Hey guys, alright i know im not the only one who constantly changes plans 4 there cars in their heads... i was serious about running a 302 w/ a t5 behind it,but now not so sure...now ive been been thinking about going with a Y-BLOCK 292. That was my orig plan before going with a 302 route. I have a whole engine gasket kit already 4 a yblock. I have a rebuilt t5 trans for a 302 but NOW would have 2 trade or sell it 2 get an auto trans if i go w/ a Yblock Anyway What your suggestion, opinion or constructive criticism What would you think would be "better" 302 or 292 thanks
Why not just get the adapter and use the T5 ? I was going to do that route with mine but I wanted much more HP & Torque than the Y block can make for the money . Plus if I am on the road and the Y block breaks down you are pretty much screwed because no one carries parts for a Y block on the road . If that happens to you with a 302 , everyone has parts for that engine ! I am building a sweet 302 with a C4 for mine with a decent bump stick , dual Smithys and so on . The PRO on a 302 is easy to find parts that are cheap ! Easy to get HP & torque ? Easy to work on and find parts for when something goes wrong . The CON is parts for a Y block aren't cheap ! Everyone doesn't carry the parts if you break down ! Both are GREAT engines in there own respect ! If you are rebuilding the car to stock well then go with the Y block . Can I ask why you are changing your mind again ? It really depends on if you want performance or originality BUT..... it is your car ! Just remember that whatever you go with , just be happy with your decision ! Jim
Nothing wrong with 302s. If you want to have some good performance and be somewhat able to find parts, they're good engines. Now, if you want to have the 'whole picture' of a traditionally styled car, a custom would generally have atleast a dressed up engine. Now I'm not saying pop the hood all the time if you have a dressed up Y but, its nice to show folks who 'get it'. I'm putting a t-5 into my car this spring, its currently a ford-o-matic car, and a t-5 will make it actually usable on the highway. Though, it won't have the performance of a 302, not ever.
If your car was originaly a Ford-O-Matic it would be a lot easier to swap in an AOD with the 302 aka 5.0,fabbing up the clutch linkage for a T5 swap is no piece of cake.Check out ct fortners' build pictures and text that is posted here and you can see what is involved in a T5 swap.
I wish that my car still had the original Y-block but it is nice to have the power of the 351W and improved gears why it comes to freeway driving. Lately I've really though about trying to go back to the Y-block and Fordomatic, but I think you guys are right about the ability to get parts, power, and torque for the Y's.
Anyway What your suggestion, opinion or constructive criticism What would you think would be "better" 302 or 292? 350/T5 makes a very pleasant combination...
I wish that my car still had the original Y-block but it is nice to have the power of the 351W and improved gears why it comes to freeway driving. Lately I've really though about trying to go back to the Y-block and Fordomatic, but I think you guys are right about the ability to get parts, power, and torque for the Y's. No you don't. Not really... As much as I value nostalgia, going back to a Y-block would be a really bad idea, IMHO. Now that you're used to the decent performance that your 351 provides, you'd hate the "leasurely" nature of the Y-block/automatic combination. After all, life's too slow already!
All I have to say about this is to make sure you can get parts while on the road if needed. The more readily available parts from NAPA, Schucks, Pep Boys, etc the better. That's why I run a basic stock 350/350 chevy with ford late model 8 inch ford rear with stock parts. I keep a parts book in the car of all the stuff I have on it just in case....... just a thought here fellas. It's saved my *** twice now!
I thought you and I already went over this. I think you should run the y-block, personally I don't think the Ford small blocks look right in there. Plus y-blocks are plenty reliable, when I was running my stock 272 it had 172,000 miles on it burned a quart of oil every 100 miles and it never let me down. I put 10,000 miles on it the first year I had it and made many trips to the beach. I've still got a few y-block running around including the one I gave you that you gave back. I'll be out there for x-mas and we can talk about it more then. USE THE Y-BLOCK!!!!
I just pulled my y-block and put in new gaskets and a ****** seal then did a little painting to clean things up. It went right back in and is running again. That 272 never gave me a problem and I have no trouble finding anything I need for it.
If you do keep the Y block , I would add a nice Holley 500 to 570 cfm 4 bbl . A good stock intake will be fine unless you have the money for a sweet alum. intake . Up grade the distributor to electronic , better coil and better plug wires to carry the extra volts . Now get an adapter and install a C4 or AOD . A C4 is much cheaper and way cheaper to get rebuilt . Change to an alt. too . That will make a huge improvement on the performance of the y block . Changing that damn F-O-M will be the best thing . Now if you go with a standard trans , then you have to find a "Z" bar unless you go with a cable or hydraulic clutch set up . Then you need swing peddles . If you have a T-5 then you have the problem of a shifter hitting a bench seat ! So unless you have a clutch on your car now , DON'T do it ! Then just carry an extra V-belt & oil filter if canister . Everything else you should be able to get easily for a minor break down . I do like my y block but I want a lot more get up & go . You can get a stroker kit for the Y block for about $2000 to $2500 and open up the heads some and that will get you lots more power & torque . But for the same amount of $$$$$ a 302/5.0 will get you a huge improvement ! It's all on what you want and how much money you have to work with . That's really the bottom line , right ? Jim
Oh yea, and you already have the T-5 just buy the adapter from Mummert . We can figure out a way to run a hydraulic slave cylinder since you already have the clutch pedal setup. It won't be that hard. I think we may need to see what gearing you have, but it shouldn't be an issue since it had the O/D in it originally.
