Ford V8 60

[Battis]

My FIL says that somewhere in his garage there's a Ford V8 60 (not sure of the year, but it's from the 1930s). I haven't seen it and searching online turns up alot of info, some useful, some not.
Anyways, is there any value to that engine - or is more info needed?

[cwtebay]

I am quite sure that someone will be interested in a Ford flathead. Maybe the year will help, along with info like was it seized when pulled from whatever it came out of.

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[Eddie Southgate]

First year for the 60 HP was 1937 .

[Tripplebeards]

Jam it in an N8 tractor and call it a day.

[big bore 99]

My father bought me one of those flathead V8 engines when I was a kid back in the early 60's to rebuild and learn. We fastened it to an old stump in the backyard and I went to work on it. I put a racing cam in it along with dual Stromberg 97's. Got it going and put it in an old '53 Merc. Was hard to beat the sound of those dual glass packs rapping off. Wish I still had that old Merc. Poor kids now a days don't know what they are missing.

[cwtebay]

Pretty certain the length would be a problem in an 8N... Perhaps a Jubilee! If it was hanging out over the axle!!

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[Parson]

My father bought me one of those flathead V8 engines when I was a kid back in the early 60's to rebuild and learn. We fastened it to an old stump in the backyard and I went to work on it. I put a racing cam in it along with dual Stromberg 97's. Got it going and put it in an old '53 Merc. Was hard to beat the sound of those dual glass packs rapping off. Wish I still had that old Merc. Poor kids now a days don't know what they are missing.

Mine was a 55 Chevy with dual straights, kids in town said they could hear me backing off to make the turn to the farm 4 miles out

[gbrown]

Wasn't that what they put in the boot-leggin cars back in the day? Seems like that was the precursor engine to the NASCAR circuits. Don't know, just seems to jog my memory about some old documentaries I have seen about that.

[MUSTANG]

Had a 1942 Ford Military Jeep with a Flathead 4 cylinder in Junior High and High School. Friends & I used to hunt Rabbits in Panhandle of Texas from it. Like most things in our youth; wish I had it back again.

[popper]

If water pumps on the heads 37, later distributor in top and pump on the block. Fun motor to work on, valve job by pulling heads and then entire valve assembly comes out. Some still use them in hot rods as they really are a good engine. Up to 400hp.

[Eddie Southgate]

Wasn't that what they put in the bootleggin cars back in the day? Seems like that was the precursor engine to the NASCAR circuits. Don't know, just seems to jog my memory about some old documentaries I have seen about that.

That would have been the 85 HP -125 hp engines . The 60 Hp was a smaller economy engine, in HP as well a physical size . Looking at both side by side it's no problem to tell the difference between them . 60 HP motors had 17 head bolts and the 85 and up were 21 bolt . The 85 HP came out in the best looking of the A model Fords , the 1934 .

[sigep1764]

The V8 60 was a 60 horsepower motor that came out in 1937. Its a smaller block and heads, 136 cubic inches. They weren't known as barn burners but in a light weight ride like a Track T or a midget racer, it could be fun. I wouldn't expect any more than maybe 100-120 horsepower out of one, even with good heads and multiple carbs. Check out Flatheadsforever.com, tons of info and speed parts.

[257X50]

Tin Sides.
First year the sides were Stainless.....carbon steel after that.

Take a 4 banger out of an Anglia Ford and they bolt right in.

Add 4 cylinders and you had your V-12 Lincoln I believe.......think bore and stroke were the same.

V-8 60 were used as stationery engines too. Friend had a bunch of them.

Time person.

[Lloyd Smale]

My father bought me one of those flathead V8 engines when I was a kid back in the early 60's to rebuild and learn. We fastened it to an old stump in the backyard and I went to work on it. I put a racing cam in it along with dual Stromberg 97's. Got it going and put it in an old '53 Merc. Was hard to beat the sound of those dual glass packs rapping off. Wish I still had that old Merc. Poor kids now a days don't know what they are missing.

they do have a unique sound. Buddy i was in the service with had a old white restored ford pickup with a flat head with duels. One of the coolest sounding trucks i ever heard. Sounded a HECK of alot faster then it was.

