Hot Rods Engine Going back into an Old Station Wagon

Whaduya think ?

Oldmics

 

Man,that looks good but what kind of wagon are you stuffing it in? HRP

 

Its a 57 Mercury Commuter - 2 door wagon.

Only one that Bill Stroppe put a M 335 engine into.

Pics coming soon of the finished project.

Oldmics

 

Schwing!!!

 

Hell Yes!

 

OK, OK: So it looks pretty on the OUTSIDE...... What's on the INSIDE?? What bellhousing? What flywheel? What cam/valves/pistons/crank/etc?? Are you going T-85xOD or modern unit(& which one?) (In case you hadn't guessed by now, SOME of us have seen one of these somewhere in the past!)LOL Keep us posted, please. (& thanks for sharing!!)

 

bump!!

 

Love a pretty engine!

 

Great looking classic engine. It will be a treat to all when you pop the hood. TB

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Sweet looking!

 

OK, now you've got my attention! Beautiful motor.

 

Build details WOULD BE NICE, Such as "how close to standard production?"(obviously excludes the manifold & valve covers), or how much of an "export kit" is in this build?"production or"commercial (steel) crank"? : Isky E-2 (or E-3) cam & kit or "std production"? Who "did" the heads? Who(or what shop) built the motor? Are DYNO figures available? All these in addition to my original clutch/trans questions in #7, above. Is this to be a 'driver' or a full-on 'show-car/trailer queen'? Considering the rarity of the vehicle, this last is certainly a 'legitimate' question.

 

I think your doing a hell of a job keep it up.

 

Did you ever get the M335 emblems reproduced ?

 

bump

 

Ok, you got me in on wanting to see where this one goes. What a beautifully detailed engine. Put the right pipes on it and that will be the best sounding vehicle at any rod trot you take it to.

 

I just want the history of the 'build' :especially the motor! ( the overall history WOULD be nice as well......)

 

Here's mine in a 1953 F100

 

Now that's cool, nice job!

 

Beautiful attention to detail, looks almost too nice to start up and get heat discolored lol

Oh and thanks for using the word "engine" instead of motor, pet peeve of mine. One of the first things I learned as an aircraft mechanic is engines are the prime movers. Motors are electric..................

 

John356 : Same question that I've been asking Oldmics : Please, Could you give a rundown of the build as to anything away from "stock"(Yes, the 2X4 manifold was a 'Strope-option, as were the valve covers, & the 'ram-horns are truck) but I'm referring to internal, such as : bore X stroke, pistons(maker/compression ratio),Cam & kit(grinder/specs, if known) Crankshaft(passenger or truck) heads(year/mods),& if std shift: bellhousing/flywheel/trans combo. If you built it yourself: Very Nice Job!! (Interesting coincidence that you & Oldmics seem to happened to choose so close to the same paint color for your builds.)

 

It's a '57 Lincoln .080 over forged Venolia pistons,SP-1-270 Lunati camshaft, cast crank. All machine work, boring, balancing, decked to crank centerline, heads cut, were done by Fleming's Auto Machine near Utica Oh. Brett Barringer of Coshocton Oh. did the assembly of the engine. Most of the parts were obtained from Rick Martin of Darrtown Oh. The auto transmission is a MX unit from a '64 T-bird mated to a '55 Lincoln bell and air cooled converter. It was built by Raco Transmission of Coshocton Oh. Rick Martin is the go-to guy on these engines, and I can't thank him enough for all the help he gave Brett and I

 

THANK YOU FOR THE "RAPID-RESPONSE"!!!! I've had vehicles with variations of these motors for over 50 yrs, & try to stay up with how they are being modified, used, abused, & what people like/dislike about them. I check on "The Y-Block Lincoln" site as well for similar info, as I'm planning a build & am checking for ideas &/or(especially!!) problem areas to watch out for, & that's why I ask all these "nosey" questions. Again, I REALLY, REALLY appreciate your information!! I hope you're really 'enjoying' that "Y-Block": I've always loved mine!

 

Well the whole saga is pretty long and of course weird as is the case in any car that is rare and has been out of circulation.

Info that I have is that Merc commissioned Stroppe to build the 100 NASCAR engines for homologation for the 1957 season, as we all know the factorys pulled there support from racing that year.

Stroppe had installed only 50 of these engines into race vehicles.

