Abandoned Flathead Race Engine - Will It Run?!

Matt bought this 59ab in Delaware a few years and its been stashed at the warehouse since. We have some projects coming up that will need probably a running flathead, so Mike pulled this engine for it's turn on the run stand. Matt and Steve work hard to get this engine going and it fought the entire way. Between bent rods and valves, broken studs, and rusty piston bores Steve is ready to throw in the towel!!
- Music Used -
- Flamming Eightballs 3 - Victor Olsson - Epidemic Music Library
- Slamming Stoners 2 - Victor Olsson - Epidemic Music Library
- Just Like My Baby - Billy Bill - Epidemic Music Library
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[@stephenjones1833]

Thanks for sticking with it! Another flathead restored to life. Cheers, gents!

[@theodoreko2700]

What would life be at Iron Trap Garage without Steve , THE Man?

[@michaelguinn5736]

Morning Matt, Mike & Steve, this is proof that sometimes things don't go as planned with hot rodding. Great job repairing this 8BA!! Y'all be safe! God Bless!!

[@chrisclark4813]

Hi guys, great video. I always thought that given two engines, go for the one that hasn't been messed with............. Some guy has put a lot into that block and then left it...why? Surely warning bells. Anyway you guys are the experts. Perhaps discuss in a future video. Love as Always Reading, England.

[@jackphilly338]

Steve great job on getting it to run 😎😎👍👍

[@geraldbellows8831]

Best addition to your shop Steve😊

[@markbrown6236]

Great video, nice to see what it takes to get the old stuff running again.

[@stuartburke383]

Put a priming bulb in your fuel tank line. They work great for priming a fuel pump and carb. I have one on my run stand. Works great. 😉 I have a 39/40 Mercury 239 that I’m doing basically what you did in this video. It was rebuilt in the past so it’s in decent shape, just have some stuck valves to deal with and then it can go back together

[@JimBosGarage49]

Steve has the best job ever. Hats off to you buddy. 😁

[@IronTrapGarage]

Some days he doesn’t feel that way! Haha

[@jerryogstad]

Iam 81 years old and love this irontrap folks they do great work God bless them all

[@IronTrapGarage]

Thanks for watching Jerry!

[@donhoughton271]

Good ,Steve 😊

[@karlpechotsch9769]

Love the sound of that flathead . Thank you for sharing.

[@leeroyholloway4277]

"It was running when it quit" ...good job guys

[@tomuhll1711]

I just discovered you guys this week on KZbin. I have been watching many of your old videos and really enjoyed them especially your adventure videos. Keep them coming.

[@IronTrapGarage]

Thanks for joining along Tom!

[@johnkranz4004]

Nice Job Steve Mike and Matt

[@deanmurray5231]

you might want to get Steve some left hand drill bits they sometime will spin the bolt out while drilling

[@andrewrichey7374]

Sounds awesome Love old-school cars and trucks

[@alanincardona1879]

If it ain't blowed up, you can get it to run. It just takes time and parts, luck, and plenty of coffee.

[@JamesDavis-to1hn]

Steve rules!

[@Ecosse57]

you guys are a great team.

[@alp9418]

Great Job Guys an d tell steve he needs a haircut lol he starting to look like steve dulcich

[@ronniepapepape1629]

Great job.

[@minbannister3625]

Good vid, interesting.

[@dennisschickling2249]

Sounds GREAT. #STAYSAFE #PHILLYPHILLY 🇺🇸

[@merrittkwarner8475]

I have 2, 59ab, 8ba. The 8ba is a 51 merc 255 in my 50 ford custom. The 59 is a seized junker I paid 100 for just to practice relieving with a router. Have you ever done that? That one had some hidden surprises.

[@josephpalen7149]

Easy on the wrenches. That piston-rod got bent.🤪 What ... nobody drink coffee?

[@Wvbief]

Aaah, the eighth forme of forgivenness.

[@outboardnut]

more videos like this please

[@mardyfisher693]

Had a real crusty 207 Chev six piston. Coca Cola overnite and it almost fell out. That was in the 80's. They may have changed the formula. Woke Coke ?

