Howdy, According to Van Pelt Sales Engine ID, might be a Mercury or Ford....1945 - 1948. It has 24 studs and nuts, the center water jacket has a triangular hole on top in the center of the head and two round holes below the triangular one. The engine manifold surface is machined flat, not raised. The bell housing is part of the block and the distributor is located in the back of the block. The heads are: "Mercury 8CM" with the water inlet in the center of the head above the triangular hole. The Intake manifold has four mounting studs for the carburetor. Here is something interesting I am having trouble deciphering. On the flat engine intake surface towards the front of the motor there is a series of letters & numbers punched into the surface : R-9 9-8016 M and below the letter "M"are three letters : CAL Anyone know what those numbers & letters mean ? Ford or Lincoln/Mercury Engine ? Truck Engine ? Does "CAL" mean it came from a California Assembly Plant ? Does " M " mean it is a Mercury ?
Show us a pic of these 8CM heads with the center water neck. And, Fomoco flatheads had distributors in the front, not back. I've got no idea what you are looking at but it's not normal.
I am just going by what the Van Pelt Sales "Engine ID." stated. I'll get some pictures and figure out how to post them.
Yeh, in the early fifties, before Ford put OHVs into Lincolns they had some 300plus cid engines in their luxo cars. The large trucks likewise. Dizzy at the rear. Friend of mine having the Chevy distributor conversion done this winter by Bubba. Speed equipment ultra rare - his runs a dual carb. Yours will be neither the 239 nor the 255.
49 - 51 Lincoln flathead, used in Ford F8 trucks up to 1958, had the dist at the back. Was never used in mercury. Mercury 8cm is a 255 cu in mercury head. Parts do not interchange between these engines so something is off somewhere.
sounds like someone just threw some incorrect spare heads in with the sale, but yea it's probably the big flathead if the distributor is in the rear.
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