AMT, Original hot rod kits, engine options

[#1 model citizen]

Greg,

 Your list & others responses is very helpful. I will have to look at the link Snake put up as well.

Although I am aware of the DeSoto engine in the '53 Ford PU kit, I didn't know about the Lincoln.

I started model building around 1960 at age 8 & continued through high school then off & on until this last year when I've had more time to devote to the hobby. I have never been able to identify every engine by sight or all of the nuances of the some ones I am familiar with. It has always irked me when a kit did not identify what the custom or competition engine is.

I do remember a time when the engine swap w/o modification was a selling point for AMT.

As I recall these were relatively crude with a hole for the metal axle to pass through and the transmissions were all nearly identical in order to accommodate the swap.

 

Edited October 30, 2017 by #1 model citizen

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here are links to the relevant Lincoln engine threads on this forum.

 

[#1 model citizen]

Here are links to the relevant Lincoln engine threads on this forum.

Thanks, Bill!

[Bucky]

The AMT '49 Mercury had a nice MOPAR 440 Cross Ram mill. I used it in an AMT issue of the Dodge Li'l Red Truck kit.

[Can-Con]

The AMT '49 Mercury had a nice MOPAR 440 Cross Ram mill. I used it in an AMT issue of the Dodge Li'l Red Truck kit.

Well, IIRC, that's actually a 426 wedge, Keith. Remember, that Mercury kit was first released years before the 440 was made.

[Greg Myers]

However, just like so many different engines, they look the same on the outside only differences being the boar and stroke, i.e. CID.

I thought it was a 413. 

[Mark]

The Mercury kit was first issued in '63...probably went into development in '62 so it would have been a 413.  I'd like to see how long that adapted Ford/Merc transmission would hang in behind a 413...

[Greg Myers]

Small block Chevies, 265 - 400

Pontiac 326- 454

Small block MOPAR 273  - 360

Big block Mopar 413- 440

and many others, cubic inches varying and approximate.  

 

[Bucky]

You guys are probably correct. The kit I'm referring to was issued in 1991. Kit number 6815. It has a pic of the engine on the side panel, and calls it a 440. Also, the description on the other side panel about the kit calls it a 440.

[junkyardjeff]

I put that 413 Chrysler motor from the Merc kit in a 51 Chevy I am building,I also picked up a few of the 390 motors from the 34 p/u kit to put in the 40 fords when I want a different motor and easy to install. I wish there would have been some Y blocks made that would go in without chopping the trans down to fit.

[unclescott58]

It sounds as if you may be a bit miffed that an old topic has been posted in a new thread, even though you were gracious enough to contribute your knowledge. I'm relatively new to this site too & I'm sure there are many topics that I would be interested in & questions I may have or will have that are already covered somewhere on this site, but with almost 18,000 topics just in this here "General" section alone and no index or other way to find the threads one would want, it is inevitable that new threads on the same topics will arise. I would have never found the earlier discussions on this topic but have found this one quite informative. If you would post links to the earlier threads that would be helpful too.

 I would like to thank you & all the other contributors to this thread and hope you all will forgive us newcomers and continue to share your knowledge and expertise. It is very much appreciated, 

I've been around a while now. And have seen this subject brought up before. But, going back and finding the older threads on certain subjects is not always easy. And as you noted, if didn't know it had been done, even tougher yet. I do not mind when things like this come up again. It maybe old news. But, it's still interesting old news. And sometimes it will bring a new twist on a subject. Or a new person may know something that others here did not. I hope we keep bring back old topics like this from time to time. I'm enjoying read this one.

[Greg Myers]

Still thinking about the AMT engine options, I realized they also came with a stock option, imagine that.

The point here though, is most having a flathead Ford V-8, none of the early kits had any speed equipment for the flatty.?

[Richard Bartrop]

3 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

The point here though, is most having a flathead Ford V-8, none of the early kits had any speed equipment for the flatty.?

So true.  I remember patiently gluing pieces of wire on the heads of a stock AMT '40 Ford V8 to try and make a set of finned heads.

On the other hand,  the '27 T came with a Frotenac head, and of course the first version of the '29 A roadster had some vintage speed parts,  so it you wanted to hop up an ancient 4 banger, you were good.

[espo]

9 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

Still thinking about the AMT engine options, I realized they also came with a stock option, imagine that.

The point here though, is most having a flathead Ford V-8, none of the early kits had any speed equipment for the flatty.?

Try and find an AMT '49 Mercury kit or the '50 Ford Convertible/Hardtop kit. They both offered some pretty nice finned aluminum heads and two - twos. I think the Revell '37 Ford pickup and their early '40 Ford pickup had some heads and carb's also. The Revell '50 Ford F-1 pickup had the Arden heads and three - two's if that is of interest. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

10 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

Still thinking about the AMT engine options, I realized they also came with a stock option, imagine that.

The point here though, is most having a flathead Ford V-8, none of the early kits had any speed equipment for the flatty.?

But remember...when the first-generation AMT kits were released, for the most part, flatheads were considered obsolete boat-anchor scrap metal. The junkyards were already full of cheap, stock, late-model OHV engines that easily made the power of a heavily modified flathead, with better reliability and less weight. Go-fast flatheads were kinda dying out.

That first AMT '32 roadster came with an optional Chrysler Firepower hemi, and at about the same time, Hot Rod mag published an article about choosing junkyard engines based on performance potential vs. weight vs. cost. The numbers added up to the hemi being the most bang for the buck.

[Richard Bartrop]

You did get some interest in the 4 cylinder era during the 60s, but interest in old hot rods didn't seem to really take off until the '70s as part of a general wave of '50s nostalgia.