Flathead, what do I have here?

K

karasmer

Well-known member
Top of bell is marked 59L and the heads are 59A what do you guys think?
 

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I pulled a 59L block out of a 47 or 48 big truck, I believed it to be the original engine. I don't know what the heads were marked.
 
I am far from an expert, but from reading other posts, I would guess that's a '41 thru '48 style Ford flathead V8.

Sal
 
In my experience 59L blocks were often put in 1946-47 big trucks and usually had the factory relief between the valves and the cylinders.
 
I agree with Barn Junk - most that I've seen are factory relieved and came from trucks. It is really not any different or thicker than a 59AB style block - except for the factory relief area (regardless of the old wives tales).
 
The old style distributor looks like the engine was being run in an earlier vehicle 1941 or so. The 59 series came with the later two bolt type distributor. Some mixing and matching going on anyway.
 
I think it's pretty common to see a lot of mixing and matching of flathead engine components on an engine. I also agree with BarnJunk. Pull the heads and see what you find. That will tell us a lot more. I always like opening one of these engines up. It's like unwrapping a present or opening a time capsule. You get to see the size of the bore, if the pistons and valves have ever been replaced and the condition of the cylinder walls tell you a lot about the engines life.
 
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Pulled the heads here's the view, did a rough cylinder measurement, inside caliper and tape measure and the bore looks to be a bit under 3 1/4 inch, no cylinder ridge either but it is stuck.
 

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Picture shows the factory relief that is often seen on 59L blocks. Supposedly these were for truck applications. Bore is probably some oversize re-bore of 3-3/16. Are the pistons marked ".060" or other oversize marking?
 
If it's only .60" over size and not too pitted in the bore, there should be plenty of meat left for going further oversize. 3 5/16 is possible but I'd get the block pressure tested and cylinders sonic tested before spending much money for machine work.
 
I cleaned off the top of a piston and looked closely with a magnifying glass and could not find any size stampings.
 
That engine is presently sitting in a 41 coupe, If you notice my profile pic. I have a 40 convert with a flat head that looks the same as this one however I could not find any stamping on top of the bell and the heads just have an A stamped on them no 59, what do I make of that?
 
the 59 blocks are post war. your 40, if its original will not have a 59 on it, only some numbers or letters that are foundry codes and have no meaning to us.
 
The Big A cast in the head was the 81A head used with the 221 CID engines in the late 30s & early 40s up to the beginning of WWII. It would be consistent with a 1940 85 HP 221 CID V8.
 
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