Motor ID help

[fun9c1]

Can anybody ID this motor? It came out of another car I bought built on ebay and I want to put it into this rat rod project. The motor was not part of the same kit as the car it was in. The only clues I can give you other than the picture is the entire motor was chromed over yellow plastic and the valve covers are gold. I've stripped the chrome and would like to paint it whatever the factory color would have been for it, assuming it's a decent color.

 

Thanks for any help.

Edited December 20, 2016 by fun9c1

[espo]

Can anybody ID this motor? It came out of another car I bought built on ebay and I want to put it into this rat rod project. The motor was not part of the same kit as the car it was in. The only clues I can give you other than the picture is the entire motor was chromed over yellow plastic and the valve covers are gold. I've stripped the chrome and would like to paint it whatever the factory color would have been for it, assuming it's a decent color.

 

Thanks for any help.

When you said that the engine was all chromed I thought of the Ford big block from AMT's '32 Vicky. Looking at the valve covers they seem rather narrow to be the Ford engine but  the intake manifold does resemble the Ford intake. Maybe with a little more information such as the exhaust port configuration and the location of the oil filter or oil pan sump location and details about the water pump  and fuel pump might make it easier to identify.   

[Exotics_Builder]

The manifold area appears way too wide for a Small Block Chevy.  Is that truncated cone at the back of the manifold supposed to reflect a distributor or magneto?  Could it be an Olds engine from some early AMT kit?

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm, let's say, more than a little familiar with the V8 engines from Ford and GM (and a lot of the Mopars) of the late 1940s through the 1990s...both in real form and in model form.

As stated above, first impression is of a Ford FE, but as also said, the valve covers are way too narrow, and the blobular thing at the rear I assume is supposed to be a distributor or mag is on the wrong end for an FE.

The only old engines that come immediately to mind that have a row of bolts down the center of the rocker covers (if that's what those things in your picture actually are) are Studebaker and the last versions of the old Chebby smallblock, but that's not either of those.

The fact that you say the rocker covers are gold plated makes me think that they, at least, are from one of the old Monogram show-car kits...whose engines were often not-too-well-done mashups of several things.

It's definitely not an Olds from AMT or anybody else.

I also agree with espo: " Maybe with a little more information such as the exhaust port configuration and the location of the oil filter or oil pan sump location and details about the water pump  and fuel pump might make it easier to identify. "

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Fat Brian]

Okay, I'm going to take a stab at this. I think you have a combination of two engines there, most of the lower part of the engine is the chrome FE motor from a Lindberg issue of the 34 Ford wrecker which explains the chrome plated yellow plastic. The valve covers appear to be the Buick nailhead parts from the AMT 40 Fords kits and are incorrect for the Ford block and heads.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Okay, I'm going to take a stab at this. I think you have a combination of two engines there, most of the lower part of the engine is the chrome FE motor from a Lindberg issue of the 34 Ford wrecker which explains the chrome plated yellow plastic. The valve covers appear to be the Buick nailhead parts from the AMT 40 Fords kits and are incorrect for the Ford block and heads.

You may be on to something here...though if it IS the Ford engine from the Lindberg '34 truck kit (which I just pulled down from the shelf for a look) the builder has put the cylinder-head / intake manifold blob on backwards, placing the distributor at the rear of the engine.

The valve covers, however, don't match the ones I have just checked in several incarnations of the nailhead-equipped '40 Ford kits, which all have prominent oil breathers / filler caps in the center.

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[10camaross]

I don't know about the engine, but the "valve covers" are from the exhaust on the monogram paddy wagon

[Ace-Garageguy]

I don't know about the engine, but the "valve covers" are from the exhaust on the monogram paddy wagon

Ding ding ding ding...we have a winner, folks !!

Google pix of the Paddy Wagon and sure enough, there are the "valve covers", right where Chris says.

I KNEW I'd seen them on one of the old Monogram showcars.

I'm now also about 99.875% sure Brian is correct on the rest of the engine being the chrome "Thunderbird" unit from the Lindberg '34 Ford truck (with the top-end assembled backwards).

The odd tubular blob sticking up at the rear of the OP photo matches exactly something sticking up on the Lindberg, engine, though it's supposed to be in front. The manifold also appears to be identical, and the pulley matches what's visible on the OP photo.

Mystery solved.

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[fun9c1]

Man, you guys are GOOD!    Yup, mystery solved. I thought those "valve covers" looked kinda puny! Glad to know what it is. Now to find some real valve covers....

[Johnt671]

Here's a picture of what that motor should look like.