I think I've been influenced by the dark side

41ford1

41ford1

Well-known member
Well guys, I went and bought this. A '53 courier with a 215" six equiped with an Offy 2 pot manifold and fenton headers. Ya, I know its not a flathead but it will keep my flathead pickup company.

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53Courier3.jpg
 
Ron,
That is a bit surprising. In its current state the 41 pickup with the 59ab feels quicker. The 53 came with all these neat speed goodies but is still running the LOM distributor. I don't think the full potential is realized. I am working on fixing that situation with some help from the folks over on the fordsix forum. When I get it resolved I'll give it a run to Chester, VT if you don't mind the visit.
How is the economy engine coming?
Chuck
 
Chuck, I really like the looks of that courier that for some reason I was mistakenly calling a sedan delivery. IMO not all old Fords must be FH V8's to be coooool. I'm sure that '40 pickup will enjoy the company and both vehicles will be useful in the family business.
Question...when did Ford introduce its OHV six? I guess I always assumed it was '54 in the USA when the OHV V8 was introduced.
 
John,
You are not mistaken, Courier = Sedan Delivery. Ford replaced the 226" flathead 6 with the 215" OHV 6 in '52. That engine was replaced by the 223" OHV 6 in '54. I found it strange that the 223" is a completely different block. The outside visible change is relocation of the distibutor from the center to further forward.
 
Ol Henry was dead set against anything close to the GM OHV sixes or any straight 8 stuff. For economy he went the 9N and V8-60 route in preference and luxury had the V-12. After he died things finally started to slowly change over to the OHV monkey motion motors. FoMoCo still had family involvement but was going more toward corporate bean counter ideas just to keep up with the competition.

Fo Mo Co was behind the power curve on 6-cylinder OHV development. I remember them running well enough but they liked to leak more than the Chevy did.
 
I had a 215 in my 53' I just sold. It just ran. I could let it sit for 6 months, go out charge the battery and it'd fire and drive. Always.

They were, I believe, rated 1 less hp then the FH of that year. Not a lot of speed equipment available but if you have the offy already and if your lucky enough to have the fenton dual exhaust your ahead of the speed game. Maybe a head job with some Barker highlift rocker arms.
 
WE had a 52 PU with the OH 6 in it and this thing was really quick off the line for a beater parts getter.
Just started putting the econo engine together today, but got side tracked. I only have Ben for the day and I wanted some work on the energency brake cables under the truck, also had too make some mods to the "K" member for drive shaft clearance.
Like I said the block is ready for assembly, but I want to degree in a few more cams I found and I don't have another block handy. It should be done bu the end of the week, if I don't have any problems.
Stop in anytime enjoy the company
 
Don't know about the 215, but a 223 showed up at our local dirt track here in SE Georgia at a vintage race. It was in a 57 300 tudor. The thing absolutely flew. The flatheads weren't even in the same league. Unfortunately it flew for only three or four laps, then something went radically wrong on the back straight when it briefly made some very expensive noises. Too bad. I felt sorry for the guy. It was really a first class effort and I love to see anything different, especially underdogs.
 
ol ron cuzn --- i used to race stock cars in `69 -`70 at western speedway and after being allowed to use 223 inch sixes in my class the flathead was doomed. by the end of the season nearly everyone had switched to the 223 .the chevy guys cried so much we had to let them use the 264 cu inch canadian pontiac six just to be competitive. i remember you used to replace the weird pin holding the oil pump drive with a simple cotter pin. the original pin would fall out sometimes. since we would remove the oilpump screen the pin would eventually get sucked in to the pump and jam between the gears and instant no oil pressure and ruin the motor. don`t ask how i know this.
 
The 53' with the i6 I had, had no problems with traffic ever. It moved along quite nicely.

I was referring to fords advertisements of the mile-maker 6, it being 1hp under the flathead.
 
I just recently bought a 53 courier project and am really excited to start sketching out some ideas for it. It is one of my absolute all time favorite vehicles. The agreement with the wife was that I could buy the car as long as I promised to get the 55 Country Sedan road worthy before I started working on the 53. Needless to say the proverbial fire has been lit below me arse! I would love to see some more pictures of your Courier, especially the interior and cargo area. Looks wicked sharp by the way.
 
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