Is this really true
 

Found this on a Craigslist ad, I can't verify this info using the Early Ford V8 book, is this guy pulling my leg.


The block is a 1946 "F". It looks like a 59AB, but it has a factory 4 inch stroke. This is not the Mercury crank, but a ford factory crank......very hard to find. Not only that, the block was factory ported.

http://bismarck.craigslist.org/cto/4942307754.html

Re: Is this really true
 

Pulling your leg, I think

Re: Is this really true
 

While the car looks to be worth the asking price, the info on the engine is very suspect. Probably the engine was rebuilt by someone who did the porting work on it and changed to a merc crank (if indeed it has a 4" crank and was ported). I would ask the current owner where he got his info regarding the engine. Did he see it apart?

Re: Is this really true
 

Maybe that's the engine Ford has been looking for in the last 70 years...you know the story, its a factory experimental and was never supposed to be sold, it has a carburetor that gets 100mpg and the oil industry and automakers don't want the public to know because it would kill profits, etc etc

Making a one-off engine with a 4" crank and spending the time to at the factory to port the engine just doesn't jive with assembly line production methods used in the 40's.

Is he claiming it was something done for the war effort?
Mac Van Pelt might know something if anything is available on it.

Re: Is this really true
 

He may be referring to factor relived. There are a lot of factor relived blocks, but don't thing I have heard of the factor ported block.

Re: Is this really true
 

Is it a French Flathead?

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Yessir, the fabled F motor, handbuilt in the toolmaking department especially for Harry Bennett's fleet of speed cars that shuttled Henry to his mistresses' houses and transported union organizers to their free company sponsored diving lessons in Lake Huron...
They were all supposed to have been destroyed at Henry's death...obviously one survived!
Must be worth millions! Of something!

Re: Is this really true
 

Very possible that it indeed may be a factory Ford crank that was stroked but not by the factory.

Re: Is this really true
 

My roadster has an F block & I thought it might be a 4" stroke but have not pulled the heads to verify. Sure does have some rough casting heads. It also came from the midwest. Revs up pretty quick also. My thought is if it ain't broke don't break it. so I ain't pulling a head to find out. Some where someone suggested an F block was a foreign import ,like Argentina.

Re: Is this really true
 

Argentine cars were built from USA parts...there was no factory, just assembly in flathead days. I think in 1934 flathead engines were built only at Rouge plant and in Canada, which between then supplied all assembly plants everywhere.
Before the Merc 4" crank was released in '49, strokers were scarce and expensive.
'39-48 Merc cranks could be offset ground to Ford rod size for a pitiful 1/8" increase, or given a shaky larger larger increase with welding or metal spraying. Risky and expensive. Some entirely special cranks were made, off the financial map for most humans.

Re: Is this really true
 

Isn't a merc 4" crank still a ford crank? It's not a Chevy crank anyway. No pictures of the famous engine in the add? Strange...

It'd be interesting to check out anyway. Grill looks repop too. Maybe not.

Bob curiously for the price of a gasket would have me pulling that head...:)

Re: Is this really true
 

Bruce Lancaster is right. That was the same group that produced the "factory" McCullogh blown F1 that they were hawking a few years ago. Guy selling it swore up and down that it came from the factory that way.

Re: Is this really true
 

...the price of a gasket would have me pulling that head...
You'd need to pull the pan and a rod cap for meaningful search of the almost certainly false claim...he seems to be calling it an early engine with something predating the '49 merc!
It would have to be an unaltered crank in early style, one hole per throw and no cleanouts, to be anything unusual. If it has a merc crank, it is simply a normal hop-up performed after 1949, not what he seems to be claiming. I'm not saying Ford didn't do undocumented private tests of unusual experiments, but if one turns up...it needs more than unexplained mystery codes and a unique crank that so far only exists in unsupported verbiage...

Re: Is this really true
 

Hey it's the Internet it must be true.

Re: Is this really true
 

Tinker:
My thought is if it ain't broke don't break it. so I ain't pulling a head to find out.
Runs good & that's good enough for me.
Bruce:
So what does the l* 3152*
l8F
stand for? the two vertical (l) indicate the front of the block & the 8F is underneath the numbers.
8F
S**** I tried to line up the 8F under the numbers but it keeps going to the beginning of the next line.

