DSpringer

My father dropped a '49 Merc V-8 into my '41 in 1950. Now I am running a '42 V-12 (based on the silver painted cast iron heads marked 26H), but who knows? Anyone want a complete, running '49 Merc engine? Before I found the V-12 I planned to put it back in and bought an NOS fuel pump, rebuilt the carb, reseated the valves, and installed new valve seals and gaskets. Off the subject, Commander Cody played Hot Rod Lincoln at our local venue tonight. Still bugs me they changed the lyric to "V-8."

Nice, Erik! Who did your valves? Still split valve guides or did you replace them with one piece guides? Lots of good information on this forum about ignition.

Here's a diagram of the breaker-resistor panel under the dash. #6 & 7 go to the coils. Battery power comes in on #24. The color codes match the wiring diagram in the manual and the numbers are the ones used by Narragansett for their reproduction harnesses.

Love to see the piping diagram. I've got a lot to learn if I'm ever going to put in a Columbia. -Dave

My '41 sedan was also in the family since new and I finally got it done (if that can ever be claimed) in November. I've learned a lot from this forum, particularly people like Dee Peecher, and from the club magazine. Shoot me an email at daspring42@gmail.com and I'll help you get a copy of the V12 Engine Repair Manual. We look forward to hearing about your progress. Send pictures.

LeBaron Bonney in Amesbury Mass is another good source, though I got most of the material I needed from SMS. Don't expect a perfect match. www.lebaronbonney.com 800-221-5408

Have you tried Merv Adkins? 909-224-8562.

I had one for awhile while in high school. Hot little car, but the axles broke easily.

Thanks Ralph & Dee. Pulled the filter canister and found the orifice on the side of the center tube. It looks clear and I could run a wire through it. I had been thinking the orifice was in the center of the tube and that there were large oil passages at the base of the tube.

Thanks! I'll look again. Oh, and Merry Christmas!

I installed a mechanical pressure gauge in parallel with the pressure sender and the readings of the two gauges match. When the engine is moderately warm (I don't have thermostats) the oil pressure is just under 25 psi at about 3000 RPM and falls to less than 5 at idle. This is with 10-40 Valvoline racing oil. The center tube of the oil filter has no orifice - appears to be the same diameter all the way to the bottom. How critical is the orifice? Next step is pulling the intake manifold I guess.

Here is a sketch I made of the inside of the latch mechanism from my '41 Sedan that shows all the parts. The bolt is held in place (square hole) by a screw and washer. There are two pieces to the short linkage and they sandwich the lever and the larger latch plate. Looks like you have all the pieces except the pivot pins -Dave

I learned from Joe's Antique Auto that they no longer sell the Dennis Carpenter made 50 lb. senders because they don't work. They gave me a Napa part number for an 80 lb. sender: BWDS330.

I found the previous posts. So the first thing I'll do is replace the pressure sender with a 48-9278 from Joe's Antique Auto so I can get a reliable pressure reading. I'll also test the new sender for accuracy and will try opening and cleaning the old sender. Next I'll check the filter center tube orifice. Then pull the intake manifold and check the bypass and relief valves and the fuel pump pushrod bushing. Failing all those things, I'll order a high capacity fuel pump from Alan Whelihan. Will let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the tips, Dee. That's what it sounded like to me too. I was pretty thorough about cleaning out the lines to the filter canister and the canister connections, but I'll look again. Where is the bypass valve located? Is that the valve attached to the side of the oil pump or another one? My oil pressure gauge wasn't reading anything when I first fired up the engine. I had a shop check it with their gauge and they said it was within spec. Now when the engine is warm it's about 0 at idle and up to about 20 psi at high RPM. It I'll be ordering a new sender soon.

I was cruising down the freeway at about 65 (no O.D.) when the engine sounded like it had run out of oil suddenly. Immediately put in the clutch and started to pull off when the engine started sounding fine again and the oil pressure looked o.k. Got home with no further problems. I suspect a sticky oil pressure relief valve. Anyone have other thoughts?

Earle Brown's 2011 catalog only lists caps for 42-48. Boos-Herrel's catalog lists caps for 38-41, but you might have to mortgage your house. You might try Sacramento Vintage Ford, which has non-pressure and pressure caps for '37-48 Fords, but I'm not sure how they would fit.

Thanks, Dee. I'll plug it up - or replace the pan with another I have. I suspect the tube that extends into the pan may be near or below the oil level.

Not sure how old this thread is, but here it goes again. The engine I recently bought from Merv Adkins has a canister and downdraft tube welded onto the side of the pan. The engine was supposedly never run in a car since rebuilt, but I get a steady drip of oil out of the breather tube. I added a carb mounting block with vacuum takeoff and a PCV valve connected to the hole in the intake manifold, but this doesn't help. At least I don't have to worry about changing oil - just keep pouring it in. If I can't come up with a better solution I'm just going to plug up the tube. I wouldn't recommend this setup to anyone else. I have the same setup on my 272 Y-block boat engine and it doesn't drip a drop.

This is why I love this forum.

You were right about the oil pressure and I solved the stalling mystery. Fuel pump pushrod isn't long enough - or fuel pump is worn. Put a 1/8" spacer in the fuel pump cup that receives the pushrod and all is good. Merv said he ran the engine in pretty well on the stand. It starts on the dime whether it's cold or warmed up.

I picked up an engine from Merv Adkins that was rebuilt some time back and never run in a car. He ran it for me and it had great oil pressure but after dropping it in the oil pressure on the instrument cluster barely reads, and then only at high RPM. I checked the gauge by grounding the sender wire, and it works fine. The lines to the oil filter canister are clear. Another baffling thing, the engine starts great but stalls only when I come to a full stop and is hard to restart. Still, great to have a 12 back in the jalopy.

I'm having one installed this week by a local muffler shop. Gave him the dimensions off the original (or maybe a replacement?) and he's matching them closely except a little shorter (~21"). I'll post again with the make & model.

Thanks, and good timing for me too. I hope it's a common item at HD.