Ben Bruce aka First Born

Beautiful! Ben

Dank! I guess that does make it a 263. All 248s I have seen only have three. SO, you have a weirdo!😁. A 263 with no ribs. And like someone else said, I have never seen the side mount engine mounted in an older car. Any photos of the whole car? Ben

Just remembered another tell. The 248 has three freeze plugs, driver side, the 263 has four. If yours has only three, you have a 1950 248. Ben

Post war 248 and all 263 are 4 bolt carb mount. His engine is a 248/263 for certain. The picture shows the crankcase vent inlet at the rear, whereas the 320 is at the front Ben

Does water pump connect to head or block? Your are correct on the ribs. Although, I know of one that the fellow swears is a 263 , based on pistons he installed in it, that has no ribs. Where are you located? Ben

Well, that helps. Just not sure what. The engine is definitely a 1948 0r later as the motor mounts indicate. If I could see the water pump outlet I could tell more. I think I see the pump outlet in the top picture, left center just above the alternator. If so, this does make it a 1950 248. What is confusing me is the last digit in the number, the 5. That indicates a Super [50 series] which is a 263. Both series, 40 and 50, started 1950 with 5,624,735. 1951 started with 6,240,564. You are smack dab in the middle. Ben

If the engine number you have given is correct, you have a 1950 263 cubic inch engine. A picture of the driver side of the lower portion will help. Welcome and don't be a stranger. Ben

Scott, I am with the folks that say JUST GET IT RUNNING and drive it for awhile. It should be enjoyable as is. Have some fUN. Plenty of time to make it original. If, indeed, you must. In the end, "do what ya wanna do." Ben

DAMN. Sure glad I do not go in for judging. Sheesh!! Ben

Keith, the pal nuts, which one installs after the rod bolt nuts are torqued, are an additional insurance to prevent the nuts from backing off. If twer me, they would get installed. Don't you just love those leaky gaskets? Ben

Neil, after hearing glowing reviews, I used Rem-Flex gaskets . Can't speak to longevity as they have only been on for six months or so. Buy them from Summit racing. About the same price as the copper clad from Best Gaskets that the vendors sell. Ben

Does my daily driver '92 count in this thread? Just completed an 800 mile round trip to Rogers AR and back. Ben

Take care of yourself. The car will be there if you do or not. Bedn

If your car does not have the braided cable on the coolant sensor that attaches to the cowl, just attach a heavy wire from anywhere on the engine to any where on the body . Perhaps a 6ga or better an 8ga from the neg battery post to a bolt or large screw on the cowl. Ben

I don't remember on the '39 but my '50 body is grounded from cowl to engine head via a braided cable attached to the coolant sensor. Ben