1949 F4 V8 to Mercedes diesel build thread
 

I've been lurking here for a while so, I thought I would join in. I am a self employed Machine Shop owner/operator in north central Arkansas. I have been working on a '49 F4 build for a while to eventually use as my shop truck. My truck was a grain truck from Kansas with about 64000 miles on the odometer. The flathead v8 was seized from water in one cylinder. My original plan was to build a Mercury flathead to replace it but, I've changed course. I installed a '84 Mercedes 300 turbo diesel in its place. I have it mated to the original 4-speed. I've also installed a 3-speed brownie for the overdrive. I hope to get it on the road sometime this winter.
Mark

Let me be the first to welcome you to the forum. Glad to see another F4 being put back on the road. That Mercedes diesel and overdrive transmission should make a nice road friendly package.
Edit: And of course, you know about the widow makers.

How is that Mercedes diesel for power? Which diesel is it? Welcome to the forums.

Brad

Thanks for the welcome. I did buy a set of 19.5" wheels from a local salvage yard. I did have some pre '48 20" split rims I could have used but, I wanted to run radial tires.
Mark

Add my welcome. Glad to have you, and glad to have another big model saved. Stu

Brad, The engine I'm using is a 3.0 liter 5 cylinder turbo diesel. If I remember correctly it has 125HP and about 225ft lbs of torque. It is real similar to the '53 mercury v8 for power but at a higher rpm. I hope it will run good in the truck, it ran real strong in the car I took it out of. The Mercedes car weighs about as much as the truck.
Thanks for the welcome, Mark

Welcome! I admire your mechanical skills. Good luck with the build.

Welcome! Can you post pictures? I'd like to see your aux box installation. Which transmission do you have (Spicer, Watson, other...)? I'm curious about your five cylinder diesel installation too.

Welcome and I too am glad to hear of another F4 being saved and put to good use. As has been already said, we really like pictures!

Welcome to FTE. The larger trucks have a great appeal. Those of you that restore them have a lot of respect in my book.

mechmagcn is also from Arkansas and he has a Mercedes diesel in his truck and took it all over the country. His is a little F100 though.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1151782-how-far.html

Pictures, we love pictures!

Welcome to FTE :-wink from California!

We really want to see some pics of your diesel / brownie / original 4 speed.

Is that a crash box tranny or a synchro? Really interested to see the mating of the diesel to that tranny.

I see lots of F4 owners have already said hello.

Welcome to the best forum in the world for these old trucks! I'm in northeast Arkansas, glad to see another Arkansan on here.

Subscribing in hopes to see some pic's. That sounds a lot like the engine Jeff used in his F1.

Thank you for all the replies and hearty welcomes. I will try to post a few photos.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b55ee60385.jpg
This is the engine adapted to the truck 4-speed. I used a stamped steel bellhousing for an H flathead 6 so I could cut and modify it. I machined an adapter for the crankshaft to use a 460 neutral balance flywheel. The starter is an FE series starter. I rotated the bellhousing slightly to raise the starter to the Mercedes starter position. The pan is too wide for it to be any lower.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6da2679b26.jpg
Here is a view of the engine setting in the truck.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...cc0d795362.jpg
This is the crossmember for the Mercedes motor mounts.
Once I get everything connected the way I want it, I will pull the engine back out and clean it up and replace some of the gaskets and seals. I will also send the Mercedes flywheel and the Ford flywheels off and have them match balanced.
Thanks for looking, Mark

To answer a few questions. My auxiliary transmission is a Spicer 5531. I don't have any photos of the mounts for it , I will see if I can take some. I added another transmission crossmember and mount, from another truck frame I had, for the front mount on the Brownie. I made crossmember , that uses the front motor mounts for a flathead, for the rear of the transmission.
I am replacing the original T9 Warner 4-speed with a T98. I don't mind double clutching but as I get older my knee is acting up some so I thought it would be happier.
Thanks, Mark