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Bev, the 8N came out of the factory with a flathead 4 cylinder engine. The serial number was stamped on the engine block. A Funk 6 cylinder 8N is an aftermarket conversion in which the original engine is removed and replaced with a 223 cubic inch flathead 6 Ford truck engine. Some later Funk's used overhead valve 6 cylinder engines, but those are very rare. Now the problem is that when you remove the original engine you also remove the easiest way to find out the year of manufacture of the tractor because you also remove the original serial number. Usually the replacement engine has a tag on it with a serial number, but it has no relationship to the s/n or age of the tractor it's being installed in. Even if you could tell the year of the engine from the number on the tag it could have been installed in a tractor 10 years older. You need to forget the serial number and look for other clues for age. The link below will give you a year by year list of changes made to the N-series Fords from 1939 to 1952. You can compare the equipment on your tractor (other than the engine) to that list to narrow down the age. You can also look for date codes on various parts of the machine. Date codes tell you the date each particular piece was made. The one I like is on the underside of the hydraulic pump. You have to crawl under the tractor to see it. Take a flashlight, a rag and some good spray degreaser with you. Clean off the area next to the hydraulic drain plug and you should see a date cast into the metal there. Other date codes may be found (but not always) on the rear axle trumpets. Some are straightforward dates in digits (id "11-25-52") and others are more cryptic using letters and numbers to call out the date. The system I'm most familiar with uses a letter of the alphabet to call out the month and digits for the day and year. Example: "B231" would be February 23, 1951. A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, etc. The last digit calls out the year: 8=1948, 9=1949, 0=1950, etc. And whatever is between the letter and the last digit is the day. Another example: "C28" is March 2, 1948. Isn't this fun? Now go grab a rag and some degreaser and get to work!
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