Ford 215/223/262?

[Devilleish]

I'm sitting here with two different 1953 Ford kits (AMT F100 and Lindberg Victoria) and was wondering if anyone made a six that would be correct for these? They look like I could modify a Chevy 235 if I absolutely had to but I'd like to start with something as close as possible to the right engine. The 144/170/200/250 is a much different engine, as is the later truck 240/300. 

[bisc63]

 

9 minutes ago, Devilleish said:

was wondering if anyone made a six that would be correct for these?

Good luck. I asked about a 223-6 for a '59 Ford (Edsel) project a while back, and got no response. Not much out there for older inlines, I'm afraid. The oldest recently available is in the Moebius '66 Ford pickup, but I think it's the wrong one.

[leafsprings]

Kitchen Table Resins used to offer it, but like so many, no longer available.Ford 223 OHV 6 Resin Kit album | Ken Kitchen | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.  The 215 was the original version introduced in '52, got punched out to 223 in '54 and used up to '64. 262 was the truck only version.

Edited May 15, 2021 by leafsprings

[Devilleish]

This is pretty much what I was afraid of. Not made of unobtanium but it's probably not going to be easy to find. Even if a later 262 was available in a truck kit it could be used as the basis for the 215 with a few changes. I have a bit of experience with a few of these engines in 1:1 applications and really like inlines in general. I'm especially interested in it for the F100 when I get to building that one. 

[RSchnell]

23 minutes ago, Devilleish said:

This is pretty much what I was afraid of. Not made of unobtanium but it's probably not going to be easy to find. Even if a later 262 was available in a truck kit it could be used as the basis for the 215 with a few changes. I have a bit of experience with a few of these engines in 1:1 applications and really like inlines in general. I'm especially interested in it for the F100 when I get to building that one. 

I've been looking for the same thing and came up dry. I ran a 223 in a '55 Ford Wagon for years & have a '56 Ford Sedan with a 223 now. Nice to see someone local, I'm over near Lakeland.

[leafsprings]

The early 50's Chevy 216 is very similar to the Ford 215, the AMT '51 Chevy maybe the best donor. ( valve cover bolts on top ) AMT 1/25 1951 Chevy Straight Six Cylinder Engine& Manual Trans Parts Lot | eBay

Edited May 15, 2021 by leafsprings

[Devilleish]

20 hours ago, leafsprings said:

The early 50's Chevy 216 is very similar to the Ford 215, the AMT '51 Chevy maybe the best donor. ( valve cover bolts on top ) AMT 1/25 1951 Chevy Straight Six Cylinder Engine& Manual Trans Parts Lot | eBay

I hunted that auction down before I had realized that you linked directly to it and am now the one with the only bid on it so far. It appears to be a relatively simple conversion to make a passable 215 and I might be able to use an Offenhauser valve cover and split exhaust manifold I have. Since I have to build the intake I'll make a dual carb setup for it. 

[bisc63]

Not sure what displacement it represents, but the six in the AMT '37 Chevy has a dual carb manifold and other goodies you might adapt and save some scratch-building. See nice pics of kit pieces and instruction sheet in this thread, scroll down about 2/3 of the page:

 

[Skip]

Did this about a year ago on a '53 F100 commission build.  I used the 6 out of the Mobius Ford F100 pickup (eBay engine only), to replicate the earlier Ford 215" engine.  

First you will need to cut the block from the bellhousing plate and reverse ends so that the Intake, exhaust and ignition system is all on the right sides.  If you are careful slicing the bellhousing end plate off of the engine block there should only be a little flat sheet and a tiny bit of filler added to the front of the block to square things up for the front cover.  I think I also had to reverse the direction of the oil pan to fit the AMT '53.  The Mobius kit also came with motor mounts which I used to mount the engine in the AMT '53.

From there you will need either the valve cover from a Chevrolet strait six.   Or as I did scratch build the valve cover which is not even as difficult as it sounds.  First radius sides and ends, file in the three sets of double grooves, add some nuts and studs and you've got it!  I found it easier to make the valve cover slightly under sized to the top of the block to fool the eye into seeing the "Lip" on the bottom of the valve cover.

I made an intake manifold and triple carb setup to match the engine in the truck.  Then created the dual exhaust manifolds by slicing and dicing two Left hand side small block Ford cast iron manifolds.  

After that the engine assembles the same as the Mobius six did.  I used the transmission from the AMT '53 Ford on the modified/reversed engine setup.

My customer was very pleased with the conversion, and I ended up with a ton of early Hot Rod type parts for my stash!  When doing engine swaps and conversions like this, the eBay kit breakers are your friend you get the parts you need without buying the whole kit.

Edited May 17, 2021 by Skip
Autocorrect, over corrected again!

[bisc63]

Skip, that engine conversion would have made a nice WIP here!