Chrysler Flathead Inline 6 Sitting For Decades | Will It Run???

[@jonoffensend7519]

Great video, I have always liked inline engine especially flatheads. I drove a 1939 Oldsmobile with a inline 6 for over 20 years. It had been in a barn for 10 years and the engine was stuck. I put every kind of penetrant I could find in it. Left it in gear and every morning I would give it a little push . After a week it freed up. That engine was 100% reliable , never used any oil. I drove it every day except in winter , from 1970 until 1990. This car was 100% original and totally rust free. Still had 1940 road maps in the glove box..👍🎩

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Cool story! 👍

[@M.TTT.]

wow, thats amazing

[@jmkhenka]

How long does engines like this last, in km/miles? Most engines never held that long, thats was one of the good things when the volvo B18 came about, combined with modern manufacturing. That they survive storage i can understand, but how was wear for them?

[@MUN.A1988]

Glad to hear that..have a happy long life..God bless you.. You think the flat head engines is better that others?

[@edwardmulder3777]

​@@jmkhenka volvos ,good ole tractor engines, built to last

[@REGROY1913]

What a great video that brings back fond memories! My dad bought a new 1953 Plymouth with a flathead 6 for a taxi and put over 200K on it. He did a ring job on it in the backyard at around 100K and it purred like a kitten until he got rid of it after buying a new 1965 Fury. He would have kept it longer but parts were getting hard to find back in the pre-Internet days. Those engines were hard to kill, much like the slant 6 engines that followed them. .

[@hunterchartrand6646]

Love the sound of a straight 6, being a flathead makes it sound even better, would be really cool to see it in a boat or something

[@user-cg7cc7zj3e]

Love seeing old stuff come back to life. Good job

[@tnplumber5217]

Hello from Roane County Tennessee! You are making us proud. I just bought a 1951 Clark forklift that hat been sitting for 20 plus years. Has a flat head 4 cyl made by Continental in it. Very similar to that engine. I got mine running also. Keep bringing them back from the dead.

[@paulburns5838]

Awesome video. Been a mechanic for over 45 years. Nothing stopped you. When you were freeing those valves, it looked like wack-a-mole. When you were done, no smoke, no misfires. Ran as good as the day thet last shut it down. I give you a lot of credit.

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Thanks 👍

[@eddiebaggett1764]

I thought you were gonna make it through the video without getting shocked by a plug wire but you pulled it out after all! I saw the shower coming and got a good laugh out of that too! Keep up the good work. Love the videos!

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Glad I could give you a laugh or two ol buddy! 👍

[@jakez8659]

It would be interesting to see compression numbers after it ran

[@richardtravis546]

That is a sweet little old engine. Glad you got it going and saved her. Great job !!!

[@mrdanforth3744]

You should know Chrysler made 2 flathead sixes, a smaller one for Plymouth and Dodge that measured 23 1/4" at the head and a bigger job for Chrysler and DeSoto (and some Dodge trucks) that measured 25". Your 251 is one of the big jobs. The smaller model maxed out at 230 cu in, the big one at 265. Most commonly made as a 237 or 251. Worth keeping in mind when looking for parts, the engines look very much alike but most parts will not interchange. Incidentally the 237 251 and 265 all used the same block and the same 3 7/16 bore pistons. The difference was in the crankshaft and connecting rods. Stroke of 4 1/4 4 1/2 or 4 3/4 inches. Any crank will fit any 25" block but you must use the matching rods which differ in length. All use the same pistons.

[@daleh645]

I’m new to your channel and I like how you getting ole stuff going again, your stories, you don’t just go buy new you fix the old one and you seem like a real genuine guy. Keep making videos and I’ll keep watching and maybe learn something too! 🇺🇸

[@PurpleNinja-vn4hv]

A friend of mine has a farm in his family, his great grandfather used this same type of Chrysler flathead to pump water half a mile from a stream to a massive storage tank he forged together in the top of his barn. Thus, the farm has running water before it had electricity!

[@stevemacdaddy9909]

Nice job brother. I was almost heartbroken when you thought it might be locked up. You put alot of effort. Great video. Learned alot. That baby could power a block of houses.

