Engine block numbering

[Moxie26]

Engine block has been stamped.... AN7754. I'm thinking it is a replacement block made after 1927 to 1941 era. It is hooked up with a 26-27 hogshead but the block does not have the extra flange area for the top of the hog's head to bolt. Would anyone have any idea where this block was manufactured?.... Or even was it a block made by a company not even associated with Ford motor company?

[Moxie26]

Block casting alongside block number...... Engine is installed in a 1925 touring car.

[Wayne Sheldon]

The numbers ahead of the water inlet are likely mold and pattern numbers, used by the factory quality control to track defective castings back and replace or repair the offending molds.

The serial number is unusual, but actually not all that rare. Rarely found in the books, Ford sold many thousands of engines, anything from completed engines down to barely short blocks (no transmission, no flywheel, no head, no pan) to many companies for all sorts of uses. They were used in boats, farm machinery (reapers and hay bailers by the hundreds!), railroad service cars or switch motors, and all sorts of stationary power plants. I usually refer to such engines as "backdoor" engines as I have never read a better name for them.
They were usually sold without a serial number on them, and the company installing them or modifying them for alternate uses were expected to put their serial number on them! Many such serial numbers were two letters signifying the company producing the whatever, and a short few digits serial number. Many such serial numbers were two letters followed by four numbers. Although I have seen even shorter numbers, and a few with only single letters.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Additionally, I have no idea who "AN" might have been.

Things like boats and farm machinery usually did not need the transmission, or want the extra weight. So they would buy just the short block engines and use their own proprietary pan and flywheel. Some farm machinery needed just a bit more horsepower than Ford's model T provided. A lot of the front cover magneto drives and high compression heads that we all love so much were actually originally used on farm machinery! I don't offhand recall their name, but one company in the Midwest sold many hundreds (maybe in the 1000s?) of reapers using either Haibe (sp?) or "Superpower" heads on them! I think it might have been the Matco mag drive they used?

Railroad speeders, service vehicles, and local passenger transport vehicles, are in themselves interesting things to study. Some of them were modified from complete model Ts, which would have standard serial numbers on them. While others bought only the engine and they built the entire carriage, and often the body. Those would have their proprietary serial numbers originally. I have seen photos of a few such vehicles including some shots of their serial numbers.
The railroad vehicles usually used the Ford transmission and everything else for the engine. As such, the engines were interchangeable with the standard model Ts. Beginning early, and continuing well into the 1950s, literally hundreds of local machine shops would rebuild model T engines, either complete or short blocks, and keep them on the shelf to sell to anyone that needed to replace the worn out engine in the old girl. Many of the engines they took in were beyond rebuilding, so they often bought (for very cheap) used engines from any local source. People needing a couple dollars would scavenge an abandoned engine from almost anywhere, and a lot of these "backdoor" engines found their way into the replacement engine supply chain!

I have seen several cars over the years with such engines in them, as well as a few such engines loose at swap meets or friend's garages. They are out there!

[John kuehn]

As far as the letter number AN7754 is concerned using the assumption that the letter A represents 1 in numbering the alphabet and the N represents the number 14 since it’s the 14th letter maybe the number would be 1147754.
It’s a March 1925 number IF the letters mean 14. Maybe this doesn’t mean anything but coincidence and it’s just a wild guess. But I don’t think we really know for sure. MHO !

[TRDxB2]

My guess is that it was a replacement engine and stamped at a later date. Looking at the font doesn't it appear to match well.

[Moxie26]

Going with that assumption, the original engine could have been done on April 1st. 1925, so this combination of letters and numbers duplicated what was replaced?

[Been Here Before]

What if the motor was surplus. Left over from either WWI or WWII military surplus.

The the AN *****, would indicate that it had another purpose.

Joint Army-Navy Nomenclature System (AN System. JAN)

[jab35]

FWIW: I also have what appears to be a replacement engine, pre '26 with starter and generator that is stamped "7611WIS". It was the first model T 'part' I purchased in 1962 when we lived in Loyal, WI. There's no stamp on the frame rail, and I believe the engine served as a power unit late in its life. At the time I inquired about the registration number for this engine and my '26 Coupe, and the Wisconsin Motor Vehicle Dept said all model T registration records had been purged. jb

[thom]

Seems like a shame to change numbers on any block.