1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

I have the opportunity to buy a 1951 F1 truck with a bad engine.
but I have a good 1939 mercury engine. can i use it in the truck? thinking about fan distributor etc.

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

Distributor is different, front mount on -39 post on the -51
Fan/generator setup is different.
Water outlet is different size/location.
If that -39 is good running i have a good 8RT...

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

Have you verified that the '39 engine is truly a Merc engine? Ya know the .39 Merc engines were 239 CID. Could be wrong, but I believe the '39 Merc engines have a 99 cast into the bell-housing.

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

99 is often cast on the block near the front of the head.. right side i think from memory. I've got a 99 block stashed away at my sisters place under a tarp, but I haven't looked at it in at least 12 years.

GB

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

Canadian manufacture had the 99 cast marking on the front right. Early USA ones were stamped for a while till they just used the dark blue color to ID them at the plant.

If I still had an F1, I'd look to find an engine from the 8BA family. The water pumps and general fit would be better with the 8RT truck type engine in that family or 8BA with truck pumps, oil pan, half bell on the back and accessories. The heads and pumps are different with the 99 series but they could be adapted if a person had too. The 99 is a lot like the later 59 series and both would be a bit out of place in the later era cars & trucks.

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

Thanks Rotowrench, I've just learn't something. It makes sense as most of our v8 stuff came form the Ford Commonwealth plant in Canada. The engine was supposed to have been pulled from a 42 Woodie...so I was told. I remember seeing that vehicle in Wellington in the early 1980's .....a very very rare beast in NZ and it probably would be rare in its country of birth. If that merc block did in fact come out of that woody it would obviously have been a replacement at some time. So I have a Canadian 99..thanks again.

GB

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

my understanding (i had read someplace many years ago) was that when Ford F-Series (first generation) rolled out in late 1947 (probably the 1948 model) some of the first ones were equipped with the 59 type motor until the 8BA was available shortly after introduction. But, in

motor mounts should all line up and using the 39 fan assembly and addaptors for the radiator hoses, should not be too difficult to swap it in.

all my years scrounging wrecking yards i never saw one so equipped. the early motor in one would sure make a conversation piece at car shows...

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

I've seen 59 series in the older F1 trucks but I think they were put there by previous owners.

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

My thought was, if i in any way you could use the merc engine, it would be a quick and cheap way to get the truck drivable. Then when time and money are there, restore the right engine or find a better one.
(the merc engine is actually for another project further down the list ...)
And it seems that it can work?? but if someone has done this, please describe what needs to be done

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

If it´s complete with fan/generator distributor it will bolt in and work fine.
You will need some minor tweaking of hoses and stuff but it will work.
I thought the original question was if the parts between engines would swap over easily and they don´t.

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

The other thing that has been discussed on this forum in the past is that the 99A is a "meaty block" that lends itself well to boring out and modification. It has been mentioned that they are supposed to have a higher nickel content that later 59AB blocks. Some one will correct me if I'm talking bollocks.

GB

Re: 1939 mercury engine in F1 truck?
 

Most improvements in the casting of iron came about in the war time years and post war but it took a while before much was improved. The flathead era sort of missed out on some of the improvements but engine blocks were not considered to be all that critical for strength. Crankshafts were though so nodular iron technology was developed more for those types of parts. Nickle use in the formula was varied and adjusted to get better strength but it is limited on how much can be used. The Korean war sort of put a damper on use of some materials considered to be critical for the war effort. The French SUMB engines are probably the best castings to date unless Tod can make some new ones.

The 1939 & 40 239 blocks had what seem to be thicker cylinder walls but that started to change in 1941 due to the war production so I don't think the later ones are much different than the 59 series post war but I don't know for certain.