Tech Tips & Tricks


Here's one for you Flathead folks !

Thanks to Perry Kratchmer

This contraption is what is called a "Reverse Flow" flathead Ford.

The stock intake manifold is dispensed with, and replaced by a "plenum" piped to the EXHAUST ports - note the three pipes running down from the carbs.  These old exhaust ports become the new intake ports !  The old intake ports on top of the block become the new exhaust ports - note the exhaust now coming from the TOP of the engine. (Saw this first on a couple of 60 hp. flatties in open cockpit/midget cars).

Presto, typical flathead cooling problems disappear.  Cool air now travels through the block/water jacket, while the hot exhaust exits directly out the top of the engine.  Don't yet know whether they install a camshaft with an entirely different grind, or rotate/retime the original cam to a different location.  Will try to find out.....
Sorry, this doesn't quite fit within WVGRA rules for "Early Stocks" !!


Engine

Cracked Block ? Internal Water Leak? Radiator P'ing on your parade?
Don't give up yet - Here's a couple of ideas to try first:

1.  Eggs have been known to work miracles in the "heat of battle".  The absolute truth is that we used to gently carry a couple of duck eggs to Exeter & Unity each Sunday, and used them on occasion to repair radiator leaks.  It works.  I have personally used this trick with hens eggs (can't find duck eggs) on MANY occasions, for both radiators AND cracked blocks. 

Hermon's 1946 Chevy home built fire truck was taken out of service and sat for years because of a MAJOR cracked block - 5 minute MAX run time and it would big time blow its top.  My father-out-law bought it years later and when we fired it, it lasted - you got it - FIVE minutes.  We tried everything, with no luck.  So Rob and I decided to fall back on old "technology" and do the egg thing - what's to lose?  Cold engine, crack two eggs & drop entire contents into radiator, put cap back on, and fire the engine.  Sure enough at five minutes she was steaming good - at six minutes it was still hot - at seven minutes she was cooling down.  Hauled our stock car from Hermon to Unity every Saturday night on that truck from 1976 thru 1980, and she never overheated again.  Another true story.  For those that remember, it was the Lavender Lady truck.   (Ron)

2.  Another cracked block fixer upper came to us through several old time racers from Florida and Georgia.  We were at Lake City, FL having water problems with the race flathead in the #33 Ford and several of these vintage racers advised us of a trick that supposedly works well on cracked blocks, but not so good on bad head gaskets.  Sodium Silicate (waterglass) has apparently been used to repair cracked race engines in the southeast for decades, and the lessons were learned on the crack prone flathead Fords.  We did not attempt this on our race flathead, because we knew that the big bore head gasket itself was the problem.  But a bunch of old time racers swear by it for cracks, and they seem to be pretty savvy guys.  Sodium Silicate is available at your local pharmacy right over the counter.  We are told to pour a pint directly into your cooling system, and run'her.  For those that remember, Sodium Silicate was and is used to preserve eggs without refrigeration.
  
Update - July 10th, 2006

Well, so much for solving our entire water problem by modifying our flathead block to provide more gasket "crush".  Things got a lot better, but water continued to show up in number 4 cylinder, every time we worked her hard.  That cylinder also often failed to fire on startup, spitting water, until the engine reached operating temp.  So we decided to take our own advise from the paragraph above.  We did indeed purchase some Sodium Silicate at Hannaford's Pharmacy (they had to order it for us, but only a day or two to get it).  Price was somewhere around $13.00 for almost 2 pints.

We made sure that there was NO ANTI-FREEZE in the cooling system, as instructed on the bottle (YES, they actually make reference to motor blocks ON THE LABEL!), and added one pint to our cold cooling system.  We let the engine run at high idle for almost two hours before shutting her down.  Number 4 cylinder now fires on startup every time, and has since demonstrated no leakage or misfire.  We have run the car hard in competition twice since, and it continues to operate with no apparent leakage.  Did we have an unknown crack?  Dunno, but the problem seems to have gone away!

Update - April 2007

Sorry for the delay in posting this.  We continued to run that race flathead engine ALL LAST SUMMER, and we have had no water problem or evidence of cracks at any point.  It is the best she has ever run since we got her.  One thing we did discover was not to leave the Sodium Silicate in the cooling system for a long time.  We kept ours in the cooling system for most of the season - (if a little time is good, more time is better - WRONG !).  Even though we have a leaky water pump (minor leak) we missed checking the radiator level for 2 or 3 weeks (dumb), and overheated.  The resulting water spray from the overflow left a  gray flaky (ugly) residue all over the engine & firewall after it dried and  we could'nt seem to remove it with anything.  It did no damage and gradually flaked off over time, but it did not look pretty while it was there.  We would suggest running the engine hard on the track for perhaps one or two race meets, and then draining the system, flushing, and refilling with clear water.  Our problem appears to be FIXED !



Leaky valve seals on your OHV ?