When Stroppe asked Mercury what to do with the rest of the engines,the factory honchos said "there yours - do what you want with them!"
Stroppes personal car was a 4 door Montclair with the #1 stamped on the intake and M 335 engine setup.
I owned this #1 car so regardless of what the lore is,I know for a fact that the rest of these engines went into police cars,taxi cabs and government service vehicles including the one station wagon that I own. All bodys in white from the L.A.district

My wagon went to the the US Forest Service in Washington State. I would love to know why Smokey the bear needed all that horsepower?

There are ways to tell a genuine M 335 setup and the easiest way to identify is that these were only installed into vehicles with standard shift T 89 transmissions.The aluminum bell housings were cast by Cragar BUT the units used by Stroppe did not have the Cragar markings on them. Had to look like a Mercury service part.

My engine build is standard 57 NASCAR/Stroppe stuff.
Dual quad with Hollys. Manifold cast by Buddy Barr as per Stroppe specifications.

Truth be known about my engine is the fact that the carbs are not correct (at this time) . I have only one of the correct carbs and looking for the needle in a hay stack second one.
57 T Bird carbs are being used on my engine.

The 368 Mercury engines of that era used cast crankshafts. One of the parts for the homologation was a steel crank.
The steel cranks did eventually become an availiable Mercury parts item. They just were not drilled to accept a pilot bushing which is necessary in the standard shift M 335 engine.

Heavy ass steel flywheel,12 inch clutch covered by the aluminum standard shift bell housing.
Everything else in the engine comes down to a meticulously blueprinted machine .Heads are shaved .060 to raise the compression. All intake and exhaust ports are stock BUT nicely rounded and deburred for flow.Engine needed to be bored.030 to clean it up.

Cam is/was an Isky with .468 lift and is a solid lifter unit. Paid dearly for an N.O.S. one off of eBay.
Properly setup tach drive distributor (not a dual point unit curiously enough).All the rest of the parts for the M 335 setup are original.

All engine work was done by a local expert Ford professional machine shop run by Ken Ellison.
Car came out of storage in Canada where it had not been tagged since 1965.Has 71K original miles on it.
How I found it and acquired it is a story for another time. Let me just say its a bitch to get a non-running car across the border.
Oldmics

 

Oldmics: THANK YOU SIR!! Sorry I 'badgered' you for the info so intently, but am thankful that you finally 'shared' with the rest of us!! As you are no doubt aware, these are extremely underrated & unappreciated , & therefore ignored engines, except to those who have had a chance to work with them, even if only in stock form, often in Lincoln passenger cars. My history with the 368" version was when in school I had a harmonic balancer separate & break the crankshaft. The cheapest available replacement was out of a '56 Lincoln, which, with a new pilot bushing was transplanted into a '53 Lincoln sedan, using the '53 Hydramatic Transmission. The performance improvement was eye-opening, especially for the time(mid '60s), & improved as the dual exhaust was added(As were '54-'57 12"brakes, later radiator, standard steering, but that's another story) After some hard service the motor was rebuilt with high compression pistons, home done 'porting' (opened up the exhaust side to match the manifolds), & larger 4bbl carb, & eventually a Vertex Mag. This was now a good 'road-car' that cruised comfortably at 80+ all night on cross-country trips, & got 15+MPG while doing so(Remember; 100 octane was only 34.9/gal). Besides, who ever paid attention to a large dark sedan going br reasonably quietly in the night? Times change : families grow : needs change : the car 'went away'. So now I do the research, gather the 'right' parts & information, & prepare to recreate what I remember... My retirement project! So ,Again I Thank You Sir, for your information!!...

 

Oldmics...How can you tell what carbs are correct, mine are marked ..ECZ- AC list 1272-1 date 731. The other ECZ -V list 1273-1, no date code.I bought the whole set-up from a man in Detroit,he got them at the Jerry Capizzi auction.

 

bump

 

John

Your carbs (like mine) are also from a 57 T Bird.

One for an automatic trans and one for a standard shift tranny.

I would prefer to not divulge the numbers for fear of rising prices but will tell you that the proper carbs sport the standard Mercury prefix.

I have not done anything on the emblems.

Oldmics

 

Thanks you for the info. I'm still looking for a water by-pass tube, Weatherhead brass fittings to make up rubber fuel lines and a correct fuel pump. I know none of these parts are important since the engine is not a real M335,and it's in F100,but I would like to have as many of the right parts as possible in case I have to break it up to get the truck sold.