Quote:
Originally Posted by Colin S
I have recently bought an NOS 21 stud engine that maybe wartime production. The bell housing has the numbers 5 43 cast in(May 1943 ?)and it is numbered as 18F-7073499. The style of the block is that of the Pilot with freeze plugs in the rear of each bank. It is painted Canadian grey but I feel that it is of British origin. It has dual pulleys and a throttle linkage for a semi forward control (COE) Ford 7V truck that was made pre-war, during the war and for a time afterwards. In the 1950's and even into the late 1960's these new war surplus engine were sold in their crates for a little £25.
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That "18F-7073499" number is interesting. You figure that "5 43" as possibly being a May 1943 casting date, and you might just be correct, because the last 1942 Ford (remember that '42 CIVILIAN production ended early) had a serial of "18-6925898", about 147,600 numbers earlier. It's certainly conceivable that Ford could have produced thousands of military vehicles, as well as military spares in that roughly one-year period. What's interesting is that a 21-stud would have a serial # that high, plus the fact that the "F" after the 18 in a Ford serial number was usually reserved to indicate a RIGHT-hand-steering vehicle.
And speaking of serial numbers, Ford of that era normally stamped that number into the blank pad at upper, front of transmission bell...NOT ON the engine itself. If that engine of yours had no transmission attached, WHERE on the engine did they stamp that serial number? DD