I have a 1955 F100 and the engine that is in it is a 272 but according to most vin number look ups I cannot find where a 272 was offered in 1955. I recently saw where an original 55 was sold claiming to have an original 272 on Barrett Jackson. I am curious to know if my engine could be original. In my DSO tab there is an asterisks but I cannot figure out what this means.

VIN: F10V5P20585 DSO *

Series F10 F-100 Conventional
Engine Code V V8 239 CID
Production Year 5 1955
Assembly Plant P Twin City, MN
Production Sequence 20585

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

James Eickman's "Ford Y-Block" says that the 272 was offered in 1955

 

Do you know if that includes the f100 or is it referring to cars? The guy I bought it from swears it is the original. Thanks for the response Tedster9.

 

Yes, on page 5 they have a picture of an F100, and the caption says "most likely came with a 272"; one thing with Fords is there aren't any "matching numbers" stuff like brand X. You can do some sleuthing and dating by decoding casting #s and stuff but that's above my pay grade.

 

Surely the "CERT. NET H.P." area on the vin tag would give some clue? i.e. 113.5 for 239 or 167 for 272.

 

My copy of "Ford Trucks since 1905" by James Wagner sez 272 was offered in F100 in 1955 too.

 

Thanks a lot! I was thinking about an engine swap but I think I will reconsider.

 

good grief, are you nuts?

 

I had the same question with my truck and after looking at a bunch of numbers determined it really was a 272

 

DSO is Domestic Special Order. If the truck was ordered specially, either from a dealer or fleet, there would be an invoice number in that space that one could (at one time) cross reference to to know what was special about it, and who ordered it. Those records are long gone, now. Since you have an asterisk in the space, it's safe to say it was not a special order vehicle.

The V code in the VIN would indicate the truck had the 239 engine originally. Engines were routinely swapped out all the time when they needed rebuilt, so anything could be there today. There's lots of old guys today that swear no one's ever touched the truck, but may have had an engine swap early in life, possibly even under warranty, and they don't remember, or maybe never knew if done at the dealer.

My books don't show the 272 being available in '55, but they are early printings and it's possible they became available later in the model year. It would be curious to know what the production code on the rating plate says. Understand that what was available in passenger cars may not always be the same for trucks, and when someone reads the engine was available in1955, that could well mean in cars, but not necessarily trucks. That same type of misunderstanding is routinely published by others and later becomes gospel.

 

Thanks Wayne, I have read where the Canadian builds did have a 272 in 1955 but I was curious with mine now because I saw one go through the auction claiming to be all original. Also, with the 239 only produced for such a short time I could see it being nearly impossible to get some parts. So maybe it's a blessing. I know that there was a fire and almost all documentation was lost with ford, from what I have read. Thanks everyone!

 

I don't believe the 272 was offered in F100s until 1956. But as someone pointed out it is very common to find 292 or 272 short blocks in them from some replacement some time.
I have a '55 F100 with a 292 short block with 239 heads. Who knows when or where this swap happened, but it was pretty common since by the time an engine replacement was needed the 239 was long out of production and there weren't many of them anyway compared to 292s and they will bolt right in.

 

wrong thread .......

 

272 available for Ford cars in 1955, but not available in trucks until 1956.

Pic: Scroll down to engine codes. Do you see the 272 for 1955? No, and I don't either.

This 1948/56 truck catalog final printing occurred in 1964.

 

Welcome to FTE!

Is it possible the serial number you have is incorrect? Or can you post a pic of the location from which you got that number? Is it on a tag on the door?

Everything points to that engine not being available in your truck. Engine swaps have nothing to do with the serial number.

And speaking of pics, we need to see your truck!