Getting ready for a test of the might Merc Flathead

Progress has been slow for the last few months, what with work, vacation, and the sheer heat of Texas in Summer. Since I'm going to be modifying this engine slightly (new heads, header exhaust manifolds, and making a side draft manifold for a pair of Webers), and since the engine was never started since being rebuilt almost 18 months ago, I felt it was time to put it together if only to run for a few minutes. My plan is to use the stock parts I got with the engine, as well as the gearbox I bought for it, to see if it would run, then tear the whole chassis down to finish the frame, modify the front axle, and do a final build.

Bolting together the peripherals on a flathead is a pretty straight forward process. It's almost impossible to put things together wrong, and though I did have to wait for a few parts I didn't already have (a set of headbolts), mounting the bell housing, clutch, pressure plate, and starter plate was easy. The exhaust manifolds were simple, the intake and carb unit can really only go on one way.

The engine was pretty tight though, and hard to turn over by hand. Eventually I did get it to cooperate. Today I put the heads on, cut the tops of the mounting tube off (so I could fit the coil on), stuck the gearbox back on, put plugs and wires on it after determining TDC on the #1 piston. Still have to work out a temporary cooling solution to simply circulate coolant through the engine for the five minutes or less I'll have it running. Having had the starter rebuilt, I'm pretty sure it'll handle turning it over. Maybe next week!