Rebuilding a 226

ditchdr

New member
Hi everyone. I am new to this site. I am rat rodding a 49 F-1 it has a 226 in it. I want to keep this motor, everyone does a SBC, and I love the "no one runs one of these" factor. I have no expeirence with these motors at all. I pulled the head off of it yesterday, it looks pretty good on the inside. I have no idea where to go from here. Are there any books I can pick up that can point me in the right direcetion? What should the average cost of a rebuild cost be, I know that is a loaded question? I would like to ring out as mush power as I can, and I understand horsepower=$$$. But what kind of power can you make with one of these without breaking the bank? If you guys could just point me in the right direction that would be great.. Thanks..John
 
Being a flat six there won't be a lot of aftermarket pieces even vintage.
Respect keeping a Ford in a Ford and a six for a six.
Might consider an OHV six and matching trans. Or------

Give up then send me a PM and I'll take off your hands. ;)

Seriously don't know how much the bottom end can handle but the stock compression ratio was something like 6.8 : 1 so raising the CR to match mordern gasoline will increase HP and torque. Be nice if some of the other flathead 6's will chime in.
 
Most all of the mods that work on the Flathead Ford V8, cross over and will work for the flat 6. You can port and relieve the block, and either fab some headers or have someone make you some. Many of the old speed parts are long gone for these engines, so you will have to make your own intake and other items also, but it is a relatively simple engine, and wouldn't be too difficult to do. You can even have your cam reground if you want to go that far with it.
 
You probably wont find any perormance literature specific for that engine, but look at Tex Smith's Flathead V8 book, and it will help you accomplish many of the same goals.
 
Try searching " 226 articles" in the upper right hand corner of this page. A good article is in Hot Rod Magazine, February, 1951, There is a rewrite with additional info in Trend Book 106 Hot Rod Your Car copywrite date 1952, also California Bill's Ford Speed Manual, 1952 edition which is ocasionally available new or used on Ebay, and California Bill's Hot Rod Manual, 1949 edition which is mostly about the G series engine built from 1941 to 1947, out of print now but sometimes on Ebay. There is a wealth of information available in posts on this site. There are also available on Ebay reprints and original Genuine Ford repair manuals for cars, trucks, and industrial 226 and 254 engines. Ebay and swap meets are good sources of racing and rebuild parts for these engines. You can also post wants on this site. There is a company making tube headers and header flange plates. They are listed someplace in the posts. Cam grinding companys can regrind your cam to whatever grind you want. Schneider Cams has a nice listing on their web site. As to power, they will make horsepower equivalent to a similar cubic in size flathead Ford V8 with equivalent modifications.
 
I have a .060" over 226 flattie in a '51 sedan. It has a 2x1 Nicson intake with square bowl Holleys, Knudsen aluminum head (about 8.25:1), pertronix electronic ignition, 3/4 regrind cam (I have the specs at home somewhere), and a homemade split manifold. It runs surprisingly good with a stock 3 speed and 3.70 gears.

There is some vintage speed equipment out there but you have to look. It pops up on ebay but gets pretty pricey. I found my head at the old Pate swap meet in the early '90's. I found the head by having the right conversation with a guy at the Denison KKOA car show a few years back. I had my stock cam reground at Nielsen cams in Utah. Red's headers makes headers designed for a '49-51 car, but you may can use them with some modification. The car exhaust manifolld exits below #4 and the truck exits below #2. I used the outlet from a truck manifold on a car manifold and divded the cylinders 3 and 3. Sound pretty good.

You don't see many like it at a car show.
 
ditchdr":980wspz2 said:
Hi everyone. I am new to this site. I am rat rodding a 49 F-1 it has a 226 in it. I want to keep this motor, everyone does a SBC, and I love the "no one runs one of these" factor. I have no expeirence with these motors at all. I pulled the head off of it yesterday, it looks pretty good on the inside. I have no idea where to go from here. Are there any books I can pick up that can point me in the right direcetion? What should the average cost of a rebuild cost be, I know that is a loaded question? I would like to ring out as mush power as I can, and I understand horsepower=$$$. But what kind of power can you make with one of these without breaking the bank? If you guys could just point me in the right direction that would be great.. Thanks..John

Good deal you decided to step away from the SBC. A good engine they are, but unique they are not.

My advice to you is to stop turning bolts for the moment; leave the engine together and make a plan.

I didn't see where you make mention of this engine needing to be rebuilt. So, I'd recommend that you check if it does.

