1963 Fairlane + 1960 Y-Block

Ford factory installed a 221 in 62 fairlanes. the 260 came in 63 you could buy a cobra 289 from sears in the 60,s Nobody I knew of ever put a Y block in a fairlane falcon or mustang in the sixties. The guy was asking for advice? Yet he dont want to listen to the advice. I think he just wants his opinion verified. Im of the opinion that if the FE ford had came out in 54 the small block chevy wouldnt be as popular as it is today. I know there are guys who have made Y blocks perform But at great expense. Spend the same money on any other better desined mill and you could easily get more performance for the dollar. By and large most Y blocks are boat anchor,s Be easier and better to put a nail head in the fairlane. OldWolf

 

Just do it and dont listen to anyone,I will be yanking the 351-W in my 55 sunliner and replacing it with a Y block. I dont care if it cost more to go through it then a boring late model motor but I want something different and I am going to do it and you should too,in stock form the Y blocks seem to have more torque them the windsor series motors.

 

I think he made his case just fine. He's in Ketchikan, Alaska, parts are hard to find and expensive, shipping requires boats and such and is even more expensive, he has the engine, so there you have it. Personally I think it'll be pretty neat.

Here's a '63 Comet with a Y block. Spring towers were notched, could have been done a little neater, but there it is. Doesn't look too bad either.







-KK

 

I have a Y block that I am rebuilding and will be using a big cam , 1957 "G" heads , 3x2 Offey and I am installing into a 37 Plymouth p/u !
I think you can use the mounts from a full size Ford that had a Y block .

RetroJim

 

This would seem to be true based on what has transpired here, no?
What I was asking was for was what Kustom Komet has given: The T-bolt Kit idea, and then the Comet swap. That is what I needed, help with the swap and even better, an example of what it might look like finished.

Thanks for the pics, that's going to be a big help. One point I must explain, though (and you being familiar with comets must already know this) that the Comet is a Falcon twin, not a Fairlane. The Meteor is the Fairlane twin in '63 (in '66 or thereabouts the Comet became the Fairlane twin).

This'll make everything easier for me. Thanks!

 

I am interested, though, as to what transmission this comet has.

 

It amazes me that on this forum there are plenty that only want to do whats the easiest and cheapest and not what they really want,so what if no one else has done it before and thats no reason to not do it if you have the parts. There are too many follow the leaders on here with no imagination so if you want to do it then do it and I want to see pics when done.

 

Honestly, if no one has done it before that makes me want to do it even more.

 

I think Ted Eaton has a Y block in a 64 Fairlane..........Maybe someone has his number.

Mark

 

Why be like everyone else with the same cars,motors and everything else.

 

My guess is 57 Y-Block motor mounts would work with the 63 Fairlane v8 frame mounts to get the front mounted.

 

Go back and read the first post.. He asked advice on how to do it, not your opinions on if he should..

 

Here's a pic of a factory Y-Block installation in a Brazilian Falcon and a pic of the emblem.

 

If my memory serves me right FoMoCo built (or had built) a Y-block powered Falcon for Henry II. 312, auto, 9" rear out of a 59 Ford. It's in a Hot Rod mag in 60 or 61, someone must have this issue.

 

I just looked a the July, 1960 Hot Rod magazine. They put a 312 Merc into a 60 Falcon. It looks like they notched the shock towers like when you install an FE motor. I picked the mag up on ebay. bought the whole year set-1960 Cheap.

 

Not sure, but that Y-block looks like an Agrentinian version with heads that have intake runners similar to the Windsor series. The Brazilian Y-blocks used in their F-100/350 and Galaxie (later the Landau) were the same as the US versions. In the picture you can see the exhaust manifolds do not come up, over the spark plugs. I would think this gave alot more clearance in the Falcon engine bay.

Still, the pictured Falcon is super neat!

 

I know where Ketchikan Alaska is and I understand it is pretty hard to get stuff out there. I considered relocating up to a remote part of Alaska for a time and I found out that most stuff up there is much more expensive and if you aren't on a road system connected to the lower 48 stuff is pretty tough to find. Most people on this forum are pretty spoiled including me. There are tons of parts just lying around and getting to somewhere to pick them up doesn't involve flying in a plane, taking a boat, or going down a river on a snow machine during the winter. Good luck with your project and post some pics

 

Here are some pics (bear in mind, I don't have the engine in my grubby little hands yet, I still gotta pick it up); the reply on the site is me, once I got more pics.
Note: You gotta click the pics, the first one on the Gearz site isn't a link for some reason.

http://www.whatareyouworkinon.com/content/1963-fairlane-back-50s

 

If you go there, you ought to rate my pics, too.

 

Looks pretty snazzy. Hundred bucks for an old car is a good price anywhere. I am surprised you would say that there aren't many other old cars around in your neck of the woods. When I went to Washington Island here in Wisconsin there were tons of old cars laying around because it is a pain to get them back off the island once they quit being able to be driven. Figured it would be the same anywhere that is sorta remote.

 

We get rain or snow on average 300 days per year. We also have a lot of scrap barges because there isn't a lot of real estate to devote to scrap cars, especially the ones rendered useless by the absolute and total rust. Plus, so few of our roads are paved that our suspension and steering gets wrecked up pretty bad after just a couple years. And, since it's so hard to ship cars up here (imagine what it was like in 63!), it wasn't done very often in the old days. Plus, so many of us are car folk, we kinda snatch em up and beat the crap out of them...and then scrap them. My car came out of a barn, it was one of the last forgotten treasures here. It's twin (in the barn) was a 66 Pontiac Strato-chief (with the 389!). It really is a better car, runs right now (though dies once it warms up, mysteriously) and has almost no rust. The guy who tipped me off to the barn took the strato-chief, he did all the leg work so he deserved it.

