hopefully im missing something in the I.D. links shown in tech, but wondering about block markings on an 8BA flathead. mine shows a stamped H31M on the top of the block and a G2903 cast into rear of block. i just pulled it from a 50 ford sedan. Any help is appreciated.
Very few of the block casting marks mean anything. At least to anybody alive and online. The stamping however means your engine was assembled July 31, 1950. Probably the original and might be untouched as far as bore. Usually when an engine was rebuilt by factory the assembly date was ground off when the deck was shaved.
G29 is possibly a German block made in Cologne, does it have an alloy pan? pics. Might be totally wrong but here's the link to the G29 flathead post; http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-12050.html Kev.
funny you should say that. after pulling the motor, i began degreasing it and as i cleaned the pan i said to my buddy, " this thing has no paint and no rust...what the hell? is it aluminum??" i will check it and reply.
A G29 is an early flathead. It's nice to have the original block for your car, but other than that there's no real difference among late flathead blocks. Probably only thing other than lack of fatal cracks is presence or absence of hard seats for valves, something that can make life easier during the rebuild. Ford gradually reduced use of hard seats from '49-53, I think using them only in large trucks at the end, as accountants took over control in the Ford reform after Henry's death. This is also a crapshoot, since most blocks have been through commercial exchange rebuilds a time or two by now and are randomly distributed regardless of original use.
"mtflat" mentioned above that, according to the markings, is was assembled July 31, 1950. would that mean they were still assembling early style blocks at that date?