so after a ton of miles and trading hands 6 times within my group of friends, the y block in my lady's 1954 mercury took a ****. Im looking to just do a straight across swap with a replacement and have my eye on a few here on the cl***ifieds. What do I need to look out for? Are there any compatibility issues or is a Y block a Y block? I'm a GM guy so any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys.
I know the '54 ford y-blocks and am pretty sure same year Mercs do not share much in the way with the later engines. Also, try to stay away from the 56 and earlier distributors, dual advance diaphragm pains. The holley 'tea pot' carbs are also known to have their issues.
if its a true 54 motor it should be the smaller y-block 239 it is a one year motor it has smaller intake ports and some other things ,so swaping parts to a later y-block wont work...55 yblock and up you can swap anything on them...i had a 239 and upgraded it to a 272...if use the 57 and up dizzy and heads and some other items its a cheap way to hop up these yblocks..
The 1954 Mercury has a 256 Y-block, which is a one year displacement. But the good news is that any "Ford" Y-block should work as a replacement. My suggestion: 292 or 312 1957 or newer should be good to go. The Lincoln Y-blocks were much wider than the Ford Y's, and had a different bell pattern, so that will probably be more trouble than good. The displacements: 317, 341, 368. (The 368 was used in 1957 Mercury turnpike cruisers, so if you feel adventurous you could put one of these out of either a 56-57 Lincoln, or 57 Merc in your 54, but mount wise these would be very different.) Good luck
Any 57 on up 292 is a great choice for a replacement engine. They will all bolt right in. Sell the rare 256 in Hemmings.
I swear by my 1956 272. That motor has brought me all over North America. It was my daily driver for the longest time and I drove the piss out of it. Only problem I ever ever had with that motor was a little "o" ring in the carb got worn out. Best motor I ever had. I was always a Chevy guy to and had my fair share of SBC's but man I love my Y-Block. Never overheats and always gets me where I want to go. Only downsides is when I go on custom road trips with friends I usually can't keep up with the Pontiac, Chevy, Small Block Ford, etc. motors. But it is super reliable. Oh ya and I hate changing points in it.
Ford. Lincoln, Mercury might have been better off mounting the oil pump up there and putting the dizzy downstairs where the oil pump is. At least you could get to it then. LMAO!
As others have said, look for a 272, 292 (most common), or 312. There are a few differences between engines installed in trucks, T-Birds, and regular p***enger cars. These mostly involve water pumps, oil pans, engine/trans mounts/timing covers, and exhaust manifolds. There is no real difference between a '55-up Mercury Y and a Ford Y (as long as you are comparing "Y blocks" and not, as mentioned, the big Lincoln/Mercury/HD truck Y). If I were looking, I'd probably try to find a '57-'62 regular p***enger car 292, as they are fairly common, more or less bolt in place, and have the '57-'64 FoMoCo single point type of distributor. If you find a good deal on something else, though, you can swap the minor components. Avoid either of the 239 engines, and, personally, I'd not bother with a 256 either. If you find a '55-'56 engine with the Load-o-Matic distributor & ***ociated carburetor (which is most likely what the 256 has on it now), you can fairly easily convert them to the '57-'64 distributor, which is better in every way. There's a number of posts here on how to do this, and it's a win-win...almost always, more power and better mileage. My personal theory is that a Ford Powertrain engineer was trying to adjust the advance curve on his own personal Load-O-Matic equipped Y block, got pissed off, and decreed that from this day forward, all Ford V-8s would have the g.d. distributor in the front where you can actually see it.
Awesome input everybody. Now here is my question... What if I could get a 1954 motor that runs and would drop right in for $400. Is that a good deal and is that what you guys would do? or should I hold out for the bigger, badder 292.
Come on over to www.1954Ford.com and offer that 256 carc*** for sale for someone wanting to create a 54 Ford police car. In 54, if you ordered the police interceptor package, you got a 256 with a big carburetor and dual exhaust.....other than those two things, it was just a Merc 256.
If it comes complete and you can see it run, then $400 is a good price. Drop in the '54 motor and drive it while looking for a more desirable y. If not, then it would probably be best to hunt down one of the newer ones.
A 1954 what? 239, or 256? For $400, it had better run with no smoke, no oil burning, no issues, and be sparkly clean on the inside. Otherwise, I would say no....but, it depends on what you want to do with it. Neither version of the 239s, or the 256, hold much interest for me, but as a basic transportation engine for your lady, they might be just fine. Something to remember, though: the p***enger car 239 (not the truck 239), and the 256, are early versions of the Y block and as such have some odd design features, making some parts a PITA to find. That's why I was adamant about it being an excellent runner....you don't want to drop $400 into it and have to spend another $400 & three months finding a weird part.
So... after almost a year I'm getting ready to do the swap. I have a line on a 272 motor with the casting numbers ECG-9425b. Is this a motor that will be able to go right in or am I looking at a pain in the ***?
The 292 truck motor can be used you will have to use a p***enger car oil pan and match up the dipstick location to it.If you have shopped for Y-block parts you will find them pricey,It is very EZ to swap in a later 302 aka 5.0 and AOD transmission with over the counter parts many of us here http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=332 have done it and can walk you through it and advise you as to the parts needed.
I have contemplated the 302 swap but honestly I just want to be able to bolt stuff up. We just wanna get the car moving under its own power for now. And couldn't I pull the stuff off of the blown up y-block to swap it onto the truck motor?
They only other thing I can think of is the rams horns on a truck won't work on a car. Also, the truck engine motor mounts are differnent then a p***enger car but if you still have the p***enger car motor mounts you should be golden.
Just do Pertronix upgrade on the truck distributor, best thing I ever did on the 57 292 had a few years back, it was amazing. X10 on steering clear of 56 and older distributors.
FYI.....if you're gonna run petronix or any type of newer, non-points type distributor, it's always a good idea to keep good functioning spare parts in the car. When points start going bad, the car just starts running ****py.....when the non points stuff goes south, it just stops working all at one time.
Not to hijack your thread, but I have a question. Will a 1960 Lincoln Y block truck engine distributor fit in my 1962 Ford y block? I want to use the mechanical tach dive in my 1960 ford 4x4.
The distributor is an interchangeable part between the Ford/Merc Y blocks and the Lincoln Y block. 1954 Ford (and some Mercury) units have 13 teeth and a tang pump drive. My '54 Mercury 256 came with a 14 tooth distributor and a tang drive. Anything '55 and up uses a 14 tooth unit with a 1/4 hex drive.
Lincoln Truck distributor is a no go in a Y Block Ford. the Lincoln truck uses a 2 gear cam drive so the cam rotates backwards. Also the truck distributor is not a Ford manufacture , The ones I have are Holley, therefore the gear cannot be swapped to a Ford Y block distributor gear.
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