[smithnframe]

Ford power!!!

[elk hunter]

This is the Ford forum I hang out on; https://www.fordbarn.com super good people and lots of information.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ford power!!!

yup the flathead, boss 429, boss 302 and the coyote are engines even this ford hater has to admit are great motors in there day. The flathead v8 was a real game changer back when it was introduced. It gave near twice the power of a standard flathead motor of the day.

[Maineboy]

V-8 60 were used as stationery engines too. Friend had a bunch of them.

Time person.

We had a stationary pea viner on the farm powered by a 60 that has been converted to propane.

[popper]

Actually the 60 had stud heads, later 46 IIRC had bolts. 47 merc heads fit the ford and used bolts. Old one had 4 blade dist. On the cam shaft.

[Lloyd Smale]

We had a stationary pea viner on the farm powered by a 60 that has been converted to propane.

We were taking down a power line that went into an abandon golf course about 15 years ago. Got into the overgrown area where the club house was and there was a small building. It was the pump room for the watering system and had a flat head ford v8 on the pump. Partner got ahold of the people that controlled the land and they told him if he wanted it to have at it. so we took our line truck there the next day and disconected it and loaded it on the back of the truck and he took it home. Sat for over 20 years and he put a set of plugs and wires on it and tore down the carb and rebuilt it and it fired right up.

[popper]

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_specs-V8-60hp.htm
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_specs-85early.htm
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_specs-85to100mid.htm
http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_specs-90to125late.htm

[Battis]

Good info. I might go deep into that garage and see if I can find the motor.

[David2011]

Old street rodder here. The flathead Ford V-8 was introduced in 1932 in the Model B (18) Fords. Clyde Barrow wrote a letter to Ford commending the V-8 for its performance. It well may have been the impetus for NASCAR as well with the moonshiners favoring its performance. It was no barn burner but it was head and shoulders above anything else on the market at the time. It was finally replaced with an overhead valve V-8 in 1954.

[David2011]

That would have been the 85 HP -125 hp engines . The 60 Hp was a smaller economy engine, in HP as well a physical size . Looking at both side by side it's no problem to tell the difference between them . 60 HP motors had 17 head bolts and the 85 and up were 21 bolt . The 85 HP came out in the best looking of the A model Fords , the 1934 .

The 1933/34 is a beautiful design but it’s not a Model A. It was the Model 46. Model A Fords were produced from 1928 until 1931. The Model B was the 1932 Ford and the design was unique to that year. The V-8 variant was the Model 18. Model letters weren’t chronological; the Model T was produced from the 1909 model year through the 1927 model year.

[big bore 99]

Flatheads Forever

[Lloyd Smale]

wonder if theres any place that buys them. My neighbor died with a flat head v8 ford small dump truck about a 1/3 of the way restored. He had the chassis and drive train done but the body would need serious work. Im sure his wife would sell it or even part out the motor seperately.

[David2011]

“Hemmings Motor News” is a good resource for buying and selling antique car items.

[john.k]

Biggest problem with Ford s 90 years later is exhaust passages rusting through ....if the blocks been dry since the 40s ,then it may be OK....My favourite was the V8s made for various purposes during WW2.....several surplus dealers here used to sell the V8 Power Pack for around $75 -$80,that included a truck clutch and radiator...all new ,never used.

[popper]

That block is very thick, I bored on 60 over and has room for more. One version had stainless bock sides that rusted and some had aluminum heads. B 32 was all steel body vs wood and steel from earlier.

[john.k]

On the subject of prewar Ford V8s......someone I know says that a very thinwall steel liner was available to repair worn bores ,that just needed ridge cut ,and then slipped in past the pistons ,and was clamped by the head gasket ......fact or fiction?.....( im familiar with cast iron liners that need boring the block)

[popper]

Liners were popular at one time, not any more. Not just a simple slide in.

