So I am trying to swap a '49 8BA into my coupe that is currently equipped with a 59AB. I thought the 8BA water pump pedestal mounts would be the same but after taking some measurements I realized the 8BA is 1.5" wider. Before I go buy a bunch of parts that wont work, can someone please point me in the right direction? I saw the Speedway pumps are wide belt, where mine is narrow. So if I put the Speedway pumps on then I would have to change the crank pulley. It looks like the wide belt pulley (link below) has the wide/narrow belt locations different than my motor is set up. Would I have to change by fan pulley as well? I dont even know if this motor is a runner! I'm trying to get out of this as cheap as possible if anyone has advice. PULLEY
Yes. You will have to change out the crank pulley. You can find the wide belt crank and fan pulleys all over the place. The trucks had wide belts on them. These truck pullies are what we like for the AV8 builds. You can still use the narrow belts if you want to make your self some motor mounts for them but this would be a waste of time and effort. The wide belt pulleys are longer in the nose of the water pump pulley. This is why you need to change out the crank pulley to match. Also, you will no doubt go from a six volt system to a 12 volt and will need to swap out the generator pulley for a wide belt. And if you do, you will need to go to an alternator instead of a generator for best results. Sent from my SM-G930T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
FWIW. From the picture looks like the generator on it now has a wide belt pulley and possibly misaligned, maybe why the front edge of the belt is frayed? Ed
With the speedway pumps, your motor mount issue will be solved. It looks like your pumps would lower the engine in the frame quite a bit too, definitely need to change those.
Boy, from the looks of the erosion on the water outlets, that engine may be in sad shape. I've never seen them that bad. Hopefully, you'll get lucky!
The pumps you have are narrow-belt '50-'51 Mercury . You can use them by finding original Mercury, or fabing U-shaped spacers about 1 5/8" high that will relocate the mount holes to the 59A/8BA truck spacing. This will save having to change the pumps and crank pulley. But, as RidgeRunner pointed out, the generator pulley is for the 5/8" wide belt and should be changed for a 3/8" narrow belt, and then correcting the belt alignment. Below is a Merc pump comparison and the spacers used.
Memory says the 59AB and the 8BA fan belts were different distances from the block...if you are going to change pumps there may not be room for the 8BA distributer shaft between the 59AB belt and block... my failing memory says the drive gears on the cams thrust in opposite directions... IMO...use the cam gear and the distributer that go with the pumps you are going to use...
Since you dont know if it will run and you want to get out cheap, the best thing to do is tear it down to the bare block and clean and inspect everything. Dont just crank it up and think its gonna be OK I fully expect for you to ignore this advice. You will learn the hard way
As a detail, life will be simpler if you just toss the pumps and buy the truck ones. Mount positions are where you want them, and they are easy to get...you don't want to have to seek out Merc pumps if you have a failure. Convert remaining pulleys to wide, carry a spare belt.
I'm running the Merc narrow belt pumps with the U shaped spacers on the 8ba in my '39 p/u with no issues BUT the Merc pumps aren't repopped so you'll need to have a spare set in case a pump goes out. I had Skip rebuild the ones on the truck and another set for spares.
Thanks for the advice fellas. Will I need to change the fan belt pulley as well or will it stay the same. @manyolcars, thanks for the advice. It's one I follow regularly but won't on this particular project. The 59AB in my car is a bit tired so I'm rolling the dice with this motor I got from my buddy who said it was a runner years ago. Reality is, I don't have the $$ for a rebuild and barely have the motivation to actually put this thing on the road. It's been more of a pain in the ass than anything and I just want to get it road worthy as cheap as possible. I've got plenty of other things I'd rather spend my money on than a 100hp stock flathead rebuild. I appreciate your input though. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
@slopppy jalopies The pumps advertised on Speedway day the belt is a specific distance from mounting surface. I will take measurements before purchasing to verify fitment. Thanks for the heads up. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Fan belt location simply requires you to use the crank pulley that goes with the pumps and the other front end parts. 59A is very close to block, later engines moved it out to clear the sideways distributor. For using truck pumps , '48-52 truck and '49 (only) Ford and Merc had wide belt setups. No need to measure anything, just get late hardware and generator, pumps, and crank will align. If you get a '48 or earlier crank pulley it will be far enough off that you cannot miss it!
yes building a flathead can be expensive actually very expensive. but i love them have you had the heads off yet?
Another thing about '49-53 that really hung me up before I figured it out...the seal area on the pulley! The crank pulley passes through the front seal and has a slightly reduced area there usually with a spiral groove. Up through the 59A engine, that is an integral part of the pulley. Most early versions of the 8BA type, through 1949 roughly, also have it there. Later ones, call it '50-53, have the pulley cut off there and the seal part made as a separate ring of steel. Don't ever ask me about the day I spent 45 years ago trying to install a '49 truck pulley onto a '52 engine in a very dark garage...
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