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mtflat ty for assisting in my id sorry im justing getting time to take & send those photos it came with a truck bell housing & car pumps its a 49-53 bored 60 over what threw me off was that casting # i thought that was the way to determine year & make (ford or mercury)
Hi there, I expected someone else to jump in on the discussion....
The 1BA indicates it was cast beginning in 1951 until the next running change. Ford used part numbers as a starting point and used the same numbers until the next upgrade.
All blocks are basically the same Ford/Mercury/cars/trucks from 1948 to 1953US / 1954CAN
Any differences were all bolt on accessories or internals that were swappable.
In the past 70 years so much has been swapped, modified, rebuilt with whatever was on hand that there are very few engines that are exactly as they came from the factory.
Ford also didn't use numbers matching - there are no serial numbers stamped on the engine blocks to identify which vehicle it came from.
Those "car" water pumps were also used on trucks in 1953, the bellhousing had ears for the rear mounting.
On your engine I can quickly see aftermarket Fenton heads and what looks like an old Edmunds intake from an earlier series flathead with a pair of Stromberg 97's, adjustable lifters (maybe Johnsons) and tube headers. With the .060 overbore, someone took a lot of pains to put together a nice setup. From the clean condition of the pistons and cylinder walls I wonder if it ever ran - or certainly doesn't have many miles on it. One thing they didn't do was address the vacuum issue from the distributor (as far as I can see) for the venturi vac line that pulls vac from the original carburator. The distributor may have been modified to overcome this but I can't see under the rotor. Bottom line, you have a late series flathead and if the block is not cracked you have a winner! Enjoy...
Tim
To add to Tim's info, the unique thing about 1BA's is that they were made without hardened valve seats, instead they used Rotomatic valve assemblies that rotated the valves to reduce seat wear. I have the same engine in my truck, but had big problems with the seats and had to have hardened seats added. Since then no problems. If your plans include a lot of highway driving now would be the time to consider doing the same. Unleaded gasohol can be tough on them at high loads.
1BA on the left, 48 - 50 valve assembly on the right. Springs and valves are different between them, besides the keeper assembly
M/T Flat & Albuq F1 thank you very much for the input i ve been around hot rods & 55-56 chevys etc for some 55 years so i know enough to make me dangerous lol had a few flat heads in trucks but my first on a stand built several chevys chasis a 51 panel that came with a rebuilt not running etc & now into metal work & bead rolling i have a few questions well more like a few dozen lol i measured the stroke with a dial indicator at the cylinder wall stock is 3.750 mine measured out at 3.790 a dif of .040 im not familiar with this i have a copper gasket set coming to inspect the internals install the heads & button it up would i need bolts or nuts &studs for these Aluminum Fenton heads oh if it sounds like im talking with a fever i think so flathead fever got me lol
I can't answer all your questions but here is a link that should feed that flathead fever I hope most of the links are active. It's flathead trivia that we started collecting 20+ years ago and a lot of the guys who posted are no longer around. https://web.archive.org/web/20160318...n/flathead.htm
I can't explain the difference in stroke. These weren't built like swiss watches and are amazingly tough. I've only used a tape to measure stroke - either 3 3/4 or 4".
It almost looks like your block was decked - hopefully not too much. I'd clay the cylinders to determine head space. I think the process was, clay without gasket. You want .050" headspace. Then with a gasket you should be in the .090" to .100" finished head space range.
If you expect to have this apart frequently, go with studs especially with the aluminum heads. Bolts were original from the factory.
No problem with questions, that's what we're all here for. I like the Tri-5s. One of my neighbors has a '56 with a blown big block. Awesome car!
I hope most of the links are active. It's flathead trivia that we started collecting 20+ years ago and a lot of the guys who posted are no longer around.
