Guys, Just had an awesome find for my Model "A' ! How about a complete (and running - when removed from the boat it was in !) Marine Y-Block Ford. I mean complete from the aluminum oil pan to the aluminum two carb intake(side draft Carter carbs. It is complete with all linkage, fuel lines and even air cleaners ! You look inside the valve covers and it is clean like a fresh low time motor. The only issue might be that it rotates the opposite direction. Don't know yet - but the first thing I will do when I get it home is to fire it up to see how it runs ! I will include pix when I get it home. May need help to get them sized properly. 41 Dave
My dad had a 1964 Pearson cruiser with twin screw Y blocks exactly as you discribe. I have seen a hot rod with that intake system. I can't remember how he adapted the cooling system. I always thought it was a cool system.
Guys, Thanks for the response. I will try to keep you up to date. The mill is going in a '31 "A" Coupe mounted on one of Bleed's "Danger-Danger" frames. 41 Dave
A cam swap and starter will fix the rotation issue. I have seen intakes machined to accept a thermo housing and way to hook up the radiator..EVILT
Guys, I guess the whole cooling issue is based on the fact that the water jackets are not a part of the intake. Is this a big issue. If there is no hot water for the intake - does it effect the cooling of the intake charge ? I know these intakes sure go fast on EBAY. Would this effect the running of this motor with a radiator and water pump ? 41 Dave
Run a banjo rearend with the banjo upside-down (drain plug on top) and you won't have to reverse the engine rotation.
I don't know about the Y-block specifically, but the Ford FE was from the same era and it requires some work to the crankshaft to change rotation. On the FE, there are a series of very light 'scratches' on the crank surface where the rear main seal rides. They are used to keep the oil inside the crankcase, oil that gets under the rope seal. If the crank is rotated in the opposite rotation, it will pump oil out of the crankcase! To fix this (on a FE), that surface needs to be polished enough to remove those marks. Then, use a neoprene rear seal instead of a rope seal to complete the swap. Steve
When I was in school some friends did that on accident!!! 1 gear forward and 3 reverse.. Think it was a 46 Ford....OLDBEET
RE: reverse rotation; it's possible to 'flip' the pumpkin in some open drivelines also - but I don't know which ones other than a 'shoebox' Ford 'cause I saw that done by accident................
A guy named Dennis Frings from down in the Carolinas has been running a marine manifold on his Y-Block track style roadster for quite some time. The car has been pictured in the G.G.Gazette and in R&C. While I didn't pay particular attention to how he handled the cooling, it's been addressed on Lon Wrens radical roadster here in Indy. He found a 6 X 2 manifold that had no water connectionss. We drilled and tapped the front of each head for 3/4 NPT and installed two connectors and hoses to a remote fill/thermostat housing with a single outlet to the radiator. Works like a champ.
I have a complete marine set up for a flathead Ford that I want to get rid of. Br*** pulleys, bronze, copper, all kinds of neat stuff. It comes with a transmission too. It is up here on Vancouver Island. The shipping will be pricey as that trans weighs a ton. email me...jarvis1@shaw.ca
I never heard of that.. I have a 56 Y-block in a 17' Crooks wood boat, I was thinking of doing the same thing for my A coupe. How can you tell if it is counter-rotating engine? Donn
The counter-rotating setup is generally only used when there are two engines in a boat, and even then it is only one of them. It is pretty unlikely that a single engine installation will be counter-rotating.
Guys, I really appreciate all the feedback. I am kind of up in the air as I have a good running '56 truck motor. Would really like to run this Marine Y block. I need some further thoughts or photos on how to do the water hook ups. 41 Dave
I just copied this from the Y block performance thread. This is how one hot rodder got around the cooling system problem. It should work for the marine manifold as well.
Are you sure the motor runs in reverse? That's a new one. Usually the counter rotating prop has a transmission that reverse the rotation. The motors should be the same.
don't know about the marine Y-block but my father owned a 71 correct craft separator V-drive that was setup Reverse rotation. it had a holman moody 351 in it. very rare boat. they had it reverse rotation because of a balance problem. supposedly if the rotation was normal, with just the weight of the drive in the boat taking a hard turn at speed would flip it.
Some setups may do it that way, but other setups definitely run the engine backwards. http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=%22reverse+rotation%22+marine+&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&start=10&sa=N
I could be intersted in the flathead marine set up and could drive up and pick it up, call me 503-622-3639 or email fordhavenzigzag@msn.com, thanks Mike
41 Dave, I think You'll need to change the cam, distributor drive gear, and firing order to match the automotive cam. Here's a link for you to check out, notice in the picture there are separate castings for the water necks on each head.... http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/khan/jetsite/intrcept.htm
Did you not notice that this thread is 4 years old?? I doubt you will get a response on the flathead stuff now.
I worked on boats back in the 60's and one of my customers had a Chris Craft with twin Fords, I found out the hard way that one of them ran in reverse when I put new plug wires on both motors and one ran fine and the other..................well, didn't! They did this to help with the steering, if both engines turned the same way the torque would make it almost impossible to turn the boat one direction, plus you'd have to be leaning on the wheel all the time just to go straight. Running them counter (airplanes do this too) makes it very neutral, as long as the engines are running approximately the same speed.
So ..... 41 Dave ...... Any progress?? Are you going to run it? Very kewl looking engine/intake/carb combo. Nice pix kool32 - thankx. PACO
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