welp started lookin' hard at the flatty in between over the last couple of days .......... all the valves have been milled down far enough i have to replace them as i don't think they're gonna work , not too mention it's a freakin' hodge podge of passenger car and 51-53 truck valves . can't believe i never caught that earlier . pulling all the 51-53 valvesprings which are new , and all the multi piece retainer and lock arrangments etc. and buying a whole new valvetrain , ss pro flow summit brand sbc valves ( 4.911 1.5 heads ) new locks , the flatattack adjustable hollows from reds eventually , lightweight aluminum retainers from flathead jacks , got myself some elgin rv 526 springs ( they're the replacement for 49-50 flatties , and all the same specs but not as many coils so less chance of coil bind if i get goofy ! ) that will be shimmed to 2 " for 50 lbs of pressure . scoped out the 8cm cam and she is perfect , and man is there ever a noticeable difference in lobe design from my 8ba cam and it !!!! reading up on flatty valvetrain tech on tildens site , isky , comp anywhere i can find it , and looking too save for a 4 bbl intake prolly the dual plane from edelbraock and not one of the log style from offy , or ... maybe that purty navarro h&h has !!! got the heads abck . been glass beaded , and shaved .010 and near as i can figure with my limited math skills , and all the gasket specs etc i should have about 7.4:1 compression ......... now all i gotta do is get some of the suspension parts bought and get the frame together and painted so i can start repairing some of the minor rust i got and put the body on it ( the new frame ) welp off too the four letter word again ! later guy's !!!

 

Be careful! A friend of mine had a 59AB rebuilt for his track-T; stock crank, rods, and pistons, a mild cam, adjustables, 2x2, offy heads. His tab was (sit down) $7900........ He didn't do any of the work, tho.

 

UUMMmm I has been a long time since I had to price parts...sure am glad mine was rebuilt before I got it ..so you two have experiance...i was looking at fenton hedders for my 54'and a single 4 bbl carb...my question is are the aluminium heads worth the money??

 

Oh, just dump the SBF in it and be done!

 

tom i'm gonna dump something , in yer front yard !!!!!!!!!!!!!! ross i am watching the budget closely , and 9times outta ten the ol' cheap skate will reappear and i'll reuse valves or .... i went out and started digging and came up with 16 other valves , some froze in the guides , that are well within spec so ..... aluminum heads are a matter of taste . for street use i'd say nope . the cast iron oe's breathe better in most cases from what i have seen and read . you just get a major jump in compression from the aluminum's , and they weigh half the oe , and they do look purty !!!! i had a set of eab's milled .010 and cleaned up to use . my oe compression was 6.8 i think . with the untouched eabs it would have went to 7.2 , and if my math is right it should be 7.4 now . the chambers on the aftermarkets are smaller , thus the cr raise and as thus they have reduced the amount of 'room' for the mixture to get in and out , and choked it off a bit where the oe's will breathe . you can relieve the block to help or get some good heads like navarro's or mcf .............. the intake from reading all i could from the likes of carl rosevile , jwl , and others , follows suit even with todays motors . don't use a log type ( single plane ) on a street engine as you will lose power down low , use the ones based on fords 180 degree design aka , dual planes , like the edelbrock , and navarro's, the fenton 4 bbl , and the tattersfield especially in our heavier vehicles . the guy's with roadsters and lighter cars can get away with murder due to NO vehicle weight !!!! . for cam info go to harvey cranes site and read his "secrets" and larry young's site tilden technologies and immerse yourself before jumping in too deep . that's why i'm running an oe 8cm . as of now im am going to reuse my oe intake with an offy adaptor and a rochester 2 jet . if i can land a merc 4 bolt intake i'll lose the adaptor . but i really want to eventually get one of either the e-brock's or my fave the navarro and a 390 holley .lotsa peeps say fentons dont fit so well in some chassis . try sanderson headers . ultra nice stuff and it fits and runs price wise inline with most all others ...............

 

hey kevin, 7.4:1 compression...how about fuel injection and turbo? that a good compression ratio for it!

 

fuel injection would be cool jeff but i'm electrically techtarded so ..... a turbo well i don't know how favorably the flatty would respond to all that extra exhaust heat from it . i may have a good spare block , crank rods , etc. but i dont wanna use it up cause i done something reall ygoofy in the pursuit of speed and power . that's what that 4.6 is for in turd bird , if i ever get around to it !!!

 

I get more in one conversation here then in a week of reading my 40 year old hot rod magazines..and going from flatty 6to1 compression to turbo and fuel injection...in one sentence.. wow..