Thanks for all the advice guys, like i said before, i love this group lol. will be going over everything and looking back on this and seeing what would be best for the money. If you guys have anything please, do tell... thanks!
Hydraulic clutch and an s-10 tailshaft fix both of the common problems ***ociated with t-5s. Just sayin'. Though I'm gonna try and not use the s-10 tailshaft and see what happens. I've also got to make a bracket to hang a wilwood clutch set-up and I need to make a custom arm to make it look "right". Its not gonna be easy, but I'm looking forward to a .68:1 final drive. Though, like has been said, if you're used to actual performance, a Y-block will be a letdown.
Custom Crestline , if you are using a T5 why not use a cable set up . They are cheap and not hard to set up . Just get a common Mustang set up that will cost less than $100 . I was going to do that to my 55 Ford but sold the T5 and bought a C4 instead . I even made money on the deal ! Jim
I have to say I don't believe that it's really that hard to get a Y-block to perform well, my 292 is bored to a 301, I'm running an Isky RPM-300 cam, Milled & Ported "G" heads and currently have a stock 4bbl intake and the larger truck exhaust manifolds and when the car was together it ran strong, I could easily roast the tires and that was with the stock Fordomatic. My new trans setup will be a manual valve bodied C4 with a 2500 stall. I expect it to really come alive with it. I think alot of people underestimate this engines capabilities.
You can get a lot of power from a Y block ! It just take more money for the parts and the engine work to get it to 300 hp compared to other engines. Now if you only want a street car with a sweet lope and smoke the tires , that's easy to do . The Isky F300 is a very nice street cam . Now if you use stock heads and just match port them for better flow , use a iron intake a good 4 bbl carb , dual free flowing exhaust (gl*** packs) , electronic ignition , better plug wires , bigger coil , C4 and change the rear for better gears around 3.55 , you will have a tire smoking , sweet sounding engine with damn good stop light pick up . That would be the cheapest way to go . Now with better heads and headers you might get another 10-15 hp but that's a lot more money . I am just looking at the cheapest way to get what you want from an engine for your car ! I would say , that set up should get you in the 215 to 225 hp range ! If that is all you want then the Y block will do you just fine . Jim
I'm confused... What is in the car now? When you said you wanted to "go back to" the Y-block, I thought you'd already installed the 302. Yes? No? I'm a big nostalgia buff and really like the looks of a Y-block, especially dressed up a bit and fitted with a 4-barrel or three deuces. But I've also spent my share of time by the side of the road with a dead car unable to get the needed repair parts by any means other than UPS. Just happened a couple of weeks ago when a Pertronix module croaked and left me stranded. Not a pleasant experience...or cheap. All of a sudden all that "nostalgia" goes right out the window in favor of an engine that can be repaired using parts that can be found in any parts store, truck stop or 7-11 in the country. Do what you want, of course, but when you find yourself in a similar position a long way from home, keep in mind that I told you so...
Damn , you are starting to sound like me ! I always think of the windy dark rainy night on a old side road in the middle of no where and then you have no cell phone reception either ! Now that is when you really start to consider the common engines that we all told you to go with because everyone and everyplace has parts for them ! I ***umed he still had a Y block in it . I mean I do like the Y block but I just wanted a whole lot more power than the Y block could give me for the same price or even close to . There are many Y block running 500+ hp out of them , BUT they don't come cheap at all . Jim
Then the Y block backed up with that overdrive trans would really be a sweet set up ! Should drop right in with next to no modifications . Still the problem when something goes wrong and nobody having any parts to get you back home . He could carry extra parts with him just in case he did have a problem . There is only so many things you can fix on the side of the road anyway , so you wouldn't have that many parts to buy and carry in the trunk . Still , it's his car and his decision , so he just needs to step up and get the car built . Jim
Why not? I Have a 302 with a T5 in my 55. It was not a problem. I built a hybrid T5 using the tailshaft housing from an '83 S10. That moved the shifter forward about 7 inches. Perfect. I used a Wildwood master cylinder and a Ram hydraulic throw out Bearing. Very easy. I do no miss my 272 or the 3 speed. Go for it.
I'm running a 292 with a t-5. I love y-blocks, but if I had more sense I would have used a different powerplant. I can justify my car getting around 10 mpgs because its just a toy, but on long hauls it gets expensive. I've been playing with the idea of stuffing an FE in there to get way more Hp/Tq and a little more fuel economy while still being traditional, but don't wanna fork over the money for a TKO, and I honestly love y-blocks. Putting around with a y-block powered car takes a little bit of dedication and few more dollars.
I bought my 55 tens years ago this month and have nothing but good things to say about it. We've been all over the place with our car and yes I've had some minor problems but, a quick fix and with check ups my car has never let me down. I've taken down drag strips in Ohio and Michigan, I don't beat it up but, we have fun. It's been to every Woodward dream cruise since I've had it. Never over heats and we have a ball. I suppose it's a matter of taste. But my car even has the 6volt system still in it. I have a 6V alterator, which was the only improvement I made. I don't drive the car in winter so I don't need 12V cranking volts I have a 12V battery in the trunk to run the radio in the glove box and I have 6V halogen headlights. My wipers are vacuum so again no need for 12 volts
Custom Crestline, you should be doing way better than 10 MPG if you've got a stock or slightly built 292.
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