I had a few 292s and a 312 when I was in high school and in the navy. The ones I had leaked at the rear mains and around the oil filter housing. I hope someone had an upgrade filter by now and there was that little crankcase breather down on the left front side of the engine. Had a '57 custom 300 2dr with the 3sp, 312 and later a 292,a '55 four door 3sp Fairlane 292, 60 Fairlane 2dr fordamatic while in the navy(aunt bought new),64 F-100 ss-swb 292 3sp, and a '62 Galaxie 4dr fordamatic. I guess I must have liked them.The only one that blew was the 312. Those sbc were strong from 66-69 on the street. My last y-block was in '81 in the F-100. And yes they sound good with some Walker glass packs. I had those external oilers for valve train one more than one. Later, Bill
oh god. my 292 y-block. open headers. drove it around town, and never... NEVER... have i gotten so much looks. it sounds simply amazing. it is a pure beast unleashed. only problem with mine is though is the carb and the fordomatic transmission. i wanna get a manual transmission for it so it can go faster, and a 4bbl carb, cuz its always sputtering and sounds like its gonna die at a light. sadly its no longer running right now, i think it siezed up, and the timing chain came apart. need to look at it tomorrow maybe
and I found these on dry land apparently I should go scuba diving since they are such great "boat anchors" shitty pic but heres the oil pan
There is a neopreme rear main seal for the 312.To put a 312 crank in a 292 block you need to turn the mains down and the rear seal area.The weakness on a 312 is Ford just bored out the main webs for the bigger journals and they have been known to crack.A lot of guys put a filter adaptor on and use a modern spin on filter,they also plug off that lower breather and go with a pcv system.I have a good friend that has a 57,312 auto that has been cross country and driven almost daily,no problems.You should have no prblems fitting a Y into a 35 Ford,they but every kind of GM crap in there. ROY.
I have a 56 f100 with a 272 in it, the sound is awesome. The other night at a local tuesday night hang-out I was parked next to a dolled up 56 f100 and listened while people mumbled, " oh another SBC" They asked what was in mine, and I got "Way To Go", and as previously noted, They Sound Great !
all I can tell you about Y blocks is you could get $250.00 if you part one out on ebay, no block crank or heads... just tin and bolt ons
My 61 Galaxie has the 292. I was thinkin of swappin it for a 302 T 5 setup but not anymore. I been doing research on it and as previously stated by others change oil religously and keep it mild no problems. I currently have stock manifolds and 2 in with glass packs straight to just before the rear axle and its one the best exhausts I've ever heard. Lot of parts being offered as of recent. I say go for it. Gotta get a set of Offy covers or T Bird covers though they just look great on them.
I ran a Y block in a T Bucket years ago. It had the wildest set of heads I have ever seen. The centre divider on the intakes had been removed and the ports opened up. I built a six carb intake for it. The gearbox was a 4 speed English Zephyr. That thing was a blast to drive. Sold it in a moment of weakness. I wish I still had it.
In my experience, it was not a good idea to eliminate the overflow tubes on the rockers. The covers can fill with oil and you get an oiling problem. the fix for that is to make new tubes and run them to a pushrod hole, making sure there is no rocker interference. The oil returns are almost horizontal, doesn't make for good return flow, even on a squeaky clean rebuild.
edited quote Was not aware that neopreme seals are availalbe for the 312. Yes, the 312 crank is bigger by 1/8 inch and needs to be turned down. Usng a 312 crank allows the use of shorter connecting rods. The problem with the 312 crank is its a cast crank vs. the steel crank for the 292. If going forced induction or nitrous, then the steel crank is the better bet. There is a stroker kit available to make a y-block into a 338 cube motor Bellhousings are available to mate a C4 to the y-block and , heavens forbid, there is one to mate a Chev TH350. For a manual, find a 4 speed top loader with the dual mount case, use the narrow mounting holes to mate to the y-block.
Do yourself a favor and buy a mini-torque starter. I spent the cash and have never regreted it... When I get back home from my deployment I'm gonna buy the ram-horns from speedway unless someone here has a pair to spare...
I think the guys have named every disadvantage that the Y block is noted for. They also pretty well nailed it on that most of us think that dressed up right the Y blocks are on of the best looking engines around and with the right set of pipe one of the best sounding around.
Advantages, #1 it isnt a small block Chevy. Rule #1 keep the oil changed often, #2, see rule #1. Also be aware that as far as I know the rams horn exhaust only fits the truck chassis. My best friend whos gone now ran them in a 56 convertable on the beach at Daytona and he built some amazing running ones. They are never going to run like a Chevy but who cares it isnt one. They run forever with dried up rockers and smoke boiling out, you cant break one.