[@IEchuckie]

Works good on battery terminals also. Come will dissolve a nail.

[@IEchuckie]

Coke

[@kombibatuta]

Steve rulez

[@aneuno2]

Great video. Trying to hop up an AMC flat head for a 59 rambler . Any ideas?

[@barryhickman6911]

SWEET!

[@georgepalm2307]

Needs total rebuild.

[@RichieCat4223]

3:57 When you see something like that, why don't you use compressed air and blow the area out?

[@hdvette64]

I wonder if the saying “Get Bent” came from a Flathead mechanic

[@caltrask130]

# 1

[@allanrichards3752]

If someone is telling you the engine is good and runs just ask why it was pulled from the vehicle. Then try baring it over at their property before you hand over money. Mind you an engine that has obviously sat for many years should be stripped before trying to run it otherwise you could do a lot of harm to a potentially good engine.

[@clausschuster470]

why would you not just dismantle it first

[@Mercmad]

When Ever I stored a flattie, i would run them up to get them warm then ,while they idling I would pour engine oil down the intake until they stalled. Back then my biggest concern was stuck valves and by doing this that never happened. Also, I found later that Aircraft mechanics were stuffing silica bags into exhausts to both keep insects and rodents out but also keep the engines dry inside. I've done that a bit recently to some of the old engines i have here to fight off humidity.

[@raylarkin5004]

This video has it all! Nice flathead parts and potential, "holy crap moments" like the bent connecting rod, stuck valves, valve rust and cobwebs, letting Steve having alone time with it and a whole winter to work it out to a running engine on the stand! All in all, a great episode Matt!👍🏼

[@IronTrapGarage]

Thanks for watching!

[@shartne]

That was one of your coolest vidieos ever I really enjoyed watching it. I wonder if that cam crank and pistons are any hotter like making more Horses? Guess we have to wait to see? The suspense is going to be difficult to deal with because it will be a while of waiting to find out.

[@jerrylong381]

This is one of those videos where Steve really shines. He has been a great addition to the shop. Of course all I have to go on are the video's. He may smell funny or something that doesn't come through.🤔🙄 Great work giving a hotroded then discarded flat head a new life.

[@IronTrapGarage]

Steve has really hit his stride in the shop! He’s a great asset!

[@Ecosse57]

@@IronTrapGarage you three are a great team and your personalities seem to compliment each other.

[@brettwilkinson8904]

You guys are a blast to watch. I bet it's even better before the editing. Motor sounds good.

[@1954shadow]

Steve for the win!

[@brucethompson1879]

Steve is amazing!!! 20:48

[@TrashcanGarage]

Nice. Sweet sounding too.

[@williampope3531]

Back in 1973, a close friend that was all about pre-war fords, bought a '41 Ford Coupe from an old lady for $325. It had been sitting behind her garage for 15 years or so since her husband had passed away and it had been his car. The engine was not stuck and with new plugs, points and wires, a new battery, new oil and fresh gasoline in the system, to our surprise, it fired right up! But ran with a dead miss. (I was just barely 18 and he was 16.) He drove it 5 miles or so home (to his folks' farm) on wheels and tires from his brother's '48 Ford 4 door sedan and put it in a machine shed where he could work on it. As a farm kid, he did not have a lot of spare time to fiddle with it so it took him a couple hears to get it in reliable driving shape. When he took a compression test, the dead cylinder had zero compression. Thinking a blown piston, he proceded to remove the head. No blown piston. Just NO PISTON OR ROD at all! There was a piece of rawhide tied around the rod journal (explaining the nominal oil pressure - enough to keep things from knocking, anyway). We surmized that sometime during the war that piston, a ring or the rod bearing was causing trouble and the owner could not get parts or was financially unable to properly repair it. The jury-rigging got the car through the war for the old fellow, though and, I would guess, that was the whole idea. Dan eventually did a complete rebuild of the engine with parts from JC Whitney and it ran like a sewining machine. After a good cleaning and some cosmetic repairs, he drove it for several years. Eventually he sold the '41 to someone in Virginia (IIRC) in the mid '80s. It's probably still going! Love the channel, by the way! 🙂

[@jamesjakubik4428]

Penetrating oil idea. Cheap and effective. One quart of paint thinner and one quart of ATF. You get a half gallon of penetrating oil for less than $20.00.Leave the part in for a day or two. Works great. Good work on that motor. Sounds great.