[@williamgilchrist8577]

All I have to say my man is that you understand mechanics very well. You realize that you do not have to pull a motor apart just because it has some sticky valves and a piston that left a ring mark on a cylinder wall. I was one of those guys that would have pulled that motor all apart after I saw the damage. But, in my mechanical career, I got trained as a machinist. I was an automotive type machinist and did a lot of study concerning what would ]work and what would not. i was asked if some part would work by guys who had been mechanics for years. Back in the day, one was not always able to spend a bunch of money on stuff so things just had to work.

[@Madiba100]

Thanks for the video - loved it! I realy like these old US flatheads, especially the V8s. Sir, it is people like you that give me back my faith in the US and make me want to live there (pity some of y'all don't want me to).

[@captnsquid8151]

Like the old Chrysler Crown. The marine version. Worked at a shop in Vancouver Canada and many old wood fishing boats, draggers and gill netters / trawlers has these straight 6 cyl. Just bullet proof. Small 6 was called an Ace. Larger 6 was the Crown. The 8 cyl in line called the Royal. Many flat heads used by th US ARMY in trucks from before WW2 into the 6 ties/

[@MJHarte]

My dad had a 32' double ender ( Geri II) in Anacortes in the 90s that had Chrysler Crown in it that ran like a sewing machine!

[@captnsquid8151]

@@MJHarte I worked for a few years (Mid70's) in a parts store and we handled Atomic Fours, and Chris Craft, & Westerbeke Engines. Dealers for Volvo Penta. The chap that ran the shop, Ben Taylor use to be the shop foreman for Begg Motor Company in Vancouver. They were the motor reman for Chrysler. Ben would get a bunch of the flat head 6's from US Army surplus and then marinize them. They usually had a hi ratio Paragon gear box on them. Yes they always started and ran. That double ender must have been a real beaut.

[@walterbrown8694]

My first car - '51 Plymouth - bought it in '55 - Started buying mechanics tools and a 1955 Motors Manual - Studying engineering in Chicago those days and couldn't afford to take the car to a garage if problems showed up. Liked those inline 6's - Only thing I didn't like was adjusting the valves (clearances were "hot") so burned a few knuckles from the exhaust manifold doing the valve adjustments. (few years later, owned a '48 Chrysler with a straight 8 - Same deal with the valve adjustments !

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Awesome story!

[@robertkuipers9422]

Us old guys love watching old engine start up's. That probably y the channel has increased.

[@acrobatic_beef]

Shoot, I'm 16 and I love watching these kinds of videos. Always love the ol flathead sixes, like the Ford 254 and these Chrysler 251s

[@riverratranger1427]

In 1966 I bought a salmon pink 59 Plymouth with a flattie 6 for 200 bucks. It was my motor home till I joined the army one jump ahead of the draft in 1970. Loved that motor. Easy to work on. Totally reliable. Wish I still had it.

[@AnthonyRBlacker]

I'm only about 5 and a half minutes or so into it, but I'll tell you one thing here.. when they get stuck like that, i'll put a big 'ol long long pry bar on that flywheel on the back side of it and give it a good strong push.. most if not all the time it'll get past whatever rust line is in those cylinders.. it saves the headache of gaskets and all from pulling that head off.. i'm about to see where you're gonna go with it.. great channel thanks so much for the real deal videos!

[@thomaswright6250]

Yes sir they don't build them like that these days Simply Amazing work be sitting all those years and sit there and idle after cleaning it up it's just awesome

[@nelsonllewellyn8630]

Awesome video. Sir, you definitely deserve the vice grip and Hammer mechanic award. It's probably a couple of hot rod guys out there they probably would love to have that old Flathead six.

[@peteb2]

And a new Sub... Just love seeing old sad looking junk run'n again which makes it no longer junk!

[@johnhennery8820]

Love your videos thanks for sharing this with us my first car was a 1952 station wagon plymouth flat head 6 loved it 25 miles to the gallon mow a lawn for 3 dallers and gas was 26 cents per gallon drive to school just a bit of trivia thanks again that brought back old memories

[@solomonlynn7456]

Cool video. As to the small hole in the underside of the cylinder head, check the other side for a plug. This was common practice in the day on industrial flathead engines. It allows you to drop a wire or round rod through the hole to find top dead center. I've seen automotive applications that had the internal hole but no machining for the plug on the outside.