Before this gets too out of hand, I'd like to add a couple of comments. Keep in mind the original application of the poster....a shop truck. To me, this implies lots of low-end torque; reasonable economy; and start-every-time reliability....all at a reasonable cost. Again, to me, converting to a 312...or building a stroker...is completely out of budget for this application. As mentioned, it is possible to convert a 292 into a 312. Some builders prefer this because of the issues with 312 blocks. It involves A) boring the 292 block .050 to std. 312 dimension, or, more likely, going .080, because std. bore 312 pistons can be harder to find. B), the crank mains have to be turned down to fit into the block. This also includes solving the problem of the rear main/oil slinger. You can either simply remove the slinger, OR find a crank guy who has a special narrow wheel to grind the main withour removing it. I prefer to leave the slinger intact- it's there for a reason- but others don't care. I can recommend at least one crank man who has made a special wheel for just this purpose, and there are others out there as well. It will cost more than a std. crank grind...add it to your budget. At this time, the cost of a used 312 crank is generally around $300, give or take, before machining. Many 312 cranks are cracked, so choose carefully & try to get some sort of guarantee before buying. 312 cranks are somewhat scarce anyway, as the 312 was only offered in '56 & '57 in the US. I have heard that it was offered through '59 in Canada but have no confirmation. As noted, the 312 uses shorter connecting rods than most other Y blocks. Sometimes they are harder to find, for the same reasons. It is also possible to use one specific 292 rod as well, as noted below. Again, add this cost to the budget. From '61-'64, the HD292, only found in medium duty trucks & up, does use a steel crank. These tend to be hard to find and are frequently cracked when you do find them. They use a special C1TE rod that is shorter than regular rods...in fact it is the same length as the 312 rod, because these HD engines use a special piston (which is no longer available). These C1TE rods are a good replacement choice for the 312, actually. Keep in mind that passenger (through '62) and light truck (through '64) 292 engines DO NOT have these steel cranks & C1TE rods. The average cost of the steel cranks can be $500 or more. These are completely unnecessary for anything short of balls-out racing.....and the average Y block cast crank will survive a blower or reasonable shot of N2O as well...BT, DT. So far as the stroker kits....they are way out of the budget for a shop truck. They also do not include the crank core...add $$$ for that, or supply him with one. John Mummert has good parts, and I've no doubt that the price is reasonable, but again, is it necessary for this? I like to dream as well as the next guy, and anyone who's read my rants here knows I likes me my Y blocks, but for a shop truck....next time, maybe. A properly built & spec'ed 292 will do just fine....will meet the requirements above...and won't break the bank. Carry on...
I had a 292 in a 57 Fairlane when I was in high school.Man I loved that old car.They have a sound as unique as a flathead.I had a set of the old Thrush mufflers on it and it sounded great.Mine was very reliable,only thing I ever had problems with was the starter.As previously mentioned they are a bitch to change,and heavy.You'll have forearms like Popeye if you fool with one very much.Not a lot of power and the valves always tick,but a sweet old motor.
I've got a 292 in my car, I drive it to school monday through friday, and everywhere else I need to go. I don't see the big deal with the starter. When I popped mine off for my engine swap it went in and out fairly easy as I remember. Maybe just luck?
Find a Ford 3.03 3 Speed Toploader Tranny (GM and MOPAR ran them in there fullsize muscle cars) Bolt pattern will match up - you may need to trim the tip of the input shaft depending on which one you use. The following pics are from a 2008 meet at National Trails - lts of full size y's pulling the wheels. http://www.y-blocksforever.com/EXPO08/
Homespun91 speaks good advice. I'll go a little further on trans stuff. I have a mildly modified AOD trans with a stock looking tbird shifter mated to a 318 CI stroker that made 310 on the dyno. I'm really happy with it but it was a labor of love and wasn't cheap. The AOD with adapter is so sweet at hiway speeds 70 and even 80 the engine is barely working with the stock 3.31 rear gear. As mentioned before though…you said shop truck, so do you really, really need the modern day tranny? They ARE great but the adapter is where the cost is. A t5 is a great option but again what are you going to haul. A cleaned-up 3 speed with an overdrive would be much much cheaper, haul parts and handle the HP, they have for years. Most of the adapters are in the 500-800 buck range. Gary Croan in California does a nice adapter for the AOD. I have a Bendstens in mine. I would say if you do go with an adapter an auto go ahead a do AOD over a C4. A stick with a T5 is good choice.
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