1957 Ford Factory Engine Recondition Tag

[SoloBird]

I have not been able to find any examples or decoding this Ford Factory Reconditioned tag/plate on my 57' 312 Y Block.
The PO told me it meant the engine was reconditioned/rebuilt at the factory. When? Do the numbers at the top mean November 1965 when this motor was rebuilt? That was a while ago and before I was even born!
It looks like it was done by the "Ford Jones Manufacturing Company" in Oklahoma City, OK.

According to a bit of research, Fred Jones was a Oklahoma industrialist and civic leader and was one of the nation's largest automobile dealers. In addition to Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealerships in Tulsa, Norman, and Oklahoma City, Jones pioneered the Fred Jones Manufacturing Company, the largest Ford Motor Company–authorized reconditioner of automotive products in the nation.

The other info on the tag that I am not sure what it means is:
Bore O.S = 40
Main BRGS.= 30
Rod BRGS= 10
Number: 257438

Has anyone seen this before or knows anything about the code on it?
I used a green highlighter on the plate just so I could read it as it was very worn.



The identification plate in the engine bay on the passenger side firewall is interesting to me, as the Serial Number example shows a space in the numbers, where mine is just one long number sequence.

So far what I have been able to decipher is that my Tbird is a 1957, Raven Black with Colonial white hard top and pleated Raven with Colonial white vinyl interior (that is all correct on my bird) It looks like the Date for the car is: May 14, 1957
The engine code shows a "D" which says it is a (312 Fordo or OD 245hp motor). I do not see any overdrive on my motor and it's definitely not an automatic. According to the Axle code of "1", the car is a 3spd manual, so why would the engine code be a "D" ?

The trans: code is: "3", which shows as a Fordomatic. Wait.. how can the Axle code say it's a 3spd manual and the Trans. code say it's a Fordomatic?? Big surprise, I am confused.

I believe the transmission was replaced at some point on my car as you can see someone did some modification at the shifter hump tunnel and I do not believe you should see the ground looking through it? Not sure what I will do with that when I get to that point. Probably some sheet metal I guess. Is there a pan or something that goes underneath the shifter or it's just all open?



I appreciate any help or inifo on the motor reconditioning tag that is on my 57 and helping to decipher the code and identification plate and questions.
Thanks

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[sre]

The D code is a 312 4V engine. The o-drive unit is mounted on the transmission. If someone put a std. trans. in and removed the auto it was probably done when the engine was rebuilt.

 

[SoloBird]

I actually reached out to the Fred Jones Ford company and they were able to shed some light on their Engine reconditioning tag.

"The engine was remanufactured in 1965. The part number is B7A 6012 B. The engine was bored .040 oversize,

The main bearings were .030 oversize and the rod bearings were .010 oversize. The engine serial number is 257438.

That is how many engines Fred Jones had remanufactured since the company started in 1938 with

Henry Ford. "

Now for a .040 oversize bore that would give this 312, 5.1L Y Block a bit more horses, but from what I have been reading can be risky. So I guess they had to oversize the rod and main bearings as well.

 

[4VE]

Very interesting read. It is definitely a "resto-mod" by what I've read. Professionally done by expert craftsmen. I can tell you that there were NO CNC machines back then and the mechanics were artists that learned how to work metal with manually set up machine tools. You certainly have a piece of history there.

 

[paul5456]

Now for a .040 oversize bore that would give this 312, 5.1L Y Block a bit more horses, but from what I have been reading can be risky. So I guess they had to oversize the rod and main bearings as well.

Risky - it what sense ? Most YBlocks would go more than that safely. Probably could go more but cylinders should be checked for thickness (sonic tested). The oversized rod and main bearings are usually done when the main and rod journals have to be cut to repair uneven wear, not because of the overbore.

Ford licensed a number of machine shops around the country to rebuild engines, hence a Ford authorized rebuilt.

 

[KD0SGO]

I, too would not be even a bit concerned about the overbore. Back in the fifties-sixties, an overbore of 0.060 was commonplace, and even 0.080 could be had safely with some engines, such as Studebaker, which had heavy walls and generally a stronger alloy, due to the addition of chromium and/or nickel to the mix.
More to the point, displacement is easily calculated, using B x B x S x 0.7854 times 8. With .040 overbore, this gives about 318 cubic inches, not a tremendous increase. For perspective, visualize (for the metric bunch) 0.040" is very close to 1 mm.
My first car was a 1956 T-Bird, purchased on HS Graduation in 1960. In those days, they were just another four year old used car! What parts I needed came from the local Ford Dealer, often from stock!