[@pitstopranch1422]

Way too close to home. Fighting this battle right now with one. But we have been able to bring back a couple from the scrap pile. Keep up the good work gents!

[@IronTrapGarage]

It’s frustrating at times but worth it in the end!

[@roberthocking9138]

Nice work steve, that fought you all the way 👍

[@brianturner8477]

Thx 4 showing how to repair and rehab a classic flathead

[@terryeustice5399]

Another great build on engine. Thanks for sharing! 💯👊

[@shotsrodder]

Nice job Steve 👍 that rod is definitely a good wall hanger or a gauge holder 🧐

[@kalinagoedge2777]

Running when last parked...

[@kenpecora7526]

Those old flat motors might be an underpowered pain in the ass, but boy they sound great.

[@johna1160]

Not unlike a Harley, only with less leaks.

[@oldbobsgarage8019]

Great video, enjoy the real life problem solving.

[@IronTrapGarage]

Thanks for watching!

[@kapekodbob]

Great job ! So, not to be taken across country ? When are you going to go across country in a flathead ? You have to do it and not on the interstates !

[@allensmith9012]

Enjoyed this video, and wanted to say it takes something to bend a rod like that! LOL

[@johna1160]

So what caused the bent rods and valves? Was hoping for a diagnosis. 25:30 Dad's back in town!

[@IronTrapGarage]

We’re not sure honestly!

[@danstewart8218]

Nice Job Boys!! Matt, Mike and Steve just a heads up...If you have a space heater (or if not a bonfire...built carefully underneath) the Dead old engine that is suspected of being seized, and cook said engine to the point of it being bloody hot, You will find that they come apart quite a lot easier than when cold. Good luck with everything from London UK ;D

[@sulistiman]

👏 bravo it's alive again 😊

[@jimhartland1939]

Ssshhhllliiiccckkk

[@mardyfisher693]

Great music!

[@kiffer289]

Great Video

[@mikef.1000]

Love the big anvil you've got in the workshop... so versatile, so cool! And good work on the donk too ;-)

[@mikethomas5797]

Hopefully (in a perfect world) you"ll Never need that tool again! Steve you look like you trimmed down!

[@AJStarch]

My “ran when pulled” 8BA had a stuck valve with the bottom of the lifter knocked out of it, which I found in the silvery oil pan sludge. It may have been running but not well and they didn’t do it any favors running it like that.

[@murdoc6501]

A-nother fantastic video! Super informative and a pleasure to watch. Thank you Iron Trap and keep moving forward!

[@IronTrapGarage]

Thanks for watching!

[@DuckReach432]

That moment when the stuck piston got knocked out at 14.15 looked like the block was giving birth. "I name my child, Rod."

[@IronTrapGarage]

Haha!

[@patofdubois1]

I’m all about low buck builds, work with what you have, etc. But why not just take it all down, hit tank it and make it a nice motor?? The risk of breaking nice parts just for the sake of building it it like this is not worth it, in my mind anyway…

[@randomyank7777]

Well done , guys . I know it doesn't "seem" like a long time watching the video , but months is a usual time frame . It can turn into years if parts are not available . I would help my uncle restore old engines , mostly flatheads , & old "hit & miss" one cylinder engines . Amazing stuff . Got most running , but most were stuck as well . Some would become parts for others . He was wise enough to buy baskets of carbs & magnetos back when they would auction them off , as easy money for light parts . The engines would turn up later , needing more than just their missing parts . Great post on how easy it isn't , to sometimes get these beauties back to running condition . Great way to shine there Steve , but you all had a "hand in it" , as they say . Awesome team effort , that bore good fruit , a "Ripper" in fact , as Steve calls it . Great job , Iron Trap Garage !