[Battis]

I printed out some of the info from the links Popper posted. My wife brought the pages to her father. She said he was like a kid again, reading about that motor. He wants to get it out of the garage. You made a 91 yr old's day.

[fecmech]

Yeah Popper, thanks for the links. Between my 15th and 17th birthdays I went through 5 of those flathead cars from a 48 Ford to a 51 Merc. All were $25-$50 clunkers but being poor I learned to fix things. One memory stands out. On a date New Years eve in a snowstorm, the motor quits, no fuel flow. Get out, take off the pump and find a small nut in my tool box. Put some grease on the nut to hold it in the actuating rod cup on the pump so it will lengthen the stroke on the pump diaphram. Reinstall the pump and off to the party! You could always get another day or two out of a fuel pump that way. Those were the days!

[Alan in Vermont]

Pretty certain the length would be a problem in an 8N... Perhaps a Jubilee! If it was hanging out over the axle!!

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Not so! do a search for "8n v8 conversion", There were kits available to do just that, plenty of pics on the 'net. There was also a Sherman transmission for them that were available in either, or maybe both "step up" or "step down" versions.

[10x]

Liners were popular at one time, not any more. Not just a simple slide in.

A liner - we called them "sleeves" were used to reline a cylinder bore. The cylinder would be bored out and a recess would be cut in the top of the newly bored cylinder for the collar on the sleeve that held it in place.
There were "Paper sleeves" that thin walls. There were heavy sleeves that had walls that were at least 3/16" thickness or more. You could save an engine block with sleeves.

Back in the day when there was no money, a bottom end knock sometimes meant taking the oil pan off, taking the head off, disconnecting the worn connecting rod and pushing the piston and rod up through the top of the block then running on 7 rather than 8 cylinders. Or 5 cylinders rather than 6. That ended with pressurized oil passages in the crankshaft to lubricate the con rod bushings.
We did what we could with what we had on hand

[cwtebay]

Not so! do a search for "8n v8 conversion", There were kits available to do just that, plenty of pics on the 'net. There was also a Sherman transmission for them that were available in either, or maybe both "step up" or "step down" versions.Learn something every day!! Wouldn't have guessed that would work! Thank you for sharing that link.

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[Lloyd Smale]

any idea what one that has new rings valves and bearings is worth?

[10x]

any idea what one that has new rings valves and bearings is worth?

That depends on the skill of the individual who assembled it.
I have come to regard rebuilt "fresh" engines as dubious.
Locally there are two shops with folks who have the skills to rebuild an old engine, It is not just parts replacement.
There are more folks who do NOT know how to do a proper rebuild to minimum specs than there are who do.

[popper]

60, prob. Not much unless for a restoration. 85 or 90, cost of parts.

[Lloyd Smale]

guy that rebuilt it was a machinist all his life and is about as anal as they come. He died of a stroke last year and in his elegy his brother said that hes no doubt Gods #1 mechanic in heaven today. he had a better machine shop at home then most places that rebuild motors have. It was a small dump truck. The whole chassis has been rebuilt. Frame blasted and painted. All new suspension and bushings. Transmission and rear were stripped down and he found very little wear. truck odometer had 37k on it but i dont know if it worked. Body is rough though and would take ALOT to restore. he started on it and got all the mechanical parts done then kind of lost interest. im sure if it would have been a car or pickup he would have finished it but he had no use for a dump truck.

[popper]

Yea, machinists don't really like sheet metal working much. In a dump truck (you know the year?) probably a 90 not a 60. I'd have her (or you) contact the link I gave. If she has any paperwork on what (and who did the work) that would help. It's 'crate' motor vs shade tree that would bring more $. Some auto museum might be interested in a pre/post war dump truck or parts, probably want a donation thing, still a tax write off. She still has the problem with his shop stuff?