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The Ford flathead engine continued to be manufactured in France until the early 1990’s. These engines were used in military and industrial applications. In this newsletter we will get down and dirty as to their benefits and uses. The major benefit being that these engines were made using modern cast iron and machining process. Anyone who has ever worked on an original Ford, US built, flathead engine can tell you all the horror stories of the cracks that commonly occur in these old engines. I have torn down as many as 5 to get one that will even work. A friend of mine, who has been working on these engines for 60 years, once told me that he had disassembled 10 to get a good one. You can skip the gym on the day you have to tear down more than one flathead engine, getting the studs out, removing the valves and a couple of frozen pistons will get your attention. The French block is beefy, it weighs about 50 pounds more than most original blocks. The cast iron used is much denser and seems to be of a higher nickel content. When you machine one of these blocks it’s more like machining a modern race engine. The amount of metal in the deck and bores of the French block is substantial. These blocks provide a great base for a big cubic inch high horsepower engine. Anything you can bolt on a stock original Ford 24 stud block will work on the French block. Notes regarding fitment of COMPLETE French engines Unless your project of choice is a French military vehicle the complete French engines that we sell will need to be modified to fit your application. Important: All French complete engines or bare blocks use the 59A or earlier type bell housing (1932-1948 in most cases). They will accept any commonly used Ford or aftermarket manual transmission, providing that you use the correct bell housing. All complete French engines that I have seen use the 8BA type distributor and timing cover. Any flat head distributor may be used if you include the corresponding cam and timing cover. The water pumps, generator and mount, pulleys and fan assembly are unique to the complete French engine. You can modify your motor mounts and fan spacing to accommodate them, but this would require extensive modifications and is not recommended for most passenger cars. The intake and carb that are used on the complete French engines is not something that you would use in any passenger car application and are usually discarded. The French complete engine and the bare blocks are not drilled for chatter rods, if you intend to use them the holes will need to be machined. Bare block notes: The center head bolt in a French block is a different length than a normal 24 stud block. Most people will install an insert in the center bolt hole and use an appropriate length head stud or bolt, to match whatever head you are using. Note: most aftermarket heads use different length studs or bolts than the OE part. No matter what block you are using you will need to verify head stud or bolt lengths. For example, the fastener you use on an old Thickstun head is not going to be the same length as what would be used on a Edelbrock or a Eddie Meyer head and so on and so on. The exhaust studs on a French engine go into the water jacket so you need to use sealer on the threads. The heads and gaskets on the complete French engines are the 8BA type. You can install an earlier center outlet head on a French engine if you use the appropriate gasket. You will need to plug one hole in the deck surface to use the earlier heads, same as you would on any 8BA block. Remember any part that was used on an original 24 stud engine can be used on a French block or complete engine. Be sure to reach out to us with questions. Email is best. Until next time we wish you and your family’s all the best. PS I wish that Punxsutawney Phil would not have seen his shadow, it’s cold here today in northern Wisconsin, minus 13 when we woke up. The Hot Rods sure would enjoy an early spring, cabin fever is starting to set in !
Happy New Year to you and your families. With 2025 upon us we look forward to connecting with you on a cool car or part purchase. Our prices are always negotiable, so please reach out to us with any questions or offers you may have. It’s January so we will be travelling. We plan to be at the 58th Turlock Swap Meet in California on the weekend of January 25th and 26th. We will also be at the 75th Grand National Roadster Show at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA on January 31 and February 1 We are offering free delivery on any part or car along our route from WI to CA. If you are in the San Francisco or Los Angeles area or along our route and have cars or parts to sell, please reach out to us and if time permits, we can stop by and check out your items. Blocks are expensive to ship, and we have plenty of new Ford French flathead bare blocks in stock. We are offering free delivery to either Turlock swap meet or the Grand National Roadster show. We plan to leave on the 19th of January so please let us know if we can help you out. The special delivered price will be $3,200.00 In the next couple weeks, we will be posting a few new cars for sale on the website. We also hope to get one more live swap meet in the books before we leave for CA. We wish you all the best in 2025.
We wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and Holiday Season. Last week we had probably our best live swap meet to date. With more than 120 people following it was a huge success. A special thank you to our friend Eastcoast Mike, better known on Instagram as partsswapper and to all of you that made purchases. For those of you who are not aware, we do one or two live swap meets a month that are live streamed on Instagram. Follow our Instagram page to get updates. Along with some really cool rides that we offer for sale we love flat head Fords and cool speed parts; both are something that we actively seek to purchase and offer for sale. We currently have a large supply of new old stock French Ford flathead blocks and complete engines for sale. Ford flathead engines continued to be produced in France up until the early 1990’s. These engines interchange with the ones that were built here in the US from 1932 until the early 1950’s. The French flatheads were made with modern metal and machining technology and weigh about 40 lbs. more than a US made engine. They can easily be bored and stroked to accept any aftermarket parts made. Those of us who have worked on the old blocks know how frustrating it can be to teardown half a dozen blocks to get a good one. The French block uses a bellhousing like a 59A and the complete engines use a cam and timing set up like the later Ford 8BA. Of course, when starting from scratch with a bare block you can configure the cam and timing for anything you like. As mentioned above you will need to use a 59A type bellhousing. Until next time, All the best to you and your family.
Happy December everyone. The weather here in northern Wisconsin has turned cold and we are hoping to get some snow before Christmas. The hotrods and customs are resting snug in their beds and looking forward to spring. Here at Richard David Legacy Motors, we buy and sell special cars, including hotrods, customs and muscle cars, but you may not know that we also sell parts and memorabilia for all the above. We do at least one live swap meet per month on Instagram featuring parts and memorabilia. Be sure to follow us on Instagram to receive updates on what we have for sale and notices of our live swap meets. Also, this month see a little sneak preview of two new purchases: a black 1956 Bel-air with a dual quad 265 and 3spd. Transmission. We will be showing off our 1958 Mercury Turnpike cruiser 2dr. with 15,000 actual miles this month also. We buy collections, hoards and estates of any size, including parts, memorabilia and cars. We offer finders fees, if you see something reach out to us. Wishing you all the best, RDLM
Thank you to all our Veterans past and present and especially to all those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for us, so that we might enjoy this time of the year with our families. In this week’s newsletter we are going to look at what is the first muscle car created under the Chevrolet brand. I don’t count the Corvette because it is technically a sports car. The dual quad 265 made its debut in 1956. The first engine built was the 225-hp. engine with hydraulic camshaft. Later in the year, I have been told in about April of 1956, GM produced about 111 mechanical cam engines. These solid lifter engines used the first of the solid lifter cams designed by the famous GM engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov. With the new cam the 265 cubic inch engine was now rated at 240 hp. There are many unique parts that are used in the dual quad 265 engines. Those include the cylinder heads, intake manifold, Carter WCFB carbs, special exhaust manifolds, special coil bracket, distributor, air cleaner and much more that make these engines unique to a handful of cars produced only in 1956. Here at Richard David Legacy Motors, we search for special cars whether that’s an old hot rod, custom, or a special muscle car, the 1956 Chevrolet 240 hp. cars fall into that category. We have two in stock at the present time. Our 150 is what you would expect to see, plain jane and bare bones. The car has radio, heater, cigarette lighter/ashtray delete and has no rear seat and just a rubber mat. In essence one option, a 240 hp. Engine under the hood. Our Bel-air has a few more creature comforts and is probably rarer because they weren’t the bare bones racer that the 150 was. Either way they are beyond cool! Here are a couple shots below.
At RDLM we specialize in buying and selling hotrods, customs, muscle cars and parts. We are always looking to purchase collections, estates and hoards. Finder’s fees paid. Thank you for subscribing to the newsletter. Be sure to also follow us on Facebook and Instagram as we post cars and parts for sale daily. RDLM is located in the town of New Richmond Wisconsin near the Twin Cities. If you’re in the area feel free to stop by and say hello. Pictures are nice but seeing the cars in person is even better!!! If there is a certain car or part you are looking for, send us an email. Not everything we have in stock makes it to the website and social medias. Highlights of the current inventory include our new Ford French flathead bare blocks and complete engines. We also have a large stock of vintage flathead speed parts. Let us know how we can help. Thank you!
