nice job ,keep posting pictures. i will be doing the same thing this winter with my engine.
if no cracks are found. are the cracks hard to find, like always in the same places! i don,t have access to engine rebuilder around here. and not sure they know anything on flatheads. i was hoping to get away with passing stones,new rings bearings and seals.

 

Cracks are mostly from overheating and are from a valve pocket over to a cylinder bore. Most can be fixed, but if too many it's huge bucks. I feel like I can always see them with my 3.0 power reading glasses and good light. Others insist the block needs to be magnafluxed to check. If I was putting a ton of money into an engine I might send it out for testing and some machining, but my builds are 'low buck' and I could live with a failure, since it's not daily transportation. There are sometimes cracks when you turn the block over. From the rails where the pan bolts on or to a main bearing boss. I have one with a crack from freezing that runs the length of the block. It was welded at some time back and still runs great and doesn't leak a drop of coolant. In the mid 90s I had one rebuilt for 2500.00 and it turned out poorly because they didn't understand the floating rod bearings. Then I took anothr engine to a flathead pro and that one was 5000.00! Back then. This is why I do my own now, and I have about six books on the subject and now the world wide web. There are some really helpful and extremely skillful flathead builders on 'the fordbarn', a site like this, but mostly passenger cars. Not sure about 'passing stones', but rings and bearings and a gasket set will go a long way. Good luck. I am cleaning oil pan, heads, manifold, oil pump .... All the smaller stuff as my block is now 'machined', cleaned and painted. This is one filthy, dirty proposition to say the least......

 

thanks i read on the ford barn often, but i don,t have access to pictures. maybe i should pay for membership there. i will be starting in january.

 

I think you only need join the FordBarn to access pictures. I can see them and have never paid.

 

GB, a lot of the old time small community mechanics did very much the same as you are doing now. Often done right in the car. In chassis overhaul (not to be confused with rebuilt) Rings, bearings and grind or lap the valves. Times were much simpler then and people drove less. It would buy another few years on a tired engine in a time when cars usually ended up in the junkyard by the time they had 60,000 miles, especially the lower geared trucks.

 

In 1967 my folks moved us from North Seattle to a small town in Massachussets. The man next door was a chief engineer in the merchant marine and when I met him he was lapping in the valves of his wife's older volvo sedan in their garage. It was so far from anything my insurance broker dad would do and I stuck with this guy until it was back in the car. I was 14 and became a confirmed gearhead. Never did get the yankee accent though.

 

Doesn't cost anything to join.

 

i joined the ford barn a few years ago,but never had access to pictures. i thought i need to pay a subscribtion to see pictures.

 

I don't recall sending them money either. Maybe sign in and search 'trouble seeing photos', or some such wording.

 

I've been on there for years and never paid anything.

 

I too have been with them since Shelly ran it years ago. Don't think you have to pay. Check with Ryan.

 

Here is some inspiration to get out there and work on your truck!

Are you Restless? | The Jalopy Journal The Jalopy Journal

 

Thanks, love that old stuff. Been to the hill climb her in Colorado a few times. Love the old flatties. My dad used go to the Salt Flats to race back in the day.

 

I did work on my truck. Well the woodie. I got my new 2x8 maple today for the rear doors. But mostly I got the cam and crank in the engine block. I ran out of sta-lube graphite-molybdenum assembly lube on the cam lobes so I switched to chainsaw bar oil. Nice and sticky on the main bearings. I put a small amount of MMO and 15-40 in the mix, just because....

 

At this time last year I was working on the woodie every day. Not so this year. It has been much colder than normal and we finally got really busy again with work. There is no practical way to heat that shop. It is just too wide open. I have been working on the engine and am ready for the flywheel and heads at this point. I had the flywheel re-drilled for a half ton type 10" clutch. Now I need to get it to my local napa for refacing. At this time I am getting door handles and latches figured out. The handles are about 2 1/2" below the belt line, much the same as the '40-'41 ford woodies. Also I have settled on pre-'75 toyota landcruiser fj 40 latch assemblies. They are ruggedly built, have the correct configuration regarding handle/shaft locations and I already had two on some old doors in my attic. I welded a 90degree flange onto the stock base of the latch for better attachment to the back side of the door. I am mating these latches to jailbar era outer door handles. I see that I have 3 of them kicking around but only one is stainless. Should I be looking for '42 handles if I want stainless? It is really becoming a frankenwoodie, and I'm not done yet!