There is a classifieds section, But I've heard it's a little unruly.

I'd check e-bay and call around to the junk yards. You might have to have a custom header made!

 

Can anyone tell me if a manifold set (ie Intake and Exhaust) from a Ford H-Series 226 CID six cylinder engine will fit a M-Series 254 CID six cylinder engine. According to my shop manual they both use the same part number. Just want to verify because I have a lead for a manifold from the smaller engine.

 

Well, lets see. As Havi mentioned your 49 F6 is a "TH." Here are some pictures and table that might help:







So by these tables the first thing I'm noticing is that the was no 254 engine in the 49 it started in 1950. Any chance your truck is a 1950? ("Brit" may have questioned this already) No big diff anyway. It appears they were different manifolds. The 226 manifold being the 7HA-9426 and the 254 being the 8MTH-9426. All 6 cyl exhaust manifolds have the P/N suffix 9426 btw. For example the OHV 215 from 1952 was EAA-9426-A. Whether the 226 manifold will "fit" on the 254 or not is another matter. I would guess (guess) that if it did, Ford would have used it instead of making a deicated manifold for the 254.

 

Ford made the 254 engine for F-6 trucks from 1948 through 1953. It was also used for other industrial applications, but it was definitely available in the '49 F-6, which is what I have. The number on the intake manifold of my truck is 8MTH-9425. I haven't seen that number on any of the charts I've looked at.

 

That may very well be, but in a cursory sweep of the "1948-1952 Ford Truck Chassis Parts Catalogue," there are NO parts listings for ANY 254 six cylinder engine parts prior to 1950! None at all!

The intake manifold should be xx-9424. there is no xx-9425 listed in the manual.

But here's an interesting thread I found here at FTE using and external search. I don't remember seeing it on our boards. Youmight want to e-mail a couple of these guys and ask them about the manifold, or contact Cobra about whether he is going to replace his 254 withthe cracked block, and ask hinm if youcan have his manifold!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...e-iding-2.html

 

The engine tries to fire but won't catch. It's backfiring and blowing flams out of the exhaust manifold. Unburnt gas is catching fire. I just did a compression test on all 6 cylinders and here's what I came up with. Cylinder Number (1) 80 psi; (2) 40 psi; (3) 0 psi; (4) 0 psi; (5) 20 psi, and (6) 80 psi. It appears to me that the valves are stuck open on number 3 and 4. Number 1 and 6 seem to be operating normally while 2 and 5 are very low. Is there an easy way to unstick valves short of removing the head and valve cover and tapping them down with a hammer repeatedly and lubricating them while cranking over the engine?

 

This may be a silly suggestion. I have never had occasion to try it and I wonder if anyone has. Could you fill the engine COMPLETELY, with a blend of light oils, perhaps kerosene mixed with hydraulic fluid / transmission oil? Fill the crankcase, the cylinders, pouring into and through the intake manifold. I suppose it would be necessary to plug the hole for the dipstick. At a certain level, the oil will escape into the exhaust manifold when it reaches the top of an exhaust valve that is open, but this would have the valve stem "soaking" inside the valve guide. Let it sit and soak for a few days and occasionally turn the engine by hand daily for several more days. Drain it all and turn the engine by hand empty of oil. Fill the crankcase again with light oil for a "wash." With plugs out crank the engine. Flood the intake manifold with fuel or solvent and crank the engine to wash this down. Again drain the crankcase and fill again with regular oil. Repeat the test you have already done to see if the open valves might new be closing.

Actually your idea of removal of the head is probably better. You may have a broken valve, a burned valve, a broken or burned piston that is preventing compression buildup.

I have wondered if something like this might also work to "pickle" and old engine that you knew might sit for years before restoration work could begin. This might prevent worn, dirty parts from drying, rusting and seizing.

Again, I know this may be a crazy idea. anyone ever try something like this?

Keep trying! I want to hear from you that you have experienced the thrill of the old engine firing and running again.

 

There's no such thing as a silly suggestion. Any and all are appreciated. Actually I went ahead and removed the head and sure enough there were two valves stuck in the open position. After spraying the stems as best I could with Sea Foam Deep Creep I turned the engine over with the starter and used a small hammer to tap the valves down into the closed position. After doing this several times the valves became unstuck and functioned normally. I'm having trouble finding a new head gasket for the 254 engine. Most parts places have on the gasket for the 226. Does anyone know if the 226 gasket will work on the 254? I have high expectations that the old engine will fire up immediately when I get it reassembled. Exhause manifold is shot so it's gonna make a lot of racket. Anyone know of a good used exhaust manifold for the 254. Does anyone know it the exhaust manifold from the 226 will fit the 254. Seems like parts for the larger engine are very rare and difficult to find.

