Flathead ID issue

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oswego37

Senior Member
I have a 24 stud engine with a 37-41 style distributor/coil. Raised letters on the bell housing are D11733 and stamped after that is X7. Bore is 3.23 inches and pistons are .040 over. Its mated to a column shift transmission. the serial number on the transmission is tough to read, and I don't know if it is original. Any help would be appreciated. And the heads have the letter A on them.
 
1940 Fords and perhaps some 1941's used heads with the letter "A" cast into the center of the head. That doesn't necessarily indicate it is a '40 engine. 1940 was also the first year of the column shift transmission in Ford passenger cars, but again, that doesn't nail down the exact year of the engine. There are are couple of other ways to identify if it is a '40 engine and others here on the Forum might be able to help with a more positive identification.
 
oswego37 said:
thanks for the response. I have no reason to think that the heads and the ****** are not original.
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Heads and transmission original, probably. Engine block not so sure. May well be a rebuilt exchange short block, as it was you that said the pistons are .040 over. Back in the day, short block exchange engines were commonly installed in one day.
 
oswego37 said:
I have a 24 stud engine with a 37-41 style distributor/coil. Raised letters on the bell housing are D11733 and stamped after that is X7. Bore is 3.23 inches and pistons are .040 over. Its mated to a column shift transmission. the serial number on the transmission is tough to read, and I don't know if it is original. Any help would be appreciated. And the heads have the letter A on them.
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oswego.....You indicate that the bore is currently about 3.23", and that the replacement pistons are marked .040". If you subtract .040" from roughly 3.23", you end-up with an original bore of 3.19", or more likely 3.187" which was the bore of the 239" engines. The original '39 and subsequent Mercury engines through 1948 were of the 3.187 bore type, as well as the post-war Ford 239 cu. in. engines from 1946 thru 1948. 24-stud, 221 cu. in. Ford blocks from 1938 thru 1942 all had 3.062 bores. DD
.
 
Characteristics are the only way to ID the prewar blocks. Look for bulges on the pan rails to ID a pre 1941 block and shape of the area above the cam gear cover flange for a ledge on 221 CID blocks. 239 blocks don't have the ledge that a pencil can rest on. The ports in the center of the cylinder decks are round on the 239 but not on 221s.
 
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