Generally are they a good, reliable motor? Are parts available to keep them running? What are their tendencies? Are they a pain in the a$$? I just need it to run reliably, not tryin' to break any land speed records. Thanks
I love them, have one in my daily driver. Parts haven't been an issue, NAPA and Car Quest have them in stock still. Only problem is the oil passage to the valve train will plug, keep the oil clean.
They will eat push rods if you let them set awhile. And the top end oiling is weak, as was stated. But they have sound all their own. I like mine .They're just not as good as the Chevys.
Ford Y Blocks are great motors. Not killer powerhouses but cool looking, different sound and biggest plus of all - they're not a Chevy! the 312 in my 56 T-Bird has over 100,000 on it and never been apart!
What's the score on the push rods? I have a '62-'64 292 in my truck, and it hasn't been run in at least a year (it looks like it was last insured in 2005, so may not have run since then). With the plugs out it turns over easily by hand, but I haven't tried with the starter yet. Drained the tank of a gallon of very stale gas, with a little bit of water. The dip stick shows cleanish oil, and I figure it was in regular use before being parked. Any tricks on priming the oil system or anything before starting it up?
The valves stick, and when you start it up, it becomes a pretzel-making machine. Mine ate up 4 or 5 before I ran it long enough to oil everything up. A little love with a mallet and some mystery oil will keep you out of trouble.
Thanks, I'd better whip the valve covers off and make sure they all move by hand before trying it under power. The good news is that the clutch plate isn't stuck to the flywheel like it was on my '34. It has the big h/d 3-speed trans, and the bolt pattern on the bellhousing looks bigger than on the spare light duty trans I have: are there different bellhousings for the different transmissions? I'd like to think that if the motor turns out OK I might look for a later 4-speed for it?
Actually the Y-blocks are oretty tough for the most part. They need clean oil and filter often. If the oiling system fails on the top end there is a gizzmo called an overhead oiler. See pic, it installs at the rear of the shaft rockers,flat part of copper tube runs under valve cover gasket,a union connacts the 2 sides together and a T fitting will tie into the oil# sending unit. The other good thing about the oil pump on the Y-blocks is the pump mounts externally. This means you can take it off and juice it for more pressure with ease>>>>.
y-blocks good motor has a few bad things about it just like any other motor but cool looking and yes it,s not a hemi thank god!!!!! (so sick of hearing that)
The old wives tale of poor rocker oiling is from the days of shitty non detergent oil and sparse oil changes. Clean the motor up, clean out the oil passages, use modern oils with the appropriate Zinc additive to keep the cam alive, and change oil religiously. You should be just fine.
The truck bellhousing are different from the sedans and TBirds. The truck bells have motor mounts on them. You can use a T-10 with no mods I am quite sure. The toploader 4 speeds can be use with only a few modifications - depends on what year toploader you use.
There has been no mention of the leaking rear mains. The poor desighn of not enough head bolts and the blowing of head gaskets between cylinders. Also they dont get very good fuel economy. Most have low oil pressure and lots of blow by. Personally I think they are boat anchors. I like the FE much better It can be put any where a YBlock is.Also a 289 302 or 351 winsor is cheaper, faster and much more reliable. I have owned dozens of Y Blocks ower the years and have never had a really good one. I took the 312 out of my 56 ford and bolted in a 300 HP 59 352 interceptor with a stick. Twice as fast as the boat anchor and still got better gas milage. It would even out run a chevy occasionaly. At present i have 4 YBLOCKS that i would sell cheap. OldWolf
292's 312's are super cool, and sound bad ass,you should not have a problem with the new oil. As long as the pipes are clean. Weld up the return tube to have more preasure in the rockers. Best of all ,it's a not a SBC!!!!!!!!!!!
i just barley finished my 292 project a few days ago. it was awesome while it lasted, but damn man it is so fun to drive. HAULS ASS. if you have open headers it will turn heads. im gettin an exhaust though soon put on it. but everyone is dead on about the oil problem, i noticed mine is leaking :-/ get a good tranny though behind it, i have a fordomatic... wish i would have gotten a manual one instead. heres some vids of mine <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H_m-QP9S3m4&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H_m-QP9S3m4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PacKsm-Eb1M&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PacKsm-Eb1M&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
The only thing I don't like about them is the damn distributor is in the back... like a chevy. Among the things I do like about them...not a chevy!