[@earlborchardt4358]

keep in mind that the piston reaches tdc twice during one cycle

[@robertwelsh1770]

Great video! You may not be the most high tech mechanic on KZbin but dad blamet, you are easily the most informative! Thanks for explaining everything so clearly. Also and by the way, you inspire trust when you admit your mistakes. Almost nobody else does that. Best channel on KZbin!

[@shakes7333]

Back when manufactures took pride in their products. Before aluminum and plastics. Just recently found your channel. Good videos thanks for sharing. Thumbs up

[@larryhullinger4141]

I'll argue that point If you put 100,000 miles on that engine it was worn out Nowadays 100,000 miles is a tune up warranty

[@rexjolles]

thers a reason they only had 5 digit odometers. and people were replacing their heads with aluminum eldelbrock/Navarro heads all the time

[@DanaTheInsane]

Back when an engine was shot at 100,000 miles.

[@rexjolles]

@@DanaTheInsane which is why they had 5 digit odometers

[@shospulecolupis9718]

I'm one of them new subscribers. Nice work. I'm a revival fan from Vice Grip Garage. And this is right up there!

[@smallthings6590]

Wish I had somebody like you around here, I've got my great grand fathers 50 Desoto that I would love to get running again. It's complete, grandad started a restoration years ago and never finished it. I'd love to get it on the road before he passes but it's above my skill level.

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Where are you located?

[@Fierofreak01]

You were recommended and popped up on my feed, so I watched! I think I'll stick around for a while!

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Thanks a bunch!

[@melvingibson4525]

Surprised at how similar this sounds to other mechanical straight 6 engines I've worked on. Even if you're down a cylinder or 2 a straight 6 will always run at least not under full load. There's a reason why heavy duty haulers almost exclusively use this design now. It just works and can take a beating

[@wymple09]

They use the inline 6 for many reasons. Fewer parts, only one head, narrow engine makes packaging much easier, shorter turning radius gets engineered in, etc. In Europe where the roads are different and length is a concern the big dog is a V8.

[@arthicks2566]

@@wymple09 My Dad once said working on a V8 was like working on two engines. He as a big fan of inline 6's. I read somewhere they were easier to balance.

[@acidsurprise]

Amazing video! I have no experience with engines but my 1951 Dodge Coronet has this engine and I'm getting ready to restore it. I didn't know where to start with it because it's seized up but this video looks like a step by step process to make it run again. Thanks again!

[@rosewhite---]

To get lube onto the piston instead of having it run out the valves: just use a flame to seal the end of the plastic tube on the lube bottle then drill a small hole in the side of the tube above the sealed end and line the hole up so the lube squirts onto the pistons.

[@DARANGULAFILM]

The firs car I remember in my childhood in 1954 was an old 1929 DeSoto ute. It was pretty much worn out and eventually the top gear failed. The engine seemed to go on forever and it was a delight to listen to on a run the 20 miles or so to the beach and back. The smell of an old sidevalve engine starting up on the choke in cold weather was unique. It had wooden spoked wheels and they creaked with each turn but never broke even when my oldie loaded a 1.25 ton Ransomes tractor on the back of it. I was sad the day he drove it off to trade it in on a 1939 Chev Six.

[@gingersmasher73]

Just wanted to say, I love watching your videos. It’s like a visit with an old friend who’s teaching me mechanical stuff. Keep up the good work.

[@ThisNThatGarage]

👍

[@ShopKatIndustries]

Well, this just popped up by itself after my own Premiere, and I'm sure glad it did! Count me as a new subscriber, friend!

[@jacobmoses3712]

Imagine that engine in a hot rod, maybe with some trick carbs and an exhaust. it sounds amazing

[@laserbeam002]

It is 11/2/2024 and your channel continues to grow. A big Congrats. Keep up the good work and please stay you.