 

Back in the day (mid-60's) we did this more than once. I had a blower 312 and a 292 with G heads. Had all my money tied up in the motors. Needed chassis to put them in. Started with 63 Galaxie (bought cheap with blown tranny) and ran that for a while with all synchro iron case three speed. As soon as we could find a lighter chassis, we did it again. It went into a fairlane business coupe that had been road rashed. Took a while to get replacement body panels and we never did paint it, but it was a serious street runner.

Both the 312 and a decent 292 with heads will make good torque for a street motor and they run very well. Easy to keep up, and if you have paid attention to the oiling issues, nearly bullet proof. The weight can be trimmed with ski boat parts like aluminum timing covers and stuff. Thing is they make HP and torque at street speeds. In a roll-on and go, while the other small blocks are trying to get the right gear and get the chassis to bite, you're gone

The basic block dimensions are not that different from a 289/302. the 292 crank with a bit of custom grinding will stroke a 289, so that ought to give an idea about how close they are.

If you are not running power steering (?), you can run the rear dump up swept manifolds reversed. Exit down in front and tuck in toward the pan and flair out at about the bell housing with lakes plugs behind the front tires. Carry the street pipes back as normal with a "H" pipe near the tail shaft. There are a bunch of manifold options for the Y Block

Single 4, 2-fours or three deuces all work. To get Y Block manifolds to breath, you send them out to get "extrude honed". Even with modest runner sizes, they will flow up to 5000+. Beyond that and you need after market intakes, serious head work and headers. I don't like pushing the 312 beyond 5500 as the cranks crank from flex. 292's have forged steel cranks and will spin to 7000 without a problem. If you have not heard a race prepped 292 (bored to 302) winding through the gears, you are in for a treat

Motor mounts and the cooling system surge tank from a big ford FE sedan of about the same vintage will give all the parts you need to make the bolt-in

OH, and if you want big inches and a Y Block - look to a Lincoln or big truck motor. 375+ cubic inch Y Blocks are out there

 

I'm not so worried about souping up my engine, it has law enforcement heads (oversized exhaust valves and high capacity heads) bored to 332, with full headers and a brand new edelbrock 4bbl carb sitting atop a highly polished, slightly ported truck manifold. In addition, it has a vicky special cam. I figure that'll be good enough for the little Fairlane Anyways, it is from an F-100, half restored.
Do you know if FE mounts work? I was under the assumption they didn't, but I have not actually tried it (That might've been a good first step...)
I have considered putting the old T-Bird blower on the Y-Block, but that just doesn't seem to be in the budget, and the engine is good now (It tested 362 hp when it was rebuilt a couple years ago, for the F-100)

 

Well the Y blocks stopped in cars in 1962 and pick ups in 1964 .
I personally would go with an FE and they fit in real nicely ! They aren't too much heavier than the Y block but will have much more power . The FE was very popular too .
As for your thoughts on a small block to a Y block . it's much easier to find and cheaper to use small block parts . Dollar for dollar I can get a lot more horsepower out of a 289/302/351w. It's much more costly to get the bigger HP & torque from a Y block than a small block . I own and use both plus a 460 so there is a big difference .
The sbf will be much more reliable and you can back it up with an overdrive trans to save gas . That is a plus all around .
If you are a huge Y block fan then use it , if not go with a small block with overdrive trans .

Happy New Year !

RetroJim

 

My two cents...don't go with a sbf. I always wanted to put a flathead into my 63 falcon. Never did but it had a mild straight 6 out of a later mustang and they make some cool speed equip. for it. The shouldn't be any issues with putting a y block into her. I am sure eveyone else has great pics but check out our 64 fairlane in my profile and its the start of cutting out and stuffing a 427 mill. Think about looking for stock motor mounts from a y block og car. see if you can remount them into your fairlane. Good luck man.

 

The lincoln y block was not the same, Less speed parts for the bigger in. motor. 292/312 would be the better match, as far as I know.

 

The reason I came back to this post (If you look I left about three weeks between some of the posts) is that I bought the Y-Block with its truck for $500 yesterday. No matter how many tims I say this, more people shout in, so I will say it in advance:
I will not buy another engine for the Fairlane. The Engine is the Y-Block. Y-Blocks Forever. I have it. It's mine. You can't have it. Whose is it? Mine, and where's it going? Fairlane. 1963 Fairlane. Did that ever have a Y-Block? No. Will it? And I stress this: Yes.
Yes.

So...how will it happen? I believe I will the motor mounts from my other parts F-100 (not the one with the hot Y-Block, but another one of the same year and hopefully same engine, I will soon get it from a guy who owes me 50 bucks), I will try to use the transmission from the hot engined truck, and then at the point in the drivetrain where it is easiest switch back to Fairlane parts (I may use the truck back axle, load some new gears into it). I will use both the picture KK posted (if you haven't already, check it out!) and the T-Bolt kits as a guide, I need to make new shock towers anyway...actually, I need new springs also, whether I go with a concours motor (170 cu in) or not.

Cars cleaning up real nice. I need to fab up some patch panels for the front fenders and the rear quarter panels. Also, I need new floors...I'm using a dodge van roof for the floor (I will do some work on it first, but that's the source of the metal)

 

Y blocks were used in automobiles until 1962.

 

i was just about to post this..as i was thinking about Y-blocking my 61 comet for awhile when i had it....

 

I love it! Congrats and keep us posted!