flathead engine id
 

hello guy's

can buy a flathead engine but can't verify the engine numbers.
can you?

V8



on enginecase left G297-6050 2A61
on engine case right G29T-6049B 11M56

Inlet manifold G39SAM6520

in the front above the cranck G-19-W-6019

there is an engine plate what say's bore 020 mainbearing 030

is this an us engine?
it has 24 studs

looks like it has the alternater in front and the distributer on the back




https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...0/DSC04153.jpg




https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...0/DSC04163.jpg




https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...0/DSC04165.jpg

Can't tell for sure what you have there. There were basically 3 - 24 bolt blocks. Many parts were interchangeable. The early ones '38-'42 had the smallest bore 3-1/16". This block has part of the transmission bell cast on the back of the motor and has the distributor mounted on the front of the motor, right on the front of the cam shaft. The '46-'48 also had that bell cast on the back of the motor (and generally has a 59 cast on top of that bell as an identifier)and shares the front mount style distributor like the older motors. This block has the larger cylinder bore of 3-3/16" . The newest group of motors, '49-'53, do not have the partial bell cast on the back. They share the 3-3/16" bore, and have a more modern style distributor up front that sticks up to the passenger side of the motor. You can usually get some info from the different style heads and the numbers cast in the very middle of the head.

Here is what I see. This motor has the '49-'53 style heads. The intake manifold, generator, and fuel pump to me look like the '38-'48 style (I don't know what differences there were to better identify the year differences). The distributor while sitting on the back of the motor looks like the '38-'48 style that bolts to the very front of the motor. Since it is wrapped in plastic I cannot tell if it is the earliest type or the later type. It looks to me like there is a partial bell on the back of the motor just covering the flywheel. I cannot tell for sure with my experience if it looks like the cast one or the later one that bolted on for the trucks and Mercs. The water pumps look wider and stouter, like the '49 Merc pumps. Another thing that I see is that it uses head bolts and not studs with nuts. The factory used studs up to '48 then bolts from '49-'53.

So it looks like someone put this motor together from various parts, for the previous owners personal preferences and needs.

Look at Mac Vanpelt's website to see these differences and what to look for.

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_home.htm

The things I would think about:

1. Does it have the cast bell on the motor -- pre-'49? This makes it harder to adapt different transmissions to the motor.

2. Is it a '38-'42 block -- the smaller bore engines cannot be built to the same power output as the later blocks -- you may have to have the fellow actually pull the heads to verify this if it has the cast bell, but you cannot verify the numbers on it.

Good luck.

1932/48 flathead V8's had the dizzy mounted at the front of the engine, behind the fan blades. Anyone who has installed the points in one of these engines while spreadeagled over the fender will never forget the experience!

1949/53's have the distributor mounted to the right front (passenger) side of the engine. The waterpumps are the 49/53 style. The previous generations of flathead V8's use a different style of waterpump. I've never seen any Ford flathead engine with the dizzy mounted at the rear.

looks like that big monster flathead used in f5,f6 52,53 trucks. They had rear distributor, tony

According to his profile ford5t6 is in the Netherlands - the numbers don't square with anything in the US.

It does appear to be 8BA, but the generator looks to be off something late 30's or early 40's with an attachment for the fan on the front. Exhaust manifold looks like its off a 37'ish engine. At best I'd say its a bunch of cobbled together parts. Without the plastic being removed I can't tell anything about the lump with sparkplug wires coming from it - I know no late series flatty used wire looms like that.

What are the plugs in the spark plug holes?

It's not the big truck engine - the 337 was in the F7 and F8 only from 48-51. In 52 the big trucks got the first OHV 272 and 317.

Good point, I didn't think about that. It could be a German flathead, I do now recall reading that they used some boss on the rear of the motor (similar to the French flatheads) to run a distributor.

Medical students learn the saying -- "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." I guess I learned my lesson, some people live near the zebras :-)

The only pictures I have seen of the German motors were early 40's with heads similar to the 59AB, but they looked like they were missing a big chunk of the top/front of the head. So I am guessing its a post war German Ford flathead?

hello
it's a rebuild flathead and the plugs in the sparkplugholes are plugs to keep the moisture out of the engine.
the rebuild parts were all ordererd in the us.
the engine comes out of an ford cologne.
it's not a big truck engine.

hope this helps.

thanks

There is a recent discussion of identifying a couple of flatheads on another forum. The first one in the forum looks like it is definitely a North American Merc (the castings match) The second one down the page farther is said to be a German flathead. Later in the thread "The Rocketeer" even uses one of your casting numbers to identify a German flathead "G398SAM". He also posts a pict of his German flathead, which resembles the one you posted in many ways. For instance while I thought the water pumps looked maybe like Mercs (of course they really don't look like the Merc pumps I have, the just resemble them) , if you look at The Rocketeer's pumps they are identical to the ones on your motor. Note what they say, while there are some differences, the German motors are basically the same as the North American ones. Most all of the parts will swap out (it was pointed out that The Rocketeer's heads were swapped out for American 59AB heads even)

Note also that he left a website with more info on the German flatheads, haven't been there yet myself but will look soon.

http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=220576