[@ironcladranchandforge7292]

Nothing better than a straight 6!! My favorite engine, especially the Chevy 235. That's the engine in my 1960 Chevy pickup. I like the Chevy 292 as well. Oh, and Dodge's leaning tower of power slant six.

[@edwardmulder3777]

these days guys r gettin hi hp from the ole 6's

[@garytarpley3771]

I have noticed that your fashion producer-made very modest choices in your Tshirts; no plumber faux pas. T N T produces a great video& wonderful information.KZbin lucky to have your solid channel!!!

[@paulwiley9102]

Awesome video, I did get a good laugh when you fired it up and got a shower from the leaks from the radiator. And you just can't beat the sound of an ole Chrysler flat head six. And your dad had a great idea as a generator motor. With them pulleys on it you could use it for a lot of things. Good luck and have fun with it.

[@livingbyfaithatdcrp]

The starter was locking up the flywheel because it didn't disengage like it should have. Also, I had a bike not wanting to run because it was getting too much air in the carb because the cab gasket was bad. An easy was to test your carb gasket is to spray W-D 40 all the way around the gasket while starting & it will stop air from getting through just long enough to test it.

[@baxojayz]

I guess it was around a year ago that I stumbled over this video doing research about the flathead six in my 1937 Chrysler. I have been watching your projects ever since! Keep up the good work! (I have a couple short vids of the old girl)

[@kellyadams3743]

Just ran across this channel by accident, and I love it! Will recommend to my friends! Love from Texas!

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Thanks a bunch!

[@mikehunt1418]

I can tell u why so many more people watch......You are awesome bud. Honest hard workingMan who seems to give a crap about more people than himself.It sorta shines through in your personality on screen ! I have learned so much and Love watching All your vids .Thanks so much Jim from canada

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Preshate that.

[@haroldgetchelljr3264]

Great job on getting that old Chrysler flat head six running… very good video

[@colin8532]

Your "Relocating a Shop" video showed up in my recommended list. So I watched it and been hooked since. Been enjoying your videos all week. Love the waste oil burner project by the way, and the go cart was also very cool. Great vidoes, looking forward to more! Thank you for sharing :)

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Preshate it!

[@russcollins4306]

Same

[@UncleSchittbocks]

Mate, she sound bonza! Got to love that old flathead sound.

[@kevinjamesstout3066]

Hello my name is Kevin James Stout I live in High Prairie Alberta Canada I have been subscribed to your channel for about two weeks what I like about your channel is how you tackle projects and most of all is your humor very entertaining

[@Redrocker1970]

Love it! I guess you couldn't hear me when I said you're going to get wet! I had a 59 Plymouth with the flat head 6. The more I drove it the better it ran. Too bad it was so rusty.

[@megadeuz6148]

We had a old military welder that had one of these engines in it. The thing ran forever until one day,we were taking a break and it backfired, twice,and never ran again! Couldn't find out why it shut down but we never got it to run again.

[@GeorgiaRidgerunner]

Sounds like it jumped time

[@Texassince1836]

Probably ate the fiber timing gear that inline 6s of the era had.

[@roryvonbrutt7302]

@@Texassince1836 they had fiber timing gears then...... Oh I get you now, I'm thinking of a plastic gear but no fiber, like in an old style movie projector.... I used to be a movie projectionist, I got you now ''fiber''‼️®™️

[@Texassince1836]

@@roryvonbrutt7302 pressed fiber. Closer to cardboard than plastic. They were used to make the gear to gear timing set quiet. When they went out the permanent fix was to replace it with an aluminum gear. In the 60s and 70s they started using nylon tooth gears to achieve the same effect.

[@testy518]

really enjoy your show. I grew up with some boys from eastern Kentucky and you sound a lot like them, Glad to hear your channel is growing!!

[@tinoflorentino3577]

Transmission fluid and diesel works very nice as well some hot rodder taught me that I've used that mix many times never fails

[@roger4375]

Those old flat sixes were nearly indestructible. They either ran good or ran bad, but they all “RAN”. The video had a feel good ending. All that work and the reward was a pretty decent running engine. Yep!!! Keep doing the same type of content and I will watch.