    Is that old Chevy Stovebolt (or SBC) leaking oil down past the valve stems and starting to foul plugs? Or did  you brake a rocker? Is the next heat race just a short while away? No time to pull the head or spare head gasket? Pull a spark plug, start bringing the piston up on compression stroke, and start feeding cotton clothes line into the cylinder untill it's full. GENTLY raise the piston untill the valves are  supported, pop the keepers, lift the springs, change the rubber seals, reassemble, lower the piston, pull the clothes line out, and move to the next one as needed.     Ed  K.



Problem with your flathead Ford carburetor overheating under race conditions?  Here is a chance to get in your two cents worth:

Pull your intake manifold, and you will see two round heat riser holes (one each side) in the block that allow exhaust gasses up into the intake manifold, to assist with rapid heating of the manifold/carb.  Great for a road car - but can sometimes be trouble for a race car engine.  Pull two pennies out of someone's pocket (smile generously while performing this act, but DO NOT wink), and you will find that a penny ALMOST fits in these holes.  Gently tap one penny into each hole, and slap the manifold back on.  Voila !


Ford flathead overheating under race conditions?

Well, "Hank" put two excellent high volume water pumps on his flathead, and they work great.  Therein lies the problem.  These pumps are so efficient that water is really moving fast within the cooling system, and a couple of things can happen as a result:

1. Water can flow so fast through the radiator that only limited cooling can take place on its way through.

2. The water can be pumped so fast, particularly at high rpm (high rpm in a flathead?), that the pumps begin starving for water at the intake of the pump (lower hose).  When this happens, the pressure at the intake of the pump drops significantly below that of the outside air.  With greatly reduced pressure, water can boil at far below 212 degrees F. and will do so.  This condition is called cavitation.  As that water turns to vapor (cold steam), a centrifugal pump can no longer pump, for it will pump only liquid.  Water flow gets to be a problem, and temps go up.

The solution to both problems is the same - slow the flow of water on the pressure side of the water pump.  These problems seldom exist when thermostats are installed, because the flow is already restricted, but we tend to shy away from thermostats in race cars. 

Here's another cheap fix:

In '37 to '48 flatheads with center hoses, find a couple of large flat washers that will JUST FIT the outlet in the head, leaving a 5/8 to 3/4 hole in the center of the water outlet.  You can secure this washer in place by a small tack weld, or by using two hose clamps, one to seal the hose over the water outlet, and one clamp just above the outlet on the hose itself.  Tighten this upper clamp only enough to prevent the washer inside from moving.

In '49 to '53 flatheads, the front water outlets are already restricted somewhat, and the problems are less prevalent.  If it should cause you a problem, however, you can use any restrictor that will leave a 5/8 to 3/4 hole for flowing water through the outlet hose i.e. a restrictor in the hose, or possibly under the removable hose connection outlet.  The restrictor also works for anyone running a '32 thru '36 flathead, with the water pumps in the head (front outlet).



Clutch slipping in the middle of your race day?  Gonna miss the feature? 
All you need for this one is a "Babe in Arms".  Sorry guys, wrong kind of Babe.  What you need is baby powder sprayed into the clutch housing while working the clutch back and forth.  Now you have learned two new things - why they used to scream for baby powder in the pits, AND what that little square hole with the cover plate in the Ford flathead transmission is really for - and you thought all along that it was to help line up the transmission into the clutch spline.  This a temporary fix only !



Chassis

Suddenly find 12 inches of towout on your Ford?  Nope, the adjusters didn't slip - you just bent the tie rod BADLY !  (You gotta take it off to make it straight again):

This happens a lot to the old Fords, and sometimes to other cars, particularly those with rear steer.  It often occurs when two cars hit the back side of your front tires at the same time, in the same way.  Or when you slide into a dirt pile with a lack of grace.  Or when you catch someone pretty solid with the leading edge of a front wheel.

Reinforcing the tie rod can reduce the chance of this happening, but also make it more difficult to straighten.  A piece of angle iron welded to the tie rod can make it more resistent to bending, as can a piece of pipe slid over the tie rod - just remove one tie rod , reassemble with the pipe in place.  If the rattling noise of the pipe is too great, a quick tack weld on both ends will bring great silence.  Best deal is to assure that one of the Ford guys brings a complete tie rod assembly (with ends) - someone will need it at some point.


Trouble finding new spring shackles for your ancient racer?

Consider cutting slots in BOTH sides of a 4" to 6" piece of 2" channel iron in such a way that the spring eye can be mounted into the angle iron channel with a bolt thru the eye and slots.  Mounted correctly, this channel iron will allow sliding of the spring as it changes length on compression, while maintaining control of side to side movement.  These pieces of channel iron have sometimes been mounted, not to the frame, but to a length of heavy "all thread" rod which is then mounted to the frame in such a way as to allow vertical adjustment, i.e. a jacking bolt for leaf springs.



Miscellaneous

A rough race track (with or without rocks) can take a serious toll on your oil pan, as can an unexpected excursion over the scenic route. 

Seriously consider placing a skid pan under your engine, and save yourself the grief that one rock caused us in 2004 - 3 weeks of no racing, and it could easily have meant the loss of our best little flathead as well.


(awaiting other tricks)