Flathead Crate Motor

[John-T-53]

Well, after 7 months, I finally finished the the 230 rebuild project. I did a complete mockup on the crate before putting her back in the truck. More pics to come as the job progresses...

[48Dodger]

Wow....that's beautiful. A work of art.

48D

[buds truck]

thats nice..... almost too beautiful to use......

[grey beard]

John,

Very nice looking motor. Good luck trying to keep it looking like that after it's back on the road.

Thanks for sharing the very nice pics.

[Shifty Trick]

Real nice ,something to aspire to .

Xris

[Reg Evans]

Really, really, really nice !

I just looked at your profile photo of your 53 and wondered what colors your two tone truck is. Would you post a color photo here for us all to see ?

Thanks, Reg

[Don Coatney]

Looks very good. You could go a step further and test run your engine before you install it. I did this and was able to fix a few smal problems easily.

[John-T-53]

Thanks for the plaudits, guys. I thought about trying to start it outside the truck, but I'm under a deadline right now to get the ol' gal back on the road. It would definitely be cool thing to do, though! The Engine is already in the truck...hopefully running by Friday.

At Reg's request, here's some pics of the truck. It was originally painted dark green, including the bed, but was repainted in the two-tone "A&W Root Beer" combo 30 years ago or more. Somebody fixed this truck up in the early 70s and rebuilt the motor then as well. Now it's my turn!

I'm not sure if I'll eventually repaint it green or leave it as-is. It has a slight patina that I like, and I'm trying to keep it in a preserved state of decay. There are several rust areas that keep worsening, though.

[Jim Shepard]

I'll start the rebuild on my 230 in the next couple of weeks. I'm interested in putting on a pcv system. Where did you get yours?

[Reg Evans]

Thanks John. I really like the two tone paint jobs on these trucks.

[1949P17BC]

Nice work

[Jim Gaspard]

John-T-53, did you elect to leave off your heat riser because of your mild Cal climate. Did you remove the exhaust flap in your manifold or secure it in open position? Just curious because I need to make some decision before I reinstall my flathead in the truck. We have cold starts only a few months of the year down here in Dallas.

[John-T-53]

Jim, I never had a heat riser on my manifold. The engine always started right away without it, and I never had to let it warm up much before driving. Long ago someone took it out. There's a piece of sheet metal sandwiched between the manifolds that seals the chamber off, and the shaft holes are sealed with expansion plugs. A thick layer of carbon deposit kept the sheet metal protected on the inside.

I don't have any current plans for moving to North Dakota, so I elected to keep it as-is.

The PCV system is home made. The goal was to make it as clean as possible. I used 3/8" steel tubing, several brass fittings, a pcv grommet for the draft tube hole, and a valve with a threaded end. Unfortunately, it hit the firewall and got all messed up back there, so today I have to see if I can fix it. I'll have to see if the valve works right when I start it up too. If so, I'll post the part#.

[Jim Gaspard]

If the internal heat riser flap is not installed within you manifold then you should be ok. If the flap is still in the manifold chamber and not spring controlled by the heat riser (in your case, the heat riser is not installed), then you need to make sure you have the flap secured in an OPEN position or your engine will run at a higher temperature.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=17587&highlight=HEAT+RISER

[Jim Shepard]

The PCV system is home made. The goal was to make it as clean as possible. I used 3/8" steel tubing, several brass fittings, a pcv grommet for the draft tube hole, and a valve with a threaded end. Unfortunately, it hit the firewall and got all messed up back there, so today I have to see if I can fix it. I'll have to see if the valve works right when I start it up too. If so, I'll post the part#.

How 'bout some photos of the new setup brfore you re-install it?

[Don Coatney]

My stock manifolds are converted to dual carburetors and dual exhaust. The heat riser flap is welded inside my exhaust manifold insuring a true exhaust split. Hot gas does go to the base of the original carburetor mounting but there is no longer a carburetor there, No heat issues with this setup.

