'46 Ford to join the Birds

[Penelope]

I have just bought myself a 1946 half ton truck out of Arizona with 41500 original miles on it. The fascination for me in these is the Flathead V8, i am hopelessly in lust with them, the sound, the idle and the look. I have also invested in new Offenhauser heads and intake manifold, twin Strombergs to replace the single carb and ceramic headers and they have already arrived from CA whilst the truck still sits on the dock in LA awaiting its boat ride to me.....Our webmaster Dave has already given me some sage advice on replacing the heads and general other items, thank you Dave! Here are some piccies of her - no name yet....

[Guest]

WOW what a find! Very nice.

[Guest]

Gosh I love old trucks!
Richard D. Hord

[scumdog]

Cool-as bro!!

What's with all them li'l crosses on the fire-wall??

[Penelope]

Thanks guys, yep cant wait to get stuck into this one, and Tom I reckon the crosses are someone's attempt to make sure everyone knows it is positive to earth. Thats just my guess and I could well be wrong.....

[simplyconnected]

I am so happy for you, Bill. The new aluminum heads will really make this engine. They are light, but even more important, they transfer heat much better than cast iron.

I'm not saying you should, but using aluminum allows much higher operating temperatures and higher compression ratios without ping or knock. The old cast iron heads held heat and caused terrible engine 'run-on' in the 1970's. As soon as Ford went with aluminum heads, all those problems automatically went away.

Ford Flathead V-8 engines were a smashing success when they came out. In 1934, a Texan named, Clyde Borrow (of Bonnie & Clyde fame) wrote Henry Ford a letter of thanks for making this V8 faster than all the competition. The original letter resides in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. - Dave

[keith]

Nice looking truck Bill. Those Flatty's are a nice sound to the ear.

[bird 60]

Very nice Bill, but I reckon the crosses represent the amount of Coyotes the the truck had run over. You'll have to put crosses on the right side for the amount of Kangaroos you're gonna run over. I hope not because we know the damage those kangas can do.


Chris.....From Oz.

[Penelope]

**** straight there Chris, I certainly dont want to hit any roos!

[Penelope]

Update on the Ford half ton truck - engine overhauled

One week shy of three years ago I purchased this truck from Arizona. Those of you who have ever shipped a vehicle overseas will know the highs and lows of such a venture. Suffice to say, when my truck arrived, the idiots at the quarantine station decided to clean it with an extreme high pressure hose all over, resulting in paint stripped off and water damage to electrics etc (yes they cleaned inside the cab with the hose as well). Enter lawyers.....goodbye cash, etc.

Now the truck has been freshly repainted, and moderately pinstriped. I went with exactly the same colour. Over the last 6 months the flathead has also been rebuilt, rather than just putting new heads and carbys on. It will be getting the rest of the treatment but next weekend she should be all bolted in and running.

I will update again then with specs etc of the rebuild if anyone is interested.

Then its off to the upholsterer for a new fitout inside the cab, including dynamat and seatbelts.... and then a trip to the Department of Transport for licensing.

Next year, vintage air conditioning is on the list as well as a new music system.

[YellowRose]

'46 Ford to join the Birds

Dumb and Dumber must have moved to Australia! What a shame! Thanks for the update cause I have been wondering what was happening with your truck! What a beautiful engine! That comment is usually reserved to me saying it when I see a beautiful person of the opposite sex, but this time I can say it about an engine! Yup, keep us updated!