My 39 Deluxe

RalphG

RalphG

Well-known member
Greetings all. I thought this forum might be a good source of info on my 39 Deluxe. I was recently inspired to get it out of storage for a family wedding photo. It has carburetor/ignition issues but will start and drive well enough to get in and out of the garage. This car has been in the family for 62 years and I'd like to get it in a little more drive-able condition but not looking at a total restoration at this point. Wondering what model carburetor it has for when I order repair kit. No Ford script on the bowl like the spares I have.
It has a newer (1952 on tag) rebuilt engine in it. Still has the "divers helmet" distributor.
http://vid1372.photobucket.com/albums/ag350/alfg1/Shortdriveinthe39_zps6f6e2054.mp4
 
That could be the original engine rebuilt in 52, since the only tags I am aware of are rebuilders? A few photos may help. What is on the sides of the Carb? 91-99 etc.
You may want to look into Dayton rebuilding kits. Many of the other aftermarket kits contain parts that do not work properly.
 
If not installed, I would recommend a fuel filter between the tank and fuel pump. You may not need a new fuel tank but there will probably be lots of gunk passing through the fuel lines for awhile. I love the shimmy shimmy shake when its rolling.
 
Actually it is running on fresh gas from a temporary gallon jug under the hood. I didn't want to risk 25 year old gas getting into the carb. We had to clean up the one set of points to get any ignition at all and now think the other set might need attention too. My brother is working on a spare distributor to see it if is any better.
Never checked the carb for numbers but it is on my list. It idles really nice but once off idle it starts to stumble and run on maybe six cylinders. I'm working on a full length driving video which should give a good idea of how it runs and sounds.
My photo album on this site has a pic of the engine tag with all those interesting little codes on it that I would like to have translated if anybody knows how.
 

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That is a list of the parts used during the rebuild, as an example, 6211 is a Rod Bearing and Q is .030 oversize. The three digits in front of it are for the year (which I can not find in my parts book for some reason).
 
Need photo of the intake manifold surface on the block, or is there a small cast riser under the manifold or is the surface of the block flat??
 
Thanks for that info on the tag. I never thought of checking a parts book. All I have is a 1929 to 1949 "Fast Moving Parts" catalog and I don't know how detailed it gets.
I assumed this was a "drop in " rebuilt engine installed in 52. How could I tell if it is the original?
 
Terry said:
Need photo of the intake manifold surface on the block, or is there a small cast riser under the manifold or is the surface of the block flat??
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I am going to have to clean it up a little better to see that much. We just found the serial number on the left frame member last night. Took a lot of scratching and paint sanding to get down to it. (01161)
 
JSeery said:
I don't think there is any way to ID an engine other than general date range.
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The reason I ask is that I have a 1939 Mercury reference book that indicates the engine number is the same as the serial number of the car. The engine serial number is located at the rear of the engine on top of the clutch housing. I have not cleaned mine up well enough to see. And that is a pretty awkward place to check with the engine still in the car.
 
The engine number and frame number should be the same if the original engine is in the car. But your first post indicates a " newer 1952 rebuilt engine " in the car, " then you say you have the original divers helmet distributor. I am not as smart as some of the guys on here but I don't think the helmet distributor will work on a 1952 engine. Maybe you meant that the original engine was rebuilt and has a 1952 rebuild tag ?
 
wisbangman said:
The engine number and frame number should be the same if the original engine is in the car. But your first post indicates a " newer 1952 rebuilt engine " in the car, " then you say you have the original divers helmet distributor. I am not as smart as some of the guys on here but I don't think the helmet distributor will work on a 1952 engine. Maybe you meant that the original engine was rebuilt and has a 1952 rebuild tag ?
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Yes, sorry if I mis led anyone on that. It is definitely not a 1952 engine. It is either the original or an identical rebuilt 1939 engine in my opinion. The tag date is 1952 and I have some recollection of my dad having a rebuilt engine installed.
I cleaned up the manifold a bit but could see no numbers of any kind. And as far as seeing the top of the clutch housing, I think removing the floorboard centre cover is the only way to see that.
 
What you are calling an engine number is a transmission number. Just because that number matches the frame number does not give you any information about the engine. Because your engine is a Ford rebuild I think it would be very unlikely that the engine was removed, sent to the Ford rebuild facility and then re-installed. Don't know how they did it then, but that doen't sounds very productive from the rebuilders point of view. I would assume that they rebuilt engines on somewhat of an assembly line and one engine went in and another came out of inventory for the replacement.
 
JSeery said:
What you are calling an engine number is a transmission number. Just because that number matches the frame number does not give you any information about the engine. Because your engine is a Ford rebuild I think it would be very unlikely that the engine was removed, sent to the Ford rebuild facility and then re-installed. Don't know how they did it then, but that doen't sounds very productive from the rebuilders point of view. I would assume that they rebuilt engines on somewhat of an assembly line and one engine went in and another came out of inventory for the replacement.
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The way it was usually done here was that local garages would just order up a rebuilt engine for you and do the installation too. So my guess is that this engine is not original to the car.
The reason I was searching the serial number was for registration purposes if the day ever comes that I want to license the car. The Mercury reference manual for 39 clearly stated that the car serial number was the same as the engine and located on the rear of the engine on top of the clutch housing (direct quote). Did Mercury do it different to Ford?
Has nobody else heard of this?
 
Just an odd way to say it I guess, what they are calling the "clutch housing" is the forward part of the transmission. I have seen them called engine numbers, but they are not on the engine, go figure! The frame number should be somewhere near the steering box, but they were not consistent about it. It could be anywhere from the front cross-member to under the front edge of the body. If the transmission is the original, the number on the clutch housing should match the frame. Have no idea about Canada, but think most states in the US just go by the frame number, at least Kansas does and I know some others do.
 
Some information you might be interested in from the VanPelt site.
From 1932 through 1948 vehicles, Ford Motor Company stamped the serial number into the top of the driver's side frame rail in three locations. This same number was also stamped into the top of the transmission-to-engine housing portion of the transmission. This location was visible when the floorboard and transmission cover plate were removed (click here for a picture example). Of the frame-stamped serial numbers, only the forward-most stamping was visible when looking down into the engine compartment (located between the front crossmember and the dash (firewall). The two other frame locations are visible only when the body is removed from the frame. The serial numbers were metal stamped with numbers/letters approximately 1/4" in height.

Also included a picture of Henry Ford stamping the Serial Number on the first 1932 V8 to come down the assembly line.
 

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