Bought Flathead drivetrain...good deal?

I just bought a 8ba flathead motor, a 3 speed overdrive tranny, and a banjo rearend with the open drive shaft adapter...

the motor came out of a running 36 ford coupe and when they took it out of the car they taped up the carb and all the other holes (fuel pump, water necks, etc), they took too good of care of it to be a bad motor.

the tranny is where I hvae the question...can anyone id the tranny for me?

Just really wondering if I got a good deal on this set up?

 

another pic

 

In order for your transaction to be judged for the "good deal" award, we need to know the financial $$$ end of it.

 

$700 Sorry I guess I should of put that...

 

I'm dealing on a similar engine for 500 (just the engine and clutch, no trans) so I don't think that is all that bad of a deal if it runs good.

 

I m really wondering if someone can id the tranny? Or how can I id it?

 

Side shift tranny and OD appear to be out of a '49 or '50 Merc or truck. They had the large housing on the front of the tranny casting. Look for a number starting with R-10 on the OD housing casting.

Now if someone put the 8BA heads (higher compression) on a Merc motor it may have the sought after Merc crank in it.

What you paid is prolly just worth it for the tranny & OD alone. Hopefully you have a crack free motor as well. Let us know after you open it up.

Jim

 

Trans looks like 49 thur 53 o/d for a car, the rear end has been converted to open
drive line or came out of the same era pick up.
If the engine works out(hoping that it had real anti freeze in it when pulled) and
not cracked. you got a good deal!

 

How can I id the motor? Do I just need to check the crank?

 

Good deal by So Cal Standards

 

I recently sold my '40 Merc , it went to so-cal. A kid from the shop customizing it emailed me about the engine that was a good runner & had receipts from being overhauled in the '80's. I doubt that it had many miles on it. The new owner wanted a "600" hp motor.?? Wish I was closer & would have kept it for my '29 rdstr p/u. Kid got it for $500

 

Great deal by Nor Cal standards. I have seen Flathead heads alone selling for that much, up here.

 

I also noticed that the exhaust manifolds have Los Angelas California stamped on them, and I ve never seen that before...anyone know anything about that?

 

<TABLE class=tborder cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=6 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=tcat> Preview </TD></TR><TR><TD class=alt1><!-- icon and title --> Re: Bought Flathead drivetrain...good deal?
<HR style="COLOR: #e5e5e5; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #e5e5e5" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title -->The '49-'53 Ford ('48 truck) and Mercury blocks are the same, there is no external "code" for Ford or Merc, so measuring the stroke is the only sure way of internal ID, as heads, intakes, water pumps and oil pans are all interchangable, and have been switched over the years on many/most engines found today.
The trans is '49-'50 Mercury-only, as trucks did not have OD until at least '53, and then it was a B/W similar to pass cars.
The rear is '42-'47 Ford pickup.
If the block is free of any major cracks, and the tranny and rear are decent, you got a real good deal.
Bob </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

ok so I have a '49-'50 merc tranny...and I have to measure the stroke to id the motor? What am I looking for?

And how do you id the rearedn as a '42-'47 ford pickup?

 

You can pull the pan and check the crank front counterweight around 6" across for a Merc, less for a Ford. Oil plugs are generally 5/8" on Merc smaller on Fords but ths may not always be the case.

If it will turn over with a socket on the crank bolt. You may be good. Pull a head and measure stroke of one of the pistons. 4" = Merc, 3-1/4" = Ford.
See the attached thread for more suggestions on how to proceed:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=436400

Jim

 

pull a head and see if it has 3 3/4" stroke or 4" stroke, measuring the piston in the bottom of the hole then the top.

4" stroke will be merc, 3 3/4 is ford.

 

Thanks I will do that ASAP and let everyone know....

 

I added to my previous post!!

Jim

 

You really have to pull the heads to check the block, valves, etc., and then you can measure the stroke-3 3/4" Ford or 4" Merc.
Ford pickup truck kept the old banjo but went to open drive and parrellel springs from '42-'47, then changed to the Dana-style rear in the new '48 models, similar to the '49 and later Linclon, Mercury, and Ford station wagon/sedan deliverys.
Bob

 

Why take it apart? Just waste 30 bucks on a gasket. Start it & run it first.
I have a trans like that, merc though because of the color & stamped steel bellhousing.
Good thing it is Ford because the stamped bellhousing used a smaller (10") clutch There are a bunch of controls that go with them, to downshift when rev's get too low I assume but when I go through mine I plan to have it a manual shift somehow.
Postwar trucks were open drive, you may end up with 4:11 or 4:56 ratio as some trucks had, then overdrive will be wanted. If lucky it will have 3:78 It's an okay deal, I paid 400 for a tired running 37 motor because I didn't have anything that would turn. I have freebies I un-froze and are running now. It's always a crap shoot. If it starts, build a test stand, rig a radiator ( need one anyway) & run it a long time

 

He forgot to mention this whole set-up was in a 36 Ford car that a friend of ours bought, I have no doubt it is a good running engine.
The 36 owner bought the car to streetrod, didnt want the drivetrain...... going with 350/350 combo lol....... ChuckIII is also going back for the frame, front axle, steering column, box etc but he has to give almost $75.00 for all that =)

 

OD ford trannys are really worth that much? I saw one in a junkyard the other day, I knew they are worth a few bucks, but really that much?

 

This is said to be a Merc transmission, not Ford. Big difference. The Ford could handle a flathead. The Merc could handle a 406 at the drags in the early sixties. That's what Ford ran in the 390hipo and 406 before they developed a four speed.

The OD on this one is a big plus on top of that. Their only down side is first gear wasn't syncromeshed.

 

I like this plan...I probably run it know and figure the rest out later...

 

O yea I forgot about that...

 

The first year for the better steering was '37, if you check out the drawings on macVP's site. The '37 the pitman has a worm gear on needle bearings, turned smoother & easier than the earlier bellcrank gear type. That doesn't mean it won't still work fine, it did back then, just not as desireable a piece. Frame's a good score, even though someone probably hacked the center to do this trans. If someone went this far with the driveline swap you probably are getting juice brakes also, wide 5 or 5 1/2" wheels?
Problem with setting flatheads is the valves/seats rust. I have gotten free'd up motors running great for a time but eventually run crappy. The valves got rusty and pitted, had to grind until pits were gone & lap them , adjust clearance. Another good reason to start it for a short time. Being taped up is good and no mice living inside, insulation in the water jacket sucks. Also stuff an oily rag in the exhaust holes. Nice parts you got there.

 

worst advice in this thread in my experience. I did the exact same thing as the original poster did about 14 years ago. A guy bought a project 46 that he was going to street rod. didn't want the 8ba or any drivetrain components that were with it. Everything on the car was in MINT condition. took it all home for $500. pulled the plugs and saw pretty shiny valves. SCORE! brand new engine! lets fire it off on the stand! naaaahhhh lets look it over first. pulled the pan to find a HUGE rats nest in the oil pan. CRAP! so we tear the motor down to clean it all up and reassemble. pull the oil pump and find the shaft is sheared off. even if it hadn't had a rats nest it still would have destroyed the motor. put an aftermarket cam heads and intake on it and have been running that motor ever since. it's ALWAYS worth the price of a gasket set to see what you have in the motor. pull the heads, intake and pan at min. before you fire it off. Even with most of the holes covered, you have no idea when they were plugged. the 283 in my 32 project sat in a friends container for a decade uncovered before I got it and covered all the holes. you never know what you are getting when you buy a 60 year old motor.

 

barry wny and revkev6 thanks for the advice