Differences between L 134 front engine plate and F 134 front engine plate
Well finally got to get pics of the engine plates. The mounting holes line up exzactly between the 2 plates. As can be seen the holes for the engine mounts are different but the holes to mount the plates to the engine are the same. There is a cut out for the oil jet on the F 134 plate and no cut out for the oil jet on the L 134 plate, but there is clearence for the jet on either plate. The one picture is the two plates on top of each other, didnt get good pic of that but believe me they match. The brown plate is off of the L 134 engine the cleaned up plate is the F 134 engine. That answers my question can i mount the L 134 engine in a frame for the F 134 engine without moving engine mounts. Just change the front plates . Both engines are gear driven cams.
Back about 1973 when I installed an F-134 engine in the '48 truck that originally had an L-134, I recall that I swapped mounting plates probably because the F-134 did not have a plate for some reason (it came out of a barnyard).
The L-134 mounting plate had been hit really hard at some time and the driver side mount was bent backward enough that someone had moved a motor mount to make things line up.
When we restored the '48, we put the mounting plate in the hydraulic press and ironed the wrinkles out of it.
I didn't realize the '48 had a L134 in it originally, the F looks so natural in there. It makes sense to me now being a '48! A true "Hot Rodded" truck Larry, put in the higher horsepower engine!
"..I didn't realize the '48 had a L134 in it originally,.."
The F-head engine was introduced in the wagons in 1950 and in trucks in the "1950 1/2" models when they changed the styling on the nose and the panel layout from the square cluster to the clock and bar cluster.
The carburetor went from driver side to passenger side and I'm still not sure exactly how the original linkage was routed. My throttle return spring setup is a bit of a Bubba and Junior rig, but it works - so far.