 

OK, let's back it up a bit. Is the oil pan a two piece unit?

 

Yes it is. It has an extra sump attached to the bottom of the regular pan.

 

Hey, it has been a week. Any news or progress towards hearing the beast roar to life? Perhaps it has been too cold to twist any wrenches on it this week. Don't forget us when something happens!

 

Rained off and on most of last week plus I had to wait for a head gasket. Sun came out on Friday and the gasket arrived the same day. Reassembled everything and tried starting the engine. I sprayed starting fluid down the carb and the engine would try to catch, but wouldn't run. I repeated this several times. Finally I poured some gas down the carb and let it sit for a few minutes and tried it again. This time the engine started and spit and sputtered for several seconds before finally smoothing out. I let it idle for several minutes and noticed antifreeze seeping out around the new head gasket. I had torqued the headbolts to 70 ft lbs per the shop manual. I shut the engine off and retorqued the head bolts while the engine was good and warm. The engine started right up this time and I still noticed a very minor antifreeze seepage. I then torqued the headbolts to 80 lbs and I'm still noticing a tiny seepage. Any idea what could be causing this? I cleaned the surface of the head and the block until it was mirror smooth so I know that's not a problem. I would say the engine is purring like a kitten, but roaring like a lion would be more appropriate since the truck has no muffler and part of the manifold where the exhaust pipe connects to it is broken off. I need an exhaust manifold in the worst way. Does anyone know if the 226 and the 254 use the same manifold. Any leads on one would be apprecitated. I added two quarts of diesel fuel to the old engine oil and let the truck idle for several minutes to try and flush out the system. Someone in the past had rounded over the oil pan drain plug and a 15/16 wrench would no longer work, so I had to use a pipe wrench to get the plug loose. Fortunately I had ordered a new drain plug along with the head gasket. I replaced the filter and refilled the crankcase with 10W-30 oil and two quarts of Lucas Oil Treatment. While I had the head off I noticed that the pistons were marked as .030 oversized so apparently some time in its life the engine has been overhauled. Now that I've got the engine running it's on to other items that need attention like the brakes, rear axle seals and a new driveshaft carrier bearing. I'll keep you posted as things progress.

 

Congratulations! I would like to have heard the "roar of the old lion" myself. I hope you don't have a cracked head or a cracked cylinder block. Watch your oil on the dipstick for a milky color. That of course would indicate that water was getting into oil.

If you continue to get appearance of coolant, you might try draining the cooling system (probably a good thing to do anyway) flush the cooling system - an acid flush would be a good idea, but this might accelerate the leading of the coolant. After the flush you could then use a good block sealer. this has to be done with water only, no antifreeze. After running the block sealant, you must drain the coolant again. Open as many drain points as possible on the block and the radiator and let it all dry, probably for a couple of days. Then you can refil the cooling system with a misture of antifreeze and water. (Perhaps also a bottle of Peak water pump lubricant.)

A couple of years ago I rebuilt an engine on a 55 Triumph TR2 car. It had the same wet sleeve engine as the Ferguson tractor engine. The cylinder sleeves had "shoulders" that had to 'seat' to a ledge in the engine block. It used a stainless steel figure eight "gasket." On the first run I shut it down after about a minute to check things out. I had milky oil. The machiine shop that did my engine machine work told me the procedure I described above. It worked and there were no more leaks or mixing of water and oil. The man in the machine shop told me that the first run up of a new engine in the factory is often made with an engine block sealer. This IS NOT the same stuff you can put into antifreeze to make a temporary fix for a blown head gasket. I do recall that it was an expensive product with a cost of about $25 for a can of it from Auto Zone.

I am going to look through the most recent of Hemmings to see if any of the parts ads might include parts for your engine (the exhaust manifold). If I see something I will send you a private note.

Again, congratulations on getting it running. Now on to some more successes.

 

Hey that's super! Now we need to find that manifold! Gotta be one somewhere!

 

Mr. Walker, in a November 2009 posting from a man in Wisconsin there was some mention of parting out a 254 flathead engine. The moderator locked down the thread and asked that it be moved to a parts for sale or personal message communication. Apparently,the person making the post did not have enough postings to send/receive personal messages.

I found this by doing an advanced search using the numbers 254 as the search term. I notice that you now have enough postings to use the search feature as well. You could find the same post and many others concerning your 254 flathead parts needs.