When performing restoration services on old Ford engines, you should not be surprised to learn a good many of the Ford flathead engine cores will end up with at least a couple of broken head bolts during disassembly.

Of course, given the high age of flathead engines, you might expect to encounter a few headaches due to broken or frozen plugs.

Introduced as a V8 engine in 1932 with a lifespan that extended in the U.S. until 1953, some of these engines that you see could be more than 70 years old.

Besides their age, flat motors have other special problems. First, the flathead design means head hardware is exposed at all times to weather and coolant so corrosion results. Second, several bolt holes in the block on both sides (between cylinders) crack. It's rare to find any of them not cracked, and experience says that although these cracks do not create a problem that would either cause the rejection of the block or even any particular repair regimen, they do allow coolant to seep around these bolts and create rust. At the same time, I have seen no indication that back in the day anyone felt an obligation to coat threads with an anti-seize or anti-corrosion compound and you know how that can cause problems. I also suspect hardened head bolts going through innumerable heat cycles are metal fatigued and when the kind of torque required to break some of these bolts loose is applied - SNAP!

OK, so now you have ...