Ford flathead V8 i.d. please type ☆B18F☆

D

dutch deuce

Junior Member
In a few days i have to register my 32 tudor for a Dutch registration.
Original engine was cracked and not worth repairing.
For registration i probably have to prove where it came out and what specifications it has.
Engine now be a 1937 out of probably a firetruck.
Engine number starts with ☆B18F☆
Anyone has an idea where it came out originally.
Some numbers also look odd .
Any help is appriciated
 

Attachments

  • IMG-20200528-WA0001.jpg
    IMG-20200528-WA0001.jpg
    58.2 KB · Views: 130
Last edited:
You can "Try" Mac VanPelts web sight and perhaps someone way more knowledgeable than me will chime in here....... BUT it is for US productions and not sure just how that will relate to foreign Flatheads. For 1937 your number should be 18-3331857 and up. AS for the "B" and "F" that is not in the normal serial numbers listed for 1937 here in the USA.
 
Standard Ford practice was to stamp engine number on the transmission case. I have seen 37 style 21 stud engines with numbers stamped similar to yours. I actually thought such engines were WW2 production out of bren gun carriers or similar. They have the third oil port at back of block....
Has your tudor got another number stamped on the trans case? If so, more likely to be the original number assigned to that vehicle.
 
Last edited:
Gearbox is replaced by a rebuild 39 box. Stock box i still have and also have the 44xxx number, same as the original engine.
 
The slanted font used for the seven-digit numbers is unlike that used by Ford U.S. and Ford of Canada, the two major V8 engine manufacturing sources of the period in question, nor did either source stamp numbers on the engines themselves. One remaining possibility is that engine was manufactured or rebuilt by Ford Werke in Cologne, which by 1937 was under the control of the National Socialists.
 
that crazy font of the numbers does look like something the germans would have done. seems to me i have seen it on german tools etc
 
B or BB indicates a truck. As was mentioned, F indicates right hand drive. B or BB trucks usually have the old 4-speed. Some Commercial pickups were stamped with a B to indicate a 4-speed transmission otherwise it would have a C designation.

Sourcing stuff in the Netherlands could come from old USA stuff or old military stuff but it could also come from European origins. Engines were produced in Koln, in France, and in the UK at Dagenham. Canadian stuff may also be floating around. Those number characters don't look to be types used in the USA or Canada but I have no idea where they may have come from. Serial numbers were seldom stamped on an engine in the USA. The transmission was the most common place to stamp them.
 
Do the Dutch authorities register vehicles on engine numbers only? Have you called ahead and got an idea of what they're interested in seeing?

I'd try to register it as a 1932 Ford. I'd play dumb about the number on the engine, which is not customary for most production here in the states) and focus on the number on the frame (you haven't mentioned much about that).

If I were really concerned I might find a way to obscure the number you showed us in your post. Nobody at the registration department really should care if you're lucky.

Bring documentation (a published book) that the numbers typical of these cars are on the frame and the transmission but don't use it unless needed? Maybe even bring the transmission you have out of the car just in case you have to whip it out, again playing dumb about the number on the engine.
 
Last edited:
VeryTangled said:
Do the Dutch authorities register vehicles on engine numbers only? Have you called ahead and got an idea of what they're interested in seeing?

I'd try to register it as a 1932 Ford. I'd play dumb about the number on the engine, which is not customary for most production here in the states) and focus on the number on the frame (you haven't mentioned much about that).

If I were really concerned I might find a way to obscure the number you showed us in your post. Nobody at the registration department really should care if you're lucky.

Bring documentation (a published book) that the numbers typical of these cars are on the frame and the transmission but don't use it unless needed? Maybe even bring the transmission you have out of the car just in case you have to whip it out, again playing dumb about the number on the engine.
Click to expand...

Registration in Holland is by the chassisnumber. The engine will be accepted, but nowadays they also register how much cc's and how much HP the engine has on paper (which I have to prove) Most flathead Ford V8's I know but the B18F combination is kind of odd.
 
dutch deuce said:
Registration in Holland is by the chassisnumber. The engine will be accepted, but nowadays they also register how much cc's and how much HP the engine has on paper (which I have to prove) Most flathead Ford V8's I know but the B18F combination is kind of odd.
Click to expand...

Okay, now we can handle this I think.

The B18F seems to decode as right hand drive and not a passenger vehicle, if it were on a frame. BUT that wouldn't really be stamped on an engine block, and you have the issue of the unusual font. I'm interpreting the stamped number to be post-production.

If it is a '37 then it's 221 cubic inches and 85 HP's.

If you can convince them, or they assume it's a '32 engine in a '32 car then the numbers would be 221 cubes and 65 HP's.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top