[@IronTrapGarage]

Thanks for watching!

[@guywerry6614]

Steve's ability to laugh in the face of adversity / frustration is really quite refreshing.

[@NoBody-xg1wg]

I see a Deuce Coupe with an ARDUN equipped flathead !!! Feature THAT...

[@curbyweaver4606]

Matt . . . Do you know where the term "Hot Rod" came from? I learned this from a guy in the 70's when I hung around car guys at Bill's body shop in Long Beach, CA. When flatheads were about the only cheap and available V8s in the 40's & 50's, guys would pull the crankshaft, take it to a machine shop and have them grind the rod journals off-center favoring a longer distance from the mainbearing centerline. It made the 'rod hotter' by increasing the stroke, thus increasing the compression and making the engine develop torque at a lower rpm. The engine you're working with in this video is probably an engine that had this treatment. In spite of the fact that the deck was relieved, you still had to space the spark plugs because the piston was hitting them, right? Plus it has a higher-lift cam too, right? Someone over-revved that engine and because clearances had been reduced, The piston and valves met the head the hard way. The term "Hot Rot" was heard and oft repeated but eventually nobody remembered what it originally meant because anything and everything that was modified for speed was called a hot rod . . . and that's ok, but this is the original meaning of the term hot-rod.

[@hankhessig6586]

Huge Win after that long of an effort... Great Work Iron Trap

[@IronTrapGarage]

Thanks Hank!

[@marshabradcoe417]

think it was 1973, bought a 50 willys overland that had a ford flathead conversion. A nut came of a crap air cleaner and ended up in a cylinder. I iwas a kid but took the head off pulled the piston with the crap imbedded in it honed the bore . Was amazed that a local ford dealer had a piston in stock rings and a gasket set. got it back together. it ran i was so proud of it until....another piece of nut that must of been lodged somewhere came loose and broke a valve face and stem..... that was that. im old now but if I win a lottery a flattie rod is on the list ...cheers

[@albertcyphers1532]

I'm sure you have this one freed up but if you get another one try brake fluid in the cylinders. We used to free up make and break engines that way

[@flatusinteruptus]

I have seen these heads before on on old chris craft type wooden boats , i believe they were designed for marine applications , no need for a radiator with the cool lake water and dump the heated water overboard

[@cashtalks6253]

My dad has an old running dragster with a flat head. I don’t know nothing about the engine never been in it. It used to have a blower with a chain drive till the neighbor stole it years ago.

[@sulistiman]

go Steve go 👏 💪 💙 run 🏃‍♂️ challenge

[@maryannherrschaft8842]

KEEP EM' FLYIN' FLAT HEADS FOREVER!

[@chuckb9867]

Where's Moon and I'd like to see or know how that Rod possibly got bent great video though

[@IEchuckie]

The shop dog should be in the shop video

[@chuckb9867]

@@IEchuckie I agree and this was a shop video with Scooby-Doo missing

[@aarondwyer3746]

The hand that guides,the hand that's divides,the hand that decides,

[@BlackheartCharlie]

Love your comment at 7:57 about this motor; "... it's telling us what it needs." Great approach to gently bringing this motor back to life. Too many videos on YT showing a brute-force approach. Best regards from your Southern-most viewer in Key West, Capt. Blackheart Charlie

[@IronTrapGarage]

Thanks for watching!

[@oscartheg6674]

Thanks for sharing this one I appreciate it.

[@clintonsmith9931]

You dudes should be getting good on these flatheads

[@1philpot]

Is there a better way to turn crank than pipe wrench?

[@clintonsmith9931]

Must have flooded it and jammed it up

[@oscartheg6674]

That doesn't sound like stock.

[@stevenkarnisky411]

A cautionary tale! Caveat emptor!

[@fredpierce9363]

Great footage. Worst sound track.

[@markmann-h1f]

hey can you put a 4 race cam in flat v8

[@richardsiddon610]

😂. It’s all in the anticipation..

