Number conundrum

Geoff

Her's a question for the number crunchers.  I am working on a 1949 Super Six coupe, chassis number 4913482.  However, the engine number is 117379, and it has  an alloy cylinder head with the number 300006.  It was  a one-owner car until purchased by the present owner.  Original owner now deceased.  All the books say the engine number and car number should correspond.   Any clues as to what this engine  is out of?

Geoff 

Ric West IN

What is the casting number?   Partially hidden by the distributor.

300001 is 48-49.  302627 is 1950. 

Fred "Ric"

Geoff

Casting number is 304299.   Cast by CWC foundry. 

Geoff

And the code above that is E91

Ric West IN

304299  is a 1951-1953    232/262 block

50C8DAN

Geoff:

A number of years ago I noticed that my 50C8 had a serial number plate starting with 502, but it had an 8 with Supermatic and the original title for the car (I am luckily the second owner!) had the serial number starting with 504, 502 is for a C6 and 504 is for C8.  There is no indication that this was a later transplant. All the insignas labels etc. on the outside and inside the car are for a C8.  Looking at the title, it was sold in july of 1950.  The best guess is that the owner probably ordered the car not taking one off the lot and this being at the very end of the '50 model year they probably just took a car destined to be a 6 and made it an 8 on the line.   The owner when I bought it had Alzheimer's and is of course is now long deceased, so there is no way for me to know for sure.  If this was a dealer transplant it was a darn good one as Supermatic for a 6 and 8 are different setups and I don't think many would pay for the that kind of work plus all the additional labels etc.

It remains and will remain a mystery since there are no factory records to look it up.  So there are some unknowns out there.

Ric West IN

E91  = May 9th 1951  is casting date.  (at least on this engine)  

SuperDave

That makes it a wide block. Must have been done very early in the cars life. Most likely by a dealer.

Frankvintagefullflowcom

I have a '51 S-6 with a number matching narrow block 262 in it. It was either a "left over" narrow block or a replacement engine that was stamped with the correct number for the car. Who knows.

Frank

Geoff

Thanks for the input.  So what does the engine number of 117379 indicate as to what model car it is from?  Are the head bolt spacings  different between wide and narrow blocks?

Uncle Josh

Head bolt spacing is the same.  Wide block is about 1/4 inch wider on the left side

SuperDave

I think everything is interchangeable except the head and head gasket.

Geoff

Right, we have it sussed. The block is 1951, and the engine serial number matches with that. All 1951 models started from #1001, so presumably this engine was the 116,379th off the production line. In a twist of co-incidence, the owner has a spare engine in his shed, which is the original one from his car, and he did not get that with the car, but from another source! I have yet to ascertain whether the enigne is a 232 or 262, as there are no markings on the alloy head apart from the embossed number 300006. Question - did the '512 onwards alloy heads have the capacity embossed like the iron heads? Geoff

Geoff

Oops, bumble fingers, I meant to ask "51 onwards".

Frankvintagefullflowcom

Deleted twice

Geoff

Me again, with a silly question.  What does the date embossed "B513"  on my Hornet block indicate?

Ric West IN

In my research for my casting number date codes, I have seen several with either transposed or inverted  letters/numbers. Suspect Ken's analysis of 15 rather than 51 is correct.
Fred "Ric"

Geoff

Thank you gentlemen.   The engine does not match the car number, but at least is the correct year.  And my bad, because the number is obscured by the distributor, I was using a mirror to check.   The "5" is actually a "2" as seen in the mirror.  duhhh! so the actual number is B213 which finally makes sense.
Geoff