[Johnny S]

Spectacular engine detail .... thanks for posting.

[Jason Beaton]

Nice job. I really like the dual carbs. Where can I find sources of tech info / suppliers for rebuilding and modifying the flat six?

Edited October 16, 2009 by Jason Beaton

[1949P17BC]

Very nice job!

[1955 plymouth]

I must say all of you guys on this forum serve as solid inspiration for the others on here, It's great, I don't know a whole bunch about four wheeled vehicles, I am learning alot just by reading. I hope someday I pull the powertrain from my old rides and clean them up like you have, good job. Keep the inspiration coming.

[John-T-53]

The engine is back in the truck, and has been running for a week now. I finally finished doing the last round of tuning it today, and tomorrow driving the truck 300 miles north to the central coast for work.

It's been a very intensive, tedious, but rewarding project. I'm confident the ol' gal will give me plenty more years o' service from here on. Job rated!!!

[pflaming]

Been looking for a picture of my carb and found it on your engine. There isn't any linkage from the bottom of the cab to the butterfly!!! Some do have linkages, wonder what why the difference? Great looking engine. Going to leave mine au natural, maybe just give it a heavy coat of clear coat. Would that keep it rust free?

Edit: Printed out picture #2 and compared it to my engine/carb. Your engine has two additional items. (1) In the center just below the carb you have a line going behine the carb, I do not. I have a plug in the manifold only; (2) from the back of the block is another line that also runs a line to the back of the carb. At the back of the block I have a pipe going down, evidently some rustic type of blow by or . . . You are taking that back to the intake and reburning that, at least that is how I see it. Why the difference? You also have your gas filter down by the fuel pump. I'm going to relocate mine down there also. Is there an advantage for a steel/copper gas line from the pump to the carb? Sure looks better, nice pipe work, straight and neat, gonna work some more on mine.

Edited December 6, 2009 by pflaming

[John-T-53]

Are you talking about the linkage from the pedal to the bellcrank? Or the linkage from the bellcrank to the carb throttle arm? Trucks have the linkage in picture #1 below. The linkage from the bellcrank to the carb is a single rod.

The other line running behind the carb is the PCV system. Where there's usually a plug in the manifold, I ran a 3/8" steel line to the back of the block. Where the road draft tube exits the block in the rear, I removed it and used a PCV grommet with a combo of brass fittings and a PCV valve, and connected it to the steel line with rubber hose. As you can see, it's a very tight spot, and the hose kinked a bit. This is heater hose pictured here. I recently bought some fuel hose with the thought it would be less prone to kink, but haven't installed it yet. No problems yet for the first 1200 miles.

I like to run steel lines as much as possible. They look better and last longer. For the fuel line from the pump to carb, it's important to leave a lot of clearance between it and the manifolds to prevent vapor lock, and with a steel line, you never have to worry about it moving out of place.

I plan to install an inline glass bowl filter next to the carb because there's no filter designed to fit the pump sediment bowl - it was intended just for sediment. I rigged one for now with a flter and some washers to hold it in place, but for ease of maintenance, a filter up at carb level would be better.

PCV valve is Standard p/n V100

Edited December 6, 2009 by John-T-53

[pflaming]

I figured out the PVC system. The linkage in question, if required, is from the bottom of the carb to the butter fly on the top of the carb. Some have it, yours doesn't. I put your engine on screen saver to blow it up and thus to see the detail better.

The other linkage to the footpedal I have. It is different on trucks than on cars, from what I have seen.

[John-T-53]

I figured out the PVC system. The linkage in question, if required, is from the bottom of the carb to the butter fly on the top of the carb. Some have it, yours doesn't.

I didn't seen one of those in my shop manual for the carbs covered. It's probably a choke rod, something more common with an automatic choke. These usually connect to a fast idle cam at the throttle, and also act as an unloader linkage during acceleration while the choke is on.