Ford 1935 French Flathead on.
You might have heard of these so-called French flathead engines reappear and I wonder what they really are and how to install them in a Ford car They are usually claimed to be almost identical to the US made engines Ford, but what really everything and exactly what to do, I'm so happy to get their hands on one of these amazing machines as well as following the development of other Ford owners install them also in their first car a little history.
The Ford Motor Company has branches in many countries with distinct product lines and in the past which also included France Here, they merged with the French Mathis as the Matford and one of their latest models has become the Matford Featured with 60 hp Ford Flathead V8 in the early fifties Simca bought everything, so an almost identical Simca Vedette came the following year there is a strange end that made the Simca FEATURED for several years, and the last of them were made in Brazil in the early seventy years after Chrysler had taken Simca Thus, the last of the legendary Ford civilian use flathead V8 engines were made by Chrysler rival Brazil.
More 3 9 4 2 the Ford and the Mercury engines and 4 3 75 shots with 85 to 125 hp were also made in France for military applications and these engines are those that became available after the French army stopped the use and sold in the nineties engines probably had multiple applications, but they have of course been used in a heavy-duty truck with four-wheel drive with the name SUMB Simca Unic Marmon BOCQUET Some of them ended up in a business in England, RR Motor services, Ltd. where they can be purchased for a reasonable price.
The French engines come in several different configurations, but the block in all is nearly identical to the Ford 8BA made from 1949 to 1953, except for the bell housing that is identical to the beginning of 1932 by 1948 engines a result, the engine can be installed in the early cars because it has half the bell housing on the engine while later while the transmission is said that the French engines are better specifications warheads quality, but generally they are compatible with the Ford parts.
I will try to describe the changes and modifications required during the installation of French in a Ford flathead V8 vehicle otherwise unmodified.
The carburetor is a beautiful Zenith NDIX32 that was used in cars like Porsche 356, Renault, Fiat, BMW V8 and DKW SP1000 Like Ford Holley and Solex carburetor throttle body is cast iron and is to hold the body carburettor with four screws All have some sort of governor to be removed or disabled at least the best way to do this is to find the throttle body from a standard carburetor, because the governor set is here it would also provide some more power since the regulator body of the butterfly is only 2x30 mm and the restrictors can open half because of the mechanical governor while the rest of the carburetor and the intake manifold and carburettor Ford Holley are 2x32 mm a difference of 2 mm may not seem like much, but for the cross-sectional area that really matters, there is a difference of 14 the half-open throttle, and the turbulence around the edges will certainly also a difference as the DKW h release as no pump acceleration, so in this case the arm and push rod of the military version should be adapted relatively Porsche Version funny no starter the starter is of the bypass type, and you'll need a bit of ingenuity to get adapted to that pull-rod original Zenith carburetor has four bolt holes as the teapot and although Mercury the bolt pattern is exactly the same, the pot is 2x34 mm and both channels also close together and therefore will not match the intake manifolds 2x32 mm Remember that the float chamber should be toward the front of the car another important detail before the new throttle body is installed is the number of small channels in it the original Ford dealer and one on the French engine have only advance vacuum and d écollage so that the carburetor should be the average pressure between the collector and therefore venturi pressure, it is very important that there is a throttle body connection on the channel at t he venturi in the upper part As an example, this is not the case in the DKW version because it has a combined vacuum and centrifugal advance If this isn t this hole, just compare the governed with the one you are about to replace it, then the engine would go with too advanced at lower loads and too full performance with lower mileage least because only carefully compare the two and if necessary the missing borehole up into space flying channel.
The small standard air filter Fits Zenith carburetor Unfortunately, this carburetor has a relatively flat top, so that air purifiers Ford oil bath hat type does not correspond So if a better cleaner than the standard is desired, you must either be an oil cleaner bathroom, the type that is mounted on the head or firewall studs or a third party as modern N. K
In general, the engine is as Ford has designed, including different son in UNC and UNF dimensions The few things that have been modified by French engineers are generally metric E g amounts to the exhaust manifold are 7 16 UNC at the end of the block as the Ford blocks but fine wire 10 mm in the other end they are also OK, so unless you need to replace them to suit your manifold or header, simply leave up because they are hard to get out the Zenith carburetor is metric, but the son does not have a standard not, so do not loose them.
To my knowledge, there are two types of A beautiful oil pans a cast aluminum that will immediately and another that most of the front instead of the back end The latter can be used and it must be replaced by one from a Ford the only modification of the oil pan is to move the dipstick aft to the normal location and fortunately, there is already a splint in casting for this it is sufficient to pierce and cut a wire 1 2 UNF New oil strips and tubes are available, but the length of the rod should be adjusted to achieve the right amount of oil left in the hole can be used to the return line when the diversion of the oil filter.
