was curious where to hook to on her to pull her . ya'll say they have thin decks etc. and from the looks of mine from messing with her i'd say so , and i dont want to put stress on it somewhere to pull and do the bad thing .... you know crack it or worse so ....... also does the flatty respond to port matching like a ohv engine does ?? got a whole load of questions but got lil' miss impatient waiting to go so ....... later

 

HI,

I'm not sure about porting - don't know (or rather remember) a lot about flathead performance, but here's a couple poctures of what to grab on to:





There's a bunch af guys who have made jigs that bolt on where the intake manold goes...I've seen some in a couple posts. Here is one that Roger made:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...-progress.html


Hope that helps (did I even read what you were looking for correctly)

 

Do NOT hang it from the back on a engine stand,they will break, at least the older ones will
Larry.

 

That warning is for the older style of flattie, the ones with the int regal bell housing on the back of the engine. With them you run a good chance of cracking out one of the bolt holes and then your entire engine is junk. With the older style it's best to use a bracket that bolts to the side of the engine, over the exhaust ports.

With the newer style I would lift using two of the head bolts. You can hang them on an engine stand using the back bolt holes, just like you with a modern engine but I never trust it sitting on them very long. I would stack some bracing under the oil pan for added insurance.

 

Which is why i never understood why engine stands didn't come with an adjustable forward brace to prop up under the front of an engine. I planned on using flatbar with a big eye bolt head welded on, and drilled for the exhaust bolt pattern when the engine is too pretty to wrap a strap around.

 

thanx for the replies as i didnt want to turn that beloved peice of metal into a conversation peice only . i , at this time really dont know what it's going on but like havi said i'm thinking about getting some metal to make a front support for it . by the way where the hades is roger ??? i can't recall seeing or hearing from him in quite a while .........

 

I'm always afraid when someone says to use head bolts that someone will interpret this to mean screw in a couple of head bolts, with the heads off, and lift with those. NO! If the heads are on, take the time to make a lifting eye that will go under a head bolt, then tighten the head bolt down. If the heads are off, make a similar eye and use a short bolt of the proper thread to tighten it down onto the deck. If there is any length of bolt above the deck and you lift by it, you put the bolt into bending and it could snap off in the block.

There's a picture somewhere on the HAMB of how Ford used to lift them on the assembly line. It is a T-shaped bar with an eye in the center, that they stuck into the valve chest lengthwise, rotated 90 degrees, and lifted. Keep in mind they had done it enough times to know where to put it. I think the best way to lift these in/out is using the intake manifold surface, it is hell for stout.

 

Here's how I have lifted a bunch of em. Just cut a little piece of angle iron, drill (or torch) a couple of holes to match some head bolts.
Just watch out for hooking the carb or fuel pump! I've lifted many of em this way--sometimes with the trannie still connected--no problemoe...slim

 

intake is off dizzy out all it'll be is the long block and bell housing . so i got some angle laying round somewhere ................

 

I totally agree with Ross and Slim, I just kind of gave an off the hip answer. Their simple but very wise suggests make the most sense.

As for Roger, I emailed him the other day to make sure he's OK. He came right back with a reply and explained he hasn't worked on his truck for a while because of the cold and he didn't feel like coming here until he got some other non truck projects done. Until then he's concentrating on the other projects. He said he will be back as soon as it get warm and he can spend time in his shop.

 

cool , glad he's ok . well off to the four letter word then when i get back i'll go dispose of some more junk and play with the 53 .........