Well after the post about the VIN numbers, the VIN on my Title starts with 799C, which according to the the research should have a V8, but my 47 truck has a 6 cyl. How common was it to swap from a V8 to a 6 cyl. ? Any problems that I should be looking for?

Thanks

Brad

 

Over 60 years, many things could have happened...old farmer Bill, may have been short on bucks when the flatty bit the dust and put in what was available...normallly, not to many V8 cars or trucks are converted to a 6...just my experience.

Other thing is, the serial number thing is not science, you may very well have something that came with a 6 in it...all the refernces I came across here and there say Ford was not 100% consistant with numbering.

But what is it you want to do? I/e, make a driver, or restore to original?

 

Mike Thanks for the Reply, My plans for the truck are to make a driver out of it... just try'n to figure out what I have so I can order any needed parts that sorta thing. Took me awhile just to figure out that it had a Rochester Carb instead of a Holley. This is my first project of this nature and I'm try'n to suck up any knowledge I can. I have noticed that finding info on a 6cyl. is next to impossible.

Thanks
Brad

 

If you will notice that under the hood the radiator mount where it mounts to the core crossmember has two positions, one a little more forward than the other, and the inner fender panels also have two mounting positions where it bolts to the radiator mount. The 6 cyl is a little longer than the V8 so everything is mounted a little farther forward. Also the hood latch cover between the grill and radiator is a little smaller to allow for this. So to change from a V8 to 6 would involve several changes. My guess is like Mike said, probably a factory mix up. Parts for a 6 may be hard to find, however a lot of folks have managed to restore them to running condition. It may be easer to find an 8 to replace it. Are you planning to tear it all down and start from scratch?

 

I think Ford had 3 Flat I6 motors, the "G", "H" and "M". I think you will find these letters as one of the first couple of numbers cast on the block/head. The "G" would be original to a '47 truck. The "H" would be seen in '48 and newer smaller trucks (the "M" would be in '48 and newer large trucks -- like the F6). Check the casting number to see if you have the "G" before you decide if it is original.

http://www.vanpeltsales.com/FH_web/flathead_six-cyl.htm

If you choose the V8 option you may need a tranny also. The original "G" motors had a tranny that did not bolt to the V8s. Like the newer V8 though the I6 used a stamped bell between the engine and the older truck trannys. The "H" series did have the correct bell to mate to the V8 tranny though. But if swapping did occur, the "H" bell could have been put on a "G" motor, to mate it to a V8 tranny, or a "G" bell to an "H" motor to hook up an I6 tranny. My guess though is that if a swap occured you would likely have an "H" motor, hooked up to the original V8 tranny.

Check the VIN on the top of the tranny also (Duh) it should match the VIN on the Title/Frame.

 

Sorry, the Duh was for me -- I wrote all that then thought of the tranny VIN, but after looking at it again I thought that it looked more like I implied that you might not know about that tranny VIN -- again sorry for that.

 

Again Thanks Guys, The truck runs now... I bought it Feb. of this year and drove it home. It had sat in driveway for 15years with maybe 150 miles put on it in that time and before that was used as a daily driver. My plan is to eventually rebuild the engine...when I have the time. I'm trying to do little things to get it back on the road, rebuilt the fuel pump...getting the carb fixed. Next step is getting the wiring straight'n out and then the poor man's insurance, rebuilding the brake system. I drove it last weekend..maybe 10miles.... I needed to move it to my new house..... I've looked at the head and the drivers side of the block for any stamps and can't seem to find any....I'll have to look at the tranny and see what is there and look harder...

Brad

 

Personally I have only seen the "H" motor (I was looking to get the tranny from it so I didn't look too much at the motor itself. I cannot verify the locations of any engine castings on the "G" motor. I just want to clearify myself though. The head on the "H" motor has a model number cast into it. The serial number was not stamped into the engine block. I pulled up an old page that I found to help me identify the "H" when I was going to look at the tranny (I have a V8 so I could use the tranny from the "H" but not the "G")

http://www.48f-1.com/flathead_page.htm

About 1/2 way down the page he has a pict of the casting number on a head 7HA6050 where the second digit indicates the "H" series motor. I think the "G" was similarly marked.

The VIN should be stamped on the top of the bell part of the transmission though, you have to remove the floor inspection plate to see it.

If your truck originally had a V8 and a "G" motor was put in, they likely had to replace the tranny to the I6 tranny. In that case the tranny Vin will not match and will indicate the I6 code. If you have an "H" motor it is not original and is likely mated to what should be the original V8 tranny so the tranny VIN will match the frame VIN. If you have the "G" motor and the tranny VIN matches the frame VIN, it is likely that Ford messed up the VIN stamping. Of course you can come up with other combinations of possibilities, but I would think those are the 3 most likely since the others would require combinations of the 3 motors trannys and bells.

Did Ford ever mess up the VIN stamps, well my first post to the forum was last summer after I bought my first '46. My tranny and frame stamps indicated that my truck was a tonner. None of the measurements matched the tonner though, the great people on this forum helped me to identify my truck as a 1/2 ton in every way except the VIN. Keep reading, you will find lots of great info here and lots of great people.

 

i have a flat head V8 and 3 speed top loader shifter and tranny for sale, has 525 miles on it,but its not cheap.

 

Heck,

I'll bite, how cheap is cheap?

 

well i'll take 5000.00 for all

 

Yes sir...you are correct, not cheap at all