Thread: 58 Merc Big Block

Tweet

Hi, sorry to bug you guys again, but....
The vin # on the 58 is M8Za515083.
All the vin sites say this is wrong ( not enough caracters ) , they are wrong, for this number appears twice on the car. Can anyone help ? I'm just tryin ta ID the motor without a tear down. engine # 4-7BR1
Bill

Carfax and sites like it will not take any vin from a car 1980 or older, in 1981 they hada standardized 17 charecter, b4 1981, cars had 10- whatever amount of charecters so, carfax only works with the 17 charecter standardized system.

Offhand I don't see an "M" code for the FE engine when reading the link posted (cool btw!) for the 58-59 vin id. Maybe it's a Y block possibly?? I have W for the 58 and 59 361 and B for the 59 352. I'm far from a Y block buff just a guess on the M. Also it's possible a FE was swapped into as this is a popular change some make if you have verified the engine family already. G.

58 Merc's used the MEL 383 and some may have come through with the 430. Hard to tell from my book. But no Y Blocks and no FE's. The 383 and 430 does use the same bellhousing pattern as the FE's though. I put a 3spd with OD for a 58 Ford 352 in my 59 Monterey in 1964 when I was in high school. (Kept ruining the Cruise-O-matic, HEHEHEHE)

Denny,

My "The Complete Ford Book" (Peterson Publishing Company, Copyright 1970) list the 383 in two versions and the 430 in three versions for the Lincoln and Mercury for 1958. I know the Lincoln didn't use the 383 (shorter stroke but same bore as the 430). But they list a 430 w/3-2v which should be the Merc Turnpike Cruiser motor. These 5 motors are the only ones listed. The Edsel for 58 only list a 361 and a 410. the 361 is FE based with 4.05 bore and 3.50 stroke. the 410 is MEL based with a 4.20 bore and a 3.70 stroke.
P.S. Using Streets link above breaks down the VIN and tells us that the M is the engine ID but doesn't tell us what the M stands for. I purused the site for quite a while and couldn't find a break down for the engine codes.

Thanks for all the help Guy's !!!

As I mentioned in the other post, only the Mercury Parklane had the 430 in 1958. The three two barrel setup was an option, but is extremely rare, though I did see one advertised on Ebay a while back..
All the other Mercury models had the 383 as the largest engine option. Most had the 312 Y block, and certain models could be ordered with the straight six. Mercury didn't start offering the FE series engines until 1961. Lincolns initially had the 430 starting in 1958 and later had the larger 462 version. Hard to believe that Ford strangled these engines with a two barrel carb in later years before the engine was dropped for the new and much lighter 460.

John

TD, you must be looking at the wrong book. the 312 wasn 't offered in the 58 Merc. Only the 383 and the 430, period. 59 offered the 312 as the basic motor , but very few Merc's came off the production line with them.

Duane,

I'ts been a long while since I worked on my brothers 58 Merc, so I could be wrong. Still, I do believe that the 312 was available in 58 Mercs that were sold in Canada, where I grew up, but I'd have to look up some old info that my brother has on them.
I do know that the 430 was only engine available in the Parklane that year, with no other option. The other Mercs could be had with the 383., but not the 430. Agreed?

John

Well, Yeah, John, I'll buy that. In Canada they might have put in the 312's. I know that Ford of Canada did things differently. By the way my 96 Lincoln Contiental Annniversary car was produced in Canada and originally sold in Canada. Imagine that.

Hi Duane,

Looked up the Canadian Service manual, it listed the 430 only being available in the Parklane, also had the 312, 383 for other models.
Looks like a Canada only thing, much like GM putting chevy sixes and V8's in Pontiacs when they would otherwise have had 389's or 421's.
Thanks for the info, always learning someting new.

John

Thanks for the info John. I kind of figured that was the answer. But it is nice to know.