Hi all. Again I am asking questions to figure out just what I have and what I can do to make the things I have work in my '46 1/2 ton. From my 2 trucks I only have 1 motor which at first I thought was an 8BA. I have been looking for a 59AB but have been unsuccessful yet (well at least for what I believe is a reasonable price).

So I pulled the heads off my 8BA to see if I could find any cracks (it looks good). The engine is stuck so I have started to soak the tops of the pistons. Last night after finishing off exctracting the 2 head bolts that broke off, I took a close look at my motormounts. It looked to me like I had some homemade mount in there, so I was planning on getting some correct mounts, for when I put the engine back in. The engine is still in the frame as I don't have enough floor space in my garage right now to pull it -- I have been building a shed to store all the body parts in so that my neighbors don't complain. Well looking it over really good I decided that I probably couldn't put original style mounts in because the engine would sit a little lower and the water pumps would rub against the frame.

So I did some more research on vanpelts website (man that's a good resource) it turns out that I have waterpumps and motor mounts from a '49 Merc (and yes I thought that the block might have come from a Merc so I measured #1 and #4 cylinders and it I am right and they are 180° off I probably have the 4" crank).

So now that I gave all of the background, on to the questions.

For those who have the newer 8BA/8RT/EAB motors in their trucks or anyone in the know, were there any mods that had to be done to put the engine in? Will I likely get the correct spacing at the water pumps if I buy a set of 8RT waterpumps? From the pictures the Merc waterpumps do look a little bulkier.

Thanks again for the help.

Charles

 

You're right Charles, the merc pumps set the engine lower in the chassis. Just buy 8BA/8RT Ford truck pumps and it'll set in your truck just fine. Hope you have the front half-bell that makes up the spacing for your transmission. Since it was in a truck I assume you do.

If any of your cylinders measure more than 3 3/4" you've got the merc engine.

The only spacing issues would be car to truck - since this was already in a truck it should be a drop in event. I can't forsee any problems for you.

I pulled a 51 merc engine out of a 46 1.5 ton grain truck and put it in my 48 F1 pickup. Its all the same. Only issue I can think of is the smaller water pipes on the 8BA series engines - several ways to work around it.

 

Thanks mtflat, that was kindof what I was thinking about the mounts, but I was hoping to get an experienced opinion before I spent that money. The bad news is that the engine is stuck with all of the pistons down somewhat. So I assumed #1 and #4 were 180° appart so I added the distance for each. I do have the transmission spacer so its already to go, as soon as I get the engine unstuck. I now need to pull the engine out and pull the crank so that I can work the pistons from below.

I probably need to have the radiator recored so I will inquire about changing the pipes at that time.

 

Sorry, sometimes my logic might not seem too clear, so I will explain a little better what I was measuring and my assumption. According to vanpelt's website the fire order for the '49-'53 flathead is 1-5-4-8-6-3-7-2. So for the first revolution of the motor 1-5-4-8 are separated by 1/4 revolution and 1 and 4 are separated by 1/2 revolution or 180°. So if the edge of #1 piston is 5/16" from the deck then #4 still has 5/16" left to go down. So I added the 3 5/8" from #4 to the 5/16" from #1 and get 3 15/16" -- which is much closer to 4" than to 3 3/4". This assumes that the edge of the piston matches the level of the deck at TDC and the dome sticks above the deck. So I am using a couple of assumptions here -- but I think its right.

 

Soule46

Make sure that you have the rear sump oil pan, and the proper sump to go with it. In some cases you need this rear sump pan to clear the tie rod. The correct pumps for the truck will be running a 5/8 in. wide pulley. Also with the spacer connected to the rear of the engine there is a dust shield as well, it is made of aluminum and has a rubber seal at the bottom that keeps the dirt away from the rear of the crank.
There are a couple of ways of telling a Merc crank, one is that the front throw is about 6 1/2 in at its wide point, another is the commonly seen thumb print on the front throw, which resembles a thumb print, yet the front throw has to be the same as mentioned above.
Be carefull as not to get the car pumps as some of them have offset pulleys, thus one extends further than the other.
There are other issues that you can do to make the engine lookas though it is a 59 AB block, and haveing the distributor up front as stock.
Non the less either of the above engines you have mentoned will fit, your truck. you can't always tell what engine it is by the casting on the heads as they are all interchangealbe, the ones you mentioned.

 

So I can make it look stock? As I understand the 2 big differences are the heads and the distributor. I was under the impression that there wasn't much you can do with the heads because of the differences in water passages. I didn't look much at the distributor. Could you elaborate more on what I could do? I still haven't totally decided what I am going to do -- I was thinking of keeping what I have because I don't want to pay $500 or more for something that I might be able to rebuild. I also figured that if I couldn't get an original engine to start with, I could justify putting a 2x2 intake on the engine. But if I could make my engine look like the original -- I might just do that.

 

I put a couple of Picts in my gallery of how the '49 Merc Car mounts work in the '46 truck. I will try to remember to modify this post if I remove them later.





That's definately not something I would recommend to do. I wonder if the guy I bought it from had problems with the engine hitting the frame when accelerating?

 

soule46

Here is a run down on what you can do to make the later engine 8BA look stock to the 59A.
First off the heads from the 59A are interchangeable with the 8BA engine, on this you have to tap and use a pipe plug recessed type, screw it in the hole you just tapped. Then go just below the surface a little, mix up a little JB Weld Epoxy, fill the hole on top of the plug. This is on the right side of the engine, and located where the top water pump galley is. Keep in mind the surface part not where the water pump is attached to the block. Once the JB Weld, has dried file it smooth, for painting later on. Now you can use the 59AB Cam, but the timming gears have to have a different pitch than the 8BA ones, this is to run the cam to the rear of the engine, if you use the 8BA gears you will force the cam to the front, eventually takeing out the distributor.
You will need the mounting plate for the distributor, off your 59A engine preferably the 2 hole one and use the Crab Cap type Distributor, alot easier to change wires, and to remove to set points.
All of this comes for a price because if your going to do a change over like this, then you will want to replace cam bearings, and what ever else needs doing. In other words a rebuild, which could be costly depending on if you can do the assembly yourself.
You will need the spacer plate for the rear of the 8BA engine, and dust shield, etc.
Depending on just how far you want to go you can make it look stock. I did all this to my 39 ford, and used a 2 carb intake, Offenhauser, as the Carbs were close together in the center, and it gave me the provision to use the stock Gen mount as my fan was on the Gen pulley.
This probably sounds confusing but it can be done, again depending on your budget. I myself like the look of a stock Engine and although it was a Merc engine, it looked exactly like a 39 to the untrained eye, even the Dark green Paint was on it.
Hope this helps you out a bit, if there is something you didn't get drop me a question and I'll see if I can help.