Bill Christensen

A photo of Bill's 1932 Ford Tudor Sedan. Bill did a frame-up build of this car in 1953, and it ran one of his hopped up Mercury Flathead engines. According to Keith, it was very fast! Photo courtesy of Keith Christensen.

Bill Christensen of Norwalk, California. In May of 2022, Bill's little brother, Keith, told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that his brother in the early 1950s, at age of 17, became a master at building 59-A and 8BA Ford Flathead engines. "Our father was grand enough to let us have access to his complete workshop full of tools of every kind. From drill presses to torches to hand tools. All there for our experimenting and use. Well, even at a young age, we learned a lot of what to do and not do. It was paradise for the using."

"My brother Bill at the age of 17, had already built several Ford Flathead engines. He always had one on an engine stand in the workshop. This was in the years of 1951 and 1952. I was about 15 at the time. My brother worked for Escobar Ford in Norwalk, California at the time, so he had access to all kinds of parts and contacts in the auto industry." Keith recalled that Bill would dis-assemble a Flathead motor - send it out and have it bored 3/8" inch and would have a crankshaft turned 3/8". "When assembled, it became a 3/8 X 3/8 stroker motor. A lot more horsepower with the additional cubic inches and longer piston stroke. A real hot rod motor!"

This was during the days of the oncoming of the overhead valve motors. "These motors could compete with any and all the new OHV-motors. Even the KETTERING V-8 in the Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs! Of course carburation and headers had to be added to the flathead to assure it COULD compete." According to Gene, his brother caught on to a lot of tricks to refine the Flathead. "You have to keep in mind he was 16-17 years old. Just a kid using a lot of creativity and imagination."

Porting and Relieving

Bill experimented with a lot of trial and error but soon learned what made the old Flathead's really run! "First, the PORTING. He bought a steel plate that was used to make headers. It had all the portholes for the exhaust holes to attach the plate to the motor. This was a steel template. It was exacting to the position and perfect diiameter of the exhaust ports. My brother would then take a small electric drill similar to our modern-day Dremel drill. He would reach inside the exhaust ports, clean all the rough casting in the ports, and grind the port to match exactly the template he bolted on. A lot of labor intense work, but the result was amazing. The exhaust would flow and not run into a rough interior or the edges of the exhaust headers or manifolds. This decreased the turbulence and made the exhaust gasses flow a giant amount better."

"Second the RELIEVING. With the heads off the flathead motor and on an engine stand, he would very carefully grind right next to the intake and exhaust valves. Just between the valves and the piston. A triangle shaped area that once ground down would let the intake and exhaust gasses flow directly to the piston and more over to the center of the piston, due to relieving and grinding out that hump which made firing of fuel much more efficient and the exhaust gases to pass out of the combustion chamber and into the exhaust going out of the car. During the work he had to be real careful not to take too much out, or he would cut into a water jacket, and that was a giant problem." It was real precision work, according to Keith.

Flatheads Forever

"These two methods added a tremendous amount of horsepower to the Flatheads by refining the flow of both items - GAS AND EXHAUST! And horsepower was the goal with everyone. Bill became good enough to have a following. Other race enthusiasts would bring their Flathead engines to him and he would do the two modifications. A young kid in high school having a side business. All thanks to a lot of motivation and our dad's workshop. It became the motto "FLATHEADS FOREVER."

Road Races

Keith watched his brother Bill run his 1940 Ford against the later model big overhead-valve V-8s, "and what a thrill for me to see those races. A lonely road and a bunch of guys and cars and two by to races. I would stand there at night at the end of the street and watch two cars coming towards the end of the makeshift track and watch closely to the headlights, as my brothers 1940 Ford had the headlights real close together the way Ford built them. What an exciting moment to see his headlights out ahead!! Being in the early 1950s, this all took place close to 70 years ago! An exciting and innocent time."

Bill Christensen's Cars

Bill Christensen's 1932 Ford Tudor Sedan
Bill Christensen's 1940 Ford Coupe