Hi to all and a happy 4th! I am trying to ID an engine and would normally be able to do so except there are no numbers stamped on the boss above the water jacket. There are, however, two sets of numbers forged into the block. They are located on each side of the water jacket and just below the boss where the number would normally be stamped. The number to the left is 16 and the number to the right is 82813. Other info I can provide is that this engine has two valve covers instead of one. It also has screw in freeze plugs with the square drive hole. Any ideas? Thanks!

You have what is probably a late 1913 or early 1914 model engine. Looks to be august 28, 1913 casting date. That is a nice engine to have.

Phil,

James is correct on the dating -- see: http://mtfca.com/encyclo/E.htm#eng2 the 12-08-13 entry where they removed 1/2 inch pipe plugs from the water jacket. Note there would have been some time of overlap when both styles were used. That date is when the drawing was changed – it took a while to get all the molds and machining switched over.

Thanks also to Phil Mino for the picture below that works well from about 1913 to sometime in 1918 or so for USA blocks:



Note also that since your block does NOT have a serial number, it most likely was sold as a bare block. When Ford assembled the engine and transmission the Factory stamped a serial number on the assembly. But many blocks were produced that were not assembled into a complete engine and transmission. They were NOT stamped with a serial number but instead were shipped to Ford dealers as “parts.” They would be used to replace a customer’s damaged block. If a Ford dealer replaced a block, they were instructed by Ford to stamp the original car’s engine number back onto the replacement block to keep the records straight for that car. Since your block does not have a serial number on the serial number pad, it was most likely was replaced sometime in the past by someone other than a Ford dealer (there were lots of mechanics) or it is just a NOS block and has never been installed. There is also a slim chance the number was ground off – but in that case the pad will appear very low.

Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 Model T Ford touring cut off and made into a pickup truck and l907 Model S Runabout. Sumter SC.

Thanks, as always, for the great help I receive on this forum!