I'm looking at a 36 coupe. The add says "The block is a 1946 "F". It looks like a 59AB, but it has a factory 4 inch stroke and 3 5/16 inch bore. This is not the Mercury crank, but a ford factory crank......very hard to find. Not only that, the block was factory ported." He also calls it a 46 59L block I have no idea if this is accrate or what. Does anyone know anything about these engines? Also, how could you identify one?
Since Mercury did NOT make a 4 in crank(at least my experiences for the past 50 years) until 1949 and NEVER had a bore bigger than 3 3/16 all thru the years ending in 1953, I would venture to say that "nothing is factory with this engine". It really doesn't matter whether it is factory or not,the fact of the matter is you have a 276 cubic inch motor that is probably35-50 percent more powerful than a stocker.More mods such as slightly larger valves,stronger camshaft,and opening up the ports should add even more power and should have probably upwards of 150-175 h.p. Around 200 h.p. Can be attained,but it usually takes more expense and expertise to attain these figures.
I will side with FlatheadJohn47 on this one. In 69 years of existence, the chances that the '46 block in the add has not been bored and stroked to a very common 3 5/16 x 4 by somebody along the line is quite unlikely. There would have to be some very specific paper work from Ford, and possibly signed by Henry himself before I am able to even begin to believe that it is a factory spec motor. Most likely the author of the add is either clueless or trying to sell some dolt a whopper. Good Luck.
Interesting, conversation here! I have a block that was used on a wind machine ( a tower 32 ft in the air with flatheads , 6 and V8's on top with the old P-38 airplane props that moved the warmer air ( inversion) to protect ag crops from freezing ). The block is of 59ab casting but has the up-right 8 ba distributor and is FACTORY relieved. Never thought to check stroke and bore. That's the interesting part? Had two of these motors but a really smart engine builder Decked one so they would be the same height. Will check bore and stoke soon.
Factory relieved blocks of that vintage are not uncommon. Anyone can change the distributor. Are you saying the machinist decked the block to eliminate the relief?
Don't remember the span of years but there were factory relieved blocks. Primarily truck motors I believe.
Factory relieved blocks were fairly common, but the OP said nothing about factory relieving. He mentioned "factory porting", one could make a strong argument that any engine with a functioning intake or exhaust port that leaves the factory was "factory ported", irregardless of how well the said port functions.
Factory relieved would be real obvious. Factory porting??? could you see that with the naked eye? AI had a '46 truck engine in my'32 pickup.It had Z designation cast with the 59 on the bell housing. It was factory relieved. I kinda think that the op may mean relieved rather than ported. that would be the one thing factory about the engine.
The BS is the Ford 4" crank and the factory 3-5/16" bore. Plenty of factory reliefs and some ports did have a little cleanup at the top from the factory.
Also...the '46-Fordness of the crank can be dismissed at a glance, unless this really is a miracle find: The Merc crank will have TWO oil holes per crank throw, one made for the early engine would always have ONE.
A few years ago a farmer gave me a running flathead. Smoked a little but ran great. Dropped it in a '29 roadster and left it at that. A couple years later it was using quite a bit of oil so I tore it down to find a busted piston. First thing I noticed was the fact that someone had relieved the block. This didn't make sense 'cause it came out of a stock '46 two door. As the gunk was removed I noticed that the number on the block was 59 L. I knew nothing about these engines and was told that it came from the factory that way. I thought that I had something special, but I guess not.
Any block with a letter besides an A or B after the 59 is special. There are L, X, Y, Z and probably others. Just how special remains to be seen after investigation. Might have factory relief, thicker walls, more nickel in the iron, or all of the above, or none of the above. There are no records from Ford that lay out all the specifications.
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