Not a slant. 1947 boat Engine

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clementine

clementine

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Helloooooooo FABO!
(Shouted out like Robin W in hello Vietnam....RIP)

My buddy from work has a 1947 Chrysler engine in his boat. I have not seen it but i think its a flathead and looks like this straight 6.

He says it spins but doesn't run.

Check me here.

Arrive.
Squirt some ether and see if it pops?

If no then....
Pull plug
Check firing order/tdc pointing a 1 and all that.
Check spark
check compression
(Fuel) (ether, so i left that out)


basically....are there any nuances to these motors that are going to change the usual approach?

Bring an extra big hammer (to throw)?

A come along to attach it to the anchor chain to put in the bottom where it belongs?

Thanks in advance FABO!!

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20231015_112205.jpg
 
You'll have that. Chrysler Corp put flathead 6's in pretty much everything until the early 60's.
 
more information .....

Boat is in a barn. Chris craft.

Garbage can ful of water for cooling out do these engines have a hose hookup?

Thanks for ideas.

New thing for me

Del, aren't you a boat man?
@67Dart273
 
Take the spark plugs out and squirt some oil in the cyls, to lube and to help seal the rings for compression. Then spin it on the starter to
get excess oil outta cyls preventing hydroloc .
Check for spark, install plugs, check fluid levels, prime carb, cross fingers, go for it .
If it fires, check oil pressure, monitor engine temps .
Good luck .
 
clementine said:
more information .....

Boat is in a barn. Chris craft.

Garbage can ful of water for cooling out do these engines have a hose hookup?

Thanks for ideas.

New thing for me

Del, aren't you a boat man?
@67Dart273
Click to expand...

Older boats like that sometimes had raw water cooling, inlet thru hull fitting to pump to engine, some had keel cooler, a pipe running next to the keel, or a heat exchanger and pumps .
Pix will help .
There is often a way to rig cooling to garden hose, imagination may be required. Find a pump inlet and rig it to a garden hose, (turn it on) lol, watch for leaks . Water has to go somewhere, (exhaust manifold), don't fill the boat .
Water cooled Marine exhaust manifolds often leak coolant into the cyls, so scrutinize spark plugs for residue/salt .
Make sure all belt driven pulleys/pumps turn when running .
 
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First thing to check would be the points in the distributor. My dad had a 58 flat head and points were a problem, but that thing would idle with a glass of water on it and not spill a drop. After driving a flat head and then driving an OHV 6 it was day and night with the better pickup in the OHV engine. Surprised they stayed so long with the flathead, especially after they came out with the Hemi in 51.
 
Thank you @inertia and @tonysrt !

These are the things that will help me show up with the correct tools.

Any thoughts please chime in.

Im not even sure i have access to water at this point.
 
Be aware that the flywheel end is the automotive "rear" and I'd guess the prop is drivin off the front. Also be aware it could be either standard or reverse rotation.

I'd first try squirting some oil into the plug holes, cranking it, and running a compression check. If it's been sitting, and/ or others have poured ?? amounts of gas and starting fluid into it, the rings may be dry. I would just change the condenser. "because.". If you don't have the right one, just pull the old one, and if the new one does not fit, install it over on the coil, and to ground

Bear in mind that is probably 6V and who knows which ground polarity. If it has a generator, pull the field wire loose at either the VR or gen, or pull the belt, and pull the "batt" wire off at the VR

It will not hurt the starter to run on 12, but I would NOT leave the coil connected for long. You might scare up a 12V coil and or coil + ballast

I'm no expert on old inboards, or flathead Chryslers. "Generic"
 
And now, yet another annoying story from the old days

From about 80-87 I worked for a huge parts store/ heavy hardware/ logging/ rigging/ hydraulics/ welding/ and later fasteners store here in town.

We had a nice guy, he knew the boss and manager, was into real estate and partly retired. He'd come and go, south for the winter, and travel, etc, etc.

One time he came in and made arrangements to get a marine Ford Y block overhauled and off it went to the Spokane rebuilder, and came back. He picked it up, and disappeared as usual.

Sometime later he came in a few times, could not get it to fire. One afternoon I talked to him, and I told, him, I'm no expert, least of all the old Y blocks. But I'd be happy to take a look.

So I went down, with some tools, after work. Here is this nice little classic old ?? 15ft with this Ford. He had the rocker covers off, and I looked over the no1 valves, and set up the distributor. I was not exactly sure of the Y block firing order, so I tried to bump it around and determine what valves were "next." Nothing made sense???!!!!! I went around, set no1 back up (both valves closed) and started over. NOTHING made sense.

Then I finally REALIZED IT WAS REVERSE rotation!!!

The rebuilder happily found him a cam, but here is the poor punchline!!!

That engine, with (likely) an automotive crank, will ALWAYS leak some oil out the main.

And the poor sap farmer who ended up with that marine reverse crank in his beater old Ford Farm Truck, will ALWAYS wonder WHY THAT DAMN THING DRIPS OIL!!!
 
Only if they have two engines. One will go one direction and the other will go the opposite.
 
inertia said:
Take the spark plugs out and squirt some oil in the cyls, to lube and to help seal the rings for compression. Then spin it on the starter to
get excess oil outta cyls preventing hydroloc .
Check for spark, install plugs, check fluid levels, prime carb, cross fingers, go for it .
If it fires, check oil pressure, monitor engine temps .
Good luck .
Click to expand...
What he said.

Mylo.jpg
 
Dad's 2 friends were rebuilding a Continental 226, with parts from a marine engine, that had not been properly winterized, for his big old wooden boat. The engine they were rebuilding had come out of a Kaiser. And, yes, they spent 2 or 3 days trying to figure out why the cam timing wasn't right. The marine engine used gears and the car used a timing chain and they used the car cam with the gears so it turned backwards!
 
If it’s been sitting a long time, I would about guarantee that it has valves stuck open. Very common on old flathead Mopars that are left to sit. Easiest way to fix that is to pull the head, spin the engine over, tap stuck valves down gently with a rubber hammer. A little Marvel down the valve stems seems to help really get them working good.

And it will be a 6v positive ground system. Mopar changed to 12v Neg Ground in 1956.
 
vntned said:
If it’s been sitting a long time, I would about guarantee that it has valves stuck open. Very common on old flathead Mopars that are left to sit. Easiest way to fix that is to pull the head, spin the engine over, tap stuck valves down gently with a rubber hammer. A little Marvel down the valve stems seems to help really get them working good.

And it will be a 6v positive ground system. Mopar changed to 12v Neg Ground in 1956.
Click to expand...
That is automotive. I would not bet on marine necessarily being the same.
 
Spark plugs not grounding in the cylinder head also a common problem with old flat head engines if it has been sitting awhile. (moisture) Make sure spark plug threads in head are cleaned up good.
 
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