This weekend I picked up a beautiful set of hubcaps for my Mercury M47. Buddy threw in a set of wheels to go with. He swears they were original to his truck. The issue is mine are 16 inch. His are 15 inch. Same bolt pattern. Same width. But 15 inch. What's original?

 

Also....most places show mercury being 255 ci for 49-50. Mine is a 49 mercury out of a fire truck but has a 3 3/4 inch stroke. Am I to assume that was for mercury cars?

 

The original wheels for the 50 M47 were the same 16x4.5 that came on the Fords that year. I believe 1956 was the first year for offering 15" wheels.

Engines and drivetrains in the light duty Mercury trucks were identical to the Fords. Your 47 series truck would have had the same 239 as everyone else. The 255 was a Mercury car engine. It's a common misconception that Merc trucks had the 255 because they have the Mercury badging. It's not true.

 

The US parts catalog does not show the 15" until 1953 on tube type and 1955 on tubeless. Not sure if there was anything different in Canada.

It is my understanding that all Canadian trucks came equipped with the Ford 239 engine. (Ford 3.75 stroke Merc 4.00 stroke)

 

My 1955 US parts catalog does not show a listing for a 15" wheel. That's where I got my info that it appears the 15" wheel was available after that. Presumably the later printing catalog most of you guys use back dated the application to include all the 53-56 trucks. My 1951 Canadian parts catalog shows only the same 16" wheel used in US production.

 

Thanks guys that clears things up. I was certain that I was correct but his insistence left me with a few doubts

 

 

Everything I have read, dealer brochures, vintage ads, and authentic salesman's handbooks say that 1956 was the first year for 15 inch wheels.

 

The engine will be 239 cu.in. and should say Made in Canada on the heads

 

It does say made in Canada. They are also aluminum. Going to have them cleaned up and polished. And likely planed ever so slightly for flatness

 

Looking through my Canadian catalogues for 15" wheels:

1953 published May 1953
- no 1007 wheels listed
1954 published fall 1953
- TAAA-1007-A no size listed
- TAAA-1007-B no size listed
1955 published April 1955
- TAAA-1007-B says 5 holes
1956 published Oct 1955
- CTAAH-1015-A 15x5K tubless tires

1948-60 Master catalogue published 1964?

1953/60 - TAAA-1007-B - 15x5.5
1955 - CTAAH-1015-A - 15x5
1956/60 - B5C-1015-A - 15x5

That is about as conclusive as one can really get with the Canadian books.

 

Thank you for posting this question. I learned something today. I could have sworn that the fifteen inch rims were standard and that the sixteen were optional.
I'm running sixteens but picked up some fifteens that I was going to fit with wide white walls. Paint them red to tie in with the red on my Mercury name plates and grill striping. Just for a change/custom look.
Good luck with your restoration.
Greg M-47

 

According to my 86 year old dad the narrow 15" wheels were often retrofitted to earlier 16" wheel trucks for tire selection purposes so reliable documentation would be the only way to know for sure what year they started leaving the factory that way. Dad took four 15x5.5" wheels off a 54 model in a boneyard out in Alberta back in the early 90's. They're on the 1950 Mercury he restored. He has a couple sets of 16's too but he put the 15's on the truck so he could install skinny 195x75-15 radial tires and still use original style hubcaps. Not shown in this pic but the truck actually has a set of correct NOS `50 Mercury pickup hubcaps on it. They were not cheap.. 1950 restoration

 

Those Mercury hubcaps are rare as hens teeth. I was very very lucky to find a set for 500 dollars.

 

Yes those Mercury hubcaps are hard to find. And you found some NOS. That is something. I've hunted them for years. The set that I have on my M-47 came off the shelf in a garage in the Calgary Alberta area.
Was there any paint on the mercury letters of your hubcaps ? I'm just curious. I've seen red, blue, and black. There was a discussion on this a few years back. My thought were that the red were installed on the early trucks. Blue on'51-'52. And then black. Just my own thought after lots of discussions with Mercury truck owners.
Very nice looking truck. I haven't seen very many in red. Seems like mostly green around here.
Greg M-47