Okay... today cements my notion that Im the dumbest dumbass member of the forum. No debate. Got the car on the lift, took out the factory work manual, adjusted a few things, and now she starts off in 1st gear if you floor it. No need for a new tranny. Now I can start looking for the mysterious 2x4 manifold that will fit the 368 Y block! Okay, the one on eBay is....5 Grand! WTF? It has the stock Carter WCFB. Would an upgrade to a modern four barrel be any help? I already have a free flow hat on her. Im looking for modest gains in bhp and torque.
Hey, don't feel bad.... My avatar has a 302/C4 in it and I was always a bit disappointed in how it accelerated. The PO never hooked up the kickdown, so for passing I'd pull it into second (Mustang floor shifter) but it didn't seem to make any difference. Imagine my embarrassment after I figured out I had the somewhat-rare 'Cruisomatic' version of the C4 ('64-65 only) with D2/D1/L instead of D/2/1. Put the lever into '2' and it shifts three times.... Mind you, I'd owned the car for 5 years at this point... And I still need to install the kickdown linkage I bought...
Take your distributor out , keep the drive gear : fit a post 1957 ford y block unit with Lincoln drive gear , you won’t believe the difference . Then get an adapter , fit a new 600 cfm edelbrock carb . Holley won’t clear original air filter without trimming
I replaced a Ford-O with a 1962 CruiseOmatic with the vacuum modulator in my 56 Ford and it works great since the down shift arm is just that and not a pressure regulator. A few problems along the way with torque converter and speed-0 but there were over come. The installer was very familiar with these and knew what to do. I’m not sure of as adapter to a MEL for later GM’s or Ford’s but the later 58- up came with the CruiseOmatic. Starting in first allowed me to change rear ends to an 8.8 with 2.74 gears and I have dual quads also on my Y-Block.
C6 fits, but it sure is snug because of the X in the frame. I have a rebuilt steering box in mine, works fantastic. I had a hell of a time getting the right O rings from the valve to the steering box, but once I did - works smooth and quiet. That steering box location makes engine swaps "challenging" for sure. I could only find one type of 460 manifold that would clear the box.
I swapped the distributor on my 317 and installed a Pertronix ignition at the same time. If you go this route check which type of oil pump drive you have, I had to change from the slot and tang to a hex drive pump. Before swapping, I was just running at a fixed timing with no advance, it was a big improvement. I did try an Edelbrock 600cfm but could never get it to run right and went down to a 350cfm carb, you might have better luck with more displacement.
The Jalopy Journal
