One of the questionable head bolt hole repairs can be seen ^ just under the oil filter mounting tab between the back two cylinders













Hello fellas, new to the forum/first post, I usually post over on tractor forums but had some V8 flathead questions I bet you can help me with.

Im working on this ‘49 merc pickup for a friend. It’s an older restoration/rebuild and they did good for what they had available to them but there are some issues. The engine came to me for overheating which the owner figured was thermostats but it goes beyond that. There were several stripped head bolt holes which were repaired with hand tools back in the day. Looks like they threaded in a larger bolt then drilled and tapped back to 7/16”. They’re not centred and the larger bolt was not surfaced to the deck causing head gasket issues. It also had two burned exhaust valves/seats. It’s 0.060” over and could use a bore again, looks like 0.080” is the next size. Crank is 10/10, mains and rods measure just over 0.002” clearance but the rod throws are a bit tough.

Anyways, I’m not located at the engine as I’m away for work, my father has been disassembling the bottom end (he’s the wrench, I’m the machinist) and I’ll be placing parts orders so I can begin repair/machining when I return. He’s going to clean the valve seat areas better but I was wondering if these had seats installed factory or if they were on the cast originally? In the pic he sent it sure looks like a seat is installed. This engine also has adjustable tappets and straight stem valves which leads to my next question. I would measure if I was there but does anybody know if the 39-52 Ford N series tractors used the identical valve/guide assembly? I have several sets in stock but can’t verify if they’re the same with out actually measuring them although several people say they are but have never actually interchanged them. Can anyone confirm?

This will be a very stock rebuild, the owner would like to drive the truck more regularly but only short distances. He would just like it to be more turn key and reliable. He might be interested in a gear ratio change or possibly swap to a OD manual trans but other than drivability he’s not really concerned about high performance.

Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks.

 

Welcome, AngrySailor, to FTE.

While a few of the flathead guys do check this forum once in a while, you'll probably get more hits in the '48-'56 forum: 1948 - 1956 F1, F100 & Larger F-Series Trucks - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums (ford-trucks.com)

 

Can you tell what they call the cart I see where flatheads are run on with radiator and all the parts???? How much are they??

 

Go to the 48 / 56 forum they were just talking about the carts. Also google them.