My first car was a 1953 Ford Convertible with a 112 HP flathead V-8. Those flatheads were good engines but had two weaknesses, the blocks would crack and due to the routing of the exhaust passages through the block would tend to overheat, really got the heater warm in the winter though. It got 15 MPG on 26 cents per gallon gas. I helped a friend build a flathead for his 1948 Ford Coupe. The block was ported and relieved, it had high compression finned heads, I believe it had a 3/4 cam, maybe Edelbrock, aluminum intake manifold with two carbs, and headers. It would really run for that time and turned a lot of RPM but he didn't have a tach. Not much weight in a flathead valve train. Wish I still had my '53, it would really be a classic. Clarence Milstead