Ouch is exactly what I said when I saw it. And yes the bolt ear is also broken on the gooseneck. I plan to let it soak for a few days and see if anything happens. There's plenty of other things to do before I need to get the engine out of there. Be nice if I could break it loose while it's still in the truck. It would save me a lot of work trying to tear it down. Like I said in my previous post, if the heads are that torn up, I supect the block is probably toast as well but who knows. We'll see soon enough.

I've located another flatty in unknown condition that does turn over by hand foor $150..00 with a 4-speed truck transmission bolted to it. That's only $25.00 less than I paid for the F1 with the bad engine. Guy said he couldn't get it to run, tried an electronic ignition distrbutor that did not work either. When I mentioned that he had a 12V positive ground electrical system in the truck he seemed surprised and told me he'd used a 12V battery when he tried to get it to run. I suspect he may have had it turning backwards when he was trying to start it and/or toasted the coil. In any case, it looks like a better candidate for rebuild that this one.

Don't look for me to hit the street for at least two years (5-10 at the rate things are going).

 

The starter isn't polarity sensitive - it turns the same way regardless of which lead is earth. That engine sounds like a much better prospect than the first one. Good luck!

 

My experiance with tractors and old cars is fill the engine with diesel fuel right to the top and remove the heads you might remove the frontend this will help, get an oak 4x4 and grind it to fit snuggly in the cylinder, with a BIG breaker bar prefer 1" and a long sturdy bar for leverage have a friend lean on the bar with quite a bit of force, now put the block into a cyl preferably one that is high on the cycle then smack the block a few times noe reverse and do it over, this has never failed me unless the pistons and crank are welded. Wear old clothes as this gets messy with spray and keep the cyl lubed.
Jim

 

Pull the bad head off as it's crap now. I suspect you had a freeze there sometime in the trucks life and it froze up and cracked. The block may also be cracked. Some cracks can be repaired on the block, some are fatal. I'd try to get the seller of the other block to remove the heads so you can look at it. You don't need another boat anchor.

Barry

50 F-1

 

That has already been done. I'm awaiting his reply with pictures.

I will try to pull the bad head tomorrow or this weekend. I'm don't have much confidence that it will be good new but you never know.

 

Ingenuity, or was it engineuity.

It is fun to hear stories of unconventional and inexpensive ways of getting things done.

 

The best way to pull flattie head bolts is with a pneumatic impact driver; try to tighten a little first (2 or 3 knocks on soft setting), then reverse and hit it with full pressure. Penetrant is a waste of time IMHO.

 

I suspect that you are right about the penetrant being a waste of time but for $5.00 in in supplies - ehh, can't hurt. And the engine won't be coming out for at least a couple of weeks at the earliest. I will probably try the 4x4 trick suggested earlier as well. I think Barry's boat anchor description is probably accurate.

First step is definitely going to be pulling the bad head.

 

So what changes, we are broke adults with toys now. LOL

 

I'm not broke yet but I can see it coming.

 

By the time you see it coming, you're roadkill.

 

Somebody told me and I forget who but this might be worth checkin out. I was told that Ford Motor Co still has unfired brand new 239 Flattie's still in the crate because they made so darn many of them. It might be possible that one of the NOS parts buyers such as MACs Auto bought them all out. Dont know but I'll look. Maybe Its's just another bar story.

Ken

 

Just another story started by someone. I've been in Ford parts for many years and back then when Ford deemed something obsolete, no matter what was in the wharehouses, it was cleaned out and sold for scrap or what came back from the dealers was sent right to the dump! Half of Boston's area dumps is full of Ford parts! Ford only recently started to recycle the scrap. I just returned a load to the new Hartford, Ct depot and the stuff was current production parts. They told me that almost none is returned to any of the stocking depots and it's all now recycled. That's how Ford and the other brands can say they recycle and get a pat on the back for doing so. THis will limit the amount of obsolete parts out there. The only stuff will be what's on dealer sheves that's not returnable. ( under $15.00 value)
Ford would have never made so many blocks, just to sit on them. Bad business sense.

Barry

50 F-1

 

It might also be that they are not selling a Ford cast block. I work on tractors for a living and in the last two years I have sold three engines for the 8N Ford tractor. They came in as new crated and unfired complete engines but they were not Ford castings.( surprised me as they are for a 55 year old tractor). I suspect they were Brazilian made. They ran good enough, even though one of em came in with the camshaft installed 180 out.
I just checked a copy of MAC's Antique Auto parts catalog and they list a 239 engine as an NOS Shortblock PN#V6199FN for $3500. This catalog is a couple years old but they might still have em. Still I could build three engines for that price but NOS means a new one.

Ken

 

Not good.

I managed to get started on the F1 in earnest this weekend. Never was abe to get the eingine to turn so it was time to move on. Pulled the front clip. Thankfully most of the bolts were so bad they just broke once I was able to get a bite on them. The rest were holding together pieces of metal that had corroded away so that saved me some work. Anyhow got it off.

Drained the "fluids" from the engine oil pan. When I pulled the plug, nothing came out. Stuck my finger in there and it felt like rubber. Shoved a screwdriver up there and I got a steady thin stream of "clear" water. About the amount of water you would have drip on an outside faucet you were trying to keep from freezing in the winter. This ran pretty steady for about an hour with no signs of letting up so I pulled the oil pump plate that the plug is screwed into. Whoosh. The remainder of the oil pan contents dropped into the oil catch pan below. Fortunately, I was using my megasized catch pan that I use to change to oil in 03 F-250 Diesel (16 quart capacity). This truck filled it up. The oil pump inspection plate had an inch or so of gooey sludge on it. Some of this same crap flowed out of the oil pan when the panel was removed. I'm not holding out much hope that the block will be salvagable but you never know (ever the foolish optimist). Tomorrow, I will either have some sort of amazing story to tell or great craked flathead photos. Stay tuned.

Drained the tranny and it too was full of water. When I pulled the tranny cover plate off the insides were bright orange. I plan to fill it full of gear oil once I get it out and let it sit that way until I can get to it. Probably a giant paperwight now but once again, you never know.

Bought the engine pulling chain this evening. Everything is disconnected except for the motor mounts and transmission mount bolts. Should have it out tomorrow evening.

BTW - I'm spending more time cleaning the work area than I am disasembling the truck. What a mess this thing is. I keep telling my wife this is the messy part. It will be cleaner when we are putting it back together. Her reply - put a sink in the garage.