curiosity ? about engine swaps.
 

Hi All. I am new to this site and have been reading old posts for about a month now. Thank you all for this site, the amount of info is staggering.

I have a 1947 ford pickup that has been sitting behind my house now for about 5 years. I am finally going to put it in the garage and start taking it apart this winter. I don't have a title and am hoping I can get one from Wisconsin's DMV for it.

I am curious about why so many of you have chosen to get rid of the flathead and put a newer motor in. So I wanted to ask, is the flathead unreliable? I also wanted to ask those of you who do have the original motor what kind of milage do you get with it? I am going to build my truck as a daily driver and would like to keep it as stock as possible only changing a few things such as converting to 12v. I think this is a one ton because it has so many leafs in the back but it also has 17 inch wheels.

Anyhow, I'm sure I will have more questions later. Thanks again for this site.
Jim

One of the biggest reasons for a late engine swap, at least for me, has been the avalibility of parts for the later model engines, go into a "typical" parts store and enquire about a flathead and you get blank stares.
If I were to do another truck in the future , (I have three 46/7's now), it would be Flathead powered.
I have a good Pa 1/2ton, (it does sound like you have a 3/4 or bigger truck), title if you run into problems acquiring one from your state
This is a good site, ask away, someone will know the answer.

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Hi Jim - welcome to FTE

As with 46Achers, we went with a newer motor for the availability of parts. If we ever get it done, we don't want to have to trailer it to car shows & stuff.

If it weren't for that, we probably would have rebuilt the flathead - awesome sounding motors.

As far a getting a title, the guy we bought our truck from lives in Wisc. and said its very easy to get a title there. Check with your local DMV, they're usually very helpful - that is if you get the right person.

Have fun with your project and nice to have you aboard.

Hello there
I have a 47 truck ,and it has the flathead in it .I am happy with it so I dont want to switch it.The gas mileage isnt very good ,but I only take the truck on sunday drives ,so I dont worry about the gas!!!!!

Hi JIm, sounds like a great truck.Yes it is a one ton with those 17" wheels and the big 5 lug pattern.I drove a 38 one ton as my daily driver for 10 years.The rear axle ratio was 4.11 and with those 34" dia tires(7.50 x 17) it was higher geared than many modern pickups.The stock ratio went lower in 39,but not much.It took a couple of flathead v8s to get it right,but when I did one that was balanced with a merc. crank, hard seats, adj. lifters and a chev 1 wire alternater,it was Very reliable for year after year.I run these trucks in my woodworking business and took that one down intersrate 5 many times to Seattle.Yours would be better yet with those hyd. brakes.I say go with the flathead,built for reliability,not hopped up for speed. Have fun...need any 7.50x17? I have 2 brand new.......GB

If you stick with the flathead, parts seem to be readily available, although by mailorder.
Replacing the motor with a later model almost necessitates replacing the tranny too, certainly the exhaust, and then maybe the rear end, and then maybe the brakes, and on and on. So for a driver within the next couple years, stick with the flatty. My 2 cts.
Your expertise with automotive mechanics is also something to figure in.
As for mileage, you might be able to squeeze a little more out by increasing compression. I am not that familiar with flatties, but minimizing quench and combustion chamber volume seems to make sense.
I would think about some of the aluminum heads. Dont know but maybe the two carb manifolds are more efficient than the single.
P.S. I posted up on the reference manual a link to an outfit that was manufacturing new flathead blocks. Dont know anything about them other than the link.

46achers, let me know if you still have that title please. jtg1@pctcnet.net

I must have gotten the wrong gal at the DMV or something, she finally told me the only thing I can do is sell parts off of my truck.

GB, I thought I had read somewhere that I can fit a 16inch wheel onto this truck, any truth to that? I still haven't decided yet if I am going to go that route or use the original wheels. I looked at Coker tire's web site and there doesn't seem to be that much of a selection and I would want a little more aggresive tire for the rear than what I found so far. Do you have a re-builder that you would recommend? I have so far found 1, Tatom out of California and am waiting to hear back from them with a guestimate.
Thank you all for the input.

