Flathead ford aluminum heads: what are they?

[skidmarks]

The heads have block letters FOSA with made in the USA below that. Smooth made of aluminum. No other marking that I see other then on the bell housing says 59 and a large letter L below it.

Might have been in a 48 mercury.

Motor turns over . Not sure if it's worth the effort to do anything with it or junk it.

[jimTN]

they sure look like cheater heads. Are they drilled for temp gauge? Look on back side of water holes for numbers.

[42merc]

Parts store after market heads. Nothing special.

[skidmarks]

Originally Posted by jimTN

they sure look like cheater heads. Are they drilled for temp gauge? Look on back side of water holes for numbers.

No sign of any numbers on te water necks. One head has provision for 2 temperature sending units the other has one.

[cas3]

might have a 4" crank in it.

[tubman]

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"59L"? Isn't that the one everybody wants?

OK. Maybe a "59Z".

[alchemy]

Any of the letter blocks besides the standard 59A hold some mystic. There’s no proof that they are better other than rumor though.

[Ggmac]

Try to get it to crank , then check compression, spark , oil pressure etc . Definitely valuable.

[skidmarks]

Originally Posted by Ggmac

Try to get it to crank , then check compression, spark , oil pressure etc . Definitely valuable.

Supposedly it was " rebuilt" and never run but it suffered poor storage. It had a dual carb intake but that is gone.

The other weird thing I got was a three speed with no first or reverse that has 25 tooth lincoln gears. And when I say no first or reverse it's machined off the cluster and the shifter lever removed. One guy claimed it was from a race car. The case wasn't any good.

[tubman]

oooooooooh. "Race motor"! You have to take it apart and see what's inside! The odd transmission seems to confirm this.

[Ziggster]

Originally Posted by tubman

oooooooooh. "Race motor"! You have to take it apart and see what's inside! The odd transmission seems to confirm this.

Chrome nut caps. Definitely a “race” motor. lol!

[skidmarks]

Originally Posted by 42merc

Parts store after market heads. Nothing special.

Care to elaborate alittle more?

[KiWinUS]

Originally Posted by jimTN

they sure look like cheater heads. Are they drilled for temp gauge? Look on back side of water holes for numbers.

Cheater heads have Canada cast on top side. Not Made in Canada.

[jimTN]

Strangely a lot of those heads had some grinding done on them.

[deuce_roadster]

I wonder if FOSA means Ford Of South America? or Australia?

[skidmarks]

Originally Posted by deuce_roadster

I wonder if FOSA means Ford Of South America? or Australia?

Good guess but one head is fosa and the other is fosr. Both have made in the USA.

If someone at sometime ground on them they did a good job at hiding it. Nice even oxidized surface and I don't think they were ever polished as the lettering isn't distorted.

As for the acorn nut cap comment , that's a what ever. My interest is what the heads are. As many 24 stud motors were made with cast iron heads.why would they make a plain stock aluminum replacement?

I've seen replacement cast iron heads with the firing order cast on them

[Newc]

FORA heads also after market. Drag race gear box or even circle track ? Newc

[Brian]

I once bought a pair of NORS 21 stud, pump in head, aluminum heads, one had FOG cast on it, the other had FAG

[Terry,OH]

Not made by Ford, aftermarket heads.

[skidmarks]

Originally Posted by Terry,OH

Not made by Ford, aftermarket heads.

Obviously,

I was looking for information more as to who or what company and why they would make a basic replaced head in aluminum when standard cast iron ones were readily available.

Seen cheater heads in the past and pretty much rule that out. Ones I've seen were marked on the back side of the water necks

As far as value I could care less. Most of this stuff is going to end up in the junk pile because I'm not going to bother with it