[@steveclark4291]

Good dancing music

[@plumbcrazy375]

Sounds good

[@gordonstroup882]

HA! I love it when a flathead comes together! Yup, y'all had a tough time with it, but you persevered. "Dirty job's done dirt cheap!" HA haa, but not too cheap, of course. Great job, Steve, on getting the "Ol' Girl" up and running. You slaved away like a surgeon, slowly chipping out her arthritic issues and now she's able to get out and run again. Awesome work! Now I have a new title for you, "Stromberg Steve, the arthritic Flathead Master" You can put that on a shirt over a big flathead engine, like on the shirt back, with "Iron Trap Garage" arching over it across the shoulder to shoulder area.... I'd buy one! HA HAA! 👍👌☝️ 🤜😵🤛 what a knockout! Woo-Hoo!

[@ANTHONYSEYMOUR-z5c]

Steve looks so happy !!!!!. He is talking more than ever on camera and ts great to see him in three way conversation and all three of you are having a good time. I have no idea where you guys met and decided to work together, but it was a BRILLIANT IDEA !lllll!!!. The knowledge and experience that he has must be a GOD SEND. YEAH STEVE !!!!

[@markmccabe934]

I love the work and effort you put into the traditional hotrods and customs! I've built many hotrods and streetrods over the past 50 years but only one Flathead powered T Roadster that I contributed the parts for which ended up being my latest Flathead! I found the flathead 30 years ago and it was rebuilt by the city of Milwaukee for their trucks at the public works dept. and sold it to a friend for a T Roadster project... he bolted on an Offy set of heads and an Offy Tri-carb with Stromberg 97s and I ended up driving it over 3,000 flawless miles because he was too tall to fit his legs on the clutch without jamming his leg into the steering wheel and door! Fast forward to one year ago I moved back to my hometown and saw him at a carshow and asked him whatever happened to the T? And he said... you're buying it! So a few weeks later I stopped by to purchase it and offered him one price if it would start right away and another if it didn't. He told me that he drove it to that spot in his garage 5 years ago and parked it... but after we jumped the battery the starter hit with a thud! We took the plugs out and we couldn't turn it over by hand... needless to say I bought it cheap and after removing the heads 4 cylinders had rusted bad enough to seize the pistons and I had to replace 6 valves! 5 years my ass... lol... more like 15 years! Well I got it running and driving it all last summer and ended up putting a tremic 5 speed in it. a couple weeks ago I had it hauled from Wisconsin to Texas for the Lone Star Round Up and was in the featured car section and I enjoyed driving it to many different venues and then brought it to Pate swapmeet to find a roomy A roadster body to throw on that chassis and get rid of the tight T glass body. I found the straightest rust free Stock 31 Roadster and traded the T for his A plus he gave me a few thousand more! Now I'm looking for another flathead to replace the Banger! I stopped by his swapspot an hour later and I saw a young guy driving it on to his trailer because he just bought it for $20,000 and was hauling it to Oklahoma! Apparently he saw it at the LSRU but since I broke my phone I couldn't retrieve his calls! It's funny how all things ended up and We all left Pate Texas happy! Continue with the good work and entertaining builds!!! Cheers Mark a.k.a. @markowingnutz on Instagram and wingnutz on the HAMB

[@johndonlon1611]

Phenomenal video and all the effort and parts scrounging to boot. With all that effort and time involved I'd spend more to uncover the engine's true provenance. That would make it not only rare--but very sought after as well as rare. As for the stories about those flatheads the old guy swore was like brand new, I'd remember what I learned in high school business law class: CAVEAT EMPTOR. Made sense then--makes more sense now.

[@gandklyons102]

An amazing journey of this engine. I have gathered five flathead engines, all in various condition. My hope is to do something similar as you guys have done here. My journey is about to begin..... wish me luck.

[@billmiller7138]

Five out of five of the ones I found are cracked. Three worth repairing, 2 probably not. That one obviously hydrauliced a rod so 🤷‍♂️. Maybe was a head gasket leak but I’d be suspicious.