Thread: 1936 Ford Cabriolet

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I have located a 1936 Ford Cabriolet that I'm wanting to purchase, and it has a 59 ab engine. Can anyone out there till me is that like to 85 stud?

Thanks
Rudy

Don't know what you mean by 85 stud. Flahead either came with 21 or 24 studs. Yours was either a 1938-48 and 49-53 Cubic inch was 239.

Originally Posted by chevy 37

Don't know what you mean by 85 stud. Flahead either came with 21 or 24 studs. Yours was either a 1938-48 and 49-53 Cubic inch was 239.

It's probably an 85 horsepower/221 cu in engine vs it's little baby the V8-60, which only had 136 cubic inches (the 239 didn't arrive until '39.)

http://www.35pickup.com/mulligan/fhtime.htm

If you look at the chart Dave linked to the 59ab is a '46-48 engine.

Originally Posted by IC2

It's probably an 85 horsepower/221 cu in engine vs it's little baby the V8-60, which only had 136 cubic inches (the 239 didn't arrive until '39.)

http://www.35pickup.com/mulligan/fhtime.htm

Thanks Dave your chart was a big help, very much appreciated.

Rudy

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

If you look at the chart Dave linked to the 59ab is a '46-48 engine.

Thank you Uncle Bob, I appreciated your response.

Rudy

Gee this is interesting to me. If the heads say 59-AB and there are 24 studs on each side it is indeed a '46-'48 engine. That would not be unusual since it was fairly common to replace the earlier 21 stud original engine with the later model as a simple bolt-in. Although the oil pressure tended to be low in those engines they can be pepped up quite a bit and have insert bearings compared to the very early babbit bearing blocks; a high pressure oil pump is available from Speedway. Although it is common to replace a flathead with a more modern engine that also requires replacing the drive line usually since just using an adaptor plate to the early transmission will probably result in the early demise of the transmission. The KEY QUESTION is whether the 59-AB RUNS and does not "drink water". If the engine loses water over a fairly short time it might be a good idear to pull the heads off and check for one or more cracks; particularly between a valve and a cylinder wall. If found, then ditch the engine BUT if you have a solid block just dress it up with finned aluminum heads and maybe a two-pot intake and engoy the nostalgia. If it were mine and the block checked out I would rebuild it with a cleanup bore and a stroker crank and enjoy it. Just my opinion but I would not overbore it more than to 3 5/16" and preferably just a clean up bore if proper pistons are available because overboring ito 3 3/8" is risky in my opinion and will lead to overheating and cracking, again only my opinion. Depending on your age the nostalgia might be meaningless, but if it were me I would try to get it running as a mildly warmed over flathead. For me the nostalgia would be foremost and it would be a "time-machine" for me! You may note that a cabriolet is somewhat of a rare model and it may be have been semi-restored in the past and may be in good shape. Just my two cents but I would check it out before I would discard the 59-AB.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Thank you Don for your response, it was very much appreciated. I went and checked the car yesterday and I'm going to be buying it.

Rudy