59 engine id

R

russcc

Well-known member
Needs some help with this one. The motor came out of a winning local stock car run by Falconi Oil at Westboro Speedway, in the '60s. Probably replaced with an ovhd. A long time friend has had since then. I plan to run in it in the roadster until I finish the 59L motor I am working on.

It has a #4 cast into the bell housing where the 59 usually is. What is that ? Please see photo

The bore is 3 & 3/16 + .080. for a total of 3.265, the max allowed under the rules. It had Tattersfield heads on it, were allowed. The plugs in the heads are18MM. The valves are stock Ford, as are the lifters. Minimal relief, nice job. It has an aluminum wheel, with 9" pressure plate.

You could run cams under the rules. Is there a way to check valve lift to see if it has a cam in it ? I have a dial indicator.
Thank you Fordbarners.
 

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Install the dial indercator on top of int. valve, turn the engine over and see what the lift is. Stock is .300 lift. give or take. Walt
 
Thank you Walt. I will give it a spin. Have you seen any blocks with an 4 in place of the 59 ? This engine was sleeved, which I didn't mention.
 
Russcc,
Measuring the valve lift is not a great way of determining a non stock cam. This is due to the number of aftermarket cams with stock lift or close to.
A degree wheel on the crank and a dial indicator on the valve will tell you.
But first port of call is the cam nose. Remove timing cover, and sometimes the cam gear and look for letters/numbers/names on the cam nose. Most aftermarket cams are marked here. Some like the Harmon and Collins are marked very small around the outside of the part of the cam that is covered by the cam gear.
Another but, a lot of the roundy roundy stuff had cam marks that don't tell the truth, for instance, taking names out of the sky, it could have a cam that is marked to say it's a potvin 3/4. But is actually a potvin eliminator. Or isky 1007 and it actually be a 404A. All to deceive possible prying eyes.
Like I said, the best way (only way) to determine the actual grind is to degree the cam.
Martin.
 
Never have seen a '4' on a flathead, but damn did that post bring back some memories.
 

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Your block is a pre 59A it could have been a factory sleved 3-1/16 block with the sleeves removed its easy to bore to the 3 3/16 bore plus over size we do it all the time with those old sleeved blocks.
 
A person would have to look for the bulged clean out areas on the oil pan rail for the pre 41 blocks and definitely a look at the decks to see whether it has a trapezoidal center deck coolant passage that is 81A or a round one that would be 99A. Last but not least the intake deck to the flat across version pre-41 or the one that appears to be raised.

Canadian blocks had other casting marks at the front of the block just below the decks but the configurations are similar to US on the pre-war blocks. War time blocks had oil cooler connect bosses at the back near the oil sender boss area. The 59A blocks had the raised area for the oil cooler boss but it wasn't finished.

The favorite back in the day was the 99A block with its thicker cylinder walls.
 
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