Re: Is this really true
 

I'm not nowhere a FH expert, tis why I come here to the barn...but, makes me think hard and long on the ad's description, the ad owner has done "30 FLATHEADS", or had 30...regardless. then mentions an obcsure engine, no one..even Bruce, has heard of...then goe's on to say rust free, etc...

Yes, nice looking car, but is it?

Re: Is this really true
 

If the guy has done more than 30 flatheads, he ought to be a member here (or is he?).

Re: Is this really true
 

Bottom line; IMHO it appears to be a reasonable price if the car is as nice as the pics present and he claims (always inspect before you buy). The "fluff" about the engine could be what he was told and is passing it along as gospel. If I was a potential buyer; I'd probably be making a trip to Rapid City to check it out personally.

Re: Is this really true
 

Have to be careful there, he didn't say it was rust free
he said "It has no rust through anywhere"

Bob

Re: Is this really true
 

Those numbers are way too low to be serials and aren't right for Ford engine part numbers or models...as a flying guess, they may be an engine number stamped on by a rebuilder to identify the engine as one he did.
The thing looks like a neat car with a running flathead...that's plenty good enough. The top secret unknown goodies, though...

Re: Is this really true
 

Caveat Emptor...;)

Re: Is this really true
 

And not one picture of the 'mythical' engine.

Re: Is this really true
 

I sent the guy a message asking for the engine # as mine is also stamped with an F. This the reply:
I can supply the numbers. It is definitely not foreign, it was installed by a flathead expert in sturgis sd names bob tobin. He would be happy to talk to you about it if you're a serious buyer I can get you the contact information.
Take it for what it is worth.

Re: Is this really true
 

Interesting that someone who can build a motor, had someone else install it?

From the ad:

so I found what many flathead guys search for now, and seldom find. The block is a 1946 "F". It looks like a 59AB, but it has a factory 4 inch stroke. This is not the Mercury crank, but a ford factory crank......very hard to find. Not only that, the block was factory ported. I put in a 3/4 race cam and adjustable lifters

Well, my feeling is if you have the ability to build an engine, why would you have someone else install it? I mean installing the engine is the easy part;)

I dunno, I see some very respected members here kinda going..."huh?", on the engine...makes me concerned (If I was a buyer), about the car's shape.

But, what the heck...it's probably priced right, regardless of the fluff.

Re: Is this really true
 

He could have easily meant he HAD THE ENGINE BUILDER put in a 3/4 race cam and adjustable lifters....just semantics. ForSale ads are not well known for being grammatically correct.

As for me, when I talk about my cars if I say "I put in a 289 engine.." it means I did it, me..myself..and I only. If I say "I built the engine"...that means I fit the bearings, filed the rings, dropped in the crank, cam, pistons, heads, torqued everything, etc.

But some people say "I did it" and mean "I paid the bills"

Re: Is this really true
 

There's a great Museum around here that has neat foriegn ww2 stuff. Chech, Russian, European stuff. The top of the fenders are glass smooth but if ya look under the wheel.. Well. Still really cool stuff you aren't going to see anywhere else.

It's obvious from the beginning this add is a bit over the top of unicorn mountain. Ha ha.

Re: Is this really true
 

I get ya Scott...like you I I differentiate...

i/e... "I had the wheel cylinders rebuilt and new lines run"...Vs..." I rebuilt the wheel cylinders and ran new lines".

Re: Is this really true
 

Some years back there was an article in a mag about a 36 coupe looking much like that one, shiny paint, no ripples or dings, appeared very nice. However, on very close underneath inspection it was found to have a completely rusted out frame, amongst other things. Caveat Emptor indeed!

Re: Is this really true
 

Re: Is this really true
 

Got this in the mail box today if anybody is interested.
I apologize for my not so expedited reply. I spoke with my dad (Larry Hoffman) and got the phone number of Bob Tobin. He is the local flathead expert that my dad has been friends with for years. He installed this motor and did some work to it in the process. He would be able to provide the information you are seeking.

His number is 605-720-6053

Re: Is this really true
 

How do we know that the "ticking" engine block has been fixed? :eek:

Bob

Re: Is this really true
 

It would be interesting to find out what the builder put in, what an F block is, etc.