Mercury EAC engine

[Island A's]

Hi Guys (this is my first post here on the Barn)

I have an opportunity to buy a 255 Mercury EAC.
It comes with the truck 3 speed column shift gear box.
It spins freely, looks solid, Good Oil, ran fine when they took it out...(this is how it came out of the truck.)

Distributor on the side..Rear Oil Pump..Low Compression?

Any other pitfalls compared to installing it like a 59A in a 32 or Model A frame?

Is it a desirable engine?...$?..(you can omit these two questions if you like)

Any info appreciated!

Thanks Guys
Tommy

[Mike in AZ]

welcome to the 'Barn.....should have the 4" crank....what is low compression??....all cylinders??...run a hot wire to the distributor and start it??....Mike

[louisb]

The cranks in those go or $250-$300 depending on condition. (assuming it has the 4 incher in it) Unless you can hear it run I wouldn't pay much more than that for it. Until you can have the block checked I would look at it as a parts engine.

--louis

[texas webb]

A find like that in Hawaii,amazing.

[rotorwrench]

It may be a Ford 239 with Mercury heads too. I'd get a guarantee that it has a 4" Mercury crank before purchase.

The 8BA family of engines can be used in pretty much any Ford that was designed for a V8 and can be modified to work in some of the real early 4-banger cars with a bit of ingenuity. A very tight fit in a model A but it has been done. The 59A or earlier is a bit easier to get into a model A but a 32 has the extra space and isn't as much of a problem.

[Karl Wolf]

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Where I am, a standard 4" crank can go for $400-500... You will want to be sure that is the crank that is in it. If you pull the pan, look for 5/8" core plugs in the crank throws- most of the 4" -not all- have them... If there's 3/8" plugs in the crank throws, it's a 3 3/4" crank and not worth much.
The blocks crack fairly often, so I would not want to pay a lot for that without a guarantee... Even then, watch out.
Before you invest a lot, magnaflux the combustion areas and pressure test the block.
If you can hook up a radiator and bench run it for 30 minutes or so and KNOW it was good, it would be a lot better than "it ran when I parked it".
Karl

[Binx]

Karl has good advice. You MUST verify the crank stroke by pulling the oil pan or a head. If the owner won’t agree then walk away. The photos show an early 8RT (truck) Ford oil pan. A Merc oil pan would fit in a truck so it seems someone went to the trouble of changing the oil pan and pickup tube from Merc to Ford....or did they? Call me dubious but I have a feeling this is a Ford motor with Merc heads.
Lonnie

[40cpe]

The Mercury green color looks original and adds credibility to the Mercury story.

[uncle max]

Looking at the pictures, and from you've said, I'd bet that someone put a Merc passenger car motor in the truck and used the old truck oil pan and water pumps.

[Ol' Ron]

If it is what he says it is, it's a great find. You can use everything in the engine for an inexpensive street engine. Only down fall maybe n hardened exhaust seats. However It has wide belt water pumps and that was used in -9 Mercs,

[Mike B]

He could just pull a plug and use a dowel to measure the stroke.

[Fe26]

Originally Posted by Mike B

He could just pull a plug and use a dowel to measure the stroke.

L shaped dowel?

[Mike51Merc]

Originally Posted by Fe26

L shaped dowel?

Or one of those flexible dowels?

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by Fe26

L shaped dowel?

Ya know, I just flipped over a head in the shop, sure enough the plug is above the valves...had in my mind they were over the bore.

Might make it a bit tough, eh/