Great engine while they are running good and I loved driving mine but rear main seal leaked bad and valve stem seal problems. Good torque and sound, but a heavy large block, I guess that is why they were superseded by the SBF engines.
Mine is a 272. Other than the 4bbl I just put on and electronic ignition and dual exhaust is stock as a rock. I got it back in Feb and it hadn't been titled in 27 years. I got it home and it runs just fine. Back in the 60's I had a '57 Customline 4 door sedan with a 312 and T-85 overdrive. I bored it '060, crane cam, 12:1 pistons and it naturally hauled ass. I'll <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CEJ9442%7E1.STI%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026"/> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1"/> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->[FONT="]guarantee it would have smoked that 300hp 352 , mentioned above. I smoked a 61 solid lifter 390 (401 hp I think) in a Galaxy convertible, a '62 406 and a 60 Chevy Impala convertible 335 hp 348. Never had those oiling problems they talk about here. Finally I slung a rod right through the side of the block and took out about 3" of the cam with it. Never did find it. Replaced it with a stock as a rock 312 out of a '56 Mercury from a junk yard and headed to FL from NJ the next day to get married and then took a trip to TX, MO and back to McGuire AFB. No problems with it either .. Soooo all that being said .. I love 'em !![/FONT]
The 292 in my 56 is completely stock, and aside from normal replacement parts timing chain, freeze plugs, and thermostats and the like, the motor has never been apart. Never been rebuilt, and running strong since 1956. I can honestly say I have never had a problem with my y-block. even the rest of the drivetrain is still all original, and works great. Take it easy on it, do the maintenance, and the engine will run forever. My .02 -GothY-
I've had cam bearings spin but most of my oiling problems was due to existing non detergent muck gumming up the works.
312s are the biggest, but they're getting scarce and you have to fight the T-bird guys for them. 292s are plentiful, parts are fairly easy to find, speed parts are available, and they can be bored out....a lot! 292s and 312s are basically interchangable for most parts. I'd stay away from any of the smaller displacements unless you are looking for the factory correct engine for your year of vehicle.
Ford and Merc 312's are the same basic engine. Much of the top end oiling problem with Y's is caused by installing the wrong cam bearings. There are 3, count 'em, 3 different sets. The oil holes are in different places from year to year. Find a shop that knows about this and you should be okay. I had one with the wrong bearings, I just ran a long drill bit down the holes and fixed 'em. Cam out, of course. I made "top oiler kits" for many a 292 truck engine, just tapped pressure off the gauge sender hole and ran copper line under the covers and in to the overflow pipe on the rocker shaft assembly. Lots of goo to seal the leaks and you're on the road again!
Though heavy and having a few breathing problems, the Y-block is a decent old motor to play with. I never experienced any head gasket problems, even running 12-1 compression. And never any top end oiling problems; as mentioned above most of this was caused by the poor oils of the day and cam bearing problems. Best one I had was a 292 bored .125 with 12-1 pistons, Weber cam, polished and ported '57 heads with lightened valves and Hedman Headers. Backed up by a T-10 feeding into a 9" rear-end with 3.89 gears. All in a '56 2-door wagon; that thing managed to surprise a bunch of tri-5's and Camaros back in the day... Wish I still had that one.
I had a 292 in my '60 F250 and it ran great. Started up every time with one pump of the gas (though I didn't own the truck for too long, it got moved around alot) and never gave me an issue. They are probably my favorite Ford motor because of their tone, good looks, old speed equipment availability. Out of the "period" mills, this one rates very high. However, if you're looking for parts availability and durability and not so much traditionality, go SBF. I really wanted a Y-block in my '51 Ford, but after very careful consideration, I went with a 302. As long as the hood is closed, no one will ever see it.
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