1945-48 59 series
Ford was early out of the gate officially getting back in production in July of 1945, but it was more of a stunt than real volume production. Along with the rest of the USA auto manufacturers Ford slowly worked through the supply and manufacturing problems of converting back from war production and increased civilian vehicle volumes to meet the post war demand for automobiles. The new Fords and Mercuries looked an awful lot like the 1942 models, but at least they were new cars. The engines were updated a bit too, with the change exciting for Ford and disappointing for Mercury. Both the Fords and Mercuries now used the same 239 cubic inch 100 horsepower engines. This gave the Ford V8s a solid horsepower lead over the Ford 6s, but also resulted in the Mercury having no performance advantage and basically being a longer wheelbase Ford with an upgraded interior and different trim. Before WW2 the Mercuries had enjoyed a power advantage over the Fords, but that was gone until 1949.
The 59 engine changes from the pre-war units include a return to the flat intake deck, round water holes in both the center and lower center of the cylinder deck, a sloped front of the engine between the intake surface and the timing cover area so the blocks will no longer pass the “pencil test”, and unless someone has ground it off a large 59 cast on top of the bell housing. The valve angle was also changed for post-war blocks, with the valves moved approximately 0.090” further from the bore to allow more cooling water around the valve seats.
The 59 series engines got that identification since they started in 194
5 and displaced 23
9 cubic inches.
Features of the 59 engines:
- 24 studs retaining the cylinder heads
- Water pumps in the block
- The water drains are angled
- Fails the pencil test
- No core plugs in the oil pan rails
- Smoother block sides without raised looking exhaust ports
- Crankcase ventilation
- Insert main bearings 2.499” diameter retained by studs
- Round center water hole in the deck
- Round water hole in the lower center of the deck
- 59 cast on the bell housing
You can see the return to the flat intake surface and the round water holes in the center of the cylinder deck in this picture.
The sloped front of the block between the intake surface and the timing cover are shown here.
Here is the 59 mark. This isn’t a guarantee of a 59 series motor, more on that in the next section.
