Paul,
There were a number of change points in
US V8 production as far as I know.
Original.
1937: Midterm Update. Block changes to all shell bearings, water pumps move to block from heads?
1939: Modernisation. 24 Stud block introduced with larger main bearings, Ford and Mercury split production with Mercury using a larger bore to get 3.9L rather than 3.6L.. Mercs are also more robust with redesigned internals.
1942: War Production. Power goes up from 85 to 90 BHP on Ford and 95 to 100 BHP on the Merc. The modern Distributor begins to be used, with a seperate coil and the resin cap with nine connectors sticking out - Crab Type. (That is what is going on mine)
1946: Harmonisation. Ford version dropped, only Merc 3.9L manufactured. Has redesigned distributer cap with HT leads bunched together on each side.
1949: Redesign. New distributer, new water jacket design, short bell housing, new HP Oil pump, bearings redesigned, valves and guides improved....basically THE BEST flathead, but no good for a carrier as it looks wrong!
I've no idea what Dagenham did, there was a 60BHP unit, is there a book covering British Flathead production details? I get the impression that England only produced the 3.6L and never manufactured the Merc.... we were still making the 3.6L in the early 50s for the V8 Pilot.
Loyd Engines.
I get a bit confused when it comes to loyds....
The No2 has a US manufactured Flathead which could be Ford @ 85BHP or Merc @ 95BHP, the Loyd workshop manual states that the No2 version has a 'American manufactured 95BHP engine' which would suggest that it was the Merc, but other sources state that all engines were 80 or 85BHP no matter where they were manufactured. That is why I was interested in colours as Mercs were painted Dark Blue and Fords Dark Green.