NOS factory engines

G

Gold Digger

Well-known member
Has anyone heard of a NOS factory engine still in existence that has never been started? There seems to be a lot of NOS parts still floating around still. Could some old dealership still have one of these lost in their stock or some older company that used a fleet of model A's still be hanging on to an original factory new engine. Not a factory rebuilt engine.
 
I may come close. The late Joe Mac owned Ford Parts Obsolete in Los Angeles and they found a stash of NOS Model B engine parts which they assembled into complete engines and sold in the sixties. Joe kept one in his closet as a back up. When he was going through a divorce back in the ninetys and selling off stuff I bought the engine. The engine has been in my closet ever since. I almost hate to say that is a back up I may need some day.

Charlie Stephens
 
Marcos Tahatras built an engine from all NOS parts I believe.
Besides being an almost 500 point car he drives it in the Freeway at speed and has done hill climb races.
 
How would someone know if the engine was NOS.... by measuring the bore of the cylinders, no serial # stamped into the block, what other things would stand out? I am asking this because about 40 months ago I bought an engine at an auction that was in a partial Ford crate, bolted together with the bracing, there was NO serial number stamped into the block - BUT - it had adjustable lifters installed, so when were adjustable lifters available and when were they used in the rebuilds from Ford that the dealers kept on hand in their service departments. I haven't gotten into this one because I had been recovering from surgeries to both my hands over the past 2+ years, and this was acquired just before the first on my left hand.
 
You know charlie, a wierd thing about the universe. The only way to ensure you never have to use a back up is to keep one. Just one of those funny things of life. If you sold that engine you would need it a month from now.
 
The MAFFI museum at the Gilmore has an NOS engine block still in the original shipping crate.

-Tim
 
It is remotely possible! My Dad's cousin Les had a 1937 Mod B JD tractor he had bought new in 37. One rear wheel was rusting away and making it unuseable. So on a hunch, he took the wheel to the JD dealer (JS Covert in Neshanic, if anyone knows and remembers) and lo and behold, They Had one , sitting around since the 40s or 50s and they were going to scrap it out for lack of a buyer. A 37 B wheel was not something you could easily fabricate, It was a pretty standard outer part but that was connected to the hub with a lot of 3/4-1" spokes . It was a pretty hard rim to duplicate in the 80s. But you never know what you're going to find.
Terry
 
Yep, anything is possible, but it is unlikely. It would need to be an old dealership under the same ownership since then, most likely.

Most of the car companies have forced their dealers to upgrade facilities in recent years. Both the Ford dealer and the GM dealership in my home town were forced to move to new spaces or sold if they wouldn't upgrade. When they moved, old stuff was likely scrapped or thrown away. Folks who have bought NOS parts over the years would likely have some great stories about stuff they found.
 
"Oddly the engine block has a serial number on it"
I think I am correct in saying that if an engine was built to complete running condition and inspected it was given a serial. Anything less was a spare part, so a new block would not have a serial and of course an engine assembled outside the Rouge would not be numbered.
 
Back in the early 70's I inquired at the local Ford place about a line boring machine for model a engines and the old shop foreman that had started work there back in model T days told me they had piled all of that on the scrap mans truck only a few months previously along with a good small southbend lathe and another truck load of obsolete parts. He said no one new how to operate it but him and he only had a few months to go. I beat it over to the scrap yard and cleaned up on some NOS parts for flathead v-8's and a lot more stuff. Ain't it a shame.
 
Gold Digger said:
Back in the early 70's I inquired at the local Ford place about a line boring machine for model a engines and the old shop foreman that had started work there back in model T days told me they had piled all of that on the scrap mans truck only a few months previously along with a good small southbend lathe and another truck load of obsolete parts. He said no one new how to operate it but him and he only had a few months to go. I beat it over to the scrap yard and cleaned up on some NOS parts for flathead v-8's and a lot more stuff. Ain't it a shame.
Click to expand...

I experienced the same in the late 1980's with a local machine shop that had a load of KR Wilson engine tooling, babbitting fixtures, etc. stacked up in the corner. The only guy that knew how to use it was out with health problems but intending to come back, and there were a few engines with work orders waiting for him. He never came back and the shop later sent all of his tools to the scrapper. They were surprised that I asked and didn't think anybody would want the stuff.
 
Back in the 60's I bought one of those GAZ engines from Ford Parts Obsolete ...When I had it rebuilt we found metric rings ... easier to just install new pistons and rings... The engines were NOS with 4 speed truck transmissions... I did not want the transmission..
 
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