Reply #13: Actually the flat head could be souped up quite a bit. Particularly the later model [View All]

[yellowcanine]

48-53 Mercury flathead; many of the Model B owners would swap out the stock flathead for the later model Merc engine. It had a longer stroke already and many rodders would install headers and a custom intake that would accept three carburators. Yeah they didn't match the performance of the big block V-8s of the 60s and 70s but still, they could outperform a lot of stock engines of the 50s that had a lot more cubic inches, including those pricy T-Birds. And the sound of a souped up flat head was some kind of sweet. There are still gear heads that specialize in flat heads and even race them. To me there is something a little romantic about an all steel rod fitted with a souped up Merc flat head that a modern glass rod with a Chevy 350 crate engine just can't match, regardless of the superior performance.