Technical Flathead fitment

I have a ford flathead that is anywhere from 1938 to about 1940 on a 35 to 40 frame and the previous owner put three front mounts under the water pump to clear the oil pan from the U bolts on the front crossmember. Does anybody have any idea why this is this way? Someone has told me I need the engine mount adapters for earlier frames I spent the $50 and they will not fix my problem

 

Engine looks post-1938. have you figured out what frame is? It must be pre-1937 or engine would fall into place.
'35-6 engine mounts are higher on engine, and so need the U-shaped Ford adapters to approximate the height of the extra biscuits. I think that must be the basic problem here...?
Is engine bolted to a mounted transmission now, to fully set fore and aft location?

 

What is that flathead sitting in?
Looks like a truck pump to me.

Measure how much more room than one of those spacers you're going to need and get some .120" - .188" box or rectangular tubing, cut/fashion to taste, and drill it out.

 

Yeah Bruce everything is mounted inside a 36 Ford pick up with ******, torque tube, and rear end. What I am trying to do is drop the front of the motor down so that it will sit level. I'm not exactly sure on the year of the frame but I thought they were all the same from 35 to 40.

 

I did buy the adapters for engine front support for 37 to 48 engine but my problem is the oil pan is going to hit that front crossmember

 

With single sheave main pulley, they're likely p***enger pumps, but mounting leg is the same on both types. The Ford spacer, I think 41A prefix in the repro catalogs, should be the right thickness for what is probably a '35 or 6 frame.
If you want a reference on right al***ude for motor it should be level and should clear if you put a rod through the hand-crank hole in grill and point it to center of crank pulley, with engine mounted at its rear end of course.
Your '39 type crank pulley should occupy exactly same space as the truck's original engine except for its ceter snout, which should be irrelevant.

 

Yes 41A is what I bought but I feel if I put those in there will maybe be 1/8 of an inch from the front U bolts hitting that pan.

 

Add a couple washers! And make sure you have good quality rubber that is rather hard. Some of the repro pads are very soft rubber, not at all like real Ford ones. The system is pretty solid, and you don't need a whole lot of clearance.

 

Awesome Bruce Thanks! But the sad part is the front of the engine is still a little high. Any thoughts

 

Don't know for sure, I only mess with '32 and 48...but I believe the 41 A adapter applies to '33-36 Fords retrofitted with 24 stud replacement motors and I don't think the al***ude difference was exactly the same!
Squeeze adapter down in a vise or something! Or make a new one, as shown by Patmanta, out of whatever is the right thickness.
I believe correct stack re Ford replacements is actual mount bolted as original to frame and into adapter with stock Ford through bolt, adapter bolted solid to water pump. Something else, '32-36 biscuit has a smaller shoulder where it fits into frame. Using a '37-48 piece might well elevate the mount away from frame a bit right there!

 

That's the crossmember and that's about how far that needs to fit the spacers and mounts give it about 2 paper widths of clearance on the oil pan

 

I think your Oil Pan may be the real issue here.

Can we see a pic of it?

I'm not too familiar with parts for that gen of flathead, but I'm pretty sure there are a few different oil pans. I would try to find one with a good amount of relief up front and a rear sump.

 

I don't know the answer to your problem, but I can tell you it's not a '40 frame. They have a raised boss on the crossmember, higher than the rail right next to it. I'd guess '38 and '39 frames would be the same also. So you must have a '35-36-ish frame.

 

You bet as soon as I get home I'll snap a picture, thanks.

 

I was told 1935 - 1940 were the same frame. Good to know.

 

'35-40 frames are the same shape, but there are dozens of differences, some of which you just found! Along with mount changes between '36 and '37, these frames over the years had 3 different brakes systems, 2 1/2 different steerings, 2 different clutch lever systems, at least two very different trans mounts, variations for all the different radiators and front sheetmetal, etc.
This stuff is only unimportant on a street rod where all functional parts are cut away and replaced with modern stuff.
On the pan...I think there is very little difference in shape between all the '35-48 pans.

 

Yeah I just found that out I've been doing research on front crossmembers from 35 to 40 and holy smokes there are a ton of differences! You guys rock thank you so much for your help and ***istance

 

Not the best photos but I've done a little bit of research and I truly believe 839 or 40 crossmember is the ticket now I just need to find one of those for under 50 bucks

 

First I thought you may have had a set of later merc pumps, that was my only answer. I would just build some solid steel spacers and ditch that hokey 3 rubber set up, it'll sway around like a mother****er set up like that.

 

Curious, how exactly does a mother****er sway? Is it something like this or does she have to be a mother? Just curious...

 

It's kinda like a mating ritual of some sort.