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Identify this Ford motor?

jon f mn

jon f mn

Well-known Member
I drove past this today and got to thinking how handy it would be to have a vessel to haul the kingdoms bounty to the money changers, so I stopped for a closer look. Seams nice and straight and he says it runs good and everything works except the brake cylinders leak and most of the tires are cracked. It is a 1955 and being before my time I can't identify the heart of the beast. Any idea what this might be? I'm thinking a 330, bit don't know. Thanks for any info you might have.
cvphoto2863.jpg


cvphoto2866.png
 
I had a 352 in a 3/4 pickup. Wish I had it back!!! It was supposed to be 175 horse. Did a good job with Dad's 20x6 stock trailer. Looks like a nice unit! brakes probably need completely redone.
 
A lot of those old ford trucks of that size had 391 engines in them. I can't remember exactly what they A 391 distributor wouldn't fit in the 390 block so we had to ream out the hole in the block to fit. Everyone said it wouldn't work but it was still running strong when I got hurt in an accident and sold out. I do have some old Motors manuals that I can look up if you don't find an answer. Keith
 
Boy, I sure messed that post up. I can't remember what they all looked like. A friend and I converted a a 390 block to accept a 391 distributor in a Ford 800 wrecker. A lot of people said it couldn't be done but it was still running when I was in an accident and sold out a few years later. A lot of the fords of that era had 312s (which were painted a gold color if I remember correctly), and 390s in them. The larger trucks had a lot of 391 in them. The 352s which that could very well be, if I remember would also interchange in them. I have several old car and truck Motors manuals that I can look up with a little more info if you can't find the answer on here, but I bet you'll find it. Email's open. good looking old girl there. Keith
 
1954 t0 1956 used the (new) Ford Y blocks most popular was the 239 or 256 or 279 which was a lincoln motor also lincoln 317 or 368
Because it is a tandem it looks very much like, probably is an F800
Looks like a great find and worth restoring/or at least making sure it has operative brakes.
have fun
 
What a great looking truck. Same as the Tonka Toys I had. 1955-56. The cylinders should be no problem. There are outfits who resleave your old ones to take new style parts. I want that truck!
cvphoto2869.jpg
 
Not original. The Y block 239/256/272/292/312 had 2 bolt valve covers.
I agree the covers are mid 70s. FE series
1958?1976 FE V8?medium-block Ford/Edsel
1958?1971 Generation I (332/352/360/361/390)
1962?1973 Generation II (406/410/427/428) Jim
 
The original Y block had the distributor at the rear of the engine. The only engine I remember where the valve covers were flat the whole length like those is a 460 / 429.
 
As others have said, engine not 55 vintage. Y block engines had distributor in back by firewall. That appears to be FE series. FE not built in 55. 330, 352, 360, 361, 390, 391, 406, 427, and 428 all used that basic block. Was a real work horse in the day.
 
(quoted from post at 14:55:19 11/16/18) The original Y block had the distributor at the rear of the engine. The only engine I remember where the valve covers were flat the whole length like those is a 460 / 429.
Click to expand...

Yea those valve covers look at lot like the ones on the 460 F250 I had.

In fact when I first looked at that picture I thought 460, then thought no, truck is too old......didn't think about a transplant.

Rick
 
That appears to be a FT engine. Not original.

It's the truck version of a FE, a heavy duty engine, a few differences like a longer front crank extension, taller block, wider intake, and I think a different bell housing bolt pattern. Note the fan mounted to the bracket instead of the water pump.

I think the CI will be cast into the front of the block beside the water pump mount.

Nice old truck!
 
Soo...., what does he want for it?

As the owner of a 73 Loadstar truck of a similar size, brakes can get pretty pricey, or be really cheap, it depends.

I love the look of yours, there is one for sale near me that is COE from the early 60's, wish I had seen that one first! First vehicle I drove was the 64' F-100 in that same red.

Enjoy!
 
Engine sure looks like the 361/391 truck engines I had experience with. Nothing like the 292 in my cousins 57, with the exhaust across the front of the engine.
What's the trans/drive train? One of those axles dummy/added?
 
That truck would of had a y block originally because it?s a 55. The engine in it now is an fe series, probably a 352 or 390, mid to late sixtys as they were the most common!
 
The truck has had a transplant. Looks a lot like the 371 that I had in my mid 70's L 800 gas semi tractor.
 
Not an FT, it's an FE, and the FT, if 330 used a smaller bore than a 352, but a 352 crank, block not taller, or intake wider, and used the same bellhousing pattern as the FE, and most blocks had 352 cast into the block regardless of size. Just some info I've picked up over the years.
 
Jon, there should be a casting number with letters on top the intake manifold right behind the distributor. A little internet time will help you get close using that. I've been through this a lot with Ford engines, if you want to know 100% which engine you have you'll have to measure bore and stroke. There are just too many engines based on the same block to tell by looking at it. BT
 
I drove in the early 70's for two different guys that had 55 Ford F-800 trucks. Both had been tractors with 317 engines 5 spd trany and two speed axles. By the time I was driving these trucks both had 5 yard gravel boxes. Both were good trucks, but as always one of them was a little better. That truck almost looks like a F600 with maybe a tag axle. Hard to tell for sure.

DWF
 
It's a twin screw, but the lightest
I've ever seen. They are much smaller
than any I've seen.
 

330 or 361 FT truck engine, they look like 352/390's but have different heads, intake, exhaust manifolds, timing covers and water pumps, that one has the high mount water pump normally seen on the L series trucks.
391's only came with 4 barrel carbs, 361's usually had Holley 2 barrel carbs and different distributors, that one has a Automate 2 barrel carb making me think it's a 330.
 
definitely not original to the truck. The fan indicates it was sourced from a truck, not car or pickup. Only trucks had that high and center fan above the water pump.
 
I think it's a FT engine (361,, not FE. Pay attention to the water pump, timing cover, upper radiator hose/therm housing and center portion of the exhaust manifold center. I could be wrong as the picture is not the greatest for identification purposes. The FE/FT were similar visually and the displacement between most are difficult to impossible to determine without using casting numbers along with measuring bore/stroke.
 
About a hundred Fords had those valve covers. To me the sheet metal on the exhaust tells me it is possibly a 391 . No Ford stamping in valve covers may indicate an industrial motor. You need to read the numbers to see what you have.
 

Valve covers are mid 60's FE, FT engines used them into the early 70's. I had a chrome set designed like that on a 66 390 GT engine
FE engine came out in 58 but the FT version wasn't installed in MD trucks until 64/65.
No way to tell what size the engine is without measuring bore and stroke.
As I said before all 391's came with 4 barrel carbs, most likely it's a 330 or 361.
Worked on several of those engines over the years, the local mill I worked at still has a 71 LT-800 391 4v 5x4 trans tandem axle they use as a yard dog to move trailers around.
 
Nice find. I'd like to have the cab and front metal for my 54 F600. It is a FE type engine, if lucky, the tag is still there under an intake to head bolt. Would tell what the engine is. Brakes, well just have to do them. If you get it, start at the beginning master cylinder and go thru every part and put silicone fluid in the system. End of many brake issues with seldom used vehicles. I have cars that I did the change to silicone fluid in the late 80's and the brakes work as they should after years of sitting. Need more info, email me. George
 
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