[@life_of_riley88]

When I was a kid, my dad had an old arc welder that was powered by a DeSoto flathead 6. We used it as a generator when the power went out. It was sitting permanently in the back of a 67 f250 with a 300-6. Two great old six cylinders that still got work done. I'll never forget the sound of that DeSoto humming away, keeping the lights on in our rural redwood mountain California home. Good times.

[@georgeanderson3754]

These engines were used to run irrigation pumps on farms. Very reliable. Had a 1950 Dodge 1 1/2 ton farm truck. Stuck valves, one stuck piston but ended up purring like a kitten.

[@davidking3724]

Just happened to stumble on your channel. Man, I surely enjoyed watching! Keep’em coming my friend. Nothing better than a good ole boy doing what he loves!

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Awesome, thank you!

[@theodoredugranrut8201]

Thanks mister, we have one of those in an old forklift I'll be working on in a week or two. Central California watching

[@michaelolsen2348]

Man that is cool! Went from a giant paper weight to a running, working engine. Great work. VERY inspirational. Guys LOVE watching these will it run videos. I've been watching for 6 hours now. Lol

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Preshate that. 👍

[@Flymore25]

We're just watching buddyroll, ur doing the entertaining, teaching and comedy routine. You are easily my favorite channel on the tube. Used to be Eric the car guy but now he's second favorite.

[@edwardturcotte2295]

Great work! I bought a 1959 Plymouth flat head 6 very easy to do a motor job on it . Ran beautifully.

[@ronjones1077]

Fun stuff! Love seeing the old iron make noise again. Run out of stuff to work on come on up to Alaska'. I've over 40 oldies to keep you busy. Thanks for the videos

[@ThisNThatGarage]

I just might take you up on that offer some time!

[@dennisvondelinde8603]

Just listening to you makes it worthwhile.

[@ericnelson966]

It is very enjoyable to watch and listen to you. I am from middle Tennessee. You sound a lot like people I grew up with.

[@richardbertovich6134]

Your channel is exploding with new subscribers because people are discovering that not only is your channel educational it’s also entertaining and you make everything fun! Thanks!

[@ThisNThatGarage]

I try to make it as interesting as I possibly can.

[@theodoredugranrut8201]

Thanks again for this video I have just finished with the carb rebuild and headed for ignition systems, oh and the starter on that thing is about$400-500, I had to do $200 of work on mine but that part of the puzzle is in place. Central California watching

[@jimmason5738]

I was rootin' for ya. Laughed a little. Prayed a little bit more. That's amazing.2👍👍 up.

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Glad I could amuse you!!

[@DennisCorrea]

My grandson and I are currently trying to get a 1950 Studebaker flat 6 unstuck 1 of the cylinder got water in it and rusted. I think I will try your torch idea and see if that works. We are having fun working on it and teaching him about how a engine works and how to use tools. Hopefully some day we will get it running again Thanks for your video

[@peachyclean93]

That old girl is giving you way too much trouble for a Chrysler motor! All my Chryslers have always turned on the first try! Great work love those old flat six!

[@WH32R]

I saw that plume of water coming before the engine even hit lol. My 53 Allis CA did the exact same thing to me when the rad formed a pinhole after I swapped out the trike pedestal for a model B standard axle.

[@lonokolotowicz5597]

that kit for the carb was for an industrial engine not a street vehicle. Different kind of parts. The engine was built for constant speed use. Pumps or gen sets. I had one for a generator to start small aircraft at the airport a long time ago.

[@williamhenley2185]

I used to work on these engines in tow tractors in the Marines good engines lots of torque.

[@moltenmetal5645]

Same engine as i have in my 1954 Yale forklift. Mine stumbles if you floor it from an idle, but ease into it runs good. Being a forklift from the Eisenhower administration that is fine with me.

[@chrisbeaulieu519]

A little trick i found that can re soften the rubber on the float valve is to soak it in some brake fluid (dot 3 or 4) I have had some luck.

