Want to adapt a F-O-M to my flat 6. Advice?

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by LazarusLong

Given that the stock flat 6 has 26 ft.lbs torque than the flat V-8,I think it was an excellent idea.

BTW,I own at least one version of that brochure,maybe two.

Party of the copy reads "The new Fordomatic transmission is so efficient you don't have to order the extra-cost V-8 engine to get it!"

For some odd reason Ford forgot to mention the flat 6 has 26 ft lbs more torque than the V-8,and only 5 less horsepower.

It got even worse for the flat V-8 when the 215 OHV 6 was offered in 52.

Lazarus, I admire your tenacity! Please continue to ignore the armchair expert naysayers! You seem to have already anticipated possible problems.
Have you looked for early issue '51 shop and parts manuals that may list this combo? Also Hollander Interchange Manuals of the day may even cover this.
Factories have released repair info on options that died at birth. Some include electronic fuel injection on '57 Ramblers and Chryslers, GM Wankel rotaries in the '70's, two speed accessory drive for 5.0 HO Mustangs, and more. These got far enough along that Chilton and Motor Manuals printed the information. Finding pictures and part numbers in Ford manuals would go a long way. Maybe even an early '51 Owner's Manual may have something.

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

Lazarus, I admire your tenacity! Please continue to ignore the armchair expert naysayers! You seem to have already anticipated possible problems.
Have you looked for early issue '51 shop and parts manuals that may list this combo? Also Hollander Interchange Manuals of the day may even cover this.
Factories have released repair info on options that died at birth. Some include electronic fuel injection on '57 Ramblers and Chryslers, GM Wankel rotaries in the '70's, two speed accessory drive for 5.0 HO Mustangs, and more. These got far enough along that Chilton and Motor Manuals printed the information. Finding pictures and part numbers in Ford manuals would go a long way. Maybe even an early '51 Owner's Manual may have something.

There's a '51 FordOMatic brochure on ebay #162097875060

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

Lazarus, I admire your tenacity! Please continue to ignore the armchair expert naysayers! You seem to have already anticipated possible problems.
Have you looked for early issue '51 shop and parts manuals that may list this combo? Also Hollander Interchange Manuals of the day may even cover this.
Factories have released repair info on options that died at birth. Some include electronic fuel injection on '57 Ramblers and Chryslers, GM Wankel rotaries in the '70's, two speed accessory drive for 5.0 HO Mustangs, and more. These got far enough along that Chilton and Motor Manuals printed the information. Finding pictures and part numbers in Ford manuals would go a long way. Maybe even an early '51 Owner's Manual may have something.

I realize I'm late to the party, but did some looking on ebay: item #253516876868 Intro to '51 Fordomatic (1950 copyright) says: "the Fordomatic performs equally well with the 100 HP V-8 or the 95 HP Ford Six." Item #280858205718 is a '49-'51 Parts Manual on CD. And many more.

[LazarusLong]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

Lazarus, I admire your tenacity! Please continue to ignore the armchair expert naysayers! You seem to have already anticipated possible problems.
Have you looked for early issue '51 shop and parts manuals that may list this combo? Also Hollander Interchange Manuals of the day may even cover this.
Factories have released repair info on options that died at birth. Some include electronic fuel injection on '57 Ramblers and Chryslers, GM Wankel rotaries in the '70's, two speed accessory drive for 5.0 HO Mustangs, and more. These got far enough along that Chilton and Motor Manuals printed the information. Finding pictures and part numbers in Ford manuals would go a long way. Maybe even an early '51 Owner's Manual may have something.

Good advise. I have the Motors Manuals and shop manuals,but no love there with the 51's. They are probably covered under the 1952 models,though. Now that you have reminded me,I will look.

[rotorwrench]

I have a 1949 thru 1953 parts catalog and they only list the Ford-O-Matic with the 239 8-cylinder V8. No listings for 6-cylinder till 1952 with the 215 OHV.

[tubman]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

As I said; over-exuberant ad copywriters.

