i currently have a 292 yblock with a 3 speed trans with overdrive. I'm asking you fine folks to help me decide. rebuild the existing engine and put a...... 5 speed trans. or pull and upgrade the girl to a bigger heart and sole. just looking for a fairly straight forward redo. Steve
Obviously it's your car, so do what pleases you and fits your skillset. If it were mine, I'd consider building the Y-block and running a T5 behind it. As far as the 'bigger heart and sole' - if the shoe fits, wear it.
Individual preference varies of course, but we enjoy lots and lots of road trips and cruising, and the practicability of a SBF can't be beat. We started with the 292 in our 56, and after swapping engines, it was like going from a mule to a thoroughbred.
The most straight forward approach would be to stick with what you have, if your not doing the****embly of the engine, make sure whoever is has experience with y blocks as they have a few quirks. Lots of info here and YouTube videos, got me through my rebuild
Talk to us. What’s the status of the car? Does it run now? Is it complete? It makes a difference. If the car is a survivor that’s one thing. If it’s a field car that needs everything, that’s quite another ball of wax. My default is.... If it’s close to running fix the engine or replace with another Y Block. At one time later 292s running from trucks were cheap and fairly easy to come by. That was a few years back. If the car is decent keep it Y block. Engine swaps on 50s and 60s Fords can be a major pain in the*****. There’s always a lot more to it. I can’t help it.... It’s soul.
With the right set of pipes there are a rare few engines that sound as good as a Y block. Jimmy Six's engine shows that they can be dressed up and taken to town too. Still a lot of it is what shape is the engine in now and or what is it going to take to get it in shape? Then how do you plan to use the car? A car that only gets cruised locally (within 100 miles) most of the time and may get one or two long cross country runs will be great with the Y block. If you are more apt to do weekend road trips that are 4/500 miles one way quite often and do a few serious cross country road trips of over a thousand miles one way a year I'd go with the later small block. A Ford (or any) T-5 to a Y block calls for an adapter to hook them together.
Pretty well covered above. I’m a Yblock guy, so I’m biased. Running a WC T5 behind a pretty decent 292/320 stoker motor. The main thing you’ll gain with the T5 is the syncro first gear. Big deal here in Seattle on the hills in heavy traffic, not so big in the Kansas country side. Depending on the ratio’s you pick, a little (or a lot) deeper first, and a little shorter or slightly taller o/d. And they shift very nicely. A good running street y block has enough torque you don’t gain a lot from the additional gear, except it’s fun shifting. The right T5 will be as strong as your T-86 R-10 unit. There are some light duty ones that won’t be. But that gets to the last issue. The 56 ford rear end is the weak spot. Not bad, but not well supported and not very strong. The ‘birds, wagons, police cars, and light trucks all used a Dana 44 or variants from the factory. Driven by an older guy, it’ll be fine. If you’re reliving your youth, and side stepping a clutch, you’ll be changing a rear end. But it’s probably a 3.9xor 4.1x rear ended with the factory o/d. Works for now with the T5. So if the engine needs minimal work, do that and enjoy it. If it needs a full rebuild, hard to say. Above that, a pretty decent 302 is going to be a lot cheaper than a full on 292 like I’ve built. I’ve got the receipts to show that. All just food for thought. Might help if you put your location in, one of us might be close.
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