Do the bores have ridge? If no, proceed to the next step - if yes... go grab the wrenches and start swinging.

If the bores are really clean and good; still see cross-hatch... try pulling the distributor and spinning the oil pump (put oil in pan if needed :roll: )

AFTER getting some oil pressure up, put a bar on the crank, and see how it turns over.

Since the truck you're building is a 'rat rod', it should be constructed so that the engine will be pretty easy to pull. I'd try installing it and see what I had. Of course, it would be a different story if it were a Lotus V8 that takes a guy in a well-equipped shop 30 hours to install.

If you really want to be unique, why don't you fab your own headers and intake? The flanges can be made from steel plate for darn near any inline if you have access to a drill press. A grinder is a very nice thing to have to make square/rectangular/trapezoidal flanges. But, a bunch of elbow grease and a file will still work.

By the way, as a guy who builds engines for a living, I feel kinda' funny telling a guy not to just automatically jump to rebuilding his.

-Bill
 
Thanks for jumping in there guys. Lots of good info. So where I am at now is with the head off all looks good inside. You can even the ford logo and script on the exhaust valves like they were put in yesterday. I dropped the head off at the machine shop to take a liitle off it and clean it up. I am going to bolt it back on and go from there. I don't see any reason why this motor shouldn't run. Whats my best way to go for spark for this motor.. It will be 12 volt. Hey amodel25 where you from? You were talking about Pate.. I live pretty close to there.
 
You should be able to run the stock ignition on 12V; the points will probably last a bit longer if you run a ballast resistor. But, it'll start up easier with a full 12V to the coil.

I've heard of guys retrofitting later 6 distributors to the earlier Ford engines.

I lucked into a Wico mag for my 215; this isn't necessarily the 'sensible' way to go. Pertronix might be a good bet.

Also, I've retrofitted later MoPar slant 6 guts into a flathead Plymouth case; if your distributor is Prestolite, that might be another option for ya'.

-Bill
 
Check this info out and reply back. First off, here is some good advice for you. The time and $$$$$ you are about to put into a G or H 226 cu inch motor can be better spent in putting that $$$$$$$ into a M-series 254 cubic inch motor. However if all you got is the 226 then go from there. First determine which 226 you have. There is a big difference between the G series and the H series motors. All internal engine parts are available from the Eggie copmpany. What type of transmission do you want to run? There is the Ford auto C-4, Ford 4-speed top loader, Ford 3 speed w/overdrive or go with the best and that is the GM T5. All are available and there are companys that make transmission adapters, linkaged and cables to mount any of these applications. I know because I run most all. Back to the engine. What knid of induction do you want? There is the aluminum intake manifold available with single, dual and tripple carbs of your choice. Although the intakes are becomming harder to find they ARE still available. You can run a single barel carb such as a Carter, Holley model 847, or the one of my choice is the Zenith 228 which is ideal because you can fine tune them when it comes to internal parts. Your exaust can be fabricated by using header flanges, headers (but STAY AWAY from Reds Headers) theyre header SUCKS, or you can go with stock split exaust manifolds, one fabricated from a car motor and one fabricated from a truck motor. Together from both manifolds you get dual split exaust manifolds. Ignition comes from utilizing your stock distributor and converting it over to the 12-volt PetroNox system. Fandanza Flywheels holds the pattern on an aluminum flywheel, I know, they made one for me. You can get one made like mine. It comes with a multi clutch pattern design. You can either use a 9 1/2 10 or 11 inch clutch. You want to run a Turbo, no problem, or how about a blower, again, no problem. If you want more info or tech, or the companys that have and make these parts, let me know. Im here now, to help anyone. Vinny G.
 
Hey Vinny thanks mans. I have a H series motor, as far as I can tell it is the original one that came in my 49 F-1. I wouldn't mind switching to the T-5. And I am always interested in wierd stuff like turbos on one of these. How much can the bottom end take though? Any more info would be great, lay it on me.
 
I am running a T5 behind a very stock 223 in my 62 F100 and can't stop telling people how very well pleased with it I am. It is a 238 series and the gearing has worked out very well. Had to use an adapter from John Mummert at Ford Y Block to install it, but has been trouble free for well over 5 years now. The T5 and installation of Dual MC and Disk brakes on the front have made it a very driveable vehicle in modern traffic.

Fred
 
Errrrrr.Fred? What does all that got to do with vintage Flat six engines? No pun here!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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