New Ride - Survivor 1956 Ford Fairlane

I remember the middle of the intersection shift lever jam up. One of the busiest ones in our town. Got it cleared. Oh, and chicken grease and a napkin, cleaned the auto grease, sort of, from your hands.

 

Lol! Yea, I had a 49 Chevy pu that would lock up in two gears at times. I figure I would rebuild all the bushings, etc. to hopefully not have to deal with those issues regularly. The rearend gears in this car allow 75-80 no problem with the Fordomatic so I am honestly thinking a regular 3-speed would be fine. I have a buddy here locally that happened to pull most of this stuff out of his 55. Maybe I can at least talk him out of everything from the flywheel back. I do know I want it shifted on the column.

 

Looks good so far. Need to clean up my mess and pull the bottom end apart.

 

Jeff,
personally I am glad to see that the old gal is getting some attention she deserves. It is such a kool driver. I will check with a buddy that has lots of Y block stuff when I see him Wednesday....but he usually just laughs at me when I ask him if he would part with something...I will still ask

 

Thanks Larry!

Also, planning to pick up a set of 3” Posies dropped springs for the rear from @okiedokie next month. That will get rid of the lowering blocks and hopefully get the rear a little lower.

 

Maybe show him pics of this car when you ask him. I've found many parts hoarders are more likely to let stuff go if they think it's going to a worthy project

 

Just got my spot in line at the machine shop to get my y-block work done. Pretty sure I am going to be able to get away with just a basic ring and bearing rebuild for the most part other than a valve job on the heads. May be a couple months before he gets it knocked out, but said he would get my block and crank done first so I can build the short block. This is the same machine shop that I have used for the past 30 years or so and is just a one man show owned by a friend of mine. Nice to still have access to a shop like his so I try to keep supporting him when I can.

 

Jeff, it needs a manual tranny and floor shift. That is a cool car and I can see you just redoing it stock. Much less work and cheaper. Nice ride either way.

 

A 3-speed with OD is cool, but so is a T5. Either way, at this point in my life, there is no way I'm putting something together that doesn't have overdrive. After swapping the 700R4 into my Olds, long trips have been transformed in terms of driving enjoyment and the experience for both myself and my passengers. Less noise, substantially less fuel consumption, modern cruising speeds, lower engine temps... there is simply no down-side to it.

A buddy runs a Y block with an AOD in his 56 Crown Vic. It cruises like a new car

 

Understood Joe. But, this car already cruises 75-80 no problem now with a 1:1 high gear. It is a great highway car now. I really just want a manual to make it more fun to drive. And, that manual will be on the column if I do it. Floor shifting this car just isn’t part of the feel I am going for. Also, the column shift keeps it to where I can haul 6 people in it if I still choose to.

 

So, I’ll admit I have never pulled a y-block apart before. But, I have probably pulled 25-30 other V8’s apart to rebuild. New one on me is that everything looks great other than broken top ring on 6 of the 8 pistons. I first guessed lip on the cylinders…but not enough to cause issue that I see…. Anyway, all the rod bearings even look decent and appear to be standard. Rods have all been stamped with numbers so guessing it has definitely been rebuilt before. Anxious to get everything cleaned up and measured.

 

As I learn more on this y-block stuff, also found that I have the ECZ-G heads which seem to be desirable. So, unless I find broken heads or block or something, seems it may just need a basic ring, bearing, gasket, and valve job rebuild. I did see a place on one of the cam lobes that has some pitting, so that may give me an excuse to bump that up a tad bit.

 

Ok, all disassembled and ready to take the block, crank and heads to the machine shop. Even made a fancy lifter holder thingamajigger in case I don’t swap cam and lifters. Or, sounds like some prefer surfacing these lifters as compared to new? Getting to where I don’t trust new crap anymore.

 

Wonder how hard it would be to convert a y block to roller lifter?

 

Do the casting number on the main bearing caps also start with ECZ?

 

Not even sure that is possible? These lifters are funky at least from what I am used to. They come in from the bottom and are only about 1/2” diameter where they come up through the block. I would think there would be quite a bit of machining on the block to make enough room for a roller between the block and the cam if it is even possible.

Yes

 

Awesome! A real 312. I know several who thought they had a 312 only to find out it was actually a 292

 

Yea, I am still learning. I did think I identified this one as a 312 several years back based on the “pill” on the crankshaft flange.

 

Well, surprise number two. Only one head is a ECZ-G…. The other has smaller intakes ports, etc. At least I just found another set of heads in Tulsa.

 

So after googling (with one link with info and pics taking me to the hamb lol) apparently it is possible to roller cam a y block. But takes a serious amount of custom parts and work. I just hadn't ever had the chance to actually tear into a y block. Only heard them and rode in y block cars like grandpas 56 t bird lol.

 

Well look at it this way. Now when it's all said and done you'll have a spare head for just in case

 

I remember the first time we met. It was on the way to Dewey . The teapot carburetor started acting up in Pawhuska . That’s been a few days ago . Glad Your getting a engine rebuilt

 

Yep, I remember that well. That teapot overflowed multiple times on that trip and led to me changing to the 3x2 setup. You had your shovel head on that trip if I remember right? I was pretty distracted by my car running like crap and holding everyone else up multiple times.

 

The tri power going on the 312?

 

No, I sold it several years ago and now just run a 57 four barrel intake so I can run a standard four barrel.

Edit: Intake came from @Okie Pete

 

Those lifters are referred to as Mushroom Tappets. The B Model Cummins diesel uses the same design.

 

Google image search of that wording made me think of the 1970s international harvester 674 I just overhauled

 

Of course! How could I forget, I’ve built a couple of IH C-113 engines and the are the same too.

 

I would imagine it to be virtually impossible since the lifters are in a T shape and have to be installed from the bottom up. A roller lifter would only be able to be as wide as the lifter bore, and there probably wouldn't be enough space under the bore for a wheel to follow the cam.

 

So, while I am trying to keep myself motivated by thinking of all the cool road trips I will be able to take after getting this work done, I decided to post a few cool pics from the last few years that didn't make it to this thread...