Dont know of ant 16" wheel that fits the big 5 hole pattern.Most of the wheels that fit are 20" dual type (Budd Wheels).I do have 2 good 7.00 x 17 goodyear snow tires mounted lots of tread and no cracks....Tatum Custom engines is in Mt. Vernon, Washington,just a stones throw from the island where I live. Very good,Very expensive and very busy.I had a machine shop do my flathead that subbed out a lot of Tatum's work.They are no longer in business. Just have to ask around I guess.Tatum can build you a real reliable runner, but keep in mind, the flathead V8 is best left to someone like him who has the knowledge and background on them....Do a search for Motor City Flatheads as well. Good Luck, GB

Flathead Vs Late model
 

I'm building a '41 and have been suffering the SAME delima Flathead Vs the 302 I have sitting on the engine stand. I have a C-4 ready to go in as well as the FlatO Matic tranny adaptor, and an 8" ford rear end since that torque tube hadda go.

My Flatty runs well with little or no oil leaks, so I'm leaning toward staying with the flatty til it dies, since I'm only planning to run the truck locally (My '34 is my long distance ride). If you dump the flatty, dont forget to plan on replacing the radiator too, yet another expense.

As for the wheels, I had a set made for mine by Stockton wheel with the 5 X 5.5 bolt pattern so I can run 15" wide whites on it. Sorta had to do that since one of the first mods I made was an ECI disc brake ket on the front, and I wanted to save that investment.

This probably didn't help with your decision, but if you're planning on running the wheels off of it, I'd prolly go late model, if it's strictly a local cruise in ride.....run that flatty !

If the choice is between a Flathead and a SBC there shouldn't even be a choice. Flathead all the way my friend. Sbc's belong in Monzas. :-X13

The one thing I would look in to is an electric fuel pump. The stock fuel pump pushrod grinding a groove in the cam was not one of Ford's better ideas.

Nothing on earth sounds like a Flathead Ford except a Flathead Ford :-X22

eng. swaps
 

Hey Jim;
Welcome to the site!! It's cool you're going to fix up your truck, good luck!
I bought a '38 1/2 ton last yr with a '36 eng., 85 HP. It was nicely done and runs like a champ, altho I think my starter or the relay is going. Mileage is maybe ard 15, the fuel gage isn't too steady.
Didn't know what a Flathead was until I started with mine, but I hope to keep it going for as long as I can. I'm not a purist by any means but will try to keep the old boy as "Ford" as possible.
Trying to stick with 6V and a generator seems to be my hangup. All the gages work or can be replaced but there's not much capacity for upgrades like turn sig's, heater, etc., and is an alt. that much better than the old gen. bumped up to 12V??
I'll keep my eyes out for your progress and throw in my 2 cents if I can.
Best of luck~JH

I am just completeing the rebuild of a 95hp flathead for a '47 tonner. I had no problems getting flathead parts, I just walked into the local NAPA and told them what I needed. At first, they had to order some of the more major parts, Oversized pistons, rings, hard valve seats and springs, etc. but most of the other parts from model 59 carb kits, to temp senders, hoses, belts, and the like they have on hand. I prefer the flathead to modern engine just because i'm a purist. One tip I might have to getting past the balnk stares is to call it an L head when you go in. Most of the parts books now list it as that. Hope this helps.

i pulled the flattie from my truck - only so i can use it in my model a i opted for a 302 boss to stick between the rails - i had the motor before i got the truck

Engine swaps
 

Flatheads are very reliable engines if they are in good condition or properly rebuilt. People do engine swaps for a variety of reasons,the prime ones being the flatheads are VERY expensive to rebuild,and they want more modern engines with more power and torque.

You also have to consider gas mileage today. Flatties are very economical engines,but they produce very little torque. Ford used low rear gears to compensate for this,and low rear gears are not good for gas mileage. This is especially true with 3/4 or 1 ton pickups like you have. IF you are going to use this as a daily or semi-daily driver,my suggestion is to put a 9 inch rear from a late 60's to early 70's Galaxie in it because they will have 2:79 to 3:08 rear gears to keep the rpm's down,and to put a 302 in there in place of the flattie. Preferably one with a automatic overdrive or a 3-speed +od manual transmission. You can probably do this cheaper than you can rebuild the flathead. Swap over to front disc brakes and have 4 matching bolt patterns that allow you to run 15 inch wheels with radial tires. The money you save on the tires will probably pay for the the brake swap and the mounts. If your radiator is good you can use it by just blocking off one top and one bottom outlet. If not,you can buy a new custom radiator for it or adapt one from a Mustang,Maverick,pickup,or whatever you can find that has the outlets on the right sides and is the right width. For example,I'm running a 66 Buick Special radiator in my 62 F-500 because I needed a radiator,and already had the Bucik radiator laying around. The radiator doesn't know what it is in.