I have a '52 F8 with what I'm told is a 337 CID flathead.

If so, what are some of the vehicles that it was used it?

Is the bellhousing bolt pattern match some other popular engine?

It only has 24K miles and is in an ex-fire (F8) truck, but I'm not sure I want to keep it in favor of newer engines and transmissions with better power and service.

If I don't keep it, I'll need to find out more about in order it to know how to sell it.

Ken McWilliams
Dayton, OH

 

I think that engine would also be used in the Lincoln Cars.

 

The 337 is generally the ugly step-sister of the rest of the flathead V8's. I'm sure that comment will get a heated response from some of you guys......sorry.

Very little speed equipment exists and is expensive if you find it;

Its weight makes it prohibitive for light cars and pickups so selling it will find a narrow market, mostly restorers of large trucks or lincolns;

I have no first-hand knowledge, but I've never seen info that any other trannies would fit. If your F6 has a V8 you could take a few quick measurements to compare the two. The 239/255's do have several adapters available for both top loaders and autos.

This may sound like a dumb question, but are you sure it's a flathead and doesn't have valve covers? My shop manual only shows a 317 overhead valve engine for '52 in the F8 truck.

 

Tim,

Seen a few flatheads in my time. It is one, trust me. The spark plugs come straight out of the head. The distributor is in the rear.

The literature that I've seen for the F-8 with V-8 has been the 337 CID engine. I've heard that it was used in the Lincolns.

Other than that, this is the first one I've ever seen in person. It is distinctly differerent than the car and pickup flathead V-8.

I'm more familiar with cars. I remember that in the cars, the OHV 6's were started in '52, and the OHV 8's were started in '54. I don't know when all the changes were made in the big truck. The pickups mostly followed the car intro's.

My dad had a '53 OHV 6 in a Custom. As a teenager, I had a 272 OHV V-8 "Y" block in a 55. It was the first engine that I ever rebuilt.

This engine would be nice if someone wanted it to go in their F-8 or other big truck for that matter. I'm just not into flatheads, and would like someone to put it to better use. It is in an ex-fire truck with only 24K miles. I't seems a pitty to waste.

Ken McWilliams
Dayton, OH

Ken McWilliams
Dayton, OH

 

Sorry Ken, I figured you knew the difference, but I just had to ask after what I found in the shop manual. It's possible I didn't read close enough.

I'll risk one more dumb question - your badge and trim and vin on the truck is for a '52 and not a mis-titled '51?

Pickups trailed cars in improvements until 1948. The all new 1948 F1's got the 8RT one model year before the cars got the 8BA in the '49s. The new trucks hit the showrooms Jan 16, 1948.

I believe the OHV engines went into the trucks the same years that the cars got them.

My manual shows the 337 as the big truck engine thru 51 and then overhead valves after that. It says the F7's were fitted with the OHV 279 and the F8's with the OHV 317. However, the '52 supplement only covers the changes and not the entire line offered. This might be where I went wrong.

I'm sure someone knows, but this is about the limit of my ability to help. It would be nice to see that low-miles flatty used. Watch for restorers. If I bump into anyone looking for one, I'll let you know. Good luck with your project.

 

Service is just as good as a newer engine, although parts would be scarcer. Power? Well my father helped build the NJ Turnpike, NJ Parkway and the Palisades Parkway with a 1952 F-8 dump truck. He regularly hauled 12 tons, until the MV got him for overweight and had to go down to 10 tons. One of the stories he loves to tell is that in my town there is a hill with a 9% grade, one of the steepest in the areas. Going up that hill would cut like 5 miles off getting back the quarry, so he would take it and could pull it empty at over 15mph. He would always beat the other trucks on the job back to the quarry and get loaded first. So he said the other guys (who were driving Macks and Dodges) laid in wait, and followed him to find out how he got back so fast. The followed him once, and could barely make it up the hill, and never tried it again.

 

Are you talking about the truck in your gallery? Those side spears are for the 1951 5 star extra cab. So maybe you do have a '51?

Anyways, so does anyone have a picture of one? I've always wanted to see the difference between these flattys. All I know is the distributer is on the wrong side.

Clayton

 

The primary differences are the water pumps, cam and lifters. The truck used solid lifters 49-51 and the car only in very early 49.

That engine was also used in construction & yard equipment, Ive harvested a few 337's from some real ugly machines.

The 317 was the Lincoln Y block and it grew to the 341 and 368 and ended in 57, optional in the 57 Merc also. It was a very good design and Lincoln was the king of the Mexican Road Race in the early years.
Lots of truckers swapped in the larger Y blocks when the 317 died.

 

I had one of these engines in a 1949 Lincoln. The transmission was a 4-speed hydramatic that Lincoln purchased from GM. I am not certain if the transmission housing was unique to the Lincoln application of there was some adaptation of the bell housing, pilot bearing, flexplate, starter, etc. - I no longer have any of the <a href="http://motorhaven.autoanything.com/">shop manual</a>s. The hydramatic had an extremely low first gear, good for half-way across the intersection before it shifted, which helped get the heavy car moving a bit quicker. Ford's first good automatic tranxmission was introduced in 1953, if I recall right, and it really was, at that time, superior to the competition. On the truck side, these engines were used in F7s also.

Just a note on the transmission, something I learned from a friend who plays with old Buicks: If you find one of these in an old vehicle, try to get the engine running first. Get the engine good and hot, so the transmission fluid also gets thoroughly heated. Then drain the converter and transmission, and refill BEFORE you even think of putting the transmission in gear. The Lincoln I found in a Minnesota junkyard had been there for 20+ years, sporting California black plates but no rust, and I drove it home - but that's another story.

 

I saw a 4sp hydramatic bolted to a Ford bellhousing at a local swap meet. Are those worth anything?

Them are Big dudes.

 

I think they used the Hydramatic thru '54. Then the Turbo-Drive came out in '55 ( same thing as Fordomatic/Mercomatic ).

 

this website shows some specs on the 337 and what it was used for, it also tells about all the other flathead v8s

Flathead Specifications: 337 V8

I would like to find a 337 v8 to put in an old 52 ford, thats a few years down the road.