Hot Rods The all inclusive,almighty Y block thread

I bought my '57 when I was in high school, and I admittedly didn't know hat I was doing. It felt like everything that could have gone wrong with that car did. 272 with a 2 bbl Motorcraft 2100 series carb, points ignition and dual exhaust, factory 3 speed that was converted to a floor shift. It went through points on a bi-weekly basis. It hemorrhaged oil at an alarming rate from the rear main, basically a quart a day, and soaked the clutch which then was replaced. The carb needed a rebuild. I finally had it running great and took it to college my freshman year. I remember one night I took it Philly with some friends for diner food at 1 am, and even the prostitute I asked for directions complimented me on how well it was running. The next day I was just cruising right-lane speed on I-95 when the oil pressure light came on, and I noticed a trail of smoke behind me. About 20 seconds later a tire-locking engine seize at 65 mph. A later autopsy revealed the cam had been torn in 4 pieces, a pushrod was wrapped around the crank, and a rod end had torn out and wedged in between the crank counterweight and the side of the block. I had decided I had enough of these engines at the time, and the fact that my 283 in my 57 Bel Air had run so reliably left a real sour taste in my mouth in regards to the Y block.

 

Eventho I was able to use my moms 56 in high school she was the killer of it and sold it with less than 40k miles in 5 years. 3/4 mile to church, 1 mile to the market, and 1/2 mile to her work; looking back now it never ever warmed up. It did get a trip to Minnesota from California in 58 and a few to Reno up hey 395. It wasn't enough; but it never change my love of the car or style. . .

 

I like the Gunmetal Gray 57 T-bird. The right color and wheels can work wonders on an otherwise cute, effeminate car. My 55 is Raven Black.

 

57 joe, your description of your broken Y-block sounds just like one of the engines I've accumulated in the last few years. Mine was filthy as Hell when I opened it up. I'll probably use it as a mockup empty block, don't need to try to save it, got other Y's sitting around.

 

Fell in love with y blocks in highschool,I am 72 now and still love them

 

Rebuilt the 292 in my ‘59 Ranch Wagon a few years ago. The amount of smoke coming out the road draft tube made you think the rear wheels were spinning. Bit more of a cam and swap to a mummert intake vs the old 2 barrel one.

Had an old guy ask why I didn’t paint the rocker covers. I said I like it being new inside but looking mostly original outside. He said “yeah I painted mine and now regret it”

 

This is the 239 from my wagon, it ran surprisingly well.
I can’t find the pics but I scooped sludge out of the oil pan by the handful.
Edit - Found the pic



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I like sleepers I would paint the intake.

 

Back in the day, that would have been a relatively clean engine! Back in the sixties I was building a lot of engines, most came from the fifties. Lots of times I would pull the valve covers and you could not see the rockers! The sludge was horrible!
But it was not the engines fault! It was the owners fault!
Here are the reasons
1: a lot of people back then used non detergent oil
2: it was the norm back then for folks to either take the thermostat out or replace the factory 190 with a 160. Both practices promoted sludge.
3: people back in those days didn’t drive like we do now. Lots of cars barely made it to operating temp , due to short trips.
4: also some cars never saw an oil change.
5: most engines did not have the PCV system , they had road draft and that road draft would bring in dust and didn’t clean the crankcase very good.
There are probably some other factors contributing to sludge back in the day.
But, you take a Y-block today, add a PCV system,195 degree thermostat, add modern oil, change oil, drive it 80,000 miles, you could eat off the valley!




Bones

 

^^^^ #1. YBlocks had solid lifters. Myth: didn’t need detergent oil. It was also more expensive. My dad wasn’t cheap at all but used non-detergent in both our Y-Blocks. Back then the guys who ran 1qt of ATF in with the motor oil were the smart ones....

 

Yes, I like Y-Blocks. I have several cars and trucks with them. I have a D/GR (gas roadster) with a 304ci Y (.080 over 292) that has gone 192+ mph but one of my favorites is my F-600 shop truck. The engine was built with "junk" parts that were considered undesirable to most but I made do with them. 312 block with three sleeves, .030/.030 crank with on rod journal burnt and heads with a casting number nobody wanted. Bore the block .105" over, offset grind the crank to 3.5" and rework the heads to run the larger 1.92" intakes with a little port work and the end result was a 335ci Y with enough power and rpm to get the old truck to 90 mph with the stock gearing. I believe it is my best demonstrator to show customers what a Y can do. Although the roadster is pretty good too.

 

Definitely,
Here’s the 292 I picked up used and put in the wagon.



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One question people with 50s Y blocks ever serviced the road draft tubed filter?

 

I was hoping you would show up Tim.

 

I did many times until I just removed it to install a PCV system. One of the best things I’ve done to the engine in the 9 years I’ve had it.

 

Care to post pics on how you did it?

 

If you can find a later valley pan it has a hole for a pcv valve with a baffle under it.

On my 292 I just drilled a hole in the valley pan and used a pcv valve for a 302 and plugged it in to manifold vacuum. I haven’t had a problem with it picking up oil even with no baffle under it.


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https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Y-Blo...982895?hash=item4b89b6736f:g:OWIAAOSwq7Rf59Ep In the 60s they moved the crankcase vent to the valley cover. There are 2 ways to add a PVC valve put it in the valve cover or the cleanest way in the valley cover. If you go the valley cover I would suggest a simple shield Like the factory one shone. Y blocks put way less oil to the top end than a SBC the shield can be simple. Oh and remove the block one and plate it off

 

in my 59 F-100

 

Those Mercury valve covers are "keepers".

 

Best Y-block I had, back in the day. '56 292 block bored .125, Jahns 12 to 1 pistons, polished and ported "G" heads with lightened valves, -B intake with a Carter AVS carb. Over time I tried both a Weber reground cam and and Isky E-4. Originally had a set of Hedman headers but they got stolen so a set of stock exhaust manifolds went back on. Backed up to a T-10 in a '56 two-door wagon... it did pretty well in the late '60's.

 

Valley pan with valve and grommet installed in draft tube location. This pan happens to be the elusive "E" code variant, note indented top surface, and is needed when using factory 2x4 intake. There is no such requirement for after market intakes. The pans with the road draft tube came on all '55-'57 Thunderbirds and trucks after about 1959, maybe earlier. (sorry, not up on truck specifics)

 

With dual quads it was a little harder. 1961-4 Ford Merc PCV valve. 1.5” of vacuum on the pan. No engine smell in the garage. Rear main seal leak/drip now negligible. Factory T-Bird side car road draft tube plate.

 

Thanks!

 

Those old odd stacked port G heads flowed better than anything Chevy used on 283s With a little pocket porting they will match the 1.94 double hump head.

 

I guess you could say I like Y-Blocks Too! Two of my three hot rods have Y-Blocks.

 

My other Y powered vehicles.
D/PP Unibody F-100. 150 mph on 304ci


D/GR 192 mph on 304ci


C/GD 10.21 @130 mph 322ci (could be quicker with a little different tune but I keep it in the 10 sec range for Open Wheel class)


1930 Model A sedan 334ci


1958 F-100 313ci

 

The top end oiling issue was prevalent in the early Y block days. They made kits to run external lines to the top end. While they did work, they didn't really address the problem. It was plugged oil passages in a sludged up engine with a lot of wear. The oil of the wasn't as good as the stuff we have today. You would find a lot of sludge in the old engines.