Ford flathead 4

[VroomVroom]

A guy was willing to sell me a ford flathead 4 cylinder engine. There's just a pulley on the engine, and he says it runs well. I tried looking up ford 4 cylinder flat heads but don't find much. I'm wondering the hp, and if I could find a bell housing and transmission for it. I'd make a bare bones 4x4 with it or some other similar use. Any body know what sizes and the years a flat head 4 was made? Parts availability?

 

[bigdeano]

Seems like it would be a model T or model A engine? Lots of newer better engines out there.

 

[VroomVroom]

Thanks for quick reply. Yeah, there are. I suppose being used to the j5 bombardier engines, 6 flatheads, I know their longevity and simplicity. I must look up those models. Model t, what was the latest they made those?

 

[VroomVroom]

Seems only ford flathead 8s only exists. Hard to find four cylinder info

 

[bcp]

Did a Ford-built WWII Jeep have a Ford-marked engine?

Willys MB - Wikipedia

G53 Military Vehicle Message Forums • View topic - Assembling my 42 GPW engine

Or it might be a Ford N tractor engine.

Bruce

 

[VroomVroom]

60 hp. More than I expected

 

[Ken]

My Father had a Ford Combine and the engine was V 4 like a Wisconsin type
Combine wore out and the engine ran very good . easy to crank easy to work on
Also used on water pumps with clutch and dual pulley for belts.
ken

 

[NC419N]

I'm thinking 60 hp would be optimistic. Would love to see a pic or 2 of the engine in question

 

[Ford850]

I thought the 4 cyl flathead of various sizes is what Ford used through the hundred series tractors.

 

[gwstang]

Agree. I have a 1952 Ford 8N and it definitely uses a four cylinder flat head engine. I just finished rebuilding the flat head this past year and it gets up to a whopping 25 hp or so...lol :laughing: It will pull a 5' finishing mower without any trouble.

 

[bcp]

Wasn't everything after the 8N an overhead valve engine?

Bruce

 

[PILOON]

Always believed that the flat 4's were Continental as used in Jeeps. Later they were L heads (side exhaust and OH intake)
The Continental was a very popular industrial engine and used in great deal of applications including marine versions.
They also met SAE specs in that the design allowed mating to many gearboxes reversers etc.

 

[motownbrowne]

Wasn't everything after the 8N an overhead valve engine?

Bruce

In the tractor line, yes. I don't know about anything else, but beginning with the NAA the tractors had OHV engines.

 

[Texasmark]

60 hp. More than I expected

I had a '36-39...forget the exact year Ford coupe with a 60 hp V8. Didn't have it very long. Couldn't get it registered. 60 on a flathead 4 sounds rather strong. The V8 in my mom's 1951 Ford custom was only 100 hp.

On Ford, no reason for him to buy somebody elses engines since he was in the engine business and got most of the military Jeep business because the DOD didn't think (and rightly so) that Willys had the manufacturing capacity and Henry was already doing it for the consumer....... except for the B-24s he built....he wasn't in the aircraft engine business....per "Wheels For the World", by Douglas Brinkley.