Flathead 346 What does it worth?

[Oliver Betker]

Hello,
what is a complete drive train of a Modell 62 from 1946 worth? It is from a funeral car and was stored for years in a barn.
The current condition is not very clear, it turns but nobody can say that it works.
It was planned to install, so I think it should run.
So a lot of open questions and therefore hard to decide.
Do anyone have approximate values?
Regards

[Steve Passmore]

Where the seller is in this world compared to the buyer makes all the world of difference to the value (if you'll pardon the pun)

[Barry M Wheeler #2189]

If the guy hasn't used the thing for years, his wife is probably "sick" of it. He's fishing for a sucker to get it out of his way. He will tell you all the stuff that was supposedly done to the car, as it won't cost him anything to lead you on.(There is no way to tell as the thing sits on the ground.)
Tell him you'll get it out of his way for $300 "as-is" if you think he's telling the truth about what work was done. That way, you won't be out the moon, he'll have "some" return on his long ago investment, and have it out of his way.
(Just be prepared to have a way to load it when you pay him and take it the same day.) It's going to weigh about 800 lbs. plus if the transmission is attached to the engine.
(In your stack of Franklins, try two of them first, but try to intimate that you didn't bring more than three.) If he balks, tell him that you're there "today" and you're not interested in a bunch of haggling. If it's been "years" since it was touched you'll have some expense getting it cleaned up. Who knows, you may luck out. Good luck and don't be afraid to walk away.
(In re-reading your post, I am getting the impression that it may be only a low-mileage funeral coach. I'd go as low as possible. It's impossible to tell what damage may have been done to the engine over the years in relatively bad storage. He is never going to do anything with it, so whatever you give, he's $$$ ahead. Again, good luck.)

[Bobby B]

A Flathead is not a motor that you want to install after laying in a barn. A lot of things can get hung up like any other engine, but a flathead is quirky enough. Without having the block magna-fluxed, you could be looking at a potential Boat Anchor  ......I sent  two of my own to the bottom of the Ocean  ..............
                                                                                                             Bobby

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

....... Without having the block magna-fluxed, you could be looking at a potential Boat Anchor  ......I sent  two of my own to the bottom of the Ocean  ..............  Bobby   

Not wanting to denigrate the Flatheads any further, but there is a misconception that engine blocks are good for boat anchors.   6 cylinder ones are good, but, not V8's, or any other V configurations.

The V's simply roll around on the bottom, whereas the inline engines stay flat.

Bruce.

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

I'm still going to say they are a potential 50/50 boat anchor if they have not been magnafluxed.

[Steve Passmore]

Nice as coffee table supports

[DaveZ]

Without Magnafluxing the block it is a crap shoot. I agree with what everyone else says. You don't know why it was taken out in the first place. Regardless you would have to take it apart and magnaflux just to see. I have two blocks that are going the be tested and if NG going to the recycling center.

[Bobby B]

The V's simply roll around on the bottom.....

I wonder how far my Blocks got by now? 

Steve (Across the Pond) and Bruce (Down Under), keep your eyes peeled for 2 cracked blocks in the Cylinder Walls and Valve Seat Areas. Oh yeah....one of them has a hairline crack in the top water passage discovered after $1700.00 worth of machining work, due to a stubborn machinist who figured wrong by beautifully machining the block after I told him to Magna-Flux it first  ........
                                                                                                         Bobby

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I wonder how far my Blocks got by now? 

Steve (Across the Pond) and Bruce (Down Under), keep your eyes peeled for 2 cracked blocks in the Cylinder Walls and Valve Seat Areas. Oh yeah....one of them has a hairline crack in the top water passage discovered after $1700.00 worth of machining work, due to a stubborn machinist who figured wrong by beautifully machining the block after I told him to Magna-Flux it first  ........
Bobby

Trust you didn't have to pay for the machinists mistake?

As for Steve being across the pond, I now know why it is called the pond.   When I traversed the North Atlantic in June, The whole 6 days of travel was just like being on a pond.   Flat calm, which was the same for the North Sea and the Baltic.  I was disappointed as I was wanting Force 10 gales and a minium of 7 Metre seas.   I have had rougher crossings across Bass Strait to get to the mainland.

Bruce.

[Bobby B]

Trust you didn't have to pay for the machinists mistake?

No, but he was Pissed ..........

I was disappointed as I was wanting Force 10 gales and a minium of 7 Metre seas........

Bruce,
I don't think they Film "Deadliest Catch" on their way to England  .........

                                                      Bobby
 

[Steve Passmore]

Good for you Bruce seeing a flat Atlantic, as we get the residue of most of the US eastern seaboard hurricanes the Atlantic is not the place you want to be when they are moving across to us.

[harry s]

One important thing to remember when using a flathead for an anchor is to check that the length of the line is sufficient or you'll sink the boat.     Harry

[Oliver Betker]

A lot of anchor advises.
it looks like to me, that it's more common to use a Flathead engine as an anchor then as an engine.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Sorry, but as a retired Shipwright, and that includes Mooring operator, the V8 is better as an operating engine that an anchor.   Trust me, I know what I am talking about.

Bruce.