390FE from Montgomery Ward!!!?wtf...

Has anyone ever come across something like this? I have a '59 Ranchero with a 390 from a 63 T-bird. Atleast thats what the intake manifold says. In the process of getting her back on the street i broke out the cherry picker today to pull the motor and install a new trans, and i noticed a serial type plate on the block under the water pump...I'm pretty sure it says montgomery ward with some specs stamped in; Bore .040, Rods .10, Mains.020
So is this still a 390? Anyone know of any information about MWards working on cars....?? Im lost.

 

Probably a rebuilt short block bought out of a catalog back in the day.

 

Looks like a reman. info tag. I didn't know monkey wards sold reman. engines.

 

Its a rebuild that M wards probably installed, they had car centers, full service up to, i want to say early 70 's around here.

 

As above , it a reman/reco tag . Do an intro before you get yourself a real nice trial followed by a mighty fine hangin.....

 

Pretty common back in the late 60's--early 70's. My dad had a Chevy 6 cyl. replace at our Monkey Wards in about 1969. I remember he bitched about the price--my mom said it was around $300.00.

 

They had really big full service centers back in the good old days.

 

This is one of the newspaper clippings I saved, I remodeled a bathroom and there were a bunch of papers stuffed in the walls for insulation. They were mostly dated 1951.

Here's the rest if anyone is interested

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=302390

 

All the department stores had car repair centers, we had a JC Penney behind us growing up and we would play outside picking up old spark plugs and other pieces that we thought were neat-o.

 

I once (in a past life) was a service writer at the Montgomery Wards in Omaha

JC Penney had a Speed Shop program in the late '60s early '70s and if I remember correctly was very AMC heavy ??!!??

 

thanks everyone. Yeah no intro here 4t6. I guess thats why my sh*t still says FNG..I appreciate the quick resonse guys. Cant wait to see whats inside...

 

I worked for monkey ward auto dept I was the front end guy alignments and such ,we did sell and install reman. engines.

 

I had a 49 Ford not long ago with one of the SEARS ALLSTATE flatheads.

 

The very old Monkey Wards building on the corner of Michigan Ave. and Schaefer Rd. in Dearborn had a auto service repair center... They did all kinds of auto repair work there...... I'd keep that tag on the block if you plan to restore it..

 

My Dad had a Sears rebuilt motor in his '36 Chevy 2 door sedan, this was in the mid-fifties.

 

There's a reason this says READ THIS FIRST http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44274

Now go do it

 

In the 70's one of the guy's from my hometown of Centereach NY ran Figure 8's at Islip Speedway which at that time was a 6 cylinder only division. (The flatheads were long gone as far as being competitive).

He also was the service manager for the Sears auto center the next town over and was able to "Warranty" out some slant 6 motors that failed prematurely.

He was a very competitive driver in his slant 6 powered race car...

 

You need to dig around in the glove box and see if you can find the warranty papers !!! >>>>.

 

I had a Merc flathead in my '53 Ford with a Montgomery Wards tag on it too. My dad bought a new Road Runner back in '69, said he bought some Mickey Thompson brand mag wheels at Prange Way a week later. Not sure if they were nation wide or just a regional/Wisconsin thing, but I thought Prange's was just a clothing store.

 

I have a 1972 Wards catalog here on the shelf above my desk. A remanufactured 390 long block cost $390 with exchange, $480 outright. One year/12,000 mile warrantee. The catalog number was X61 B 15487 F.

 

I remember drooling over the "mag" wheels as we called them back then, in the Penney's catalog. This was mid-70's, even.

 

1976 monkey wards catalog.

We got a rebuilt 383 for our plymouth wagon in 1974 from MW, when it died somewhere between Ensenada and Tucson.

 

Yeah, it's a 390 +.040 overbore, so whzat, McTim? about 401? Back in the day everybody sold reman engines. Lucky Auto, Western Auto, Sears, MWards. I can remember looking at a flattie block .120 over, and my Dad saying no way, it wouldn't be reliable, and the salesman with the ducktail haircut rolling his eyes!

 

Yep, I've got a pair of their Cheater Slicks in my garage.

 

I wouldn't bet a lot of money on it being a 390. It could be but it could be a 352 short block from Wards with the 4bbl intake installed when it was replaced.

I don't think Wards ever rebuilt any engines. They were most likely purchased by Wards from a subcontractor.

 

...and one of my '60s J.C. Whitney catalogs even lists USED engines!

 

Back in 1957, I froze up and cracked the block in my ’47 Ford coupe. Real shame there - bored, cam, low mileage. Still in high school and short on cash. I bought a reman short block at Sears. Picked up the short block at Sears, did the swap under the tree in the back yard, then took back the old (cracked) short block for a core charge refund. Had a chainfall in that tree year round for me and my buddies to use.
<O
Sears rebuild was an o.k. engine, but way down on power from my hopped up original. Sold the car to a friend, and it ended up with a Cad engine, later and Olds when my brother bought it a few years later.

 

Late '60's, the MW in Carlisle, PA where I went to college had a Merc flathead (don't lust, a display engine would have been built from cracked discards and shiny paint!) as the display engine in their auto department. The store was equivalent to a Western Auto, hoses, belts, accessories, enough tools for a tinkerer. Engines, like most production rebuilds, had nothing to do with the actual store, they came from a big factory type rebuilder with a customized tag for MW or Sears or whatever.
Some amateur stock car racers ran these engines...new engine each season, turn in last year's for the exchange and go racing cheap!

 

I helped a buddy do an Allstate swap on his flathead '52 Plymouth in 1976 or so, still running today. It was painted some greenish-blue color and we had to swap the oil pans on it.

The old block had to be returned for a ($80) core and we dropped it off at a local Sears loading dock.

Bob

 

Once upon a time, anything could be ordered from a Montgomery Wards or Sears catalog, and I do mean ANYTHING, and their stores echoed the one stop shopping philosophy. Both had full service auto centers in the cities, as Sears still does. Their catalogs listed houses, tractors, cars, car parts, motorcycles, firearms, and anything else you could think of. I got my my favorite 22 at Montgomery Wards on my 12th birthday. It was like shopping for groceries, you got the gun in one aisle, the ammo in another. That was 47 years ago, but I still remember the $14 tag on my Remington 581. Salesman: "Young man, please don't load your new gun in the store."