What do i have

[VIP4GARLAND]

I have a 1951 Mercury that seems to be Canadian made. I am trying to identify the engine. Normally 2 letters and 2 numbers but mine has 3 letters....it is a DDE51... What do I have....please help

[rotorwrench]

Where was the number DDE51 located on the engine? Normally the Canadian engines in this time frame are a lot like the US made variants only they use a C in the part number or they have "Made in Canada" in the castings. There was also the Ford Monarch which is a Mercury in disguise.

[DD931]

A DDE is a Destroyer Escort!! LOL

[rotorwrench]

C8BA or C1BA depending on date of manufacture. That is just for the block. The 8BA family of engines all use the same block. A person has to dig deeper to see if it has a 4 inch stroke crankshaft. All the numbers on the outside won't tell you what's inside after 65 plus years.

[51 MERC-CT]

Hard to figure just where you are getting these identifiers off the engine.
If there is a 'DE' in the vin. number then the car was assembled in Dearborn MI.
example; 51DE-XXXXXXX

And then is it a Monarch or a Mercury pickup?

[VIP4GARLAND]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

it was located between the intake and the head on the right rear of the block facing up

[51 MERC-CT]

Originally Posted by VIP4GARLAND

it was located between the intake and the head on the right rear of the block facing up

This is the US date code that yours may or may not be. If it's Canadian it may be a different code. It will just give the date of engine manufacture which could be as early as 1950.

[rotorwrench]

It seems like there is a casting prefix (raised letter/number in casting) in the valve chamber under the intake. The 1BA types had it in there to designate the change to the rotator valves in mid 1951. I don't know about the Canadian ones though.