Water pumps have large pulleys and resemble pumps Ford trucks, but as they in addition to being water pumps are also used as engine mounts; something must be done because they were adapted to military purposes and do not reflect common practice seems to be to reduce the excess off and bolt on a solid support, however, it is not worth the effort within pumps is completely different from the Ford pumps, so when, not if, they begin to leak, there is no way to get a repair kit for Fortunately, the pump 1949 to 1952 Ford trucks correspond to the block and the framework, and these pumps are readily available as used, repair kits, conversion or new types improved Unfortunately they are if there is no place for the fan in 1935 1936 Fords fan can hardly be pressed with the later models french pumps should have plenty of room.
There is no thermostat on the engine and for what use thermostats and thermostat housings 1949 and 1953 Fords or get a small groove machined into French to make way for Ford thermostats You will need to find appropriate tips for your car, for example Roulund Roniflex have a wide variety of flexible pipes, even with different diameters in both ends.
The distributor is French and it would be very difficult to find replacements for wearing parts such as points, caps, vacuum advance etc. Mallory made new distributors but they are very expensive, so a standard Ford Dealer is a good alternative they can be found on eBay for a few dollars and depending on their condition the huge advantage of Ford dealers is that you can get all the parts for them and you can even make them easy to mount electronic Pertronix Kits 12V negative ground hood before the motor that keeps the distributor are not exactly the same hole of the nozzle shaft is located is 8 mm 5 long and 16 plus the dispenser is fixed with a bolt on the shaft of the dispenser motor is Ford hold in place with a screw and a clamp on the cylinder so the head or shaft should be machined to get far enough or use the cover before A Ford engine and the threaded hole for the bolt and the retaining collar.
The engines are supplied with a large 24 volt 50 amp generator of Paris-Rhône brand and an input of 24 volts corresponding Starter is also the same voltage at Ford Starter So at this stage is to decide what voltage you want 24 volts, 12 volts or 6 volts in case of 6-volt just take the 6-volt starter motor replaced take Bendix drive the french If nothing else, it is new and it is integrated, and a somehow get or make a suitable support for 6-volt generator engine replaced 24 volts is clear regarding the engine, but somewhat problematic with the rest of the car, so I recommend that 12 volt, negative ground is a good choice All bulbs are available 12 volt battery, of course, but keep in mind that it is negative ground car was born 6 volt positive ground instruments should have a 12 to 6 volts reducervoltage so that they break the t 24 volts generator can very easily be converted into 12 volts by connecting the field coils in parallel rather than series A voltage regulator from a 12 volt air-cooled Volkswagen with generator alternator 1974 themselves can be used, but the field coils must be connected correctly the 6 volt initial starter will handle 12 volts and the difference of 6 volts grinding start the engine starts quickly, however, if problems never use the starter 12 volts for prolonged periods.
As noted with the fan, it is a tight fit - in fact in the previous models Since it has wide belts and pulleys so it will not in 1933 and 1934 frames that the front crossbar in these models is opposite the motor unless you make a dent in it from 1935 through the cross is behind the pulley and then just fit in, however, you must keep an eye on the distance between the spring clamps and the oil pan that you want to touch the French engine was stronger and larger in working pliers and the oil pan is deeper in the front accordingly, the engine must be raised slightly by putting thick slices between Then the engine support, bolts could become too short and need There could also be problems at the back with additional reinforcement blinded for magnetic and ignition certain types of governor, and here you have to remove as much material as you dare and make a breach in the firewall for the rest of the braces to the motor frame pull rods are not drilled until they are to be drilled carefully because there is not much material here.
They come with the same bypass oil filter as the last Ford engines, but the pipes are run in a way that at least does not fit in previous models It can either be done far from rights removed or blocked pipes and the new son are US standard pipe thread in the block and the filter and the thin-walled copper tube pipe that are available in a hardware store the return line may conveniently be rerouted to the hole left by the dipstick French.
The crankcase ventilation hose to the French engine would normally have to change too much to adapt to a way to do this is to cut the rear end of the block and pop on a rubber tube that runs under the car A another solution is to weld or solder pad on a pipe and install a PCV valve of a later Ford V8 engine about the same displacement and execute the intake manifold on the right intake manifold au below the carburettor there is a large hole with thread 20 mm where it can be connected thread 20 mm is standard in the hydraulics, at least in Europe, it is possible to obtain a pipe joint to fit PCV valve.
It has the largest truck clutch 11 and must be removed and cleaned before installation Some engines are sprayed with wax protection, including the clutch while in others could have seized Keep in mind that unlike small clutches 9 the oil pan must be removed to take it out.
After all these efforts, it should be painted in the correct colors The oil pan should be black as the generator, starter motor and the air filter Engine is green until 1941, then it is blue The intake manifold should not be painted and military color is not easy to get off most of them can be removed with a paint remover, but the area remains green, so that the last bit should be sanded and polished away.
It may seem a bit overwhelming, but should the other be reasonably detailed and reward these efforts is a brand new engine with more power and a heart of gold.
If you have comments or additions to this please drop me a line so the list can be as accurate and complete as possible.
french Flathead_1, French.