A few years ago I bought a 59A flathead motor for my 1936 ford tudor. It had been bored, stroked and reliefed, so I thought it would be a good motor for my car. After it sat in my garage for about a year, I realized that the end of the cam was stamped GRANCOR. I did some research and found out about Andy Granatelli and GRANCOR. At the time, I just thought that someone purchased a GRANCOR cam and installed it in the motor. It wasn't until I started breaking it down that I found that the block is stamped GRANCOR also. I emailed Andy Granatelli and he told me that based on the part number on the cam, it is a street grind (not a race grind). There were some other numbers marked on the block, but Mr. Granatelli did not comment on them. I am hoping that someone might have more information about the Grancor motors. I've read alot of the threads covering the intakes and the heads, but I didn't see anyone mention anything about a motor. I added a few photos to show the stampings. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.
Just a guess but, since Granatelli was running a speed shop back in that era, it's very likely that he built engines for both racers and hot rodders. It would have been a natural for him as it would have been another outlet for his GranCor speed equipment line. If, indeed, he was building engines, he would have probably stamped his name in the block somewhere. A further possibility is that the engine was one of several he built to campaign at Indy and maybe he stamped them as a theft recovery tool. At any rate, it would not have been out of the ordinary for him to have stamped any engine he built in his shop. I'm sure many other shops did the same.
Grancor built hundreds of Ford V8s in the forties and fifties. Do a web search for the MI Ford, built by Grancor in 1950, for Tom McCahill, and written up in Mechanix Illustrated magazine. McCahill said this series of articles created more interest than anything else he ever wrote, and he got letters about it for years. "Hopping-up and hot-rodding, as it used to be, does not seem to have the appeal that it once had when we ran the MI Ford story back in February 1950. With Andy Granatelli of Chicago, we took a standard 1949 Ford Tudor sedan and gently hopped it up, showing the readers each step we made and exactly how much it cost. This was one of our biggest stories of all. That MI Ford could do 0-60 in ten seconds flat and had a top of 112 mph." From "My Ten Years of Car Testing". MI, 1956.
Thank you for the tip about the article. I did some research and found the 1956 "My Ten Years of Car Testing" article. The original article "How To Hop Up Your Car" was published in the February 1950 issue. It sounds like it would be a good article.
This is a cool "catalog." I contacted Vince about the motor and this is what he said, "If you have one of the Grancor performance engines, the ports were polished and block was relieved to enhance the fuel and exhaust flow. They were also balanced and some were stroked. You might have an engine that was balanced and a Grancor cam installed. The heads were probably milled to increase compression..."
Something else cool about this motor. In my email to Andy Granatelli, I told him that I was looking for some Grancor heads to put on the motor. He told me buy Edelbrock heads if I couldn't find any. In his last email, he told me to call Vic Edelbrock and tell him that he told me to call him. After waiting awhile, about 6 months, I finally called Edelbrock and asked for Vic Edelbrock. They forwarded to me to his secretary. He wasn't at his desk, but she told me to leave a message or send him an email. I opted for the email. The next day I got a call from Vic Edelbrock. I couldn't believe it. I told him about the motor and we talked about the Grancor heads and Edelbrock heads and some history of Edelbrock and Grancor. We talked about 20 minutes. It was an awsome conversation. He was a great guy to talk with.
what a cool find! I would only put Grancor heads on that engine! does it have an intake? where did you find it? what was it in?
I bought the engine locally. I didn't know it was marked Grancor at the time. I traced it back to the previous owner who didn't realize it was a Grancor motor either. He bought it from a guy who had it stored in a hangar out at the local airport. I asked him if it had Grancor heads on it when he owned it, but he said it didn't. One of the local guys new of a guy who had some stuff at the airport, so I'm going to dig a little deeper to see what I can find out. So, it didn't have any Grancor heads or intake. It's got hollow adjustable lifters and Elgin pistons. It has a Weber Tool Co. aluminum flywheel with LA 63-CALIF. marked on it. I'm not sure the significance of that. I'm in search for a set of Grancor heads and intake. I'd hate to put anything other than that on it. Do you have a set you want to sell...?
A very cool story, I hope you find a good set of heads and an intake to put on that motor, it deserves it. Unfortunately GRANCOR stuff has a following and moderately pricey. but I think for this motor given its heritage it will be worth every penny.
I talked to Joe Granatelli in 2,010...he had 1 set of new Grancor heads he had kept, (59 AB type) He was motivated to sell them, think he wanted $700 the pair. I forward the info to 3 friends, as I was short on funding at the time.
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