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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / V-8 production numbers

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Posted By Discussion Topic: V-8 production numbers     Dale Fairfax 12-13-2012 @ 4:52 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 20 Joined: Oct 2009 Something I've never seen is a number representing the total production of Flathead V-8 engines from 1932 thru 1954. There have been plenty of production stats on CARS produced (with various 4-6-8 cylinder engines) during that period but never, to my knowledge any figures on just engines-which were used in several applications other than cars. To include 1954 implies Canadian production but obviously there were also European versions as well. Do such numbers exist as a matter of record? Stroker 12-13-2012 @ 7:59 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Dale: That would be an interesting number! Would you include the French military engines, and the V8-60's that were in european cars in the 50's? Dale Fairfax 12-13-2012 @ 2:07 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 20 Joined: Oct 2009 I'd be happy to see a U.S./Canadian number for 221/239/255 engines but anything additional like V-8 60, English, French & German would be frosting on the cake. Stroker 12-13-2012 @ 5:29 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Dale: Now all we need is someone knowledgeable Ford-O-Phile to go the the Benson Ford Archives and give us an answer. Someone correct me though. If a person knew what the last transmission number was on a 53 Ford car and truck, wouldn't that give a reasonable guess as to how many Flatmotors made it into things that move? In my background, we had lots-O-stuff with Flatmotors that didn't move, and I don't know how you would account for air-compressors, pumps, generators, wind machines, military equipment and so-on. I'd guess "The Benson" would be the only place on earth that MIGHT have a total. Chime-in Fordophile's! Dan TomO 12-14-2012 @ 2:09 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 Stroker, The 221 cu in series started with 18-001 and ended in 1942 - 45 (not sure exactly when) the 239 series started in 1939 and ended in 1948. The 49-53 Fords have their own serial number sequence and the Mercury of those years are another series. Up to 1942 there were about 6,925,898 221 cu in engines and up to 1948 there were about 2,374,315 239 cu in engines. I say about because these are the serial numbers for the cars. Ford built other engines and I have no idea of how those serial numbers were assigned. I doubt that a few days at the Benson Ford would provide a much more accurate account. You need to know exactly what you are searching for before you start into the Archives, or else you will waste many hours looking at material that has no relevance to your search. Tom Stroker 12-14-2012 @ 4:24 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 TomO: I've never been to the "Benson", the nearest I have been to the "Cradle of Ford", was in 1953, at the tender age of 13, when dad dropped me off at the Rotunda to take a tour of the Rouge. I took notes, as I was expected to deliver a report to my grade school class upon my return. I'll probably never visit The Benson, but I suspect you are correct that it would be a challenge to find total flathead casting numbers. I do recall, after some 59 years, a large several acre "stockpile" of blocks that were weathering (ageing), outdoors on pallets for future applications. Since 53 was the last year that these motors were installed in Ford products, those acre's of blocks must have ultimately ended up as replacements. Who really knows how many flathead castings were produced? Today, we have a new source of flatheads, thanks to the French Army surplus, and a few dedicated folks like my fellow Rod Riders Racing Team member Don Fergueson Jr., who is re-creating blocks, to complement his re-production of Ardun hemispherical overhead valve cylinder heads. Perhaps we will never know the total number. Thank You for sharing the numbers you have! Dan TomO 12-18-2012 @ 8:11 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 I went once and can tell you that it was a frustrating experience. I had the P/N of all of the parts that I wanted engineering drawings for, but their equipment to print the micro fiche was so antiquated and unreliable that I only satisfied 1/4 of my research. The equipment would only print 1/4 of a drawing at a time and you had to paste them together to get a complete drawing. I tried to scan the drawings into the my computer, but found that the scale did not match after doing this. The production numbers for cars was missing because of the fire in the 50's. I don't think that Ford kept production numbers on component parts. Tom

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