It's an occupational hazard with them.

[rotorwrench]

It's going to be difficult to recreate something that never existed.

[tubman]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

It's going to be difficult to recreate something that never existed.

But, on the other hand, they never made 'em with 3 carbs either.

Have at it, Lazurus!

[LazarusLong]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

I have a 1949 thru 1953 parts catalog and they only list the Ford-O-Matic with the 239 8-cylinder V8. No listings for 6-cylinder till 1952 with the 215 OHV.

Thanks!

[LazarusLong]

Originally Posted by tubman

As I said; over-exuberant ad copywriters.

It's an occupational hazard with them.

Oh,well. "Stuff happens".

[LazarusLong]

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

It's going to be difficult to recreate something that never existed.

I don't let little things like that bother me. If I create it,it happened.

And who is to say it NEVER happened originally? I have a hard time believing anyone as tight at Ford would allow all that sales literature to be printed and distributed unless he had 500 or so of them on the lot,ready to be shipped.

Even if he did,they wouldn't have been big sellers back then because people so "thrifty" they would buy the flat 6 are not likely to spend what was then a large amount of extra money to buy a transmission that would give them worse gas mileage.

*I* am GUESSING that if initial sales were bad,Ford would just have the cars refitting with standard transmissions rather than admit to making a marketing mistake.

Not that I really care other than to satisfy my own curiosity because once I get the flat 6 engine pulled from the parts car I bought,I am going to do whatever it is I need to do to mate the rebuilt 51 FOM with it so I will be ready to bolt the engine and trans in my coupe when I put it back together.

Until then,I'm just going to keep driving it.

[rotorwrench]

The 1949 Ford and the 1949 Mercury were slated to go into production in 1948 but it didn't happen. The 1948 Bonus Built trucks were the only one to make it on line that year.

They may have started into a project to do the 226/FOM in 1951 but they barely got any automatics on line for the Ford & Mercury V8. It was a mid year thing starting in early 1951. With the 215 already in production planing for the start of the 1952 model year, they most likely blew it all off and concentrated on the 215 OHV project. For it not to be in the parts book, it most likely never got past anything but a prototype stage and that may never have been completed or even started. This was in the Korean war time frame and materials were tight. Building an all new 6 cylinder plus the Lincoln & truck Y-block engines were a big undertaking for Ford and just two years later they were doing it all over again with the Y-block V8s for Fords & Mercurys. Best laid plans of mice and men. Murphy is always lurking there somewhere.

Henry Ford Jr or Hank the Deuce was almost as frugal as his grandad but not quite so much. He was getting well entrenched in planning and was still getting new personnel to help with design & styling. They did a decent job of keeping up with GM & Chrysler even though it was still basically a family run business.

[40 Deluxe]

They did exist! I've been going through a Popular Science magazine archive on Google Books. The December 1950 issue had a road test on the 1951 Ford and Mercury with the Fordomatic trans. Here is a quote from the test driver Wilber Shaw, an Indy 500 racer of the era. This is at the bottom of page 96: "My first mount was a Ford Six with the new transmission. I was glad that a six was available. It would be new to me."

[LazarusLong]

Thank you! I knew they had to exist,but I have pretty much given up on finding a flat 6 FOM bellhousing,so I am going to try to use a flat 6 truck bellhousing to make an adaptor.


To far into it to quit now. Already bought the FOM steering column,driveshaft,and 3:31 rear end,plus have a newly rebuilt 51 FOM sitting on my shop floor.


What is holding me up right now is I bought a 98 percent complete and original 51 Vicky with V-8 and FOM to fix to drive for a couple of months and sell. It now runs whisper quiet,shifts as slick as a new one,and rides and drives well. Ended up using a 200 buck Champion radiator instead of spending close to grand for a brass and copper one,but that,the repop gas tank,and the 6 inch steel US Wheels rims with the baby moons and radial tires are the only non-stock items on the car. I even managed to find the correct carb and dash pot.


Nice car,but it ain't a flat 6 biz coupe.