How can I check the motor numbers on a 56 bird to see it it's the correct motor for the car. I may have an opertunity to buy one that has not seen light of day in 15 years. Thanks for any help.
I don't know how to check that out. I understand that is isn't easy. I have a few T-bird friends, they say beyond B+S for cubes (292 or 312)it isn't really an issue. As long as it is installed, as there are a lot of T-bird only parts to make it work. Ie. pulleys, brackets, ect.
For the most part, Ford didn't start putting VIN numbers on their engines before about mid 1967. You can check casting numbers for dates but thats about it from what I understand.
That's correct, no 'numbers' on the motor, just the frame and data plate. The data plate will tell you which motor it's supposed to have, at that point you need to check casting numbers on the block and heads. All of the motors for the 'bird were also available in standard Fords, although some of the external bits (pulleys, oil pan, etc) were T-bird specific.
If the guy has an old registration slip SOME states had separate listings on the form for chassis or VIN and another block for engine number might be worth a check.
To say no numbers on the engine is true to a point. Nothing correlates to specific VIN info. Having said that, the '55-'57 Birds were generally outfitted with ECZ6015 castings. This casting number is on the driver side of the block, above the filter & below the cylinder head gasket. These casting numbers are typical to 292 & 312. A '55 Should be ECZ6015A A '56 Should be ECZ6015B A '56 Should be ECZ6015C It should be said that the ONLY ways to tell a 312 from a 292 is by the main caps (312 have ECZ caps), or the crank, as there are 312 cranks with turned down mains in 292's. The ECZ's aren't exclusive to the Birds. My '56 has an ECZ6015C (312) from a '57 Mercury. No doubt, there are even exceptions to what I have recalled above.
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