[@stevengamsby5344]

Watch this video and didn’t read the description but when I saw you take the rotor out of the distributor cap I new it was a Chrysler they used that same rotor from 1954 to 1974 great video I have that same engine but with a generator coming of the end plate keep it up enjoy all of your videos Retired US Army Sargent Major Gamsby

[@bombardier3qtrlbpsi]

Had my share of the good old Chrysler flathead. Just took 25 to scrap yard.lol Still have some parts left. Still some parts like cranks and some used carbs. Great job thanks for sharing.

[@waynep343]

Inline 6 chrysler flatheads have a cooling tube that is behind the water pump and distributes water from the pump directly upward at the exhaust valve seats. There is a special notched tool to extract it. The passage all the way to the back of the block needs to be cleaned out with water thru a long straight tube to flush out rust. I usually use a 410 shotgun bristle brush.

[@brianfiftyone]

OK I was wrong I admit it. I’ve never seen it done this way but now I’m learning something from this man.

[@larrykrise3609]

love seeing the old engines run again.used to tinker on them myself.larry

[@James-mp1jx]

I watched my grandpa free up a stuck flat head some 40 years ago. He filled up cylinders and stuck an old industrial magnetic vibrator to the block. Well. It worked. In about 6 hours.

[@oleksandrsikorsky259]

For some reason, I am finding your videos very relaxing. Your videos help me to forget for some time that I could be wiped out by russian shelling any moment. Thank you!

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Glad I can help in some way. 👍

[@bryanmorgan8501]

I just subscribed and bud it's not what we do it's the cool things you do and what you get running. For me, well the older the better. Awesome stuff can't wait for more.

[@jagers4xford471]

Lordy, I love watchin other people work... Good job mate.

[@stevenlatham4397]

You should have more subscribers, you have a good channel. I respect channels that use hard work and not lots of money.

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Preshate it!

[@walterrobbins4470]

You had me rolling when the fan blasted you with water. That’s good stuff right there

[@Frank-Thoresen]

I wish you could make a part 2 video of this Chrysler engine repair. Nice to see it to the end

[@aguywithwood9293]

Through no fault of my own I find myself with three flathead sixes. The Rambler flathead had a Carter YF carb on it. My rebuild experience was similar to yours. The needle and seat kept getting stuck and the pump was junk as well. On the third pull apart, the needle and seat started working and maybe the pump swelled or something because it's fine now. From this point I'm going to give it a good leaving alone.

[@sethm8432]

Very nice, trying to get my 1939 Chrysler Windsor running but I can’t seem to get the firing order/timing right. Just when I thought I had it perfect my starter kicked the bucket. Hope I can get her going. Nice video!

[@dazzfromaus4797]

One of these engines once powered my late father's Massey Ferguson 585 self propelled combine right up until 1983 when it finally quit.

[@Gunner-73]

That hole in the head on number six cylinder is there to check when the piston comes up to top dead center. cylinder compression , 95 PSI is like ok. The engine hesitates because there is no vacuum advance on the timing. advance the distributer till you have 16 inches of vacuum.

[@donsmith6045]

Here in Kansas, lots of these were used for water pumps at the end of a valley pivot sprayers

[@FreiGuy329]

Just subscribed and like to watch people bring the old ones back to life. Keep it up !

[@lonokolotowicz5597]

For your info, old time mechanics put a small amount of tranny fluid in the cooling system for lubrication. I always added tranny fluid to all of my old systems.

[@Jacob-oy1bh]

Yes! Love my Chrysler Flathead, revive em all!

[@CorvairSteveMorton]

I recently discovered your channel. I really like your style. Please keep the videos coming. Thank you

[@ThisNThatGarage]

Thanks a bunch!

[@stevenmenary2862]

Copper head gasket spray can is available at my local AutoZone, at least in my area. But no matter you can order it if not in stock

[@kennysmall8249]

You did a great job getting this going! I’m really enjoying your videos. Greetings from Scotland.

[@kevinhorning3624]

i loved doing this stuff in my younger days.

[@sragga]

same engine my '56 plymouth has. couldn't kill it. they were very popular for use in fishing boats due to their reliability. felpro had a complete gasket set for the engine when i had mine rebuilt

[@prevost8686]

There’s no mistaking the sound of one of the old flat heads.👍