I am new to Y-blocks and new to this forum. I have some engine swap questions that I hope some of you can help me with. I recently picked up a rebuilt late 1954 239 pickup engine that I am hoping to replace the seized up 292 engine in my 1959 Edsel (hope it's okay to ask about a car on a truck forum). I thought this would be an easy swap, but it is getting more complicated and I don't have enough info to know what will work.
First of all, I need to change oil pans, pickup tube and dipstick location. This looks pretty straight forward.
I don't know what to do about the intake and carb setup. The 239 has the early style 3 bolt carburetor (linkeage on wrong side), and the manifold has no provision for my transmission kickdown linkeage. Can I install the 1959 2 barrel intake on the 1954 239 or will the size of the intake ports cause me significant problems? Another option is to buy an adaptor to fit my 1959 carb on the early manifold, but that doesn't solve my trans kickdown problem.
What do I do about distributors? Can I just leave the 239 distributor alone, or is it 6-volt.....is that even a problem?
It looks like I need to change water pumps because the 1954 water pump has no provision for bolting on a fan. Straight forward???
It also looks like I need to use the 1959 fuel pump because it has vacuum lines that go to the wipers. Straight forward???
These are the problems I have come up with so far. Any advice is much appreciated. The reason I am putting this older 239 in my car is because this one was rebuilt and given to me for free, and I thought it would be an easy swap.
Thanks for the info. Wow, this is getting more complicated. The 59 Edsel does not use a front motor mount and it looks like the 239 has the threaded holes in the side of the block that I will need. The water pump is a bummer. How did they hook up a fan on the 239? there are no bolt holes on the water pump pully for that. If I go with the 59 carb, can I run my 59 distributor or will it not engage in the oil pump correctly (or however that works)?
The 59 distributor has a 14 tooth gear, hex drive. The 54 239 has a 13 tooth gear tang drive.
I've converted mine to the later distributor for better performance. You have to pull the 13 tooth gear off and put it on in place of the 14 tooth gear. Can be a tough job. You'll need the hex drive, and will need to change the oil pump.
For some reason, I had to shorten the hex drive about 5/16" so the distributor would sit flush with the top of the block.
I have a 54 car engine, my fan is on the end of the water pump shaft.Perhaps you could get a 54 car water pump and mount the fan to it. Maybe you could move the whole timing case cover to the 239. Dennis
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