V8 cylinder head & block I.D ?

F

Ford Freak

Well-known member
Hey guys - I hope all is well for you all in this crazy world we live in now!
The heads on my 24 stud flatty have an "A" in the middle of them. The block has a flat deck mounting surface for the intake manifold. Also, the top of the bell housing does NOT have "59" cast in it. This engine was rebuilt in the 70's by a company similar to Jasper today, but smaller.
So just what do I have here? Thanks in advance - F F
 
We're getting old. 50 years ago we wondered if girls would pass the "pencil test"; now, it's engine blocks.:(
 
81A heads have the big A. The 24 stud production started up somewhere in late 1938 when both 21 stud and 24 stud engines were still being produced. The next major block change was for the 1941 production when the manifold deck surface was reduced and the oil pan rail core sand access ports were deleted. The 221 engines did have the small ledge above the timing gear cover. The 99A blocks came along in 1939 for the Mercury cars but they have some different characteristics to the 221 blocks.

The ID link.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25301&showall=1
 
Ok- I take it that this ledge above the timing cover has to have a flat spot for the pencil to balance & rest on. How long is it? I don't see a flat spot on my ledge, so I guess I flunked the pencil test. Not the first test I have flunked. lol
 
Ford Freak said:
Ok- I take it that this ledge above the timing cover has to have a flat spot for the pencil to balance & rest on. How long is it? I don't see a flat spot on my ledge, so I guess I flunked the pencil test. Not the first test I have flunked. lol
Click to expand...


Its not really flat, just a small raised area of the block that provides a suitable vertical surface to be machined for the timing cover. A pencil may balance on top of that raised area, but regardless, the width of that surface approximates the width of a pencil.
 
ford38v8 said:
Its not really flat, just a small raised area of the block that provides a suitable vertical surface to be machined for the timing cover. A pencil may balance on top of that raised area, but regardless, the width of that surface approximates the width of a pencil.
Click to expand...


Pictures....Need PICTURES!! DD


483601
 
Just to help clarify . . . to really pass the "pencil test", the pencil must be sitting on the block only - not the timing cover. If the block protrudes enough in this area to set the pencil down on it (and it stays), then you've passed the infamous "pencil test".

Not that I use that method for identification . . . but as we're all discussing it, might as well elaborate! LOL

Hmmm . . . do I even have any dang pencils around . . . must be one here someplace . . .
 
Happy Monday Guys! I looked at my engine again, and even though (a little difficult to see as it has an alternator mount on the front above the "ledge") it is in the car, it looks like a pencil would balance & stay there. So, it looks like I have a '39-'42 engine. (block anyways) Thanks guys! - Bernie
 
The engine block photo above indicates the bulges on the oil pan flanges. These are early characteristics. After the 1941 change, those bulges aren't there and the intake deck surface closely follows the shape of the intake manifold. Earlier engines are flat all the way across. Some refer to it as the raised intake deck but that is only how it appears. It's actually reduced in height around the periphery of the intake flange surface. Ford was saving cast iron for the wartime build up for lend-lease.
 
Ford Freak said:
Happy Monday Guys! I looked at my engine again, and even though (a little difficult to see as it has an alternator mount on the front above the "ledge") it is in the car, it looks like a pencil would balance & stay there. So, it looks like I have a '39-'42 engine. (block anyways) Thanks guys! - Bernie
Click to expand...

Definitely not 1941 - 1942. Rotorwrench, in his previous post explains the reasoning perfectly.
 
Here is what a "pencil test compatible" block looks like in the front - and what the raised intake surface looks like. Some call it a "lowered" intake surface, I call it raised . . . pick your flathead block "pronouns" poison: :D

This is from a NOS 42 military block . . . also known as a "keystone" block, also similar to a 39-42 Merc block:

BrockPrep3 copy.jpg

BlockPrep4 copy.jpg

Hmmmmm . . . wonder how the ports got that big???
 
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