I ran into a fellow that has a running stock flathead V8, he claims the going price is $600 to $800. This is in the midwest. Remind me again what a decent price is. I have a 226, so that means a radiator, different throttle linkage, and new battery box, plus what ever the flathead might need, and that could be a bunch of $$$ Your opinons are valued.

 

"Running" like he still has it in a car/truck so you can see if it has power under load, isn't overheating, leaking, etc? If it is sitting in a tire on the floor and he can make it run, that means very little. I'd run a compression test, and pull the intake manifold to see if it's loaded with sludge or rust. If the numbers are decent (min. 100 psi) and it's complete, you can roll the dice, offer him $500 - $600.

 

around my area a cleaned and fluxed block alone runs 400.00. like f1 says run some checks on it and then decide. i would watch for overheating and leaks. if it is running you should be able to get a good idea and if it checks out the price range is fair imho.

 

Fair price but if you look around you might be able to find one cheaper but you might not. Grab it if you want it.

I sold a running flattie to a guy in Australia for $600. Of course he didn't see it in person and I had it sitting on wooden engine stand so I could run it. I sold a condition unknown but stuck flattie to a guy who just happened to drive past my shop 4-5 years ago for $250. I saw the guy latter at a swap meet and he told me the engine was trash but he said he was able to salvage $250+ worth of parts out of it. I also bought a panel truck from a guy who didn't know anything about old Fords but wanted the truck gone for $500. It had a stock 226, which I got running and sold for $300, and a V8 sitting next to. It also came with the above V8 we found after pulling the truck out of the garage, he just threw that engine in to get rid of it. So if you look around you will find engines in all price ranges.

Flatheads are funny because you talk to one person and he'll tell you if you can find a rebuildable one, not running, you'll pay $500+, the next guy you talk to will tell you he picks them up, running in the car, for $200.