Hi everyone, New to this site. I was in a scrap yard recently and saw a very old forklift that has a Ford flathead in it. Is there any difference between a engine like that and a regular vehicle flathead? Would it be worth the trouble to save the motor before it gets crushed?

 

Most basic components should be the same. If it's a 59 series or 8BA it is a desired motor. If you can pull the heads and check the block for cracks and it looks clean, it might be worth it for a couple hundred as a rebuildable core. If it's cracked, it really won't be worth the effort to pull it if you want to sell it. Got any pictures of it?

 

It's probably mostly the same, might have a governor.
Flattys are very prone to cracking. Some cracks you can live with and others need expensive repair. My evaluation is this, if it's stuck, it's just a lump of iron. Some guys will go to all the effort to tear down a stuck engine and get it apart to see what they have. If you are going to pay a machine shop to do that, it can get expensive before you find a usable one.

 

Hi, I was checking out all the old trucks someone brought in to be recycled. I was surprised to see a flathead FoMoCo in a large old forklift. I will be going back on Monday to check out the forklift better. It was one of those with a center tire in the back for pivoting on. It was large enough, at 6" I could look to my left without looking down, to see the motor. What would the HP be? I did not see any old Fords. Several Internationals, 1938 to 57, L-150, L160, Even a L-200. The 1938 I think is a KB-4 or 5 dump truck, hood is gone but everything else is intact. Any market for Brownies or PTO's there at least 2 brownies, one looked like a 6041 and the other was huge, maybe a 8000? Wish they had not torn the cab off the one the 8000 is in. The only thing left is one fender, which looks vintage late 1930 or early 40's, has the headlight bolted to it. It had a diesel in it. When did the first diesels start in trucks? Wonder what the regular tranny is.

 

I'll betcha it's a V8 60, a somewhat common Ford flatty V8 used in older fork lifts.

 

If it has FoMoCo in an oval on the heads it would probably be a '49-'53 engine. I don't remember seeing the FoMoCo script earlier than '49.
Mark

 

Fomoco came about in late 1950. Check that diesel in the IHC. It may be a supercharged Cummins (not turbo). No K or KB IHCs in 1938.

 

Pictures of the motor will determine what it is. Number of head bolts or studs, location of water outlets on the heads, etc.

Typically the industrial motors were close to the car motors in power, maybe a bit down on compression due to larger chamber heads. I doubt there is anything about the engine other than condition that would keep if from being used in a road vehicle.